Ride Height P5B Saloon

[Mike’S-a-loon]

Greetings!

Tomorrow Winston goes in for a wheel alignment and check over. I have been perusing the 3litre workshop manual + 3.5Litre supplement.

The suspension setup data (such that it is) is in the 3 Litre book, and has specs for High and Low suspension setups. The 3 litre book shows where on the ID plate the “H” (for High) can be found on 3 litres so equipped, usually for export markets.

This plate is different on 3.5’s. There is no “H” stamped on it.

The 3.5 supplement says the suspension is the same as the 3 Litre (though a bit softer at the front).

So my question is, would an export model 3.5
Litre saloon have been equipped with High or Low suspension? Was it standardised? Is there an easier way to sett he from ride height than the complex procedure detailed in the manual? Can’t we just measure from the sill to the tarmac?

[enigmas]

What height do you want the car to ride at Mike? From recollection your car rides very well. It's certainly not running on the front bump stops. I don't recall it leaning to one side either.😉

If it were mine, all I would do is correct the toe-in or toe-out of the front wheels. Nothing apart from toe-in or out is adjustable.

I don't recall that the steering pull one way or the other under any driving or braking conditions.

Since you've been using the car for a while now I'd carefully scrutinize the tyre wear to ascertain tyre wear. This is the true indicator in the real world of driving as road and camber loads have been working against the suspension system. Static dimensions are fine for initial adjustments but dynamic loads speak volumes. You really don't need sophisticated machines with umpteen lights, switches and dials to get the wheel alignment correct.

Take note of wear patterns. (Front wheels)
* Is the inner or outer edge of the tyre wearing more?
* Are both tyres showing the same wear patterns?
* Is one tyre running true and the other illustrating wear on the inner or outer section.

* If a tyre is wearing more in the middle...it's over inflated.
* If it's wearing both edges evenly and not the centre then it's under-inflated, although radials are harder to read for this type of wear.


Slight adjustments (a few turns) to the outer steering arms is generally all that is required.
Keep notes of these adjustments in a journal and refer to it if required.

From recollection I believe Winston's steering wheel is correctly centred for the hydrosteer unit, but you can also check this by winding the steering wheel (jack the car up and get the front wheels off the ground first) fully in one direction until it stops and then count the turns to the other stop. Divide by two, turn the wheel halfway back and the wheel will be at the centre of the steering box. The wheels should be pointing straight forward.

Use a piece of electrical tape as a marker on the steering wheel.

There's nothing rocket science about this, just maintain a methodical, focused approach to the task. 😎👍

[lagain]

Ideally have the wheels set up using a laser, this will ensure that the front and rear wheels follow each other correctly. When I first had my car the front tyres would always wear on the outer edges. The tyre chap said that it was normal ! After about 30 years I took her to a different tyre specialist who checked her with a 4 wheel laser set up, it turned out that the rear wheels were not totally in line with the front, hence the wear, simple adjustment of the track rod ends and then the tracking and no more uneven wear.
The H usually applied to export models where the roads were not as good as owers I don't know if anything was done to the height of the front, but the rear springs were different to home cars and gave the car a higher ride height, you could say jacked up, a common sight now with poor quality replacement springs.