Leggy Front shocks.

[Scott Grimson]

Hi all, 

slowly getting various jobs done on the Leggy Series 2 but every time i wheel it out of the garage and look at it i don't like the hight at the front so need some shorter shocks.

What are other owners using on theirs, specifically lengths and spring loads?

Cheers.

Scotty.  

[Steve Kerswell]

sat here all alone, twiddling my thumbs :-)

[Paul Sheridan]

Bloody hell..... who rattled your cage Heasemen??? 

[Dave Taylor]

Oh! he's still with us, I nearly arranged to send flowers.

[Scott Grimson]

Well having looked at the Shocks closely i think the issue with them is the springs are way too firm, with the front jacked up the shocks measure 11.5" and when i lower it onto the ground again even with all my tool boxes stacked up on the front it only goes down half an inch, just not enough give in it.

[Dave Adams]

It's a common problem on duttons / kit cars in general. Folks assume that harder springs = better handling. Not so.

Given the angles the front springs sit something like 180-200 lb  and at the rear 150lb....you will get all sorts of opinions on here though. Bear in mind the car only has about 350kg per axle (could be less) you don't need massive springs. Mine has 200lb springs and it's very firm. They may need reducing to 180's

[Scott Grimson]

Yeah i was thinking about 180 myself, going to phone Procomp in the week, Matt really knows his stuff he set up my mates Autotune Gemini and it's the best handling car ive ever been in!!!!

[James Doulton]

I'm of the same school of thought as Dave Adams on spring rates. I currently have 160lb/in at the front and 130lb/in at the back. I am going to change the back to stop the car hitting the bump stops and to stop the diff flange hitting the transmission tunnel when the car is fully loaded with camping gear etc. I have bought (but not yet fitted) 140/95B12 dampers for my Legerra, which are 2" longer than my existing Spax and give me an extra inch of travel. I chose 10" springs of 200lb/in. This choice was the result of lots of calculations in order to prevent the car from hitting the bump stops going over some of my local obstacles - I measured the ramps on the 'plateau' zebra crossings by measuring off photos (the ramps rise 90mm over 1500mm which is almost exactly 1 degree). I modelled the suspension travel using Excel and this confirmed that I am currently hitting the rear bump stops, but with my longer travel and different springs then I won't.

I haven't fitted them because I bought dampers with the same sized eye at both ends but the lower fixing pins are a larger diameter. That stalled the modification programme and I haven't got back to that, yet.

[Big Vern]

Forget all the 'calculations', wheel frequency nonsence etc, what does it feel like to drive. Go drive the car as it is and make a list of how it feels to drive, what you like/dont like. Go drive other sports cars and do the same. Lost of people are 'conditioned' by their everyday mogadon motors and have unrealistic expectations of what a sports car should feel like. FWIW my 16plate mx5 2.0l sport nav has soft springs, bilstein (hard) dampers and a rear arb from 1/8th welding wire, It rolls like a galleon in a stiff breeze and on a bumpy road blurrs your vision. Needless to say it'll be getting stiffer springs and a thicker arb very soon!

[Steve Kerswell]

"Rolls like a galleon" I like that, I agree to many want comfort and precise handling, it ain't gonna happen :-)

[Adrian Southgate]

I'm with BV, if it feels right then it probably is right. The green leggy is still a little bouncy up front but it grips really well and doesn't rattle my bones too much.

[Scott Grimson]

Agree to a point with you Vern, the science is great and can really help getting a car in the right ball park but it'll only get you so far, nothing beats taking it for a blast and seeing how it feels. I just need to get close first because what i have is nowhere near!!!  

[James Doulton]

My Legerra currently seems pretty reasonable on the road but it wallows like a hippo over bumps at Castle Combe, so I think it is rather under-damped. That's why I need new rear dampers, with adjustment on them.