Well i have 40mm lowering blocks for the back which is sitting at 345 so that will make it 305!! Hmm? Would only like to stiffen the front end up, maybe drop anothe 10mm?
Cheers Adam

Just got round to measuring mine and its 355mm
cheers
Ali

I measered my Volvo 340 DL, vario, 3 doors, from 1986 and the hight is 355 mm. The car is completely standaard with no alterations.

Hans

How hard is it to compress the front Ali? If it's easy...have you tried removing 'the stereo'?

cheers

James

The stereo got cut down in size a while back, got 6x9s in the shelf and the single 10" sub in a box in the boot so not enough to make a difference, its definately not as sponge-like but just not riding lower,
cheers
Ali

I cant believe you took out that wicked stereo Ali

Yeah, that stuff wouldn't make enough of a difference.

Were these springs designed for a 1.7? That might be the answer.
The solution to your problem might be a hacksaw...

cheers

James

Nope they were custom made for the model, think im just going to leave them as they are and not bother fitting the blocks, same height all round but a bit stiffer so if anyone is interested in a pair of brand new blocks
The stereo sounds a lot better now Mick, despite it looking a bit better before it was just weighing the car down for no real gain as the main sub was the only thing requiring a box to give the bass, sounds much clearer with the 6x9s on the shelf too, i'd like to redo the install one day but its more money and I don't really need it any louder, already makes the headlights dip
cheers
Ali

Mine is 340mm. 360 GLE (carb), stock.

From memory, they're a load shorter than before, but have barely compressed, right? Sounds to me like they're too stiff for their length....or more to the point, too long for their stiffness. If you get bored, and as part of Dai's ongoing 300 series suspension development, it might be worth having a session where we fit them to a 1.7 and a 360, in order to determine which car they suit best.

I'm sure the blocks will sell - a fairly sought after product. May I be the first to congratulate Ali on being the first 'independant' person to alter their suspension? How does it handle now?

cheers

James

Haven't really thrashed it too hard but possibly bodyrolls less, need a meet with a few standard ones to remember how soggy it should be! Had it sqealing the whole way round a roundabout the other day though with a bit of understeer but I was really overspeeding into it and stiffer springs is bound to mean more understeer, thats only once since I changed them though so not bad at all,
cheers
Ali

Stiffened front but stock rear might well be...interesting! We'll definitely have to do a comparison some time.

cheers

James

After loads of measuring I have come to the conclusion 300's suffer really badly from the front springs sagging. My estimate is they should be around 400mm maybe more, so the only way to order springs is to state the required ride height. All we need now is some stiffer rear springs and the front spax dampers!!

Dai

So in other words....most of our cars are already lowered?! Hehe..that makes a lot of sense!

I have measurements of the errors in the anti-roll bar bushes when used on a 360 for you (at last!!) Dai....ready for mk2! Look out for a PM.

cheers

James

I thought we knew that all ours were lowed guys?? It's only just dawned on me, but the guy we need to ask about ride height is John, cos he had only just put in new dampers when we went to Gaydon. Hug was stupidly high compared to the rest. I'll look out a piccy. Only prob is I think he might have put in the uppy/downy suspension (though thats only the back, so should be ok).

Understeer is fixed by one or several of these: make front camber more negative, Stiffer springs/shocks @rear and softer@front, add rear antiroll bar, less stiff front antiroll bar. Also some changes can be done with tire pressures.

Best effect would be to get front camber to around -3 degrees, but it is not very easy, suspension mods needed.