Citroen Xantia 1.9TD Suspension probs

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 01 Jan 2009, 17:42

mpainter22 wrote:cheers Anders, just a question can the car be driven on its fullest extension or will it do more damage?? I cannot tell you how much of a god send this forum, and the users have been for me

yes the car can be driven - very relaxed - to any nearby garage.

Its no worse than having flat spheres, which also is a common repair problem.

Post by **CitroJim** » 01 Jan 2009, 17:46

mpainter22 wrote:cheers Anders, just a question can the car be driven on its fullest extension or will it do more damage??

It'll be undrivably hard as there will be no suspension movement to speak of and the car will be incredibly uncomfortable and dangerous.

The risk of damage through the direct transmission of road shocks to the structure of the car is very real.

Mike, that's an excellent idea to scribe a liine on the ARB. It'll not likely be 100% right with the new clamp fitted but it'll be near enough.

Ride comfort is very critically dependant on the ride height being spot-on. After fitting the new clamp, do carefully check and adjust the ride height. Without a pit or ramp it's a difficult job to do unfortunately

Post by **CitroJim** » 01 Jan 2009, 17:50

AndersDK wrote:yes the car can be driven - very relaxed - to any nearby garage.

Sorry Anders, both typing at the same time there

Yes, but no further and very slowly

My rather more prohibitive response was based on using the car on a normal basis with the link broken. I drove mine about a mile once with a duff height corrector and it was the most awful drive in a Xantia ever

mpainter22 · Post by **mpainter22** » 01 Jan 2009, 18:05

hi guys, im thinking of taking the car down to my place of work, about a 15 mile drive where the fitters can do the job 4 me (labour free), would this be too far?? I live in the aber valley in south wales and would be going into Cardiff

Post by **CitroJim** » 01 Jan 2009, 18:30

mpainter22 wrote:about a 15 mile drive... would this be too far??

For me, yes, far too far but if you take it very, very, very carefully, no faster than 30mph and the roads are generally smooth and quiet, it should be OK. Going through Cardiff and any speed humps, trenches and the usual terrible inner-city roads is the big worry though. The risk of shock-induced damage would be far too great for me to contemplate such a journey.

I'd replace the clamp at home and then take the car to the fitters for final height adjustment. The first job is easy, it's the second is the tricky one but dead easy if the fitters have a ramp...

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 01 Jan 2009, 19:08

Considered its the rear axle that will be solid, I dont see any big problems.
A stiff front axle is far worse to drive with, as you have both steering and the main brake power here.

And still - some garages dont even know they have set the vehicle into high - and drives off for a testride - rather spirited - and still nothing happens.

The worsat thing is if the car suddenly experiences a stiff axle without warning. But thats not the case here.

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 01 Jan 2009, 19:31

the new part is about £12 squid from the dealer, it will be a good idea to fit a new nylon link at the same time, because once disturbed it might not grip for long after re/fitting,

do not get under an unsuported hydraulic citroen they have been known to KILL, whilst working on the hight corrector they can change hight very rapidly

regards malcolm

mpainter22 · Post by **mpainter22** » 04 Jan 2009, 13:18

hey guys, ive replaced the clamp on the rear anit roll bar, the rear of the car is sitting pretty high, do i take it this is normal? the car is at least driveable now

Post by **CitroJim** » 04 Jan 2009, 13:47

mpainter22 wrote:the rear of the car is sitting pretty high, do i take it this is normal?

Great to hear it's all fixed

Normal Ride height is approximately when you can just slide a little finger between the top of the tyre and the wheelarch. In other words, the top of the tyre should just be a little above the level of the wheelarch lip.

Another rough test is that the sills sit level or parallel with the road. If the rear seems cocked up then it's too high.

As said, a tiny adjustment of the clamp position makes quite a difference to ride height.

mpainter22 · Post by **mpainter22** » 04 Jan 2009, 15:39

Hi guys, just to let you know the car is sorted, and the rear ride height has returned to normal, i'd like to thank you all for your help and guidance on what i needed to do and what parts i needed to buy, you all really helped me out an awful lot, once again thank you

Mike Painter

French Car Forum