Ride height

jasst

Member
Messages
2,313
I am currently in the process of replacing the springs on my 4200, and thought I would lower it to Gransport height whilst at it. I have a guide from Formula Dynamics to replacing springs, and in this it says that 10 full turns of the adjusting collar = a 15mm drop, which I believe is the difference between a 4200 and Gransport, so I thought I would do this as a preliminary setting before taking it to have final tweeks at a specialist. I did the rears first and both sides were set at the same measurement, (I measured from the bottom of the lock nut on the strut to the last visible thread) and sure enough 10 full turns did equal a 15mm difference. So now I have moved on to the fronts, passenger side first, measurement taken and all is ok, then I moved on to the drivers side and the initial setting on this side is 12mm different to the passenger side! ie measurement on passenger side was 48mm, on drivers side was 60mm. The drivers side showed obvious signs of having been messed with before. so what do I do, set them both to same height or stick with the difference that they were set at? Wondered if they were set like this to compensate for driver only situations, or just been bodged.
 

TimR

Member
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2,656
Sounds a little off...! I'm no expert but was about to ask a question of the collective knowledge regarding this very issue...
I think you need to set the the same on both sides...The real question is what is the stock position...?
Interested to know how you get on with the FD springs..a mod I thought might be worthwhile too....
Recently looked at a facelift car, it was set up higher from factory than the earlier cars...so if it's a later car, it puts you back to gen1 ride height from what I can gather....! Anyway...seems reasonable to want to lower it a bit...
The one I am looking at has had a roll bar delete across the rear axle...
Can anyone shed any light on why Maserati decided to raise ride height and remove the stabilization bar...?
Hope you don't mind me asking here jasst ....! :banplease:


TimR
 

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,554
You should probably set them the same then get it corner weighted by someone that knows this black art.

C
 

D Walker

Member
Messages
9,827
I did read somewhere the settings from the factory were set up for driver on LH drive cars and they never bothered to change it for RHD, no idea if its true..
 

mjheathcote

Centenary Club
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9,033
I've also heard of cars with a missing rear anti roll bars. Think a case of them simply running out of stock and still letting the car continue down the production line!!
 

TimR

Member
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2,656
I've also heard of cars with a missing rear anti roll bars. Think a case of them simply running out of stock and still letting the car continue down the production line!!

Jesus, really...? And I thought quality control was an improving curve as Ferrari's tenure went forward...
McGraths seemed all but oblivious to it.....樂
Gearbox out to get one in too..... 
 

safrane

Member
Messages
16,749
Hmmm not sure QC has been that bad.

The factory has for a number of decades a independent QA company who sign off finished cars or return them to the line to be rectified.

They are based and work out of the Modena factory but are not Maserati staff.
 

Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
As a few have said, set them the same and then have it corner weighted would be my preference. I suspect you either have a broken or mismatched spring on the drivers side which has been compensated for by changing the platform height, otherwise you should have had a noticeable lean into the drivers side front with that sort of difference.
 

TimR

Member
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2,656
Hmmm not sure QC has been that bad.

The factory has for a number of decades a independent QA company who sign off finished cars or return them to the line to be rectified.

They are based and work out of the Modena factory but are not Maserati staff.

Something of a mystery then, I guess...!
 

jasst

Member
Messages
2,313
No sign of a broken spring, they were all equally rusty, so don't think one had been replaced, come to think of it I do recollect that the gaps did not seem the same on all 4 corners, might explain why it never gave me much confidence handling wise! so will be going back together set equally for a start, and then I shall investigate this corner weighting malarkey, 4 sets of kitchen scales should suffice? Lol.
 

Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
No sign of a broken spring, they were all equally rusty, so don't think one had been replaced, come to think of it I do recollect that the gaps did not seem the same on all 4 corners, might explain why it never gave me much confidence handling wise! so will be going back together set equally for a start, and then I shall investigate this corner weighting malarkey, 4 sets of kitchen scales should suffice? Lol.

That explains it at least. Kitchen scales might not do it, but some have done it with bathroom scales and some levers to reduce the applied weight and a lot of messing about.
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davy83

Member
Messages
2,809
I would go for same all round. Are you sure the springs are the same rate? the difference in setting may be a bodge to get round different rate springs. I had mismatching springs on the front of my car and replaced the springs and I did corner weights with some electronic scales, and it was and is a real faff, and takes a long time. You can get scales that will take the weight of one corner, but you have to buy 4 scales or keep moving them around. Car needs to be on a very flat surface.
 

alfatwo

Member
Messages
5,517
You can't do corner weighting at home, you need a perfectly flat surface with four scales linked to a PC to work out the maths and height's

I take my cars to a racing workshop who have designated lift just for setting up suspension geo and corner weighting, if all your damper adjusters are nice and free and you've disconnected the anti roll bars, it only takes about 40 minute's

RHD 3200/4200's are very heavy on the O/S due to the driver and that huge battery stuck out at the back


Dave
 

jasst

Member
Messages
2,313
Right, all has been assembled and car is now back on its wheels, I have unwound the locking nuts on the shockers by 10 full turns, which according to the FD guide should = a 15mm drop, and the fronts I have set so they are both the same as per peoples thoughts earlier on in the thread. I have also put on 15mm spacers. I have taken measurements in two ways, first from the centre line of the lower wishbone fixing bolt to the ground, and second as per the FD guide from the top of the wheel rim to the bottom of the wheel arch, the results are as follows:-
Method 1:- NSF 169mm, OSF 157mm, NSR 170mm, OSR 170mm.
Method 2:- NSF 130mm, OSF 115mm, NSR 130mm, OSR 115mm
The measuring was done without any weight in the car, and with half a tank of fuel, so not very scientific, Am now looking for someone close to me to do corner weighting, and then I will get it in to somewhere like Emblem to have the alignment done.
 

Zep

Moderator
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9,110
Interesting that the difference you have between the FL & FR seems to support the difference you had in the spring platforms.
 

jasst

Member
Messages
2,313
Yes it is, I trawled through the service history, and found it had a replacement shock fitted due to a suspension fault, but no mention of which one, my guess is that it was the OSF as that showed signs of being tampered with, perhaps Migliore know what they're doing after all. the interesting thing is the rear measurement, as measured from the ground to wishbone mounting is the same both sides, yet the measurement from top of wheel rim to wheel arch is different each side, figure that one out!
 

Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
Yes it is, I trawled through the service history, and found it had a replacement shock fitted due to a suspension fault, but no mention of which one, my guess is that it was the OSF as that showed signs of being tampered with, perhaps Migliore know what they're doing after all. the interesting thing is the rear measurement, as measured from the ground to wishbone mounting is the same both sides, yet the measurement from top of wheel rim to wheel arch is different each side, figure that one out!

I'd be looking at the top mount, it doesn't seem right to me. You will effectively have more preload on the spring on one side to get the ride height right. Not sure if the springs are rising rate.

Odd about the rear too, generally I'd be much happier with the measurement from the subframe. Measure the rear arch from a known point on the body to see if there is a discrepancy side to side.
 

alfatwo

Member
Messages
5,517
Yes it is, I trawled through the service history, and found it had a replacement shock fitted due to a suspension fault, but no mention of which one, my guess is that it was the OSF as that showed signs of being tampered with, perhaps Migliore know what they're doing after all. the interesting thing is the rear measurement, as measured from the ground to wishbone mounting is the same both sides, yet the measurement from top of wheel rim to wheel arch is different each side, figure that one out!

Maybe the car has had body damage in the past..


Dave
 

jasst

Member
Messages
2,313
Well, she's booked in for corner weighting tomorrow morning, so that will be interesting to see what the end result will be like.