Ride Height
Moderator: RichardW
Ride Height
How do you adjust the suspension heights on a 1998 Xantia 1.9 TD?
-
Peter.N.
- Moderating Team
- Posts: 11578
- Joined: 02 Apr 2005, 16:11
- Location: Charmouth,Dorset
- My Cars: Currently:
C5 X7 VTR + Satnav Hdi estate Silver
C5 X7 VTR + Hdi Estate 2008 Red
In the past: 3, CX td Safaris and about 7, XM td estates. Lovely cars. - x 1207
It its the same as the XM, which I think it is, you will find a clamp around the anti roll bar with a rod and some linkage connected to the height corrector. Slacken the bolt and you can rotate it round the bar which will raise or lower the suspension. Make sure you have adequate room undr the car while doing this as it has to be done with the engine running and it could come down on top of you. Unless the height has been altered previously it could just be that the height correctors are sticking, try several applications of WD40
Why do you want to adjust the height in the first place ?
- any problem(s) with your Estate that leads you to this ?
You will need ramps or a pit - as you must work under the car while it has its weight on wheels to adjust the height. Its a highly dangerous job. You MUST have a safety clearance of at least 10" - thats why ramps or pit.
On top of that you have to take precautions on the exhaust fumes - because the engine must run idle to supply a constant pressure source for the suspension.
The actual adjustment is fairly simple.
On both ARB's you can see a clamp which has a short plastic connection bar to their respective HC's. The clamps are locked with a lock screw. Loosen this screw exactly such the clamp can be turned around the ARB by light tapping with a small hammer. If you get the clamp dangling loose - you can not control the adjustment as 1mm on the clamp will result in approx 10mm on the height. Add to this the delay in the system.
Stempy's diagram shows the situation :
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/cap ... 366010.gif
- where items 3 & 4 are the clamps to adjust - front & rear respectively.
- any problem(s) with your Estate that leads you to this ?
You will need ramps or a pit - as you must work under the car while it has its weight on wheels to adjust the height. Its a highly dangerous job. You MUST have a safety clearance of at least 10" - thats why ramps or pit.
On top of that you have to take precautions on the exhaust fumes - because the engine must run idle to supply a constant pressure source for the suspension.
The actual adjustment is fairly simple.
On both ARB's you can see a clamp which has a short plastic connection bar to their respective HC's. The clamps are locked with a lock screw. Loosen this screw exactly such the clamp can be turned around the ARB by light tapping with a small hammer. If you get the clamp dangling loose - you can not control the adjustment as 1mm on the clamp will result in approx 10mm on the height. Add to this the delay in the system.
Stempy's diagram shows the situation :
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/cap ... 366010.gif
- where items 3 & 4 are the clamps to adjust - front & rear respectively.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Why do you want to adjust the height in the first place ?
- any problem(s) with your Estate that leads you to this ?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
The gap under between the top of the tyre and the wheel arch is different front to back the front being the heighest. Also the ride suspension is bouncy at the front and I've read on this forum that if the ride is set too high the suspension can be bouncy - and so I was going to have play.
I've also suffered from the dreaded rear height adjuster plastic link problem (but thanks to this forum the cause was quickly found and addressed) and was thinking that if I've got to change the Anti Roll Bar link bracket then I've got to know how to adjest the suspension back again.
- any problem(s) with your Estate that leads you to this ?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
The gap under between the top of the tyre and the wheel arch is different front to back the front being the heighest. Also the ride suspension is bouncy at the front and I've read on this forum that if the ride is set too high the suspension can be bouncy - and so I was going to have play.
I've also suffered from the dreaded rear height adjuster plastic link problem (but thanks to this forum the cause was quickly found and addressed) and was thinking that if I've got to change the Anti Roll Bar link bracket then I've got to know how to adjest the suspension back again.
Due to the body shape you will always have more wheel clearance at the front wheels. Check the ride height first - you may not have a ride height problem. Measure the height at High and at Low settings; normal-ride height should be in the middle. As has already been said, first ensure the linkages are free to move, as they should.
Incidentally, my Mk1 estate runs better with normal-ride height set lower than mid height. Currently I have it set 3cm below mid height and I find it absorbs bumps better. It also has the benefit of seemingly less body roll and a usable high-ride that is 3-4cm above mid height (previously this was indistinguishable from high).
Incidentally, my Mk1 estate runs better with normal-ride height set lower than mid height. Currently I have it set 3cm below mid height and I find it absorbs bumps better. It also has the benefit of seemingly less body roll and a usable high-ride that is 3-4cm above mid height (previously this was indistinguishable from high).
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by davek-uk</i>
Due to the body shape you will always have more wheel clearance at the front wheels. Check the ride height first - you may not have a ride height problem. Measure the height at High and at Low settings; normal-ride height should be in the middle. As has already been said, first ensure the linkages are free to move, as they should.
Incidentally, my Mk1 estate runs better with normal-ride height set lower than mid height. Currently I have it set 3cm below mid height and I find it absorbs bumps better. It also has the benefit of seemingly less body roll and a usable high-ride that is 3-4cm above mid height (previously this was indistinguishable from high).
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
If you're determining the middle height measurement just by measuring the height when the car is right down and right up and finding the half way point, this will be the reason - because its not really the middle, but rather a bit higher.
When the car is right down the weight rests on the bottom limit stops which don't compress much at all, however when you set the height to full the full pressure of the suspension is able to compress the upper limit stops a considerable amount, thus the car moves further up than down from the correct height. This could easily amount to an error of 3 cm in the too high direction.
Regards,
Simon
Due to the body shape you will always have more wheel clearance at the front wheels. Check the ride height first - you may not have a ride height problem. Measure the height at High and at Low settings; normal-ride height should be in the middle. As has already been said, first ensure the linkages are free to move, as they should.
Incidentally, my Mk1 estate runs better with normal-ride height set lower than mid height. Currently I have it set 3cm below mid height and I find it absorbs bumps better. It also has the benefit of seemingly less body roll and a usable high-ride that is 3-4cm above mid height (previously this was indistinguishable from high).
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
If you're determining the middle height measurement just by measuring the height when the car is right down and right up and finding the half way point, this will be the reason - because its not really the middle, but rather a bit higher.
When the car is right down the weight rests on the bottom limit stops which don't compress much at all, however when you set the height to full the full pressure of the suspension is able to compress the upper limit stops a considerable amount, thus the car moves further up than down from the correct height. This could easily amount to an error of 3 cm in the too high direction.
Regards,
Simon
-
JohnD
- (Donor 2022)
- Posts: 2632
- Joined: 14 Mar 2001, 23:41
- Location: Epsom, Surrey
- My Cars: 2010 Citroen C5-X7 tourer
1998 Citroen Saxo 1.5D
2018 Citroen C4-B7
1998 Peugeot 306. 1.9D
2011 Citroen C1 - x 72
- Contact:
This 'cut & paste' from a previous topic describes how I did my rear height:
To get it right, this is what I did. I put the car with the rear wheels on a ramp. I started the engine and put the suspension on low. I put a tiny mark about 2" above the wheel arch and marked the height on a wooden lath. I then put the suspension on high and again marked the height on the lath. I measured the distance between the two marks on the lath and marked the centre point. I then put the suspension at normal and checked the mark on the lath with the mark on the car. The car was too low. I placed a jack centrally under the body (just behind my towball) and jacked up until the lath mark matched the car mark. When it was correct, I switched off and got under the car and undid the clamp on the roll bar. Do NOT loosen the clamp without having secure jacking in place. I then started the engine, tightened the clamp again and removed the jack. Drive the car off the ramp and with the suspension at normal height, check the height mark with the lath. As a final check, under the car, measure the distance from the chasis to the ground. The height should be 420mm +7/-7. Unless yours is like mine, a 2.1 in which case it will be 425mm.
To get it right, this is what I did. I put the car with the rear wheels on a ramp. I started the engine and put the suspension on low. I put a tiny mark about 2" above the wheel arch and marked the height on a wooden lath. I then put the suspension on high and again marked the height on the lath. I measured the distance between the two marks on the lath and marked the centre point. I then put the suspension at normal and checked the mark on the lath with the mark on the car. The car was too low. I placed a jack centrally under the body (just behind my towball) and jacked up until the lath mark matched the car mark. When it was correct, I switched off and got under the car and undid the clamp on the roll bar. Do NOT loosen the clamp without having secure jacking in place. I then started the engine, tightened the clamp again and removed the jack. Drive the car off the ramp and with the suspension at normal height, check the height mark with the lath. As a final check, under the car, measure the distance from the chasis to the ground. The height should be 420mm +7/-7. Unless yours is like mine, a 2.1 in which case it will be 425mm.
Cheers Simon. My car rode at mid-height as measured. So in improving the setup I have merely corrected an error. I can't see how the clamps could move so I have to assume that someone had set the car to that height - and had also made the mistake of measuring the two heights and taking the mid height.