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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / July 2007Adjustable height cars
Awl-- You know these pimped-out rides, where the car bounces up and down? Seems to me this is actually a very good idea, ito of terrain/snow navigation, where in highway conditions you would keep the car/truck as low as possible (greater stability/mpg's), and in snow/off-road conditions you could jack the car/truck up, for greater clearance. Don't know if the same principle would apply to being able to handle heavy loads as well--gas shocks, iirc, but can you really raise height with them? Seems like a straightforward mod, and I'm surprised mfr's haven't offered it as an option. How complicated/expensive is it to do something like this, utilitarian style? '04 Nissan Frontier; Honda Fit?? :) Would it be much more of a deal to get m'truck to bounce, yo? What are the pinciples involved? pure hydraulic cylinders? air? mechanical scissor-type action? One of the funniest commercials was the one where, iirc, an old lady pulls up to some homey at a stop light, with him bouncing, and she then outbounces him.... hilarious! What was that ad for?  Signature------ Mr. P.V.'d (formerly Droll Troll), Yonkers, NY Stop Corruption in Congress & Send the Ultimate Message: Absolutely Vote, but NOT for a Democrat or a Republican. Ending Corruption in Congress is the *Single Best Way* to Materially Improve Your Family's Life. The Solution is so simple--and inexpensive! entropic3.14decay at optonline2.718 dot net; remove pi and e to reply--ie, all d'numbuhs > Awl-- > [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > him.... hilarious! What was that ad for? > -- The VW Toureg has adjustable ride height. Some other "normal" vehicles may also have it. From what I've seen the bouncing cars use hydraulic cylinders powered by 12V electric-hydraulic power packs usually run at higher than design voltage i.e. 24V, 36V, 48V via extra batteries to increase the flow rate. On Jul 18, 3:11 pm, "Proctologically Violated??" <entropic3.14de...@optonline2.718.net> wrote: > Awl-- > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > entropic3.14decay at optonline2.718 dot net; remove pi and e to reply--ie, > all d'numbuhs I can think of at least two cars in the past that had such systems, the Citroen and one model of Packard. It didn't seem to set the world on fire. >I can think of at least two cars in the past that had such systems, >the Citroen and one model of Packard. It didn't seem to set the world >on fire. It occasionally set the Citroen 6-CV on fire when the fluid came squirting out all over the muffler. --scott Signature"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." > Awl-- > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > Seems like a straightforward mod, and I'm surprised mfr's haven't offered > it as an option. My old Citroen BX did that, many years ago! It had hydropneumatic suspension, so you could just jack it up to go through floods, etc. It also handled very well, had a great ride and was self levelling, I loved it. It also had a weird barrel speedometer and single spoke steering wheel. Unfortunately once the miles of hydraulic pipes started to corrode, they became a nightmare. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Height_adjustable_suspension http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydropneumatic_suspension http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citroen_BX Z Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators with air suspension have this sort of feature. When switched to 4WD, they lifted to provide more ground clearance. When parked, they lower to make entry/exit easier. Older Lincoln Mark X(?) actually lowered after you exceeded a certain speed to improve aerodynamics. I am certain that high end Land Rovers also have adjustable height suspension. However, for a lot of vehicles, raising the body does not actually improve overall ground clearance, since many vehicles have solid rear axles. For these the point of least clearance is the rear axle, and is controlled by the wheel/tire radius and not the height of the body. Ed > Awl-- > [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > pulls up to some homey at a stop light, with him bouncing, and she > then outbounces him.... hilarious! What was that ad for? > where in highway conditions you would keep the car/truck as low > as possible (greater stability/mpg's), and in snow/off-road conditions you > could jack the car/truck up, for greater clearance. The big spendy Range Rover has been doing that for years, using air bags rather than hydraulics. I think the first mass production street use of it was actually on a late 60s Citroen. A fair number of large trucks and buses also have air suspensions nowadays, though I think the idea there is more to give the driver and/or cargo a nicer ride, and to make a bus able to "kneel" for a disabled passenger, than to adjust ride height for different conditions. A fair number of customized cars and (especially) pickups are "bagged" these days, though I think the stereotypical low-rider bounce is achieved through hydraulics, not air bags. You can get air replacement springs or pneumatic supplements to your regular springs. These are two levels, no pun intended, of conversion,; one costs a few hundred dollars, the other a few thousand. WARNING: If you are going to mess with your suspension to that degree, either stick to well-tested complete kits from reputable sources, or approach it as an empirical engineering project that involves careful test drives under forgiving conditions until you get it all sorted out! Sorry if this is blisteringly obvious to you, but you never know who-all is going to read these postings over the years, and you wouldn't want to learn in traffic or on a mountain road that you've paid a lot of money just to get into the When Squirrels Attack realm of chassis dynamics... > Seems like a straightforward mod, and I'm surprised mfr's haven't offered it > as an option. It costs more money, the equipment takes up a fair bit of room; and I'm not sure how well it holds up in the long run. (Tellingly, you can also buy kits to retrofit regular springs to luxury cars whose air ride scheme has turned into a nest of gremlins...) > Would it be much more of a deal to get m'truck to bounce, yo? I can't imagine that being bounced is at all good for the car. I guess that it is better left as a car show stunt, and/or a subculture specific amusement, than something to do with one's daily driver... > One of the funniest commercials was the one where, iirc, an old lady pulls > up to some homey at a stop light, with him bouncing, and she then outbounces > him.... hilarious! What was that ad for? I've seen it too -- and I don't remember either. I once read somewhere that the most memorable ads are often the least effective at making you remember the name of the product or service! > I can't imagine that being bounced is at all good for the car. I > guess that it is better left as a car show stunt, and/or a subculture > specific amusement, than something to do with one's daily driver... Sub culture amusement, indeed. That, spinning rims, colored underbody fluorescent lites, drug/gang hood ornaments.... oh, and the blasting music/mufflers. Goodgawd.... Never heard Bach being blasted out of a car. Or even Beatle music. >> One of the funniest commercials was the one where, iirc, an old lady >> pulls [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > somewhere that the most memorable ads are often the least effective at > making you remember the name of the product or service! Very true. May win awards, but not nec. new customers. THE most effective ad campaign, from what I've read, is the oh-so pedestrian Tide commercial. To wit: Hah, ahm fruhm Mizzoroh 'n' ah lahk Tahd.... yew have to SHOW meeee.... Etc. goodgawd.... So pimping out m'truck height-wise is dicey, eh? Man, I really wanna bounce, yo, bounce! With Big-Rig-type 6" vertical exhaust pipes on each side, behind the cab.... Signature------ Mr. P.V.'d (formerly Droll Troll), Yonkers, NY Stop Corruption in Congress & Send the Ultimate Message: Absolutely Vote, but NOT for a Democrat or a Republican. Ending Corruption in Congress is the *Single Best Way* to Materially Improve Your Family's Life. The Solution is so simple--and inexpensive! entropic3.14decay at optonline2.718 dot net; remove pi and e to reply--ie, all d'numbuhs >> where in highway conditions you would keep the car/truck as low >> as possible (greater stability/mpg's), and in snow/off-road conditions [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] > somewhere that the most memorable ads are often the least effective at > making you remember the name of the product or service! www.autoswalk.com/news/article/14/116.html I have never owned a Citroen car before, but I wouldn't mind owning one of those little old two cylinder Citroen cars that has mostly corrugated metal for the body.Many years ago I read an article in Popular Mechanics magazine about a couple of gus who were driving around the World in one of those cars.(Deaux Chaveaux, or something like that.Pardon my French) Somehow, way out in the boonies, they ran over something that knocked a hole in the bottom of the crank case and all of the oil leaked out.They plugged the hole with something and they stuffed some bananas into the crank case.They made it all the way to another town where they could get the engine repaired.I guess that banana ''oil'' worked pretty good for a while. cuhulin > Deaux Chaveaux, or something like that.Pardon my French The 2CV or Deux Chevaux, aka "Duck" or "Tin Snail" among other monikers (it's understandably a nickname magnet). Conceived in the late 30s as pragmatic transport for the provincial farmer of the day -- sort of a pickup truck from a parallel universe -- and put into production after the war, it was made to endure bad roads with some mercy to the occupants, carry unlikely objects, and go easy on scarce expensive gas. Speed, of course, was not part of this picture! By all accounts it filled its niche marvelously. These cars have their aficionadoes even in the US (most any college town seems to harbor one or two) so neither acquiring one nor living with it is a completely silly idea. This of course is not the fat luxury car that figures into the air- suspension discussion, though a fair number of those survive too. (I think that's Dr. Macy's ride on the USAmerican TV show "Crossing Jordan," for trivia fans." ) Wide and sleekly rounded and low to the ground, there was something oddly insectile about them despite their size -- less a beetle than a giant robot cockroach. With a few exceptions (sailboats, for instance) French industrial design has never translated into English very smoothly... --Joe With a few > exceptions (sailboats, for instance) French industrial design has > never translated into English very smoothly... No? How about the first mass produced front wheel drive car? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_Traction_Avant Z On Jul 19, 9:30 pm, Ad absurdum per aspera <jtc...@california.com> wrote: > > Deaux Chaveaux, or something like that.Pardon my French > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > ground, there was something oddly insectile about them despite their > size -- less a beetle than a giant robot cockroach. What vague nonsense. Are you talking about the DS and ID series? If so remember that they are long out of production and should be considered in relation to other cars produced at the same time. Consider that when the DS was introduced the U.S. auto industry was continuing it's love affair with outsized bumpers, lots of chrome outsized fins and bullet taillights. > With a few > exceptions (sailboats, for instance) French industrial design has > never translated into English very smoothly... What could you possibly base that statement on. Citroen's, Peugeot's and Renaults have sold for decades in england and other parts of the UK. France and the UK are huge trading partners - just pick an industry. And if you are mistakenly thinking that English is synonymous with American consider that aircraft and engines, beverages, electrical equipment, chemicals, cosmetics, and luxury products are among the significant exports to the US. Way back in the early history of American automobiles there were a few auto factories in America building automobiles under license from some European auto factories. cuhulin On Jul 18, 4:11 pm, "Proctologically Violated??" <entropic3.14de...@optonline2.718.net> wrote: > Awl-- > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > entropic3.14decay at optonline2.718 dot net; remove pi and e to reply--ie, > all d'numbuhs For most of us it would be an expensive solution looking for a problem to solve. If lack of success of prior attempts are any indication I don't think there would be sufficient demand. > Awl-- > [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > up to some homey at a stop light, with him bouncing, and she then outbounces > him.... hilarious! What was that ad for? The Lincoln Mark VIII with the air suspension did do this, to a degree. The ride height would drop at highway speeds to reduce aero drag. At rest it would rise to avoid catching the door edges on curbs. The range of adjustment was not anywhere near what the hydraulic low-riders implemented. |
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