The suspension story

[Ray]

Hey! keep the accolades coming,
only to pleased to be able to help Deanna, just to add to Deanna's comments, there
were a few other findings once the suspension was removed, firstly the were no bumpstops/gators
fitted to any of the shocks and the incorrect nuts were fitted to the top of the
damper rods on the front shocks, so they were not locked up tight because they were
threadbound halfway down, the correct thread is 10x1.25mm, someone tried to get 10x1.50mm
nuts on them so on removal the nuts had damaged the top part of the thread, but fortunately
with careful dressing and the correct die i was able to save the thread, and the
correct nuts then fitted, and after Glenn had fitted the shocks back on the car i
drove the car down to Wairau Wheel alignment to round off the job, now i haven't
read the read-out but i bet the old alignment was a long way out, should be a pleasure
to drive now Deanna.
Ray


[...]

[Gary Morrison]

Deanna,

Pleased it is sorted, you must tell us what the car feels like now the job
is done.

I didn't think the springs would have been swapped fron to back as you said
that you had the front and rear shocks done at quite different times. Was
the cars attitude tilted front down when you bought it? ie the spring issue
may have been pre-existing?

There are some cowboys out there.

Gary

[Deanna Bell]

From: "Gary Morrison" <gm@paradise.net.nz>
To: "MX5List" <mx5list@mx5club.org.nz>
Subject: Re: The suspension story
Date sent: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 10:44:05 +1200
Send reply to: MX5List<mx5list@mx5club.org.nz>

The car was always lower in the front but not so much that it
couldn't take a standard speed bump. It wasn't till the back
shocks were fixed that the problem really started and the fact that
someone leaned on the light fittings, sinking them in. The car
handles so much better now and I'm planning to drive up to
Whangarei this weeekend to test it out.

De


[...]

[Deanna Bell]

Well, thanks to the club and kind members who are looking out for
others, I can now say my suspension problem is fixed.

It all started with the $1000+ quote from a neighbouring mechanic
who said I needed 4 new shocks and springs to fix the height
mismatch with my car. All I wanted was the front raised because it
couldn't clear a speed bump and was scraping on the light. I
explained that my shocks had been replaced on both the front and
the back within the last 18 months but he was still adamant that I
need all this other work. I emailed the club list to get a second
opinion (because I have very bad luck with cars - 3 soft top
stabbings and 4 car stereos stolen in 3 years from my old mazda
familia), and Ray offered to look at my car to sort out the real story.
Well, after he and Glen (at Rotary Power in Glenfield) jacked up
the car and looked at the suspension for 5 minutes the obvious
conclusion was the springs were the wrong ones and that they had
been put in the wrong way round. The front springs were on the
back and the back springs on the front. They offered to fix the car
right then and there for a fraction of the cost I was expecting and
even dropped me back to work while my car was being fixed. My
car didn't need any new parts and the problem was spotted within
minutes. My previous mechanic had the car for 4 consecutive
days and was positive I needed all this other work. I'm sending this
email out to thank Ray and Glenn and all the others who put me in
the right direction and also to let others know that if you aren't
mechanically minded or have just joined the club, this is the best
place to get sincere recommendations from people who really care.


Thanks again
Deanna