Interchangeable spheres

[njr]

Are spheres interchangeable between Xantias?, or is this a daft question. eg would putting Activa spheres on a 1.9td tighten up the handling a little. I have a td that rolls a bit too much for my liking

Neil

[deian]

Have you tried replacing the spheres? They could be flat? Or even checked to see if they are indeed the right ones to begin with, i'm sure someone here can explain the part numbers you need.

In technical reality they shouldn't be interchangable, each one is designed for the engine/spec of the particular car, they are designed to work in relation to the technical specification of the car, i.e engine weight, engine power, estate hatchback, towing capacity etc etc. i wouldn't recommend swapping sphere's from a different spec's car unless you know EXACTLY what you are doing and what you aim to achieve.

But i guess they thread on and will work, but the difference is a lot noticeable if you swap a sphere from a 1.6i to a 3.0 V6 or then from 2.1TD estate.

Thats all i can share with you so far, i'm still learning here.

[awg2]

If you search the forum for "eigen" in the body of the messages you will get 5 or 6 threads which you may find helpful. They contain quite a bit about the effect that differences in the specs of various spheres have on suspension performance.

[awg2]

This:
http://www.tramontana.co.hu/citroen/suspens/model.html

has a calculator for various combinations of spheres and produces results which may be interesting to the numerate.

[Mandrake]

Are spheres interchangeable between Xantias?, or is this a daft question. eg would putting Activa spheres on a 1.9td tighten up the handling a little.

Put Activa spheres on a 1.9TD ? Nope. Activa strut spheres are the same as Hydractive 2 ones and have very small damper valve holes. Without the extra centre spheres of a Hydractive 2/Activa car your ride will be harsh and firm all the time, to the point of shaking the fillings out of your teeth

(Anyone with a Hydractive 2 or Activa that doesn't believe me, unplug the Hydractive computer fuse and go for a drive )

Spheres for Xantia's other than Hydractive 2 or Activa are a proposition though.

I have a td that rolls a bit too much for my liking

First check that you have the right spheres on now, I don't find the 1.9TD rolls too much at all, its possible you have spheres for a 1.9D which have higher gas pressure and would give a softer ride but more roll.

If you can locate the long numbers printed in black on the spheres (starting with 9) and tell us someone can look it up in a sphere table and see if you have the right ones or not. If they're GSF spheres it will be a shorter number starting with an N.

Also let us know what year it is, and whether its a hatchback or estate.

Regards,
Simon