Is the ride height critical on a Rover Metro? (inter-connected Hydragas)
My workshop manual gives 341 +/- 10mm
but I have just had it pumped up and it measures 325mm.
(Wheel centre to wheel arch)
The garage says the correct setting is 12.5 inches!
What effect will an incorrect height have?
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When you took the measurement;-
was the car parked on level ground?
Was the car unladen?
Did you bounce the car a couple of times and let it settle before measuring?
Have you measured the heights of all four corners?
The effects an incorrect ride height could have include premature wear on the CV joints, & the handling could be compromised.
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Dave - as this is a partially-gas suspension, what effect does the ambient temperature have on ride height? After all, tyre pressures are a pound or two less at 2°C than at 20°C and should be adjusted. Would a garage equipped for pressurising these systems go by pressure or ride height?
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Andrew-T, in answer to your question, I'll be honest and say I have absolutely no idea what effect the ambient temp will have.
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"What effect will an incorrect height have?"
As my Daughter has just found out, being told by the exhaust fitting Company, the reason for the damage to the exhaust, on her Metro, is that the suspension height was two inches lower than the recommended setting. Unfortunately, she does live on a road where the Borough Council have gone completely barmy in their distribution of "speed humps", therebye penalising all the motorists instead of just the thoughtless minority.
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Difference in ride height: measured v. spec We are looking at 331-325 mm = 6mm, if this vehicle is at bottom of tolerance.
3 reasons come to mind:-
1)Due to garage resetting at 20 deg C ambient, and now vehicle is at say, 5 deg C, so gas internal pressure will be 258/273 of what it was at 20 deg C. so a sag will result if temps as this.
2) How do you measure wheel arch to wheel centre accurately, without specialist equipment? Potential for parallax error?
3) Manufacturing tolerances (pressings welded on at distant anchorages?)
I would think the above might account for 10mm.
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Thanks for all the replies.
I have taken the car back and the garage has adjusted the ride height to the correct 341mm.
Apparently the 12.5 inch setting they were using applies to the mark 1 Metro.
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If the suspension is too low you may find that the front tyres wear abnormally (the suspension geometry is thrown out quite a lot if it's more than an inch low). You will also find the underside hits kerbs and speed bumps.
This is what happens to my wifes and why I've got an ad in classifieds trying to get hold of a hydragas pump. It's costing us £30 each year for a pump up, plus about £30 a year in abnormal tyre wear. Otherwise, the car is superb.
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We always set it to 350mm to allow for any 'settle'
Front hub centre to wheelarch lip.
MG-Rover Questions? forums.mg-rover.org/
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