Figuring out ride height
- Thread starter Big M
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VR-4Squid
Well-Known Member
D3bb4: Here's a couple of full car shots - just mocked up with a jack under the arm at the rear - waiting for new bushes for the lower shock mount, found some nolathane ones from something else that should fit - front is at full droop! but it will be adjusted to about this height until I get around to making some ball-joint and tie rod spacers.
Rear geometry isn't too bad - lower arm is pretty much horizontal at this height - I've got plans to make it better though...
Rear geometry isn't too bad - lower arm is pretty much horizontal at this height - I've got plans to make it better though...
VR-4Squid
Well-Known Member
D3bb4 said:
I've read the same thing over and over for years, there's a whole lot of people who don't really know what they are talking about. eg: if the car is low, and it breaks an axle it must be because it is lower than another car which didn't break an axle.
3-bolt axles are prone to breaking the splined portion off in the diff when the car is driven hard. This has nothing to do with driveshaft angle or vehicle height, merely the diameter of this part is too small (4-bolt axles have bigger splines where they go into the diff and are much harder to break).
I haven't heard of any rear axle breakages that weren't at this point.
Unless the cv bottoms out and/or cannot pivot far enough for the axle angle I don't see how this could affect it. As you can see in the pics I posted earlier the angle the cv will allow is far more than you could ever achieve with the suspension still attached to the car.
Gooch
Member
Wheather it works or not it still looks great.
I would most prolly do something with the exhaust maybe a bit smaller and a XR6 end on it.
But with a paint and clean this car could be on the cover or a calander quite easily good luck
I would most prolly do something with the exhaust maybe a bit smaller and a XR6 end on it.
But with a paint and clean this car could be on the cover or a calander quite easily good luck
VR-4Squid
Well-Known Member
Wheather it works or not it still looks great.
I would most prolly do something with the exhaust maybe a bit smaller and a XR6 end on it.
But with a paint and clean this car could be on the cover or a calander quite easily good luck
Err, thanks I think.
I raised it up quite a bit as I was concerned how close the steering tie rod was to the chassis, it'll stay at this height until I get around to making some parts to correct the roll centre by spacing the ball joint and tie rod end down (and some narrower tyres)
I've done about 300km in it so far and it drives fine, turns in really nicely and the cusco suspension isn't too harsh on it's softest setting.
Front tyres rub on the chassis rail just a bit on full lock.
Dean
Member
Flush as! Love it.
Perfection...love it! B)
Hey VR4Squid, you would probably know..
Could you make the 3-bolts axles out of any other material that could withstand the hard launches etc?
Or maybe heat treat the original shafts to a slightly more ductile phase composition to increase the overall toughness? Or any other suggestions that you may have to offer?
I'm just trying to pre-empt the breakage of one of my rear shafts, because I know it'll happen sooner or later, and I can't get my hands on a 4-bolt (funnily enough).
Cheers
EDIT: Sorry for the off-topic post btw... :mellow:
Hey VR4Squid, you would probably know..
Could you make the 3-bolts axles out of any other material that could withstand the hard launches etc?
Or maybe heat treat the original shafts to a slightly more ductile phase composition to increase the overall toughness? Or any other suggestions that you may have to offer?
I'm just trying to pre-empt the breakage of one of my rear shafts, because I know it'll happen sooner or later, and I can't get my hands on a 4-bolt (funnily enough
).Cheers
EDIT: Sorry for the off-topic post btw... :mellow:
VR-4Squid
Well-Known Member
Perfection...love it! B) Hey VR4Squid, you would probably know..Could you make the 3-bolts axles out of any other material that could withstand the hard launches etc?Or maybe heat treat the original shafts to a slightly more ductile phase composition to increase the overall toughness? Or any other suggestions that you may have to offer?I'm just trying to pre-empt the breakage of one of my rear shafts, because I know it'll happen sooner or later, and I can't get my hands on a 4-bolt (funnily enough
It's not the axle shaft that breaks but the splines on the inner CV cup where it goes into the diff. You can't just soften the metal is it will then just twist the splines off (this is why you can't just cut new splines onto a shortened shaft).
New 4-bolt axles from Mitsubishi are ~$1300+gst EACH so that's not an option!
The main issue is most 4-bolts are viscous lsd's and tbh a complete waste of time - an evo 2/3 plate lsd will fit in the vr4 housing and accept the 3.545 crownwheel, plus the evo inner cv cups work with the 4-bolt axles. But this isn't an ideal solution as it involves buying two complete rear ends and leaves you with parts no-one wants.
I stumbled across an n/a GTO at a pick-a-part and discovered the axles have 4-bolt flanges that will fit the vr4 hubs, and the inner CV cup splines fit into an evo 2/3 diff, only problem is the axle shaft is too long. Shortening the shaft and cutting new splines would leave it softer (due to the heat from cutting the splines) and is no good, I have a mate who works for Heat Treatments Ltd, so I'll be able to get them re-tempered for cheap/free. The other option is to cut a section out of the axle shaft and weld the splined end back on... far from ideal.
Unless you are making lots of power (250+ kW @ wheels) or running rwd I'd just get a spare pair of axles and keep them in the boot with a jack and a basic toolkit. It takes under 30mins to swap both rear axles.
Thats true.
I was just trying to aim for higher reliability.
Rear axles aren't easy to come by either..
That price you mentioned for 4-bolt axles isn't much more than I was willing to pay for a second hand 4-bolt rear end...but I missed out on that one.
I'm not really fussy bout having the best LSD on the rear because I don't see the rear slipping anytime soon, my car isn't very powerful. I'm just trying to make it 'gorilla-proof' for lack of a better word. i.e hard launches
Thanks for your reply.
I was just trying to aim for higher reliability.
Rear axles aren't easy to come by either..
That price you mentioned for 4-bolt axles isn't much more than I was willing to pay for a second hand 4-bolt rear end...but I missed out on that one.
I'm not really fussy bout having the best LSD on the rear because I don't see the rear slipping anytime soon, my car isn't very powerful. I'm just trying to make it 'gorilla-proof' for lack of a better word. i.e hard launches
Thanks for your reply.
