Front ride height for C5 X7 Hydractive (Lexia at Bristol?)

[osx]

Found these figures for the older C5

Ground to top edge of front arch: 69.5 cm
Ground to top edge of rear arch: 68.3 cm

Any numbers for the new model?

This is the height with the engine running, car on a level surface, and suspension at normal height setting.

[osx]

I will measure mine today and once we have a few more measurements from other members I guess we can have a good idea of the correct ride height. I think it may be useful to mention tyre dimensions too.

[Mandrake]

Measuring from the ground to the wheel arch is not very accurate. It doesn't take into account differences in tyre size and type, (between models) pressure, load etc.

Citroen always specify a way to calculate the height that excludes these effects. That involves measuring the distance from the ground to the centre of the wheel hub, measuring from the ground to a specific part of the chassis underneath, then subtracting/adding those two figures and comparing it to the specified figure. This eliminates all sources of error.

I have those figures for the Xantia and maybe early C5 (in Docbackup) but I don't think I have figures for the X7.

[Jodyone]

If it's the same as the C6 (I assume it is), ride height is determined with a procedure of mind-bending complexity in Lexia. See this thread for a starter:

http://c6owners.org/plugins/forum/forum ... ?8035.post" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[bobins]

Checking on DocBackup, it's basically the same procedure as the C6 one where you have to perform horrible calculations to get the distance between the centreline of the wheels and the very specific measuring point of the subframes to be at 160mm +/- 6mm for the front and 106mm +/- 6mm for the rear. Lexia Diagbox can take over the adjustments once your target height is between 130-190mm at the front and 80-140mm at the rear - meaning that if your calculated heights are within these parameters you don't need to slacken and readjust the height corrector clamps first. You really do need the full instructions in front of you before you embark on this one though as there's a few sub-procedures to do first - Citroen allegedly even have a special tool to show where the centre of the wheels are ! The above figures are based on a 138hp 2.0HDi X7 Saloon.

[old'uns]

as a ball park figure comparison could we not.......engine running,measure wheel centre > arch.

not as accurate as proper setup but at least we'll have an idea?

[Mandrake]

Wheel centre to wheel arch top would be more accurate than wheel arch to ground, yes. That's how I measure the height on my Xantia during the adjustment process (since you can't measure to the ground while the car is up on ramps) but I use it as a relative measurement and confirm the final result on the ground again.

Finding the exact centre of the wheel can be tricky depending on the style of rim though...

[vborovic]

I've managed to stumble (by accident) on a section in Service Documentation about ride height. if you still need it, I can post it here. Tools explained, some figures, formulas ... although I can't seem to spot if there is any difference between steel suspension and Hydractive suspension (I guess they should be the same)

[osx]

That will be really helpful thanks. Had the car checked and was told that the front suspension height is too low and needs setting using a diagnostic tool. They did use the diagnostic tool when they replaced the Eolys but didn't bother to set the suspension "££$"£$!"£!
I am tempted to get a Lexia and do it myself but would rather have someone who has done it before have a go. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be anyone around Bristol area.

[vborovic]

I had to switch from Croatian to English, and now I can't seem to find the exact "page", or to be more accurate, seems the different languages have different pages, how is that possible, I don't know ... but, I've managed to land on a Hydractive Suspension 3+ Summary page, where there is a lot of stuff available, but as I just can't publish everything, I'll put the following up:

Diagnostic equipment functions : Suspension (http://www.filedropper.com/defsuspension)

Description - Function : Body height sensor (http://www.filedropper.com/dfbody)

EDIT: I've managed to locate the height page now

Check - Adjustment : Heights of the vehicle (4 cylinder engine) (http://www.filedropper.com/caheights)

[osx]

Thanks. Really helpful. It seems that you can adjust the height without any diagnostic equipment as long as you are precise with your measurements. Will see how much off the height is this weekend.

[sparksie]

Thanks. Really helpful. It seems that you can adjust the height without any diagnostic equipment as long as you are precise with your measurements. Will see how much off the height is the weekend.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, illustrates a point I was making in conversation last night!
Car servicing is now divided into two very distinct fields.
First, those who feel comfortable with spanners, expressing relief at not needing computer equipment, like osx.
Then there are those for whom the very word "spanner" is derogatory, who can't concieve of doing anything to a car without plugging in and communing with it. For them, anything that might smudge the white overall is abhorrent.
Both camps consider themselves to be "proper" and the other's to be somehow inferior!
Those of us (like me) who try to stumble along somewhere in the middle are getting squeezed more and more into niches.
The day is coming when I'm going to have to choose between up-teching and up-scaling, or downsizing and specialising in older "Classic" machinery. Or getting a proper job!
Uh oh!!!

[vborovic]

But don't forget that when something fails mechanically, all the electrical equipment and gadgets won't help you replace it or fix it ... so it will still be fields of equal importance ... one "funny" thing about the newest hi-tech cars was with the Tesla Model S, they released an firmware update, which you had to download to the car and get it installed ... which mean the car had to be stopped for 6-8 hours ... I mean come on ... I can do my nav unit update during the drive, that takes up to 30 mins, but having an entire car offline and unavailable because of an update, that's plain crazy ... but, it is the future whether we like it or not ...

[hamster99]

Hi Vborovic
Thats really useful info, do you have the same instructions for the previous C5 (Mk2-2005)?
I've been trying to find the heights ever since I had to remove the front subframe to change the turbo and its still not quite right.
Rob

[vborovic]

I think this is what you're looking for:

CHECKS AND ADJUSTMENTS : HEIGHTS OF THE VEHICLE (http://www.filedropper.com/mk2caheights)