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Race suspension question

2K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  Alleggerita 
#1 ·
Now that the dropped spindles are installed on my race Spider, the front end sits too low. I don't have the rubber cushions or any shims in the springpans. To raise the front about an inch or less, should I reinstall the rubber spring cushions or just use Al shims? Thanks.
 
#2 ·
Ride height

To get one inch you need about 1/2 inch spacers under the springs. But that allows no "set-up".

Measure the height of your springs (if 9" then order a set of 5 inch diameter 1250-1400 inlb springs in 91/2 inch length. (Afco / Speedway / Etc.)

Or: use only the short spring pans. Better to have longer springs and space the spring pans down with shims to set height and balance correctly.
You can cut and raise the short pans to make "shorter" still..
 
#5 ·
Nader, before you order any new springs, just put the rubber cushions in and see where you are. Richard is right, it is about a 2 to 1 ratio. The cushion should give you about an inch I would think. I run stock car springs in my cars with cushions on bottom, but not on top.

By the way, I saw a lot of steel in your suspension pics. What's up? Run out of titanium to play with?
 
#6 ·
Thanks, Erik. I ended up needing both the rubber cushions and a couple shims to get it up to minimum height. In fact, I was mistaken and the springs were already on rubber cushions, so I stacked a 7mm and 4mm shim to get the height. Like Richard mentioned, I'll be needing the short pans if I want to further tune the suspension.

Are you using stock car springs like NASCAR springs, or stock Alfa springs?

Oh, I've got a couple Ti tricks up my sleeve, but it'll have to wait until the next off-season.
 
#10 ·
I think Alfaholics stuff is great. They even make a small diameter front spring setup to use without a spring pan; just a connector bar, and with a threaded cylinder that adjusts like a coil-over. The only problem is their parts are costly, but their quality is superb.

Alfaholics supplies many European vintage racers, where there is a lot of competition. The benefit of the small spring is reduced weight but increased cost. As they say "Speed costs money, how fast can you afford to go".
 
#9 ·
they are nice, but $$$$$,, just go to speedway motors, they have spring there..i have the 1150" lbs 5.5x9" on the front of my car( street0 and they work great..no bottoming out at all, and 185" lbs on the rear, nice set up for my car,,and also check qa1 for shocks..alot better than konis..for the same price.
 
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