Suspension Options and Setup for B Series Ts

[Erko]

Shock Absorbers

Generally, Ford OEM shocks are well past their best by around 40,000klms. The thing is you may not notice due to the gradual way they wear out. Without putting them on a shock dyno you can often tell if you pay attention to the rebound when hitting bumps on corners, you get a skipping / skating tendency as the tyre is not “glued” to the road like it should be, rather its in the air as the worn shock doesn’t rebound fast enough.

In addition to the Monroe and Pedders type OEM replacement shocks, there are 2 main shock types that will give your car better than new ride and handling. Reason being, both of these are far better than the $10 per corner Ford allows when building your car.

Bilstein Sport – (Yellow and Blue) direct replacement non adjustable shocks. Works well with stock or King Springs. Significantly better damping and control than stock. Refer member aiboart’s review at http://www.fordxr6turbo.com/forum/index.ph...&hl=aiboart

You can expect 100,000klms or so out of the Bilsteins. Bilsteins are rebuildable.

Koni – Koni makes both adjustable (Yellow) and Non Adjustable (Red) for the B series. The Yellow dampers are rebound adjustable on the car from the top of the shock. The adjustment is mostly to cater for wear as the shock ages. The Red shocks are designed as an OEM replacement “fit and forget” and are not adjustable. Both Yellow and Red will provide many years of service with significantly improved performance over stock.

[Erko]

Bumpstops

When lowering the rear bump stops need attention. The two options are either cutting down the stock bumpstops ($ free), or installing shortened bumpstops available from Suppliers like Superpro. Installing shorter bumpstops is the preferred method - cost is in the $50-70 range. The reason shorter bumpstops are preferred is that when your car bottoms out the shorter stop is a lot more progressive which means that you will get less bounce and maintain better traction/grip on the road surface when compared to cut down bump stops. Standard bumpstops measure 90mm while the Superpro shorter bump stops measure 70mm.

[Benny]

Geez Erko spent some time doing this. Thanks for the time and info.

Benny

[Erko]

no worries Benny, hope someone gets some use from it. Not done yet though, will be adding some more stuff and then it will be cleaned up.

[Pube]

  Erko said:

Shock Absorbers

Koni – Koni makes both adjustable (Yellow) and Non Adjustable (Red) for the B series. The Yellow dampers are rebound adjustable on the car from the top of the shock. The adjustment is mostly to cater for wear as the shock ages. The Red shocks are designed as an OEM replacement “fit and forget” and are not adjustable. Both Yellow and Red will provide many years of service with significantly improved performance over stock.

Koni 'reds' are adjustable, just not on the car. You have to remove the shock from the car and adjust by fully compressing the shock until it clicks into something like an internal valve. Once the valve is located, the shiny part of the shock is rotated clockwise or anti-clockwise in the body for a harder/softer setting. Once you are happy, you can extend the shock and fit to car

[Erko]

Thanks Pube, noted..I wasnt aware of that. Will update thread later.

[Erko]

Wheel Width and Offset

Standard width is 8 inches and offset is +36. PCD is 5x114.3 (Same as Late model Mitsu Evos, Mazda RX-8, Some Nissans).

Below Link is a good tool to work out how wheels that you are planning to use will work on your car - ie. a guide to whether they will fit or not.

http://www.1010tires.com/WheelOffsetCalculator.asp

The rear of the B Series has a fair bit of room, utes more so than sedans, however the front width is limited by the front suspension arm (look how much clearance you have stock - you might be surprised).

[octane6]

Gday

does anyone have a part # for shorter rear bumpstops in kings???

[Smoke them tyres]

Erko,

Any chance of some "motion ratios" for the front and rear suspensions (particularly the front)?

I need to do some work on some spring rates.....I already have some wheel rates in mind

[Erko]

sorry mate, I dont have that info. what spring rates are you thinking?