drop links

[puglove]

Right guys as you all know when you lower your car the shock goes up reducing tje effectivness of the ARB blah blah blah. Answer roise jointed drop links.


So im a little strap for cash at the mo what with moving house and all. So im thinking longer OE D/L will solve this issue as a quick cheap fix for now right?? Question is what runs a longer OE D/L? A 306 one ironicaly enough is 306mm total length,

So questions are .

As above. What has a longer link?

And how long is to long before it starts having the opposit effect I.e starts making tje handle worse/ optimum length?

[C.A.R.]

Think the best bet is going to be to just wait until you can afford the adjustable ones.

How far have you lowered the car? If it's drastically affected the operation of the DL's then can you raise it up temporarily?

[puglove]

I could raise it up but meh , lol

i cant see an issue with it if they are like a inch 2 inches long as im somewhere between 60-70 mm

[Poodle]

I believe citroen xsara picasso drop links are about 20mm longer and a direct fit, maybe worth having a look about to see if you can confirm that though.

[Matt]

Go to a scrappy and take loads of random droplinks off? That's what id do, then see what fits right

[puglove]

Yeah that will be the way to do it if i can get no ifo by sitting on my arse behinde a lap top.

I will take a tape messure though lol

[Ed Doe]

Hold on.

You want longer Droplinks?! Why?

If you lower both sides an equal amount, the droplinks will drop both sides of the arb the same amount, meaning you dont need any longer ones??? They don't need to be at the same angle, the idea being as you load up the outside suspension, the inside damper lenghtens as the weight is shifted off it. This causes the droplink to push the arb downwards, which transmits a pulling force to the other droplink, 'pulling' the outside damper downwards again to keep the front level. Over stiffening the arb will have a negative effect on the handling with stiff springs and harsh damper settings, as it'll cause the inside wheel to go light/come off the ground.

Speak to Ripp, I believe he's not running an arb at the moment, and it's certainly something I've been debating doing for a while now, seeing as when my shocks load up, it just bends my POS Qparts droplinks... I do need a set of Ripp specials, but I don't have le moneyzz at the moment, and given I want a more tender set-up in general for winter I'm not fussing over it till the weather starts getting better and the turinis go back on!

[Matt]

Hahaha keyboard research is so much easier than physical. Only if someone knows haha.



Could try service box

[puglove]

Matt. You know this shiz bruv. Cuppa t in hand sat on my arse is easier than running around a scrappy lol. Services box scares me. Cant make sence of it.



Ed i was looking for a cheap quick fix just to stiffen up front en up as im getting to much roll at the mo.

[Ed Doe]

You running on spec2s?

If so that's your answer. Honestly I cannot stress enough how gash they are as a sporty tyre.

Done a complete u-turn in my opinion of them, having driven on the turinis for a few months now and gone back to the spec2s on Monday night.

YES they are a good budget summer tyre. but the side-wall is so weak it just destroys the feel & feedback you get. Honestly, ANY confidence I had to push on in my car has just gone, because I just can't feel enough what's going on where the car meets the road. steering response is dulled, turn-in is dulled, its gone from being an A road destroyer to a more comfy cruiser with no wet grip...


Back on the subject of droplinks though;
lengthening the droplinks isn't going to change anything at all if you lengthen both. The only advantages of the adjustable droplinks is you can adjust them to take up any 'slack' dead centre. So when you turn, the arb immediately loads up, rather than slopping a couple of mm and then loading. You can also build in some pre-tension if you want to. A really pikey way of taking up the slop with a stock set of droplinks is to adjust one coilover slightly lower than the other. But obviously that'll marginally affect the geometry of the car. I doubt you'd notice that much though, but imo I doubt you'd notice that much if you got adjustable drop-links really...

Another advantage of the adjustable ones being metal is it removes any flex that you'd get with cheap plastic parts, which is possibly the next weakest point in your set-up now?

If you want to stiffen up the front end, the only things you can do are to get tyres with less sidewall flex, get stiffer springs for your coilovers, wind up your dampers, or get a thicker front arb.

What spring rates are you running at the front?
What damper settings are you running?

IMO the last thing you'll need to do is stiffen the front though...

[puglove]

Righty ho.

Im running a T1R 50 profile better than the other shite i ise to have.

Spring rate i cant remember. Looking to replace on the future with a higher LB

Iv currently got metal D/L but just cheapo ones. From what you have said above about slack i may cut them in half sleeve and weld them up as i have some uber strong holow tube lying around that looks to be the correct size.


Basically im looking to stiffen the front end to avoid the back end being so skitish once the 23.5 TBs and 28 ARB is fitted. But remeber Ed i dont drive it in the wet. I dont drive it places day to day etc its pretty much goimg to be a track/ show / i fancy a good ragging sesh car so i really want it to handle every thing eles aside. I.e comfort praticality.

[Ed Doe]

Righty ho.

Im running a T1R 50 profile better than the other shite i ise to have.

Spring rate i cant remember. Looking to replace on the future with a higher LB

Iv currently got metal D/L but just cheapo ones. From what you have said above about slack i may cut them in half sleeve and weld them up as i have some uber strong holow tube lying around that looks to be the correct size.


Basically im looking to stiffen the front end to avoid the back end being so skitish once the 23.5 TBs and 28 ARB is fitted. But remeber Ed i dont drive it in the wet. I dont drive it places day to day etc its pretty much goimg to be a track/ show / i fancy a good ragging sesh car so i really want it to handle every thing eles aside. I.e comfort praticality.

T1Rs aren't great either, the sidewalls are soft as feck on those too.

If you don't drive it in the wet, get some Yoko AO48s or R888s, or Direzzasports. They'll improve grip and give you heaps more feel and way less roll.

Either way, imo (and sorry to just jump on Ruan's bandwagon, but its so friggin true, and I honestly couldn't believe it going back to the clones) you need to start with tyres. The slop etc will be so much more pronounced when you firm everything else up further...

Someone was doing a group buy on adjustable droplinks the other day, they worked out at like £60 a pair; personally for that money I wouldn't even look at bodging your own pair up...

Next most important thing to check is the spring rates. I'm running a vts rear beam with the 21mm bars and bigger arb, and Ripp suggested the best set-up for me would be 245-275lb main springs. I went for the upper end, but he warned me that much above that and I would start to get understeer mid-corner as the set-up would be too stiff at the front. I believe the hybrid ARB requires 300lb main springs, but make sure you check!!



Also, just a wee word of warning; out and out grip imo isn't what's fun about the 306. It's about how it feels when the near the limit, or when the grip is exceeded. Make sure you don't blind yourself into getting a stiffer and stiffer set-up, where you end up with massive grip, but with the result that it'll almost definitely kill you if you overstep the mark even a tiny bit...

[puglove]

Righty ho.

Im running a T1R 50 profile better than the other shite i ise to have.

Spring rate i cant remember. Looking to replace on the future with a higher LB

Iv currently got metal D/L but just cheapo ones. From what you have said above about slack i may cut them in half sleeve and weld them up as i have some uber strong holow tube lying around that looks to be the correct size.


Basically im looking to stiffen the front end to avoid the back end being so skitish once the 23.5 TBs and 28 ARB is fitted. But remeber Ed i dont drive it in the wet. I dont drive it places day to day etc its pretty much goimg to be a track/ show / i fancy a good ragging sesh car so i really want it to handle every thing eles aside. I.e comfort praticality.

T1Rs aren't great either, the sidewalls are soft as feck on those too.

If you don't drive it in the wet, get some Yoko AO48s or R888s, or Direzzasports. They'll improve grip and give you heaps more feel and way less roll.

Either way, imo (and sorry to just jump on Ruan's bandwagon, but its so friggin true, and I honestly couldn't believe it going back to the clones) you need to start with tyres. The slop etc will be so much more pronounced when you firm everything else up further...

Someone was doing a group buy on adjustable droplinks the other day, they worked out at like £60 a pair; personally for that money I wouldn't even look at bodging your own pair up...

Next most important thing to check is the spring rates. I'm running a vts rear beam with the 21mm bars and bigger arb, and Ripp suggested the best set-up for me would be 245-275lb main springs. I went for the upper end, but he warned me that much above that and I would start to get understeer mid-corner as the set-up would be too stiff at the front. I believe the hybrid ARB requires 300lb main springs, but make sure you check!!



Also, just a wee word of warning; out and out grip imo isn't what's fun about the 306. It's about how it feels when the near the limit, or when the grip is exceeded. Make sure you don't blind yourself into getting a stiffer and stiffer set-up, where you end up with massive grip, but with the result that it'll almost definitely kill you if you overstep the mark even a tiny bit...

Mate i ent got 60p to spend this side of xmas let alone £60 lol. Thing is with the tyres they have got like 1000 miles on them and are like brand new so they will have to do for now, will have to look into tyres again next year, they do stick well considering they were £31 each delivered lol.

You are depressing me here though Ed lol money money im going to chuck the garage keys in the bottom of the draw and forget about the fecking thing untill next year lol

But yeah im going to have to check my invoice and see what the spring rate is currently and prob opt for the 275lb < any recomendations on brand and dont say gaz lol. and TBH its prob going to bite me with S/C kit anyway so may aswell go big lol

[Kwik]

i agree with ed on most points except the metal vs plastic droplinks. the proper plastic ones not the cheap ones are stronger then metal ones and lighter. Ripp has also stated this previously too

[Ed Doe]

Jamie! Just enjoy it as it is! Part of the reason I've not modified mine more in the last couple of months is due to trying to save more money for other things, but also just because it's all well and good spending money on lots of shiny suspension bits, but there's no point if you don't drive it regularly enough to enjoy them! So I'm just enjoying mine as is currently, and working out what if anything needs changing!

WR to springs; I'm gonna suggest Gaz because that's the only manufacturer I've direct experience with. I believe Ripp has a good contact for just springs. What you need to do though is measure the uncompressed length of your current springs and the Diameter, and then let them know that so they can send you the right fitting spring for your coilies!

i agree with ed on most points except the metal vs plastic droplinks. the proper plastic ones not the cheap ones are stronger then metal ones and lighter. Ripp has also stated this previously too

I'm sure some are stronger, but it does depend on what ones you get. I can tell you with total certainty that ANY metal droplinks will be stronger than my plastic Q-Drive ones. I can bend them in my hands; they're AWFUL. I just don't have the money right now to change them, and there's no real point before summer anyway; I need more road compliance meaning a softer front set-up anyway! As said above too, I'm still not 100% sure the best thing on a fast-road car is to beef up the front; less roll can actually mean less grip in some scenarios...

[Kwik]

jog the cheap ones on and get some proper ones. you do know meyle hd make some i think the metal ones though but thicker then oem and have a 4 year warranty........

[Jonny81191]

I know that having 300lb front springs, apart from being damned uncomfortable on Lake District roads, made understeer more pronounced. It was probably quicker in the corners, and the body roll was less, but the inside wheel was always spinning up, if you chucked into a corner in off the power, and then got your boot down at the apex, it'd light up the inside wheel way too readily.

And that was on a smooth road, over bumps, it used to be a right arse to drive!

But that said, it was marginally faster. Just a bit of a handful, and IMO going back to B4's and ebay 60mm springs has made it much more "driveable". Well worth the sacrifice of a little bit of speed.

[Rippthrough]

You only really need to lengthen the droplinks when you're getting around th 60mm or lower area up front, simply to get the angles back withing a reasonable range on the joints, as the wear rate is exponential to the angle you use. (i.e. 30mm they will only wear slightly faster, 60mm will wear a lot faster, 90mm and you'll be replacing them every day)