After the car has been stood say over night how much travel should there be in both the front and rear suspension ?
Should the rear travel more than the front ?
suspension travel
Moderator: RichardW
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by pikecrazy</i>
After the car has been stood say over night how much travel should there be in both the front and rear suspension ?
Should the rear travel more than the front ?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
After the car has been stood say over night how much travel should there be in both the front and rear suspension ?
Should the rear travel more than the front ?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
The only way to ascertain for certain whether there is a problem with the anti sink arrangement is to run the car at idle for a period, standing on level ground with you outside of the car, i.e. car empty.
Switch off the engine through the window, close the window and door and lock it up. Make a note of the distance from road or drive to top of wheel arches and compare this with same dimension the next morning.
If all is well the dimensions will not have changed much if at all.
You can then start the engine without getting in the car, your weight is sufficient to lower the suspension at front and or rear by around three inches in a saloon while the system pressurises after start up, and see how much it rises. If it is less than when you are in the car then the drop is most likely caused by you getting in. Others will have opinions too which should be considered, but I would not worry unduly by what you are experiencing. At four years old and 60,000 miles you may have a weakening accumulator sphere but test the system first. Nothing complex in this, difficult or expensive. It is easy to become paranoid about the suspension system so take a guarded view! R
Switch off the engine through the window, close the window and door and lock it up. Make a note of the distance from road or drive to top of wheel arches and compare this with same dimension the next morning.
If all is well the dimensions will not have changed much if at all.
You can then start the engine without getting in the car, your weight is sufficient to lower the suspension at front and or rear by around three inches in a saloon while the system pressurises after start up, and see how much it rises. If it is less than when you are in the car then the drop is most likely caused by you getting in. Others will have opinions too which should be considered, but I would not worry unduly by what you are experiencing. At four years old and 60,000 miles you may have a weakening accumulator sphere but test the system first. Nothing complex in this, difficult or expensive. It is easy to become paranoid about the suspension system so take a guarded view! R
pikecrazy, don't worry.
When you exit the car, it will rise, then self-level to previous height. Then, it will loose 1-2 cm before anti-sink valves kick in, and then several mm per day (depending on the condition of the system). When you enter the car next day and start the engine, it will be obviously lower than it should be: 2-3 cm at the front, 3-4 at the rear (more if there are other passengers entering the car). So, after starting the engine, it will self-level back to the correct height. It's normal.
Anyway, there should be several cm of the suspension travel in the morning, before you enter the car.
When you exit the car, it will rise, then self-level to previous height. Then, it will loose 1-2 cm before anti-sink valves kick in, and then several mm per day (depending on the condition of the system). When you enter the car next day and start the engine, it will be obviously lower than it should be: 2-3 cm at the front, 3-4 at the rear (more if there are other passengers entering the car). So, after starting the engine, it will self-level back to the correct height. It's normal.
Anyway, there should be several cm of the suspension travel in the morning, before you enter the car.