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  1. #1
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    New Suspension and Brakes fitted!

    The new lowered suspension including mounts along with the new brake discs, calipers and pads are all fitted! Yikes, looked at it with the wheels off at the garage and the running gear looks 100x better! I'm off in the morning to get a 4 wheel alignment done as the steering wheel is now super wonky, but I won't see the benefits until the snow clears and I can take it out for a good run.

    Watching the workshop trying to fit the last rear strut and coil I can tell you that it looked a right pig of a job! I'm glad I left it to a garage and unless any of you are mechanics with all the tools, I'd suggest you do the same unless you want a nightmare on your hands when fitting these bits (if you do).

    Looks great now though, and I have to say and from the small amount of driving I've done in it, it feels alot sharper too.

    Pictures to follow!

    Regards

    James

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    I'm glad you've decided to get the 4 wheel alignment done James, I don't like the sound of a 'super wonky' steering wheel, though I'm sure you just mean it's off centre, swinging off suspension is best left to people like M-R-P.....all the tools, knowledge and knowhow.

    Looking forward to hearing how the 4 wheel alignment goes.....along with pics.


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    It's a bloody physical job when you're doing it on axle stands with inadequate tools.
    I imagine it was somewhat easier for the why's at the garage (well, I'd hope so)

    Looking forward to your review tomorrow mate
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  4. #4
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    Went to get the other half from work tonight and I'm 'fighting' with the wheel to keep the car in a straight line and if I let go of the wheel the car suddenly drifts heavily to the left. So the front tracking miles out and the alignment is going to be out as well. It's booked in to ATS for 09:30 and I'll get there snow, ice or whatever because I don't fancy scuffing my tyres until payday and also it ruins the enjoyment of the car.

    The other half let me use her phone to take some photos at the garage this morning but unfortunately it was too dark and the photos are unuseable. I will however get a photo of the lowered suspension and you can see for yourself that it looks much better.

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    was it the Koni yellows you went for? if so i have this set up on my car with Eibach springs, you will be suitably impressed altho the rears are a pain to change the settings, fronts are dead easy.
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    Quote Originally Posted by deathrider311271 View Post
    was it the Koni yellows you went for? if so i have this set up on my car with Eibach springs, you will be suitably impressed altho the rears are a pain to change the settings, fronts are dead easy.
    No, I went for a complete kit from Parts For Volvo, the shocks are Meyle and the springs are Lesjofors. To be honest, I never went out to lower the car but as I wanted to replace my coils as well, I thought I might as well buy the value for money kit from PFV and get it lowered by chance. Now the wheels look like they need to be changed too, maybe with some Nebulas or Pegasus but for now my peeling Amaltheas will have to do....

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    looking forward 2 the pics, very jealous mine could definitely do with the same but a few other bits in desperate need first

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    Quote Originally Posted by HowHard View Post
    looking forward 2 the pics, very jealous mine could definitely do with the same but a few other bits in desperate need first
    Oh don't get me wrong, I had to work my nut off for a whole 2 months doing like, 70 - 80 hour weeks just to scrape together the cash to get the work done. been well worth it though!

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    HowHard (Friday 18th January 2013)

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    Ok, so after spending 4 and a half hours shifting snow, I decided I'd go out and finally get some shots of the T5 with the new lowered suspension. I apologise on two counts, a) It needs a wash and b) the light was fading, but for those who are interested the photos are below.....

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    Interestingly, I had a wheel alignment done today and the back camber is now a whole degree out (negative camber), which the guy said would give me better road holding but will wear my tyres down quicker. He couldn't find a way to adjust the back camber. The rear toe was within an acceptable tolerance but as I suspected the front tracking was miles out, the front camber was spot on.

    In the end, the garage was only able to adjust the front tracking as everything else was non adjustable or within acceptable tolerances. The only thing bugging me slightly is that even after the tracking was done, the car seems to want to drift left but I'm wondering whether this is just the characteristic associated with lowering the car because the tracking was spot on after I had it done and everything else was fitted and brand new.

    I wonder if the stiffer suspension has the tendency to make the car follow the natural camber in the road, usually towards the verge?

    Regards

    James

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    Hope the steering wheel is now spot on, lowering the car would not make it drift to the left, as you say it may be following the camber of the road, go for a spin in the middle lane of a motorway, tbh not the best road conditions to check at the moment.


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    JamesT5 (Saturday 19th January 2013)

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    Quote Originally Posted by JamesT5 View Post
    the car seems to want to drift left but I'm wondering whether this is just the characteristic associated with lowering the car because the tracking was spot on after I had it done and everything else was fitted and brand new.

    I wonder if the stiffer suspension has the tendency to make the car follow the natural camber in the road, usually towards the verge?

    Regards

    James
    Car is looking very nice James. Its amazing how much difference a couple of inches makes to the whole appearance of the car (my wife says that about a couple of inches!!)
    The lowering springs should not cause it to pull as you have not altered the geometry of the suspension. However, as you have had the car in bits and then reassembled, something may still be out. As Graham says, you need to get onto the crest of a road and see if is stable there. Also, under braking or hard acceleration might highlight any setup probs.

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    JamesT5 (Saturday 19th January 2013)

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    Has a really good stance now.

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    JamesT5 (Saturday 19th January 2013)

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    Quote Originally Posted by silverhorse View Post
    Car is looking very nice James. Its amazing how much difference a couple of inches makes to the whole appearance of the car (my wife says that about a couple of inches!!)
    The lowering springs should not cause it to pull as you have not altered the geometry of the suspension. However, as you have had the car in bits and then reassembled, something may still be out. As Graham says, you need to get onto the crest of a road and see if is stable there. Also, under braking or hard acceleration might highlight any setup probs.
    The suspension was fitted by a team of very experienced mechanics and I doubt very much whether something is out of balance and everything 'looks' even. I'll give it a run tomorrow and see how it handles, whether I get pulling with the brakes applied or under acceleration. The only other thing is that the wheel alignment equipment could be at fault and has been giving duff readings to the display when the guy was adjusting the tracking, although everything looked right when he was adjusting it from what I could see on the screen.

    As I say, it could be me, but I'll let you know how it goes over the next couple of days.

    Regards

    James

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    Looking good James. Lower but not too low, like it should have been to start with.

    My car followed the camber of the road more after I lowered it, you may find it tramlines more too.

    Try it on level ground and have a play to confirm the drift. Then look into possible reasons (tyre pressures can be a factor.)
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  20. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by M-R-P View Post
    Looking good James. Lower but not too low, like it should have been to start with.

    My car followed the camber of the road more after I lowered it, you may find it tramlines more too.

    Try it on level ground and have a play to confirm the drift. Then look into possible reasons (tyre pressures can be a factor.)
    Oddly, I had the tyre pressures (and tread depths) measured today. I've got 100% N2 in my tyres so I asked ATS to check the pressures and make sure they are all even which they are now. They were a bit low (25 psi), but even after that the car steering seemed to want to take me off to the left. As stated above, I'll give it chance and see how it handles on different roads.

  21. #16
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    Oh, as for tread depths, see what you make of this....

    I had the current set of 4 tyres put on in May last year, they're Kendar tyres so lower mid range and probably had about 8mm tread on them when they were new. Here we are 9 months later and I've still got 5 - 6mm of tread left on them having done around 12,000 miles on the tyres.

    All of a sudden, cheaper tyres don't look so bad do they!

  22. #17
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    At least that's most of the major components changed at long last. Now I can concentrate on the simpler things like changing the wheels, a remap and bodywork. Unfortunatley all of this takes money so it could be a while before I spend any big money on it - depends on how much overtime I can get my hands on this year.

  23. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by JamesT5 View Post
    Oh, as for tread depths, see what you make of this....

    I had the current set of 4 tyres put on in May last year, they're Kendar tyres so lower mid range and probably had about 8mm tread on them when they were new. Here we are 9 months later and I've still got 5 - 6mm of tread left on them having done around 12,000 miles on the tyres.

    All of a sudden, cheaper tyres don't look so bad do they!
    I've had cheap tyres previously, and they do seem to last along time, but this is down the the fact they're a hard compound rubber, which also explains why the grip levels are low, especially in the wet.

  24. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by stribo View Post
    I've had cheap tyres previously, and they do seem to last along time, but this is down the the fact they're a hard compound rubber, which also explains why the grip levels are low, especially in the wet.
    That might explain why at full throttle in 1st the STC light goes absolutely nuts, especially in the wet.

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    Quote Originally Posted by JamesT5 View Post
    That might explain why at full throttle in 1st the STC light goes absolutely nuts, especially in the wet.
    I think it would probably do that in 1st if you had slicks on!!!


 

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