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J15 ride height?.
Jenko - 21/6/13 at 11:13 AM

For those of you lucky enough to have your J15's on the road....Has anyone had thier car professionaly set up?. I'm curious to know what sort of ride height was recommended.....I remember on My westfield the rear was around 130mm, and the front was around 110mm......................How does this compare with the J15?.


monkeyarms - 21/6/13 at 05:22 PM

If I remember correctly this will depend on which suspension you have the older ford stuff (like mine) or the later caterham/triumph(?) style.

I havent had mine done professionally. I have done mine using the string method and after some tweaking I am happy with it.

Front is 10mm higher than rear, with the rear being a little stiffer on the damper adjustment (was equal all round). I cant remember the exact numbers now, but 120 front 130 rear rings a bell.

As usual a phone call to Jeremy would be best.

Just looked at your blog - you have the later uprights, so ignore me, and ring Jeremy

[Edited on 21/6/13 by monkeyarms]


nickm - 21/6/13 at 06:25 PM

Hi
Got a feeling its 100mm front 125mm rear ? but i might have that figure from completekitcars Riot which im sure is Ford based suspension.

Nick M

PS To save JP another phone call can you put it on here please


Jenko - 25/6/13 at 07:17 AM

I've been doing some measurements.......it would seem that 100mm on the front is about right for 200lbs front springs. car sits with wishbones almost level., normal practise is to go an additional 15 - 25mm higher on the rear to give a forward rake on the car. Monkyarms, do mean the Front is 10mm LOWER than rear?. I think I will stick to this until I get my car to Track deveopments.

Cheers.

Paul.


nickm - 25/6/13 at 07:48 PM

Thanks
Thats what i was gonna set up to, i should be picking up my seats sometime soon if i remember i will ask him.

Nick M


Paul AS - 25/6/13 at 08:25 PM

Hi Guys,

mine sits at 110mm at the front and 125 at the back. It clears every speed hump I've come across and made it up and down the top deck on Eurotunnel. The only thing I've hit is a bloody great lump od steel sticking out of the ground, coming out of Pincendiere camp site at Le Mans, on my way to show off round the roundabout at midnight on mad Friday. Happy days!!

A future step is to get it corner weighted with me in the car. I've currently set it about 4-5 mm higher at the drivers side as a best guess for my 13 stone getting in the car. It does lock up in a straight line, so I might not be far away.

Still fiddling with geometry. I don't like toe out at the front a la Lotus Elise as recommended by Jeremy. Might be great on a race car, but a bit lively for me on a road car. It wanted to throw itself into a turn, even when going straight. Got -1.8° neg camber on the back with 2.0mm TOE IN , and upright with about 0.5mm toe in on the front.

I'm going to put 0.5 degree neg camber on the front and keep going in 0.5 steps until I find the straight line stability that I'm looking for.

My steel bodied shocks supplied by Jeremy with 24 clicks adjustment have 10 clicks on the front and 6 on the back. The idea is to minimise the risk of oversteer which is generally working. Tyre pressure are 18 front and 16 rear.

I've just done an 1100 mile round trip the Le Mans and everything drove nicely. The future adjustments will hopefully make it even more predictable and placid on the road.

Paul


Jenko - 25/6/13 at 09:03 PM

Hey Paul, great info.....thanks...very impressed you managed to get to le mans.

AHHHHHHHHHH I WANT MY CAR ON THE ROAD!!!!!!!


Paul AS - 25/6/13 at 09:14 PM

Le Mans in a kit car is easy - take a mate with a mini cooper for your luggage!!


monkeyarms - 2/7/13 at 12:33 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Jenko
Monkyarms, do mean the Front is 10mm LOWER than rear?


Just to correct myself, i meant the rear is 10mm higher than front. Handles nicley too, and also improved brake balance.