Roberuta lifth system

Hello Francisco

I asked this same question last year but did not hear from anyone who had installed the system. I decided to give it a try anyway and it has been a very good improvement for the car. I was intending to post up a report and some pictures but did not get around to it.

Before I installed the Roberuta system, to get out of my house I needed my children to bring out two planks of wood! Once on the road I was very careful but it was too low for speed humps and many driveways.

The Roberuta website is mostly in Japanese so it took a few emails to sort out the details. In the end I ordered the front and rear system with electronic control. It installed easily even without instructions in English. I just followed the photos.

If you wait a few days I can post up some photos and give more information.

Regards

Paul

 

The shocks that Roberuta supplied are adjustable in bump and rebound. The spring seats are adjustable so you can choose whatever height you want in the lowered position.The springs they supplied are 20% heavier than standard but they are common sizes so you will have an endless choice of spring rates.

It does feel firmer but still OK for street driving. I have not had a chance to play with shock settings but what I can say is that with the range of adjustment available you should be able to set it just how you like it.

Photos to come once I find them.

 

Hear are some photos off my phone. They show the shock units ready to install.
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I am sure there are a lot of owners out there, in fact many more than they would care to admit, that having a lift system would enhance the ownership of their F40. This is completely understandable of course and something we adjustable suspension owners have known for many years. So which F40 version is the most desirable again.....???

 

Hi Petrolfumes,
could you give us some cost indications of this mod please.
God knows most of us with F40s would want to have something that could save us destroying the lip every other week.
Thanks in advance
BM

 

I won't get involved in the debate over which version of the F40 is best, they are all worth having.

Here is what I can say after installing the Roberuta system:

It raises the car up by over 50mm/2inches.

The system is not a variable height system. It is up or down.

I have set mine too 100mm, measured as in photo, in the lowered position.

Raised height is about 150mm. This is enough to get over most obstacles.

As the spring perches are adjustable you can select your own lowered height. The raised height will be about 50mm more.

In the raised position the springs are compressed so the ride is very harsh. It is only activated when needed and then you need to travel slowly. (As you would anyway).

I can now get out of my own house without scraping. I do not need to raise in for normal road driving. Some speed humps are still OK with it set low.

The system uses compressed air that acts on a piston on top of the shock absorber. It takes about 3 seconds to raise or lower.

The system if fairly fail safe. If the pneumatics stopped working the car will just sit at its lowered height. When lowered there is no air pressure in the system and no springing effect. The car rides on the directly on the road springs.

The raising and lowering is controlled by a small remote control. It can also be operated by a switch in the front compartment. There is also a manually operated version but it needs some holes drilled to carry the extra airlines that run to and from the control valve.

The system can be just front shocks or front and rear. I went with the front and rear system so I would have matching shocks and springs all round.

The system uses a 12v pump and an air tank, similar to what some 4wd vehicles use.

The box they are mounted in takes up about half of the spare wheel space. It comes in a nicely made custom box with cooling fan.

It would be possible to mount the contents of the box underneath the spare wheel space if you wanted to keep the original look or wanted the space.

No holes need to be drilled. The air is carried to each corner in 6mm tubing.

Installation is easy. The kit is made specifically for the F40. Roberuta do not usually have instructions in English but the photos on their website plus the diagrams they supplied with English captions will get you through.

The springs supplied to me are 20% higher rated than F40 standard. The springs are a standard size so there is a huge range of spring rates available cheaply from many sources worldwide.

The shock absorbers are adjustable in both bump and rebound. They have remote canisters ( very fancy ) and have twenty settings for each way. You can tune them how you want. So far I have not had a chance to experiment with settings but the range is wide.

Everything is nicely made. The shock units bolted straight in without any effort. The car can be put back to standard in a day.

The contact at Roberuta was Tiyo. [email protected] His English is a lot better than my Japanese. He was very helpful and we managed to get through the language barrier. There is not a lot of detailed information on their website on the F40 system so I needed to ask many questions. I hope I have covered them in what I have written here.

I am very happy with the kit and I am willing to pass on any more help to those who are interested. I am not on commission!

Paul
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Useful information for people wanting to spare their F40 from constant scrapping damage.

The reason I sarcastically mentioned which optioned F40 is best is because I am fed up of "supposed experts" commenting in the popular press and magazines about the non adjustable or the Non catalytic are the models are the "most desirable" This is just plain non sense as the adjustable cars I feel have the best of all worlds. When the car is moving the suspension is at the same level as the "non adjustable" and there is no difference in the drive. So why wouldn't you have an adjustable suspension car???

I know the US versions did not have this option but I still hear these silly statements here in Europe and it really should just stop. When I bought my adjustable car, I purposely bought this(knowing from previous experience with other low set cars it would have been a PITA to use as a street car without it). There was no price difference when I bought mine compared to non adjust but would have gladly paid extra to have the adjustable. Of course if the only reason you buy an F40 if to trailer to and from the track then of course Adjust susp is not necessary I guess. However I am sure the majority use their cars on the street.

 

Apparently the adjustable suspension doesn't handle as well as the non adj. also you have the added weight.

 

Utter nonsense and rubbish. Have you driven both? I couldn't feel any difference at speed.
Weight difference is not very much and certainly nothing tat you can feel through seat of your pants.

 

We have the same Roberuta suspension on our F40. I believe there is a typo, his email is [email protected]

The suspension is a must if you plan on driving it on normal roads.