Suspension Question

[ccclarke]

Sure, let me put a procedure together that includes trim height adjustment as well.

CC

 

[ccclarke]

Rear End Ride Height Measurement:

1. Park the car on a flat surface.
2. Settle the suspension: Lift upward on the center of the rear bumper1.5”
3. Let go.
4. Repeat this twice more.
5. On each side, measure the distance between the lowest point of the Ball Joint and the center of the front side of the Lower Control Arm mounting bolt.
6. Perform steps 2 & 3 twice more, measuring the gap after the car settles; for a total of three measurements. (See Figure 1.)
7. Take the average of each side’s three measurements.
8. For the stock F55 suspension, the measurementshould be 4.7 inches/119 mm, +/- .25”/6.4 mm.

This procedure assumes you have a J 42854tool to make the measurement. A simple measurement tool can be constructed from a piece of flat stock with a level attached and placed against the bottom of the mounting bolt and the gap measured with calipers from the top of the flat stock to the center of the ball joint.

Rear End Ride Height Adjustment:

1. IMPORTANT: One complete turn of the transverse springbolt is equal to 5/64” / 2mm of Y axis travel.
2. Loosen the locking nuts on the top of the transverse spring bolts. (See "1" in Figure 2.)
3. Adjust the trim height by turning the transverse spring bolt. (See 2 in Figure 2.)
4. Measure the trim height again using the previous procedure.
5. IMPORTANT: Do not exceed the maximum differencebetween the right and left rear transverse spring bolt stud heights. (See Figure 3.)
6. Tighten the locking nut finger-tight and measure the transverse spring bolt rear spring stud heights. The maximum difference should be .196” / 5 mm (See Figure 3.)
7. Tighten the locking nuts on the transverse spring bolts. (No torque value is given in the shop manual.)

As always, use common sense and standard safety precautions when preforming vehicle maintenance.

Note: Figures 1-3 as depicted below are from left to right.

CC

 

[dug-mac]

CC, thanks for all of the good info. I am thinking of tackling the shock replacement myself but see that there's a couple of tools needed that I don't have - traverse spring compressor and a shock support tool. Without these tools am I SOL? I really don't want to get in over my head in this project.

Thanks guys for any help you can provide...

 

[ccclarke]

One alternative would be to buy the parts (at a discount) online, and have someone who does this every day do the install.

CC

 

[dug-mac]

So I wanted to update where things stand vis a vis my suspension issue. I decided to clean off all 4 shocks (front and rear) before going to the effort and expense of ordering new front shocks. As I think I mentioned above, I've seen oil running down the shock body on both of the fronts, but without cleaning everything off I haven't been able to determine how bad the leak is. So, with everything clean I took the car out yesterday on an 82 mile trip and made some observations when I returned. To my amazement, no oil anywhere. At this point I am completely confused. Given the oil that I have seen running down the shock body I would have expected oil after this trip. Could the leak be this minor to not be revealed after an 82 mile trip? I have noted what I consider to be some hopping and a deterioration in ride quality, but could most of this be due to my 7 year old Michelin run-flats that are known to hop and generally give poor ride quality? Any insight would be helpful...

 

[David_B]

Old tires can hurt your ride for sure.

Good idea to go a couple hundred miles before you decide they aren't bad though.

 

[ALLAATOR]

MY 2005 XKR SEEMS TO BOTTOM OUT WHEN I GO IVER A SPEED BUMP IS THAT A SHOCK PROBLEM

I have been viewing shock question and answers, but no one seems to be have the bottoming out problem

 

[Stella]

CC, thanks for all of the good info. I am thinking of tackling the shock replacement myself but see that there's a couple of tools needed that I don't have - traverse spring compressor and a shock support tool. Without these tools am I SOL? I really don't want to get in over my head in this project.

Thanks guys for any help you can provide...

You wouldn't need a traverse spring compressor to replace the shocks. If anything you could put the car on jack stands. Then put your jack under the spindle area on whichever corner your working on and compress then.
As for the weeping oil on the shock. You could be empty? Shocks don't have large quanity of oil,and these have large magnets in them. I would keep a eye on it see if anymore comes out. Other than the weeping any signs of bad ride?

 

[Stella]

I have been viewing shock question and answers, but no one seems to be have the bottoming out problem

You look underneath could have a broken spring bottoming out is a vague description

 

[ALLAATOR]

SUSPENSION QUESTION

You look underneath could have a broken spring bottoming out is a vague description

the only way to describe the problem is when I go over a bump it makes a noise like a I hit the bottom. I cannot get under the car. I just had a lot of work done by the Cadillac dealer intake manifold gaskets, new exhaust manifold. if it were the spring would they have noticed, they took the entire bottom suspension out to replace the exhaust manifold. I dismissed this problem at the time of this service. too much money already. I just thought it might be the shocks. If so then I could get this done by less expensive mechanics.

 

[rexster314]

First thing. Did it ride good before your engine work? If so, I would suspect the mechanic didn't get it right when re-installing the suspension after the engine work.

 

[ALLAATOR]

First thing. Did it ride good before your engine work? If so, I would suspect the mechanic didn't get it right when re-installing the suspension after the engine work.

The problem was their before if sent it to the dealer. My check engine light was on & the only one I trusted was the dealer. I was avoiding this concern at that time.

thinking that might be shocks or something minor. it is becoming apparent, that minor does not work with this vehicle.

 

[rexster314]

The problem was their before if sent it to the dealer. My check engine light was on & the only one I trusted was the dealer. I was avoiding this concern at that time.

thinking that might be shocks or something minor. it is becoming apparent, that minor does not work with this vehicle.

Minor was for me a broken shift cable several months ago.

 

[lextoy]

ok , so you are describing a scraping when going over bumps. do you mean like slow spped speed bumps?
or any general pothole.
is it coming from a wheel well type of area? or more the front of the car like under the bumper/engine?
so you know, these cars ride very low to begin with.
AND there is a lower valance under the front bumper that is REALLY low.
it scrapes on everything. no real lharm, but it does get worn out/ripped up, or ripped off after time.
is it the valance scraping that you are hearing? over speed bumps, in and out of driveways, etc.
or is it a harder bottoming out sound from somewhere under the cabin, like the chassis dragging on the asphalt.

another common failure of the suspension is the spring adjuster bolts.
they break off. and one wheel will look noticeably lower , aka it will be alot further up into the wheel well.
if you just had a ll that work done they would have seen that and repaired it.

 

[lextoy]

excellent thread on spring bolts
https://www.xlr-net.com/forums/cadi...t-bolt-replacement.html?highlight=spring+bolt