Standard TF Suspension Settings

[plrobbo]

Hi Pete and all - many thanks for your help on this one. Yes, I'd say you are correct, that I have STD suspension. At least I know where I'm going now in obtaining the correct wheel alignments etc. Cheers Peter.

[plrobbo]

Hi folks - well, indeed my problem is solvered! I was under the impression that my car had the 'Sports' suspension ie lowered. Now I know it isn't - a bit of a blow, but when I obtain my Bilstein Comfort Ride Kit I may use it to lower the car - depending on the ride of course. Anyway, many thanks for those that hepled me on this one & Debs for posting all the settings. Cheers Peter.

[plrobbo]

Well, thanks to you all for bearing with me on this one.
Not all TF owners are as thick as I am!!!!
A good outcome then, as I nhow know that my car has 'Standard suspension'.
Cheers & thanks - Robbo.

[adrianclifford]

For some while now I have been interested in the standard suspension on the TF against other options (Sports Packs and lowered).

On my TF135 80LE I assume I have standard suspension, it's hard to tell as they come with a chrome pack as standard (therefore I'm not sure about sports pack fitments of any variety). I don't want to lower it because it won't look the same and from what I've heard, the ride is compromised and not comfortable (we do long distances and we are often in the car all day for several days when abroad) so comfort is important.

Therefore I assumed that the TF160 80LE will be lower (10mm/20mm who knows ?) so at the Pride of Longbridge rally I checked a TF160 80LE and it was higher. My car sits at 34.5mm front and 35mm rear (distance taken from the centre of the hub cap to the bottom lip of the wheel arch). As I only had fingers to use at Longbridge the 160 sat at three fingers as opposed to mine that had two between the tyre and the wheel arch, therefore it seems that the 160 was 20mm higher.

Can anybody understand this ?

A set of Bilstein's are going on next week set at the middle position, I'll take more measurements and report back but it's a mystery to me that's for sure.

[mgtfnut]

Hi Adrian. I've had the Bilsteins on for some time now - the best thing we've done to the car in nearly six years.

As I understand it, the top Bilstein setting corresponds to OEM ride height (whatever that might be ) and gives the optimum comfort setting, as otherwise the damper piston runs out of travel and the bump stops limit suspension travel with undesireable effects on the handling.

Certainly on the top setting, our car looks fine and certainly has not yet bottomed out with some pretty brisk driving on Welsh mountain roads

Not answered your question really, but perhaps a little help? Ring VHS and have a chat.

[veterancharger]

Debs,

I am new to this forum. I have a question about the Standard TF suspension settings. My car is a 2003 TF Sprint 135 which i have owned for 14 months. I have just had all four discs, pads, front wheel bearings and hubs replaced (the hubs were buckled) to cure vibration when braking. The garage performing the work (Oselli in Witney) have recommended I get a laser 4 wheel alignment check since there is wear to the outside shoulder of n/s front tyre (only 4000 miles from new) and following the work my steering wheel is rotated slightly to the right when driving straight ahead.
I would just like to check the settings you posted on 16th April 2009 apply to my car before rushing off to get the check done. Thanks David

[petevick]

Welcome David.
as long as it has standard dampers and springs fitted, then the settings are correct for your TF. Laser aligning kit will have al the settings pre programmed anyway.

[DimTF160+]

According to this link http://www.nitron.co.uk/products_design.htm ,if you choose the 1-way NTR sport option,you can 'build' shocks on your own specs.Does anyone have in mind or have a comparison table with tecnical data and dimensions of TF's coilovers?

I know that GAZ sells a bolt on kit for TFs but I would like to find something better than this.

[Rob Bell]

For some while now I have been interested in the standard suspension on the TF against other options (Sports Packs and lowered).

On my TF135 80LE I assume I have standard suspension, it's hard to tell as they come with a chrome pack as standard (therefore I'm not sure about sports pack fitments of any variety). I don't want to lower it because it won't look the same and from what I've heard, the ride is compromised and not comfortable (we do long distances and we are often in the car all day for several days when abroad) so comfort is important.

Therefore I assumed that the TF160 80LE will be lower (10mm/20mm who knows ?) so at the Pride of Longbridge rally I checked a TF160 80LE and it was higher. My car sits at 34.5mm front and 35mm rear (distance taken from the centre of the hub cap to the bottom lip of the wheel arch). As I only had fingers to use at Longbridge the 160 sat at three fingers as opposed to mine that had two between the tyre and the wheel arch, therefore it seems that the 160 was 20mm higher.

Can anybody understand this ?

A set of Bilstein's are going on next week set at the middle position, I'll take more measurements and report back but it's a mystery to me that's for sure.

Sounds as though your car benefited from being fitted with Sports Pack 1 Adrian

How's it now with the Bilsteins fitted?

[adrianclifford]

Hi Rob, just caught up with this. With the Bilsteins the change is amazing, it really does transform the car, I wonder what sort of reviews the cars would have received if these had been fitted from factory. It's not only the ride comfort (ie damping effect) but the car feels so much more precise and gives great confidence, for example, when being pushed hard in to a corner on a mountain road. On the Monthléry circuit last year the car just felt so good.

The ride height, on the middle setting, has not changed but I have not experimented with the other two positions as the shock absorbers have to be removed from the car to re-adjust, they cannot be done in-situ .

Does anybody have these on a different setting, what's the verdict and the ride height of your car ?

I'll add, I've just been out with Dave Tynan in his new 2005 TF160 with the factory comfort pack, that's not bad at all, much better than the standard TF.

Another thing I'm interested in is the spring ratings, which I assume differ as they are marked with a paint blob. I have blue, anybody else have different ?, if so what TF is it ?

[mgtfnut]

Hi Adrian.

I've got an early 2002 TF 135 as you know, it has blue springs on the front


and red on the back


Both front and back are on the top setting which gives OEM ride height, and hence maximum bounce and rebound suspension travel. VHS advise the top setting for maximum effect, otherwise bottoming can occur on major yumps which might unsettle the car on a fast bend. Andy Kitson told me that the dampers were designed around early TF spring rates to get rid of the bone jarring ride.I've no idea what the spring rates are for these MG-Rover springs

I've Polybushed throughout and the resultant ride is comparable with a "new" TF - silent, crash free, solid feeling.
I'm not bothered about a "lowered" look, more how it handles on the road

[adrianclifford]

Hi Jerry, of course, I know your car quite well as you know. However I'm intrigued as I thought your car sat quite low if I remember correctly from the last time I saw it (and you). As you are on different springs (I'm blue all round) and you are on the highest setting, what is your ride height ?

[mgtfnut]

Adrian, a bit confused. My ride height is about 345mm, but I'll need to check again as I park on a steep downhill drive Looks like I'm running "sports" suspension ride heights, although I don't know why. You may be right in that our car looks lower than normal, but I'm on OEM springs, and VHS assure me the top setting is standard ride height.
It could be the weight of Waxoyl though

The workshop manual quotes blue for the front, and red for the rears by the way.

[adrianclifford]

hmm, when I get Pearl back from the paint shop I'll check my rear spring colours, I thought they were both blue and I'm definitely on the middle setting.

[MaddAussie]

I will check mine tonight...

[adrianclifford]

Thanks Aussie, I'm still intrigued by this, there's enough TF owners on here to answer the questions or maybe there is no real answer, just more questions.

I'll add the front now sits at 34cm front and 34.5cm's rear so it's 0.5 cm lower all round with the Bilstein shocks than standard OEM.

Jerry, did Andy Kitson ever tell you why they give three settings as they appear to recommend the highest setting. I guess it could be to lower racers maybe ?, again I guess the lowest setting will drop the car by a further 0.5cm, is that true ?.

[quick_spider]

Does anyone have the optimal geometry for the 85th Edition with the Bilsteins, softer springs and Eibach ARBs?

Thanks

Jon

[adrianclifford]

Optimal geometry ??

As far as I'm aware (I have the full technical specs for the 85th buried somewhere) the springs are standard TF135 (standard for the SAIC version), the Bilsteins will drop the car, if they are on the middle setting, by 5mm (as has been mentioned earlier), what settings are yours on (high, middle or low) ? The high appear not to affect the ride height, the lowest should (to be confirmed) drop it by 10mm.

I doubt the ARB change will affect ride height or geometry, they have a firmer control of the yaw motion (hence the term anti-roll bar).

[quick_spider]

Tracking settings is what I was after really - I'm running VHS on standard springs on the middle platform, but I'm picking up some softer springs to try in a few weeks time and wasn't sure if the tracking settings would be the same.

Thanks for the info.

[mgtfnut]

Thanks Aussie, I'm still intrigued by this, there's enough TF owners on here to answer the questions or maybe there is no real answer, just more questions.

I'll add the front now sits at 34cm front and 34.5cm's rear so it's 0.5 cm lower all round with the Bilstein shocks than standard OEM.

Jerry, did Andy Kitson ever tell you why they give three settings as they appear to recommend the highest setting. I guess it could be to lower racers maybe ?, again I guess the lowest setting will drop the car by a further 0.5cm, is that true ?.

Hi Adrian - just spotted this

Andy recommends the highest setting as supplied on OEM 2002 MY springs to give, as far as possible, the original ride height, and, more importantly, sufficient damper travel up and down to prevent bottoming out by running out of damper travel. If the damper runs out of travel by say lowering, the effect will be similar to hitting the bump stops, stopping any further suspension travel and potentially affecting grip on the road in challenging circumstances.

I'm on the highest settings, and as we measured the car at Silverstone it seemed pretty normal height, although your recollection of our car was that it was lower (it must be the XPG paint )

VHS say that each lower circlip groove will give a 10cm lower ride height of the vehicle, so the middle groove will equate to the ride height of a TF sport.

My personal opinion is that "lowering" is only really a visual thing on most "normal" cars. The % gain in reduction of the CoG in an already low car is minimal, but is greatly offset by the risk of limiting the damper travel. The range of damper travel is optimised for the highest setting.

I have no experience of other springs, as obviously they may have different settled vehicle ride heights, and subsequent affect on the fixed damper travel limits.

ps: the part numbers here will identify OEM standard/sport suspension types, affected by the different positioning of the lower spring pan on the damper body. The numbers are stamped on the damper body below the spring seat.

Setting-------------Standard----------------------Sport
Front---------------RND 000270-------------------RND 000700
Rear----------------RPD 000251-------------------RPD 000261