Suspension Height Drawing

deian · Post by **deian** » 19 Mar 2007, 22:59

Has anyone got a link or a copy of the technical drawing from citroen regarding the height of the xantia by any chance. Mine will need adjusting real soon. It will be muchly appreciated.

steelcityuk · Post by **steelcityuk** » 19 Mar 2007, 23:14

http://homepages.igrin.co.nz/simon/imag ... height.jpg

deian · Post by **deian** » 19 Mar 2007, 23:21

brilliant, exactly what i'm looking for, thanks for that... one more question... where exactly under the car do we call the top (start measuring down), the image seems a little vague?

thanks

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 20 Mar 2007, 23:57

The front one I thought would be fairly obvious ?

The rear one not quite as obvious - if you look at the rear rubber bushes that mount the suspension chassis to the body, immediately behind that and a bit higher up there is a flat square area of body panel - this is where you measure to.

Regards,
Simon

BonceChops · Post by **BonceChops** » 21 Mar 2007, 12:37

I am sure I read somewhere on here that the normal ride height is half way between the lowest and highest setting. Can anyone confirm this?

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 21 Mar 2007, 13:25

the hights dont normaly need any adjusting unless someone or something has done something on the car which could throw the settings out
regards malcolm

deian · Post by **deian** » 21 Mar 2007, 15:18

like a broken metal link coming off the clamp, fun and games over the weekend though

thanks for the clarification simon

steelcityuk · Post by **steelcityuk** » 21 Mar 2007, 19:02

According to Simon half way isn't right because of compression of the suspension parts at full height. This makes sense really because if half way was right then that's how Citroen would specify it.

Steve.

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 21 Mar 2007, 19:17

It's definately not half way between minimum and maximum height - it seems intuitive at first until you realize that the maximum height position puts a LOT of force on the limit stop rubbers and compresses them a lot more than the weight of the car does resting on the lower limit stops in the minimum height position.

(Also unlike some older Citroen's with double wishbones, the upper and lower limit stops are not the same - especially on the McPherson struts)

If you try measuring it you'll find that the "half way" point is approx 20-30mm higher than the height specified by Citroen. (And very dependant on the condition of the rubber snubbers)

Best to stick with the quoted figures.

Regards,
Simon

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 21 Mar 2007, 21:11

Not too bad a rule of thumb with the half & half rule

Another easy rule of thumb is horisontal driveshafts at front and horisontal (longitudinal) rear arms.
Or even simpler : horisontal driveaxles at front, thereafter adjust rear to get sills exactly parallel to ground.

- but still its not 'right by the papers'
- and it will possibly never, ever be because of the factual tyre make, type, size, wear, inflation, ground flatness, temperature and any body structure damages on the measuring points together makes for too much hassle making it worth going by the 'paper'

Its a matter of a practical attitude really

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 22 Mar 2007, 00:44

AndersDK wrote:- but still its not 'right by the papers'
- and it will possibly never, ever be because of the factual tyre make, type, size, wear, inflation, ground flatness, temperature and any body structure damages on the measuring points together makes for too much hassle making it worth going by the 'paper'

Its a matter of a practical attitude really

The diagram above is actually a "simplified" one sourced from the Haynes book, and it doesn't take into account tyre differences and inflation etc as you point out.

However I also have the ride height information from the Citroen manual and it has a simple procedure that DOES take into account tyre differences by getting you to measure the distance from the ground to the centre of the wheel, and include that figure when calculating the height to the body. It also has correct figures for other model variations such as Activa, as there are some small differences.

If I get a chance I'll scan them in and upload them. (I don't have a scanner of my own)

Using this "correct" method with the 205/60/15 tyres on 15" alloys on my car agrees with the bottom column in the above table within just a few mm, but will probably vary with other tyres/rims.

Regards,
Simon

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 22 Mar 2007, 15:29

Its allright Simon -

I just wanted to point that there is no point in going by hours calculating, adjusting, testing, reading - and then do it over again - to reach a paper figure. To try kick in a practical approach to survive those everyday small hassles

deian · Post by **deian** » 22 Mar 2007, 15:45

Proper Citroen figures would be cool Simon, i'll be needing mine done soon anyway.

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 23 Mar 2007, 06:09

deian wrote:Proper Citroen figures would be cool Simon, i'll be needing mine done soon anyway.

Here you go, as promised:

http://homepages.igrin.co.nz/simon/imag ... ia_height/

I managed to get a few minutes at work to scan the relevant pages.

Regards,
Simon

deian · Post by **deian** » 23 Mar 2007, 15:24

That's spot on, thanks so much simon.