Have you checked the LSD settings yet? as it looks Tail Happy from your Photos, that could be causing your 360 spins.
Have you checked the LSD settings yet? as it looks Tail Happy from your Photos, that could be causing your 360 spins.
I'm sure it is 30/65, but don't know the preload. The settings were written on the box the slip came in, but I left it with the guy who set it up for me, and doubt he has kept it. Do Gripper write the settings on the diff itself?
I did a Motorkhana at Pembrey Circuit yersterday. We used part of the main track as well for a change. The car is still cocking a rear wheel on tight turns if you it isn't sliding (haven't changed anything yet so as expected). It was quite a wet day and used 21's on the front and old cut slicks on the rear. I tried to keep it clean and tidy driving style but was difting everywhere but did manage to finish 2nd in class and 4th overall out of 60. I will invest in 220lb springs in new year.![Click image for larger version Name: 1522198_620118534691576_482271944_n[1].jpg Views: 421 Size: 58.9 KB ID: 66986](http://www.turbosport.co.uk/attachment.php?s=4eca8000dad0f30488b39c1c8d3f8d0c&attachmentid=66986&d=1387234212&thumb=1)
Looking good, not so many mk1's out these days
The only difference in set up from your car to mine is the lack of a front ARB, i run a pinto with r888 tyres, 190 front springs, 146 leafs., panhard and a twin cam arb.....rj TCA's etc. my car handles perfectly, occasionally lifts a front wheel but never 2, i would say you need stiffer front springs........i sometimes use 220ld with an ARB......your set up would be ok with road tyres but put soft rubber on and youll need to go stiffer., i also use +10mm Gp4 alloy hubs, the front end is planted and turn in is amazing with 185 tyres.
Mine turns in really good aswell. It just coks the rear wheel. My brother mk2 is axactly the same set up as mine but with a vauhall red top. I do run a lot of castor tho.
From the photos it looks as if you dont have enough rrear suspension travel....maybe its too high at the front and low at the rear aswell as being sprung to soft at the front???
It is lower on the back than the front. I have std height front, and 40mm lowering blocks on the back, but it sits less than 1" lower on the back. I dont think its running out of travel on the back as there nno crashing noises / bumps etc.
I mean suspension drop rather than travel, as the rear rolls once its reached the end of its downward travel it will want to lift the rear, especially if the front is soft and has more travel than the rear???Originally Posted by jonsey
I see what you mean about drop but how can I get it to drop any more as it's on leaf springs. I suppose I can only stiffen the front so it doesn't needs so much!
By removing the lowering block the rear wheel will sit lower, or stiffen the front?.
All that removing the lowering block will succeed in doing is raising the rear of the car......
The whole car looks too soft to me. You need to go through it and see exactly what you've got...what dampers, struts, springs etc, as it's all a bit of a guess at the moment. It could all be standard and/or knackered so you're shooting in the dark. If you get stuck pop the car over to my workshop on the Capel Hendre Ind Estate and I'd be happy to have a quick look over it and see if I can maybe point you in the right direction.
With the weight off the inside rear wheel once the suspension has reached full drop the 40mm lowering block will place the wheel 40mm higher increasing the potential for it to lift.
I bet if you lower and stiffen the front it won't happen, or stiffen front and raise back by removing or putting in a smaller lowering block.
This car is set up more like a fwd drive should be where the front is softer and has more travel than the rear, that's why it's lifting a rear wheel, it should want to lift a front more, the suspension needs altered to change the roll/stiffness from front to rear.
On all the Escorts I work with full drop is governed by the damper hitting the end of its travel...not the leaf spring. So the fact that there's a lowering block between the saddle and the spring is immaterial...the axle centre is still in the same place on full drop, the leaf would simply be the thickness of the lowering block further away from it.
Anyway, whatever, I thought the point was to stop the car behaving like a ship on the ocean...which I'd imagine means stiffening it up somewhere along the line.
I think your missing my point mate, of course its determined by the damper length, think of it this way, damper has reached its full extension....now the wheel/axle....with a lowering block placed between the leaf and the axle the wheel will be 40mm higher up with the block than without......so without the lowering block will be 40mm lower to the ground reducing its potential to leave the ground.
If this car had a front ARB instead of compression struts.......or stiffer springs, it would not lift a rear wheel, on its current set up which is too soft at the front....(not the rear) if you removed the lowering block it would be less likely to lift a wheel.....my old hillclimb car had 146lb rears (which aint soft at all) with between 250-300lb front springs AND a twin cam arb......my current car is almost exactly the same set up as this, even the same tyres and the only diff is mine has a 1inch lowering block and an ARB.
This is a customers car I've been going through for a week...but it's handily suspended with no rims on at the moment. Can you please explain to me (because I'm missing it!!) how removing the spacer block between the leaf and axle will lower the axle? It's on full drop...the axle won't go anywhere? The lowering block only has the effect of raising the axle when it's got the weight of the car on it...not when it's suspended by the damper on full extension.
Looking at the photo multi leaf springs look like they are about 4 mm thick so if the block was the issue do all escorts with multi leaf lift the rear wheel? All my suspension is new and quantified except the front struts
Are the Spax Dampers you are using on the Rear suitable for Turrets and are the Turrets std height or tall? shockers need to be mounted correctly on to the Axle for which ever one you have. Has anyone checked to see if they are short or long inserts in the front Struts.
As GP4 says the whole package looks soggy, the Rear Springs look to behaving like a CD6 would which is 85lb and not what you would with a 146lb. People take the word of the supplier when obtaining Springs when really they have n`t a clue what they are, especially if they are second hand.
It's been interesting following this thread but I think it's time to get back to basics. The advice has been good and not so good but all are assuming this or that !!. My advice for what it is worth is to get hold of some standard suspension and fit it. Anti roll bar, TCA's and known struts. At the back put the axle on leaf springs and standard shockers. Set the castor, camber and toe correctly and give the car a try. Obviously nowt fancy or fast but I promise it won't do anything stupid such as it has been. Then start one upgrade at a time. MAKE SURE IT WORKS then move on.
I know this sounds a pain but its likely that you are going to wreck either the car and/or yourself or just give up. A properly handling Escort is a joy to drive.
And for all the knowalls that say it must have this or that just look under Steve BANNISTERS front running car. Although beautifully built by folk who know there stuff it is very short of fancy links etc.
I know what your saying and don't think the lowering block is the problem on mine when I jack it up on the chassis the axle obviously drops but not to the full extension of the damper, the weight of the axle can't overcome the spring so the lowering block on mine makes the wheel/axle higher, there's still about and inch to go on the shock before its full extended, mine are single leafs, I don't think the rear is too soft but def think the front is, on a fwd car you stiffen the rear and soften the front and the tendency is to lift a rear wheel, I think it's the same here.
Does it have slipper springs? if so then it's diff from mine in that respect and the axle will drop fully, my leafs are fixed at both ends so the shock doesn't fully extend when the weight is off.
Thank god for common sense john !
Hexham and District Motorclub
Thanks for all the responses. It all helps to buid a better picture. The Idea of changing one thing at a time is a good one, but like you say time consuming and sadly I don't have that time. Thinking back though when I used the car when I bought it in 1997 I raced it at Anglsey track ( the one you see on 5th Gear) and going down the straight into the right hander at the end it was lifting the rear wheel then according to spectators. The rear then was completely std except some mk2 escort single leafs. It still had the slope and hope rear shocks mounted on the cross bar. I was using the same front struts though, but they had std capri spring on them, but with an ARB. As everything else is new, quantified and from (i'm assuming) reputable dealers such as WWRS and Rally Design I think i'm going to conclude its the front spring are too soft and the struts need to be changed to something that is quantified incase it is under damped. Just to clarify the rear is on 146lb single leaf - not slippers. It is turreted and on angled anti tramp bars. Not even anything as fancy as a panhard rod.
Did you get to the bottom of this after?
Not really Luke. I've just been using it as it is for the Motorkhanas down Pembrey. I can still feel it trying to lift the inside rear wheels on hairpins. I think I've just changed my driving style to suit the car as it seems to be going pretty quick these days. The last few I've done I've had fastest times of the day twice (would have been 3 times but I clipped a cone on one), umpteen 1st in class and a good few 3rd overalls. So I'm quite pleased with how it's going. I have bought some second hand tarmac bilsteins with adjustable platforms, put new bushes in them and bought some 250 lb springs. But they have been sat on the garage floor for about a year as I'm building a mk2 16gt 2 door cortina so all my efforts have been going into welding that. So the escort is getting used but not getting the attention it needs. Are you going to do the Kidwelly Club Targa rally in September Luke?
Last edited by jonsey; 02-06-2015 at 23:06.
The back end is the same spec as mine, i think i am running 180lbs springs on the front with tarmac springs and a twink arb if you run that set up maybe with stiffer spring that should sort your problems.
Also is the targa rally a 'night event' type run or motorkanha? If it is a motorkahna i would be interested in that.
It's run to night event rules John so no throttle bodies etc. I'm hoping the shocks and springs will sort it. Got compression struts on the front and no ARB. There's another Motorkhana on on 17th June. But is full. I've got an entry but I'm on call till 8am so will have to wangle that somehow.
As I said in an earlier post, stiffer front springs will sort it, with sticky tyres and no ARB you need at least 250lb springs on the front, I've tried all sorts of spring set ups and anything less than 220's with decent tyres on Tarmac was hopeless....and that's with an ARB
I'm hoping it does Ericmex as I don't want to spend anymore money on it.
Leave it well alone if the car is setting fastest times, might end up slowing it down lol. I didn't realise the targa was running this year, depending on the date I'll give it a go again. I've put my name down as a reserve with Caroline for the motorkhana, so will hopefully get a run on that, think I'm 5th reserve atm
I'll be leaving it alone for now simply because I can't be bothered. I saw on the club's FB page you were 5th reserve. I think last time a good few dropped out in the last week so you may be lucky. It'll be good to have some competition.
I'm really fancying it, I haven't done one since I first bought the car and that didn't end well. What parts of pembrey do they use now?
I think it's back on the gocart track this time. We've done a good few on the main circuit as well and also a combination of the both. It makes a nice change swapping things about. I think I prefer the main circuit as we use cones instead of tires so less chance of damaging the car, but if you do demolish a cone you get to pay £5 for its replacement and you get a 5 second time penalty for everyone you touch. Encouragement to keep it clean. I think a couple have pulled out already.
I did the Motorkhana down Pembrey Circuit on Sunday. The car suffered from fuel surge all day. The strange thing is it didn't do it at all during the last 2 events. I hadn't brimmed the tank this time but when I added more fuel it made it worse. It's running a mk1 3 litre capri tank, through a low pressure filter, into a swirl pot then through a pump and high pressure filter. The return goes into the pot then a relief goes of the top of the pot and back to the tank. Does it need a low pressure pump to feed the pot? Anyway I had 1st in class and 3rd overall, but on the last run I smashed it into a couple of lorry tires and bent the front panel and wing. In my temper on the next chicane I clipped the back on the tire wall denting the lower rear quarter and destroying the rear bumper. It's off to get repaired tomorrow.
Last edited by jonsey; 17-06-2015 at 22:30.
yes you should use a low pressure pump to feed the swirl pot
Cheers Graham. I'll have to sort one out then.
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