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suspension bits
- Thread starter rwaterman
- Start date
well it depends how much you are going to spend. The easiest way and cheapest is to get some lowering springs for the front and the torsion bar done at the back.
Next up you can buy some sports dampers from avo, spax, koni etc.. and some lowering springs along with teh torsion bar
finally you can go for stiffened springs and coilovers with fully adjustable dampener rate. If your going to spend this much you may aswell get new topmounts and spacers from renault.
The last option is what I did myself
Dont drop it too low. I have just jacked up my clio 16v again as if you run it too low it smashes the shell up (and the dampers if they are standard/old). Oh, and knocks and rattles over anything higher than a painted line in the road.
The AVO coilovers I have dont even allow standard ride height to be achieved. Then i increased the rear ride height this afternoon and couldnt get standrd ride height on the back either. Take the front anywhere near normal height and it picks a wheel up over the bumps. Rubbish.
They quote shorter and stiffer shock absorbers which is fine if you drive on perfectly smooth tarmac 100% of the time but who does?
Sorry, its just im not happy with them ...
What it is, i had a crack in a front spring and the garage who did them under warranty put some cheap and nasty springs on! everytime i look at my car you can tell it sits a fraction higher than other standard clio16vs. Ive now bored off that garage, long story........ I was planning to change the springs back to the original ones but thought that instead i might aswell get the car lowered. I dont want to spend silly money on suspension bits just want some half decent stuff, but because of the age of the car i want to change all the other bits so.... I want springs, torsion bar lowered, dampers, what else??
You can just do front springs and re-set the torsion bar. But if you get springs which are too low (im sure you not that silly) you will wear out the dampers, bushes and CV joints faster. But not necissarily straight away...
If you feel you need to (and you can afford it; the time and the money) then get some different dampers. You will need to replace the top mount assemblies, these are roughly £26 (per side) from Renault. You would be silly not to do this as the bearings wear out.
If my Clio was standard, and i knew what i know now, i would put some -35mm springs on the front and get brand new STANDARD dampers, lower the torsion bar and but poly bushes in all round. That would be it...
Dont bother with different rear dampers unless yours are knackard or you want to run really low (im sure you wont). As mentioned above, they mostly are shorter than is sensible and a nice ride height cant be acheived.
Hope this helps!
"Cliocup" i know this has been done a million time before but how difficult is it to adjust the torsion bar, i have brand new dempers all round (OE) but still running standard springs, would it not be too bouncy with the standard shocks? i only want to go a tiny bit lower, and only to improve hadeling, im not worried about looks
Lofty,
Get some front springs, whichever manufacturer you like, i think they are all pretty much the same. Make sure they are NOT -55mm ones, these are far too low and damage other parts far too fast.
Re-setting the torsion bar is easy, as long as you have the right tools. And another pair of hands is good also.
Jack up the back, put axel stands anywhere underneath but the axle (you need this to be free). Whip the wheels of and then the caps that cover the ends of the torsion bars. (There are 4 bars under the car, the two furthest forward are torsion bars, the other 2 are anti-roll bars, ignore these)
Spray lods of WD40 into the end of the bars, into the splines and also do this under the car as well. There is a plasitic clip on each bar that hols the handbrake cable, loosen and remove this on either side.
Now comes the most difficult bit. You will need (ideally) a very large slide hammer or driveshaft puller. I use the latter which is very affective. Get a 10mm (i think) bolt and srew the hammer into the torsion bar, nip it up but dont strip the thread!
Pull/hit/smash the hammer/puller as hard as you can for as long as it takes to ease the splines out of thier housing. This can be very hard if they have never been out.
Once one is out get a long thin bar and slide it where the torsion bar has just been removed fromm to tap the other torsion bar out. I used a 106 rear roll bar. This is perfect. Then knock it out using a sledge hammer.
You must take a meaurement from somewhere on the hub to the wheel arch on each side (should be the same). then you subtract the number of millimeters you want it lowered by (no more than 35 i hope!) and you get your new measurement. Lift the hub on each side to the new measurement and while someone holds it (can use trolley jcak) tap the bar back in. Do this on both sides. Copper grease the splines before putting the bars back in(!)
Replace cable clips under car and also caps on splines and put wheels back on. Lower car to ground. You will be lower but the axle still needs to settle a bit and will sag a few more MMs after a run.
Now the back end should be alot more stable and not so slidey.It will however, make a slight weight transfer from front to back. This can cause front wheels to lift over bumps (not good) so you should put front springs on at the same time.
Your car should now be awesome!
Hope this helps mate. It is very easy to do, like i said, with the right tools.
It wont be bouncy with new shockers provided you dont go too low. I think 20-25 MMs on the back is good. Although its nearly impossible to get the exact drop your afrer, as long as both sides are the same and your happy with it.
You can always adjust it again, up or down. Once you have done it once, its a 20min job.
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