RRC Ride Height (coils) - what should it be?

Pete The Biker · Dec 21, 2010

I bought my 1988 RRC Vogue SE 3.5 Auto in April and have been having great fun doing pay and play days. I also use her for tip runs. Alas virtually no snow in south Leics for me to play in (yet)!

My thoughts have been turning to what treats to buy the old girl (the car not the Missus

) after Xmas.

At present her back end sags a bit and is lop-sided (yes I'm still talking about the Rangie!). As I am fairly tall (6' 2") my view out of the rear view mirror tends to be mainly tarmac.

Does anyone know what the standard ride height should be?

Measuring from wheel centre up to the wheel arch I have:-

Drivers side - 17 3/4 inches (450mm)
Passenger side - 19 inches (480mm)

As I am running 235/85 tyres I could do with a bit more wheel clearance anyway. Would new standard springs help? I am tempted by heavy duty springs to firm up the handling a bit as well - a good idea? Should I stick with standard length or perhaps go for an extra 1 inch?

I look forward to any comments or observations you might have.

Merry Christmas to all

Pete

spencer1885 · Dec 21, 2010

I put police spec springs on my RRC and on the back I used two bottom spring mounts on each side welded to each other and this gave a bit more height also.
The police spec springs were made to carry the extra weight of all the gear the police used to carry about.

jamesmartin · Dec 21, 2010

i would fit the yellow std height h/d britpart kit including 4 x spring 4 x gas shocker less about £180 + vat better ride and handling lifts about 1 inch ive used them for years and fitted alot never had a problem

fett · Dec 21, 2010

I went from a classic much the same as yours and fitted some H/Ds' personally I didnt like them as the range rover lost its floating on air feel and you could feel the bumps harder..

Also in the wet on corners it was bloody leathal! lost the back twice which never happened before.

so i went to dingo croft and asked for standard springs as it would have had when it left the factory, and got allmakes 4x4 ones for £88 including vat and deliveryfor all 4 and boge front and gen landrover rear dampers for about £22 a corner. been perfect ever since on or off road, just wish I hadnt wasted my time and money on the H/D ones. personal preferance though.

Khryztal · Dec 21, 2010

Been running H/D springs on a 90 model RRC. Doesn't do a great deal for cornering. Makes a fairly hard ride when hitting bumps. Suspension travel is reduced, so better for larger profile tyres on normal conditions. Not sure about heavy off road use.

Running Bearmach springs which give (roughly) 1 1/2 inch extra height.

Other 90 rrc that I have has normal spec springs, much smoother ride but drops a little if carrying weight in the boot. And not as good off road.

And Fett you were running H/d rears and diesel front springs lol. H/D alround doesn't give any ass out action lol. Shame

fett · Dec 21, 2010

hey it was you that gave em to me you Cnut

Pete The Biker · Dec 22, 2010

Guys - thank you all for taking the trouble to reply.

A mix of views as one would expect, but certainly gives food for thought.

I don't want to jack up the back end too far, so can anyone give me an idea of what the actual ride height would be standard springs? At the moment I don't have a reference point to work from. I can't find anything on Rave other than minimum clearance from the bumpstops of 67mm, but I am not sure that this is reflective of the normal clearance you would expect.

Pete

MikeV8SE · Dec 22, 2010

What are H/D springs and are these the same as police-spec springs? No plans on changing mine as it rides fine and sits level, but would be interesting to know...!

Zaphod · Dec 22, 2010

Most changes from standard don;t improve much on the classic, anything that does improve it on the road results in a more drastic loss of off road performance. Spen King used to have rude words to say about lift kits as well!

fett · Dec 22, 2010

yup , keep it as he inteneded, they spent alot of time developing it and unless your doing a camel trophy there isnt much it cant do!

regarding the lift kit K-man has and mine on bog standard springs and shocks, we have both been to exactly the same places offroad (normally with me in front

) and I have a front spoiler on still and its never hit. I think that unless your fitting bigger wheels etc the height lift does nothing as your axel is in the same place!

Oh and BTW I dont have any bump stops fitted on the back so I cant measure

Khryztal · Dec 23, 2010

I'll go and measure both of mine for you tonight.
And yes Fett is right about the green laning bit. But he missed out my brown truck with Full Brooklands kit also not hitting the deck. So yes they are good in standard form. Only fitted H/D's as originals were shot. And they were cheaper than standard springs of OE quality.

Pete The Biker · Dec 23, 2010

Ahah - I think I have answered my own question about the proper ride height of the RRC.

Looking at RAVE, the EAS section gives measurements are given for ride height at 790mm +/- 7mm (measured from centre of wheelarch eyebrow to floor). It also says that EAS maintains vehicle ride height at the same level as conventional suspension.

Having remeasured my car, my average ride height on each axle is 850mm on the front and 835mm on the rear (though the car actually tilts to the driver's side).

My car has 235/85s instead of the standard 205/70s so that would cause it to ride say 50/60mm higher than standard, at around 840/850mm.

So it looks like the front height is about right for standard springs but the rears are below par - I have a feeling that the previous owner might have put Disco springs on the rear at some stage, which would account for the lower height?

Pete

Pete

fett · Dec 23, 2010

they do sag down mate, my 20 yr old truck was on the original springs when I got it and it had had a really saggy arse like 50 yr old hooker

the old springs had got so knackered the 3 or 4 coils at each end had rubbed flat faces on each other lol.

I would swap em for standard allmakes or gen springs and boge or gen dampers. stay away form britpart , or ****part as we call em. have a look at the threads on here under either of those titles and you will see why!!

Pete The Biker · Dec 23, 2010

Cheers Fett - yeah I have seen all the threads about Britpart, but thanks for the warning!

Have a great Christmas.

Pete

fett · Dec 23, 2010

you too!

spencer1885 · Dec 23, 2010

Pete The Biker said:
Ahah - I think I have answered my own question about the proper ride height of the RRC.

Looking at RAVE, the EAS section gives measurements are given for ride height at 790mm +/- 7mm (measured from centre of wheelarch eyebrow to floor). It also says that EAS maintains vehicle ride height at the same level as conventional suspension.

Having remeasured my car, my average ride height on each axle is 850mm on the front and 835mm on the rear (though the car actually tilts to the driver's side).

My car has 235/85s instead of the standard 205/70s so that would cause it to ride say 50/60mm higher than standard, at around 840/850mm.

So it looks like the front height is about right for standard springs but the rears are below par - I have a feeling that the previous owner might have put Disco springs on the rear at some stage, which would account for the lower height?

Pete

Pete

If it had disco springs fitted it would sit higher, if they are not knackered.
Disco rear springs are heavier because the Range Rover has a self levelling thingy and the disco has not so the springs have to do all the work

wreckhunter · Dec 23, 2010

I fitted the police spec springs + new rear shocks and did away with my center self leveling shock after it fell apart,I don't think any 2 classics sit at the same hight tbh.Also if your using yours for off road i'd avoid any of the really heavy duty springs that some manufacturers list for towing as you'll loose articulation.

RRC Ride Height (coils) - what should it be?

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