60mm lowering springs

[jordi]

Hi all,

Looking at lowering my 240 to the floor and like the look of the classic swede 60mm springs.

Just wondered if anyone had fitted them to a GLT on standard wheels and tyres?

I'd like to see how it looks and compares to others running bigger wheels and lower profile tyres.

Anyone got any pics?

Cheers
Jordi

[Steve and his 244]

I'm interested to hear how it handles on 60mm lowering springs. According to everything I've read about 240 suspension, you can't lower oast 40mm without spacers on the bottom of the struts between the bottom ball joints and also between the track rod end, because otherwse the steering arms and the wishbones end up at the wrong angle.

[jordi]

Steering geometry on a 240 is something i know nothing about, be useful to find out.

[andythepandy]

Unfortunately I don't know how much it will effect it but I would be interested to see.I was going to lower mine 40mm in the next couple of weeks I'll be running the standard Virgos but my tyres profile is 50. It'll be interesting to compare the two nights and handling. Out of interest has anyone on here put a 240 on coilovers before?

[classicswede]

When you lower a 240 over 50mm it has the effect of causing positive camber as the suspension is compressed rather than the desired negative camber. This is due to the bottom arm going past the level point. The effect is not that drastic and for road use you will not really notice what is going on. As the springs will be a fair bit stiffer the suspension will not compress that much when cornering. You can always dial in a little extra negative camber to help.
The way this problem can be corrected is by fitting a spacer between the bottom of the struts and the bottom ball joints.

Yes coilovers are very common on 240's and can be done in a number of different ways. I do keep them in stock. Coilovers do come with advantages and disadvantages.

[mylittletony]

Thanks for putting that in a clear and concise summary, I'd heard a lot of hearsay on the topic!

For the record, mine is lower than 50mm and drives fine. Yes, it could probably handle 'better' but the reduction in body roll is such an improvement it's way 'better' than standard.

[Derek UK]

I'd think that relative to the price of a set of springs, the cost of a pair of spacers would be small. Everything's got to come off so they might as well be fitted at the same time. Are they available off the shelf anywhere? Not knowing what they would look like, making them might range from taking a hack saw to a couple of plates and drilling some holes, to a full CAD billet job.
Maybe Dai could have them made and sell them as an add-on to the -60mm spring set?

[classicswede]

It is something I have looked at but there is a fair investment needed to be put into them as they would have to be either fully CNC machined or cast and the trimmed.

DVS in Australia make them and Ben Kaplan makes some that also include steering knuckles to also move the steering rod down to match and also have extra holes that give the option to increase the gearing of the steering and give extra lock.

[Tramp]

Originally Posted by classicswede

It is something I have looked at but there is a fair investment needed to be put into them as they would have to be either fully CNC machined or cast and the trimmed.

DVS in Australia make them and Ben Kaplan makes some that also include steering knuckles to also move the steering rod down to match and also have extra holes that give the option to increase the gearing of the steering and give extra lock.

In your opinion, what are the better springs to go for? The 40mm lowered springs or the 60mm? I've heard lots of people use the -40mm springs and have no problem apart from the occasional bottoming out on the bumpstops, obviously the -60mm this will become worse, or does the preload on the spring prevent it? Also I have to ask about wheels and tyres, with the -60mm springs will standard wheels and tyres rub on the arch lip or in the wheel cavity? I know you deal with a lot of 240's so which would you recommend for a useable car?

[classicswede]

I have not had any issue with the front bottoming out on 40mm springs but with most makes of rear lowering springs the rear will bottom out very often especially if you carry any passangers or just have bits and bobs in the back of you car. My 145 with my progressive 40mm springs carrying a good weight in the back is only bottoming out on some of the harder bumps when going quickly. With the 240 if you carry any passengers or load it up often the the best bet would be to go 60/40 and have a slight nose down look. 240's tend to look arse end down anyway so it goes to correct that. If you rarely carry loads or passengers then 60mm all around will work fine. If going for 60mm on the rear you should shorten the panhard rod (side to side bar) to centre the axle up. On 40mm lowering with standard wheels and tyres there are no rubbing issues even when going upto 205/60/15 on the Virgo wheels. With the 60mm lowering the rear tyre will rub on the arch if the panhard rod is not shortened.