New rear spheres and what a difference, do fronts ?

[charentejohn]

After having ever worse rear suspension for about 3 months I finally did something.
First a thanks to everyone here and the various guides provided.
To Xac I have to say 'what a tool', in the nicest way. I tried making (and buying) a removal tool but without success, I then saw the one made from a 10mm threaded bar bent in a loop and bolted to a handle. Worked 100% as grip was excellent, due to the threads I guess.

So the changes are.
Before - solid rear suspension, front was jerky when changing height.
After - soft rear suspension, raises and lowers smoothly, major change in ride quality.

Big test tomorrow as taking it out for a run, needs a few bumps to get things back to normal I think. Done citrobics etc.
Seems ok but ride height is a little higher than normal, so I will measure it after a run. Also rear moves slower than the front when changing height by about 10 seconds. May be normal or need bedding in.

Rear very bouncy and soft when leaning on the car, front not so much but then it is heavier. I will see what it like after a run but may be worth changing the fronts too ??
Currently full of hydraflush so I will do the 1-1.5k miles recommended and then switch back to LHM, if you think it is worth it I could also do the front spheres at the same time if they would make an improvement, or is it just weight related.

[Xaccers]

I'd do the fronts too.
What is the tick rate of the accumulator at the front of the engine?
It should be more than 30 seconds between ticks.
As there is no "on car" test for the rear accumulator (known as the anti sink sphere) I use the front one as a guide; ie if the front one needs changing then I replace the rear one too.
Of course if you have a sphere pressure tester then you can be certain if spheres need changing.

I'm glad the day tool worked

[Xantidote]

Seems ok but ride height is a little higher than normal

I can't see why changing the rear spheres would affect the ride height. Must be your imagination

Always nice fitting new spheres, and getting the nice ride back.

I only left the hydraflush in for 1,000 miles when I did mine

[charentejohn]

A long time between ticks, I don't even notice them.
Reckon I will do the fronts as well, when I change the fluid back to LHM.
I did the rear centre spgere too as figureed I may as well as brakes needed bleeding for hydraflush anyway. I think the centre one belonged to a guy called Noah originally. The car is excellent underneath and other spheres were pretty clean but the centre one was coated in muck and even had rust on the face of it, so been there a while.

Supposedly the fronts have been done but then the rars were too, or not. So may as well do all of them and then done for a while, I assume about 3+ years or 30k miles at least ?

I was telling a friend about the removal tool and he said it may also work for oil filters, good point. Same idea using say 4mm threaded bar should work a treat, especially with the small clearance between Xantai filter and Alternator as chain wrench can catch in the gap. Shame patents are so expensive.

I am only basing ride height on the 'fingers under the wheel arch' test so may be that it was too low before and is now correct. I will do the proper measurements when next underneath, seems the old measure to the wheel arch is not precise enough for these.

[Hell Razor5543]

Take a look at Xac signature, he has a link to a DIY sphere removal tool that does the job. The rough rule of thumb for ride height is three horizontal fingers between top of wheel and the arch, with one finger for the rear.

[Xaccers]

Take a look at Xac signature, he has a link to a DIY sphere removal tool that does the job. The rough rule of thumb for ride height is three horizontal fingers between top of wheel and the arch, with one finger for the rear.

Vertical

[Hell Razor5543]

Oops! I was measuring using finger widths, and that is why I meant horizontal, as I would have taken vertical (in this context) to mean finger lengths.

I do know that if the height is off then so will the ride be. Gracie was a little over 4 fingers high, and felt jittery. Since Jim showed me how to sort it, she is on 3 fingers, and feels a lot better for it.

[charentejohn]

That seems about right, mine is 3 front and 2 rear (ish).
Then again I know this is not a precise measurement as I have delicate fingers (could have been a concert pianist if, I could play the piano ) rather than muscular chunky ones.

Just checked Old Guy's pages as very practical info found there http://www.attfield.dircon.co.uk/xantia.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and see there is a measure at the wheel arch set of figures, good for a 'ball park' check.