adjustable suspension Esprit Turbo questions

[Tocus]

Hi Guys,

i never orderd adjustable suspension for a Esprit Turbo,

so i have some questions, hopefully some of you can answer them,

i have 2 LHD esprit turbo cars, and both they are still standing on orginal suspension,

and that orginal suspension looks awfull, because the wheel gap is just to much i need to lower both car,

 

the paperwork from both cars is 1986, BUT i have check the chassis numbers from both and also the front brakes,

and one of the 2 cars is not from 1986 but its a 84 car, (so it has the old brake discs)

 

the qeustions, are :

i never orderd adjustable suspension for a G turbo esprit, and i am from the netherlands, so i need to buy the right set(s) and not wrong ones because i am not from UK

 

 

the qeustions, are :

 

1 = whats the best/cheapest to go for?? i have found at SJ sportcars the pro tech set, but the GAZ set will be cheaper  (if i see to the prices incl. VAT and sending cost to The Netherlands)

2 = adjustable suspension is different on a 84 model then on the 86 model, its all about the front i think, it needs to be sure for me that i could adjustable the front suspension as wel as the rear ones, (to get the right wheel gap and road height)

3 = what i want to order is in total 2 complete sets, (4 springs + adjustable suspension for the 84 esprit turbo and 4 springs and adjustable suspension for the 86 Esprit Turbo) and ofcourse the right ones,

 

who can help me out?????  MANY THANKS ALLREADY!!

[naasaa]

Hi Tocus

I have put new adjustable GAZ in my 84 The 82 has the adjustable Protech damper. Here the adjusting knob fouls with the spring!

Up to 85 the front spring rest on the lower wish bone, whereas models from 85 have coil overs.

I was looking into fitting coil overs my self. The spring cup must be cut away, and the lower wish bone modified for the extra load from these coil overs.

Havent done it, as the wish bone is in such good shape. But do still have this on my wish list.

Rebuild of my 84 is not completed yet. But if its still sitting too high, I will propably go that route. Though, instead of cutting up original wish bone, I will make a new one where the camper can be adjusted as well.

[Tocus]

Thank you for the answer, i still have some questions, i send you a message, (private)

 

if there are other owners of adjustable suspension please put down your story, and how it looks like now,

with some pictures and so on, so i know what to buy for my 84 and 86 esprit turbo

[Andyww]

On my pre-85 I have the non-AC springs from SJ (even though the car has AC) and factory front dampers (I have just ordered some new ones from SJ).

The ride height is perfect.

A lot of the ride height issues is because some spring suppliers have the wrong specs. At one time I bought springs from coilsprings.co.uk and they put the car about 30mm too high so I binned them. I think some other suppliers resell these so a lot of incorrect ones out there.

[deecee]

I just went thru this.

I have an 86, and was surprised to find that the upper are fully interchangable from the s3 to the V8.

Just bought mine from SJ Lotus.

 

[drdoom]

Upper what?

[Tocus]

still not knowing what to buy, for my 84 and 86 esprit turbo,

i know the rear is the same, but at the front i just want the right ones,

i dont care how stiff or lose (Supple) the suspension is, its the wheel gap that must be right, (its all about the looks!)

 

somebody more info what to buy?

[Andyww]

Why not use my suggestion for the 84.

This is what you get, it is riding a bit higher than Fabians S1 but you would not want it the same as that on the Turbo as the rad undertray would ground out too often.

[Dean Cleaver]

On 24/01/2023 at 14:53, deecee said:

I just went thru this.

I have an 86, and was surprised to find that the upper are fully interchangable from the s3 to the V8.

Just bought mine from SJ Lotus.

 

Assuming you mean SJ Sportscars, did you buy their standard spring up to 1993 with A/C and did it lower the ride height?

 

 

[Dean Cleaver]

On 18/01/2023 at 09:21, Andyww said:

On my pre-85 I have the non-AC springs from SJ (even though the car has AC) and factory front dampers (I have just ordered some new ones from SJ).

The ride height is perfect.

A lot of the ride height issues is because some spring suppliers have the wrong specs. At one time I bought springs from coilsprings.co.uk and they put the car about 30mm too high so I binned them. I think some other suppliers resell these so a lot of incorrect ones out there.

Would that work on my 86? I'm really confused about which springs to get. The non-A/C ones are softer right?

[Andyww]

4 hours ago, Dean Cleaver said:

Would that work on my 86? I'm really confused about which springs to get. The non-A/C ones are softer right?

The 86-onwards front suspension is completely different, and easier to fit adjustable-platform dampers to.

The non AC springs are a few mm shorter than AC.

[Dean Cleaver]

46 minutes ago, Andyww said:

The 86-onwards front suspension is completely different, and easier to fit adjustable-platform dampers to.

The non AC springs are a few mm shorter than AC.

Ok - so that's your white 84 in the picture above? That's the look I want - not changing the front, but want to lower my back end - it's about 1 inch higher than yours and looks like an SUV. So you would recommend the non-A/C spring from SJ?

[Andyww]

20 minutes ago, Dean Cleaver said:

Ok - so that's your white 84 in the picture above? That's the look I want - not changing the front, but want to lower my back end - it's about 1 inch higher than yours and looks like an SUV. So you would recommend the non-A/C spring from SJ?

I have non-AC springs all round and factory dampers. I still have the top spring platform rubber donuts in. Some people have removed theirs to lower the car but I cant see that being a good idea, Lotus must have considered they were beneficial.
The official spec is 170mm from bottom of the chassis to ground. Mine is around 10mm higher than that, but I will be leaving it at that, as it already grounds out the rad undertray on some speed bumps etc.

I found something interesting the other day when I replaced the front shocks. The correct way is to torque up the wishbone mounts at normal ride height but I found on the left side, doing that caused the long studs to rotate and wind up the bushes thus raising the height and likely shortening the life of the bushes. Had to do a lot of faffing about to prevent this happening.

[Dean Cleaver]

7 minutes ago, Andyww said:

I have non-AC springs all round and factory dampers. I still have the top spring platform rubber donuts in. Some people have removed theirs to lower the car but I cant see that being a good idea, Lotus must have considered they were beneficial.
The official spec is 170mm from bottom of the chassis to ground. Mine is around 10mm higher than that, but I will be leaving it at that, as it already grounds out the rad undertray on some speed bumps etc.

I found something interesting the other day when I replaced the front shocks. The correct way is to torque up the wishbone mounts at normal ride height but I found on the left side, doing that caused the long studs to rotate and wind up the bushes thus raising the height and likely shortening the life of the bushes. Had to do a lot of faffing about to prevent this happening.

That's good to know - thank you. And yes - my car is currently about 180mm at the front, but 215mm at the rear - it's definitely high.

[deecee]

What I was referring to was not the springs, it was swapping out the adjustable V8 upper A-arm so that a camber adjustment could be made.

The V8 Clone A-Arms are available from SJ, and they were made in conjunction with Lotus...so I am told.

Sorry for the confusion.