Lowering the spring perches on a 2009 Scuderia 16M. Factory springs. Alignment required after lowering the car. Special tools required. DIY simple and easy. https://vimeo.com/70709428
You should move these to the "technical thread" sticky post. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
Thx for the vid! I guess you are aware that the chassis set up will be now a little bit softer due to this lowering method. You've just loosened the spring tension slightly, thus the car goes now deeper into the springs.
Hmmmm. I'm not sure that is the case. Please explain your thoughts further. The springs are the same, the perches which support the car are just in a different location. Pic below. 10mm is subtle. It is a compromise for the track and street without changing out to different springs. Most people would not notice the visual change. Thanks! Note: The spring perche wrenches came from Hill Engineering and are for a different model but worked fine for this application too. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Let's have a look on the picture below. The wheel suspension is down to marking. In this position you loosened the spring tension. Of course, the car is now lowered a few millimeters, but you modified also the spring progression in relation to the wheel movement. For one centimeter wheel movement is now more spring deflection available, your car is now reacting softer. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Out of curiosity, will this produce a measurable or noticeable difference? Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Just to confirm: From the Hill site it looks to me that "LNS-01A Platform adjuster" would be the larger one (although its description is "348/355/512TR/M") and LNS-02 ("360/430/612/ENZO") is the smaller one. Is that right?
With the wheel at full extension, there is another centimeter of spring travel, so yes the spring is unloaded by one more centimeter. But when the car is sitting on its own weight or being driven, the spring behaves exactly as it did before. The car just sits lower but the spring is unchanged in its compressed state.
The argument may be that the static wishbone geometry is very slightly different at a different ride height, consistent with the fact that spring length is not exactly linear with ride height therefore the wheel rate is slightly different at the lower ride height. I suspect all of our geometric intuition tells us this effect is utterly trivial ( at least mine does) but in an academic sense it's proably a true statement. If the originator of this comment thinks the effect is significant then he owes us a mathematical analysis proving it.
I see it different; lowering the Scud on that way for cosmetic reasons, absolut no problem. If you prepare the Scud for the track, I would be a little more careful regarding lowering the car on that "easy way", maybe this method is a little bit too simple. Show the picture below, a Scud with standard setup when breaking into the corner. Now lower the car without an alignment of the springs - I wish you all the best! Image Unavailable, Please Login
You're kinna wrong here but you also have a point. The springs are the same and once the vehicle weight is taken on them the sag is taken out of the suspension and the springs are tensioned to exactly the same extent that they previously were. What has happened is that the body of the car is now slightly lower (on exactly the same suspension system) than it previously was. The lowering may cause the car body to ground out on certain items that it used to be able to clear but the spring strength, tension and progression are exactly as they previously were.
I will try it again: A chassis consists of two movements: compress and rebound. The available suspension way for the wheel will be always the same. If you now loose the spring tension the wheel will work over its whole suspension way (from end to end, compress and rebound) softer. I guess this is clear. We cannot just talk about the breakaway torque in the resting position of the car. Of course, this will be the same at a certain value. It is clear, the whole variation has an impact at a very fine level. However, as mentioned above, it may play a role latest then if you prepare the Scud for racetracks.
Aha! Now I understand what you are saying. Yes, under the same cornering or "bump" situations the lowered car with the same springs will be closer to running out of suspension travel, and one way to fix that is to install stiffer springs. Good point.
Are they? I would have thought that by lowering the ride height this way, you're reducing the preload on the spring. Whilst your damping may remain unchanged, your actual spring rate would be softer on a progressive rate spring, but remain unchanged on a constant rate spring?
Once the weight is on the springs there is no preload. The only time preload affects the behavior of the car is when the car is in the air, or about to be.
Yes they are the same. Ignoring minor geometry changes think of the math: Using simple numbers: 500 lb/inch spring 3000 lb car = 6" compression The compression can be any combination of preload and car weight. Theoretically you could have no preload and the suspension would travel all 6" to settle BUT jacking the car up would seriously suck. Assuming that your preload doesn't exceed the weight of the vehicle, the total amount of spring compression required to support the car doesn't change. Even a progressive rate spring will still need the same amount of compression to hold the car up because your car still weighs the same amount. Lowering a car is simply moving the top support of the spring so that chassi sits lower relative to the spring.
Awesome post. Thanks for making a video and pictures. Not a lot of Ferrari owners do DIY like this. Question: is the springs rate for scuderia linear or progressive?
Nice work. Some important items. 1) Disconnect the front and rear sway bar at one corner, this drops the hubs even more, and makes it easier to adjust the spring support. 2) Spray lubricant on the shock treads and spring perches, spray brake cleaner when finished adjusting. The Sachs have aluminum bodies and you can easily strip the treads not doing 1 and 2. Moreover the hammer doesn't belong there, use the two spanners to lock the spring perches. Once lowered, back to alignment rack, the toe will be off, camber values will change too (for better). Be aware that despite of the stiff spring rates, stock wheel rate is low, and the car moves a lot. On Trofeo tires, you will be hitting the bump stops on the front axle, effective spring rate increases, car understeers. The only fix for the design defect is new shocks/springs. Car looks great. We need track videos.
Wait, is he going to be hitting the bump stops because the spring rate is now softer, or just less travel?
