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Rear anti rollbar adjustment for 1 inch drop

Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 7:33 am
by WeeksyCapri43
Hi All,

My BOA Cosworth conversion is nearly finished, however i am yet to install my re bushed and re sprayed anti roll bar over fear of snapping it due to the 1 inch drop i have put on the car.

Has anyone on here come up with a gauging system for the correct level of adjustment for the bar? Otherwise i maybe spending unnecessary amounts of time adjusting it!

For reference, the car is a MK3 on 2.8 single springs with grayston 1inch lowering blocks, on an atlas axle using 15x7 minilites on 195/55/r15 tyres, along with adjustable Spax shocks. The car is currently on jack stands.

A nudge in the right direction or pointers from someone's previous experience from this would be greatly appreciated! :)

Regards,
Weeksy

Re: Rear anti rollbar adjustment for 1 inch drop

Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 12:39 pm
by Hot_Protein
Drop links maybe.

Re: Rear anti rollbar adjustment for 1 inch drop

Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 12:57 pm
by Bug
I've put 1" lowering blocks on many Capris over the years.
Never worried about the ARB. Just undid the axle and slipped them in.
Hardly altering the geometry as the axle drops as though pivoted around the front spring mount. The spring hasn't got any shorter so nothing should really change.

Re: Rear anti rollbar adjustment for 1 inch drop

Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 3:35 pm
by SmokeEm
Both my last 2 Capri's had 50mm blocks with zero issues.

Re: Rear anti rollbar adjustment for 1 inch drop

Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 3:39 pm
by WeeksyCapri43
Ah i see, doesn't seem to be too big of a deal when swapping ride heights. i guess i'll eye it up, see how much of an affect it has on the handling and then dial it in afterwards.

Thanks again!

Re: Rear anti rollbar adjustment for 1 inch drop

Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 3:46 pm
by Bug
WeeksyCapri43 wrote:Ah i see, doesn't seem to be too big of a deal when swapping ride heights. i guess i'll eye it up, see how much of an affect it has on the handling and then dial it in afterwards.

Thanks again!
How are you expecting to 'dial it in'?
As far as I'm aware you simply set the end fittings to the correct dimension as specified by Ford and Mr Haynes, loosely bolt it up to the car, then lower it to the ground, get two fat blokes to sit in the boot and torque it all up tight. Thus giving it pre-load.
However, interestingly, Tickford loosened it all off and got rid of the pre-load on their conversions, but this may have had something to do with their axle location kit as well?

Re: Rear anti rollbar adjustment for 1 inch drop

Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 4:02 pm
by WeeksyCapri43
Beg your pardon, i was talking from a general point of view.
I am yet to reassemble the ARB and was afraid of it sitting too low or too high for the set up. i'll check the very warn Haynes manual later for a bit more insight.
I appreciate the advice.

Weeksy

Re: Rear anti rollbar adjustment for 1 inch drop

Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 4:43 pm
by Bug
WeeksyCapri43 wrote:Beg your pardon, i was talking from a general point of view.
I am yet to reassemble the ARB and was afraid of it sitting too low or too high for the set up. i'll check the very warn Haynes manual later for a bit more insight.
I appreciate the advice.

Weeksy
No prob, just making sure you weren't expecting some amazing piece of technological wizardry under there. I'd suggest searching out the two fat blokes now, to bring the level down a bit before you tighten it all up.
The pre-loading will help to hold it at the level you need and can probably be adjusted a little to suit. (Add a small child at a time until the required balance is achieved)

Re: Rear anti rollbar adjustment for 1 inch drop

Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 9:43 pm
by nigecapri
You might find that you need to raise or lower the axle-to-body to get the saddle clamps to fit. If they won't line up with the captive threads then don't struggle with them, move the axle up/down a bit.

The more important question is that with a Cosworth engine I expect you'll want to be using it, and by lowering it you'll be expecting to go round corners when you use it. Have you fitted an axle location kit yet? if not then get one fitted :!:

Re: Rear anti rollbar adjustment for 1 inch drop

Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 10:19 am
by WeeksyCapri43
i have thought about that kit, will have a better look when funds allow. Have you installed it yourself? if so, how much of a difference did it make from a handling perspective?

Re: Rear anti rollbar adjustment for 1 inch drop

Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 10:57 am
by Bug
WeeksyCapri43 wrote:i have thought about that kit, will have a better look when funds allow. Have you installed it yourself? if so, how much of a difference did it make from a handling perspective?
Night and Day!
Fitted one of the original Skorpion X-frames to my 2.8i back in about 1992 ish
Tied the back end down so well I ended up fitting uprated front and rear ARBs and uprated front springs (175lbs -1") to balance out the effect of the kit and 'dial out' the understeer.
With the whole lot bolted on, plus a Skorpion strut brace, the car was faster, simply because I kept more speed through corners.

Re: Rear anti rollbar adjustment for 1 inch drop

Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 1:20 pm
by nigecapri
What Bug said :!:

I use the A-Frame kit which triangulates between leaf spring front mount eye/axle-to-spring/axle-to-front eye, this is the important bit of the rear suspension as far as lateral movement goes. The rearmost section of spring has movement in the rear hanger bushes which need to swing forward & backwards so not so crucial. This should be the first performance mod for any Capri. Second for me would be front strut brace to maintain steering geometry under cornering - the whole body twists a surprising amount under stress & throws at the normal settings and parameters out of the window - hence the strengthening plates fitted to V6 models around the inner wings. Next would be either/and stronger front road springs/anti-dive kit. An afternoon's work and a much livelier car at the end of it.

Re: Rear anti rollbar adjustment for 1 inch drop

Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 3:26 pm
by Not_Anumber
I bought an A frame kit a while ago and got as far as priming and painting it but never got round to fitting the thing. Happy to sell on if anyone is looking for one.

Re: Rear anti rollbar adjustment for 1 inch drop

Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2018 10:09 am
by WeeksyCapri43
Thank you all for the advice, will certainly look into both the axle location kit and the front strut brace (they always make sports cars look a bit more "rough and ready" don't they!) Will probably be needed for a cheeky Le Mans/Spanish/Andorran road trip i have coming up in June!

Greatly appreciated,
Weeksy