QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Jaguar World's technical advice service Edited by Ray Ingman
Daimler V8 Low-rider STAR
QUESTION
Q
For reasons best known to myself, I would like to lower the suspension of my Daimler 250-V8: not by a vast amount, maybe ½in to 1in. Also, I would rather not lose ride quality or incur vast expense. Can you help? Ray White
A
Definitely a minority interest question, but there is an economic answer! At the front end, your aversion to expense precludes modified replacement springs, these tend to be ‘uprated’ anyway. Removing coils from the existing springs will also increase spring rate (stiffness) and thus affect ride quality. On the Mk 2 (and S-type/420) steel or
alloy spacer shims are fitted selectively above and below the spring. Removal of these will lower the vehicle. As a rule of thumb the ride height will decrease by twice the thickness of the deleted shims (i.e. ¼in shimming = ½in lower). To remove these you will need access to a powerful spring compressor, or if not, a local A&E department. There is rather a lot of energy stored in the springs, so they are best released in an orderly fashion and not ricocheting around your body! As an alternative, shims can be interposed between the lower wishbone and the spring pan with the same effect on ride height. It is possible to achieve this by loosening the spring pan bolts and replacing one at a time with longer versions (3/8in UNF high tensile) and the
required shims washers. By using this method, spring removal is not required. The rear arrangement is unique to the ‘Mk 1’/Mk 2 range; its quarter elliptical cart springs are clamped in the middle and attached to the live axle at the rear end. Their front-end location allows the fitment of a spacer between the Metalastik pad and the chassis rail, again longer fixing bolts will be required for the clamp. In this case, the ride height variation will be approximately equal to the spacer thickness. In any lowering operation, you must check for sufficient remaining suspension travel or tyre fouling and have the geometry checked and adjusted to suit the revisions.
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94 | Jaguar World / May 2022
