CitroJim's AX, C3 Picasso, Cycling and Running Tales

[daviemck2006]

I certainly won't be slamming it, or adding pineapples lol. I just would like to know if it is at the proper height. It probably would look better a little lower but I won't be changing it unless it is significantly different from what it should be. The ride is still excellent for me, I can't really tell much difference from the 15's. The steering feels slightly sharper.

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[CitroJim]

Davie, a good quick and dirty test of correct ride height is the finger test... You should be able to get three fingers between the top of the tyre and the wheelarch edge at the front and barely one little pinkie at the rear...

[Mandrake]

Depends how fat your fingers are though ?

I've always felt if you're going to go to the trouble of adjusting the height, you might as well measure it properly. It is pretty critical for good ride quality as I have recently re-confirmed when I adjusted mine.

You can do one end at a time using ramps - that's how I do mine. First I measure the height while still on flat level ground to find out what the error is using the Citroen recommended measurement method (that includes measuring the height of the centre of the wheel) and take note of that. Remember to measure up and down corrections and take the midpoint or you will get significant errors.

Then drive the end of the car up onto ramps. This time measure the distance from the bottom lip of the wheel rim through the centre axis of the wheel to the wheel arch above it. Remember to measure both after an up and down correction and take the mid point. Take note of this and add or subtract the error you measured while it was on the ground. Now you know what your rim to wheel arch target should be.

Make the adjustment until you get this right. You can verify the measurement back on the ground again after you're finished but I've found this ramp method works very well provided you always take up and down measurements and take the mid point, so I don't even bother to recheck it once it is back on the ground.

An up measurement is taken by physically lifting the end of the car a bit until it starts to get heavy, let go, wait until it rises then measure. A down measurement is taken by sitting on the end of the car until it rises, getting off, waiting until it drops then measuring.

Simples!

[CitroJim]

Simon, that's an excellent guide to the job

I shall make good use of it when I do Gabriel

[Mandrake]

I should add that the way I make small adjustments to the ride height in the order of millimetres is pretty simple - when you slacken the bolt on the clamp there is a little bit of play in the rotation of the clamp - just twist it with your fingers in the correct direction then tighten the bolt again while you hold it rotated in that direction. Doing this will change the height by approximately 3-5mm each time. After doing that you can re-measure (up and down measurements) and do it again if necessary to creep it towards the correct position a few mm at a time rather than ending up with large random changes in height each time you adjust it.

For a larger shift of 10mm or more what I do is loosen the clamp and then push or pull the car up or down physically then gently let go - friction in the suspension movement will cause it to come to rest approximately 10mm from where you started, then just tighten the clamp with it in a neutral position and you'll get about a 10mm shift. A combination of these two techniques lets me get it spot on within a couple of millimetres very quickly with only 2-3 adjustments.

I've found if you always measure up and down measurements and take the mid point that the measurement to measurement repeatability is also very high - I can do the lifting and sitting thing, taking measurements, work out the mid point, then repeat it again a couple more times and get the same measurement within 1-2 mm at the most, which is a good sign that you're getting valid measurements when you're trying to make small adjustments.

No fancy Citroen tools required.

[CitroJim]

Simon, your next challenge: level an Activa

It makes height setting a simple, easy task!

[Mandrake]

Sadly I don't think I'll ever get the chance to own an Activa, I think this may be my last Xantia both due to changing family needs and the ever increasing age of Xantia's...

The old girl will be 20 next year which is positively geriatric in car years in the UK at least! (A 20 year old car is a bit more common in un-salted NZ or at least it used to be)

When I bought an 8 year old Xantia in 2005 who knew that a decade later I would have another one of the same year pushing 20.

[elma]

Good advice from both of you. I hate adjusting ride height and find it a chore. Hopefully it will be easier now.

[CitroJim]

You don't need to own an Activa to experience the joy of levelling one Simon, there's enough of us here who can provide training material for you

You've done well with running Xantias all this time but generally they wear their years well. I thought my Xantia days were over a couple of years ago except for the Activa as a fun car but with the arrival of Gabriel all that has changed... Admittedly my needs are vastly different to yours - my need of a car as regular daily transport is ever reducing...

If I do run out of working Xantias I do have a sick 207 I can call on. Speaking of which, I'm looking forward to the challenge of rooting out exactly what's wrong with it and making it good again. The thread in the Pug area is giving me some good thoughts and insights as to how I'm going about it - more news as it happens but it's unlikely to be a quick job.

[Zelandeth]

Will be really curious to see how different Gabriel rides once the height is set correctly. It was a task on my list ever since I bought her (it's still on the chalk board actually!) but just never got to the front of the queue.

Did the job a few times back at the garage though...hard to believe it's 11 years since I left there now...

[CitroJim]

As soon as I've done it Zel, I'll offer you a drive of her...

[daviemck2006]

Simon, you could easily borrow an activa to play with adjusting the height. I've always thought mine is a little high, and going by the fat finger method I still think that. The rolling radius of the tyres I have on is 5mm more than the standard and I get like 3&1/2 fingers on the front and a thumb in the back. I would say it could quite possibly be 10mm or so high. It shall be passing not far from you a week today heading for Durham, and back a week on Sunday. If you wanted to see the differences between a v6 and an activa that could happily be arranged [emoji4]

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[CitroJim]

As regular readers will know, Robyn now has my erstwhile C1; it is affectionately known as 'Eyelashes' for reasons many will know...

Anyway, got this Whatsapp message from Robyn this morning....

It made me smile...

Hi dad, Just filled Eyelashes with petrol, embarrassing moment as I couldn't get the filler cap off!! I had the manual out and everything! Luckily a woman saw me struggling and came over, said she had an "awkward Citroen" too. hope you have a good day and a good weekend! Xx

She's right though, there is a certain technique to it it and it's not intuitive at all...

She's loving the fuel economy of the C1 after the relative thirstiness of the 207...

[CitroJim]

Just made a great discovery Gabriel's after-market wireless will play MP3 tracks from CD!

No need to now take an iPod with me and all the sodding about that entails...

Just made up a few compilation CDs...

Result!

[Hell Razor5543]

Useful. On the unit I had in Gracie it also had a SD slot. That was nice, as I then had a 16GB card with well over 1,000 tracks on it in that slot.