Suspension deflection - please help

[Rusty]

I had a bit of a thought how to try and measure the relative stifnesses of the suspension options for the S2 as any emails that I've sent seem to have been ignored by H&R

To achieve this I need your help though. I need you to measure the ride-height of your car then apply your full body weight to the car, directly over the wheel and measure the rideheight with the load applied.

You'll need to post the two ride-heights and your weight (!).

I'll do this for the standard A/C ABY springs, if anyone can help with H&R etc then that'd be grand

Yes, I am going a touch mad being off work but it's all good fun I suppose...

[Rusty]

Hmmm, might not work quite as well as I thought but... Looks to be a carefully executed 2 person job!

[S2central.net]

Andy - the only person who is going to writhe around on my bonnet is Keira Knightley, wearing a skin tight lycra suit, smeared liberally in baby oil so as not to mark the paint. Suspension deflection will be the last thing on my mind at that point...

[Keeper of The Kitten]

Sounds like you need a spring compression tester to me Andy! Could do a back-to-back comparison with fixed weights placed in the footwells of a car, but remember tired old springs will compress more than new ones anyway.

[S2central.net]

My idea was far more interesting... though Martin's is much more scientific

[Rusty]

Mmmm. Even my hefty frame doesn't seem to deflect the ultra stiff springs of the behemoth S2! Keirah Knightly is far too small, Dawn French would be a lot more suitable!

I've had a change of plan. I'll fit different springs to one axle and measure the relative rideheights after fitting each spring and free-lengths to try and get an idea.

Want to get to the bottom of front and rear spring rates and also those of springs like H&R and a few others I've found.

[Keeper of The Kitten]

Well the good news with MacPherson strut cars is the motion ratio is pretty much 1:1 so you can test the springs by loading them on the car (I supposed weights on top of a strut tower would do it best) or loading them off the car - hydraulic press with a gauge would be ideal!