Suspension set up 250 series

Bob, re the 250 GT/L, I had the presence of mind to note the setting of the dampers before taking them apart. They were right in the middle. I can only assume that no one had touched them before me.

john

 

Bob, the shocks are adjustable. This is how you adjust them.

KONI NA | Adjustment Guides

john

 

Remember that back in the day these cars were raced on real roads and the tracks they raced on weren't much much better, not at all like the billiard table smoothness of the race tracks of today.

Races like the Targa, LeMans and many hillcilmbs were run on closed public roads, and Sebring was notoriously rough. They had to contend with bumps and rough surfaces and a car sprung too stiffly would have just bounced from bump to bump.

For that reason they weren't set up as stiffly as race cars of today, and that goes for spring rates, sway bar rates and shock rates. Also remember that up until the early 60's suspension tuning was really a black art. They did their tuning with tire sizes, spring rates and shocks, but not so much with sway bars. And also tires were taller and softer, which also softens the ride rate.

Tires were taller and skinnier and were not a sensitive to the camber change you get from body roll, so keeping the car flat was not as important as it became as tires got wider.

The race cars were lighter and even with the same springs would have been relatively stiffer than the GT cars. I'm sure the race cars had a relatively higher spring rate but when you see photos of the amount of body roll that the race cars had at the time it's clear that they weren't overly stiff.

It was a different place and time.

 

Bob, what car do you have, a Series II Cab? These car were originally fitted with lever shocks, not the tube type.

john

 

OK, here we go. Series II Cabriolets were first built with Houdaille lever shocks, and starting about chassis #2300, they switched to tube type shocks, first Miletto, then Koni. So most Cabriolets have tube shocks. Both the Houdaille and Koni shocks are adjustable. When set up correctly, both types work well for street usage. In racing, the lever shocks tended to overheat, and boil the fluid, thus rendering the shock non-functional. That is the main reason the Koni shocks were adopted by Ferrari.

 

Thanks Dyke, did not know.

john

 

Bobj: Go back and read my post, lever shocks DO adjust. All SWB's had tube type shocks.

 

Just to throw a spanner in the mix. i think the majority of 250 cars are over tyred. i don't think a 250 fitted a bigger tyre section than a 185 (be it 162 or 15" wheels)