Increase in suspenion ride hieght with new insulators?

Guys,

I'm running CW suspension and recently bought some brand new rear rubber insulators (rubber gators that protect the piston of the damper on shock absorber). I'm wondering if anyone has any idea what effect this will have on the ride height, if any. I've been mulling over it in my head and wondered whether it would raise the ride height slightly?

Cheers

Jim

How would it effect ride height?

Im not totally sure...I just wondered if the old insulators were worn and old, would the brand new ones increase the ride hieght given the possible degredation in rubber plascticity of the old ones? It's not something I'm saying will happen, I just started thinking about it last night as I'm going to be fitting them tonight.

Surely being a gator and rubber as you described would mean they are flexible and soft, therefore unable to support any weight.

Surely being a gator and rubber as you described would mean they are flexible and soft, therefore unable to support any weight.

As it sits between the spring and top mount could it raise things a bit when new if it was stiff enough? My old ones were "squeezed out" a fair bit but the new ones I fitted (for now) have held their shape a bit better and look slightly thicker once installed...

As it sits between the spring and top mount could it raise things a bit when new if it was stiff enough? My old ones were "squeezed out" a fair bit but the new ones I fitted (for now) have held their shape a bit better and look slightly thicker once installed...

Thats my thinking.

I was thinking of it like an o-ring. Over time the o-ring may take on a 'set' due to pressure and there is an obvious difference in section versus a new o-ring. As dandan states, against an old boot, would the new one hold it's initial shape slightly better and lift the ride height?

I very much doubt Bilstein would produce an item like this that would affect that actual suspension, surely it would engineered to be none interference.

I very much doubt Bilstein would produce an item like this that would affect that actual suspension, surely it would engineered to be none interference.

How do you mean Wes? Do you mean it would be soft enough to always squash to almost nothing?

I would say soft enough to not become part of suspension.

I would say soft enough to not become part of suspension.

Yes I see what you mean but if it does nothing it might as well not be there. If it cuts out noise then it can't be infinitely stiff - it must be deforming in use....even just a little bit?

Isn't it there to just protect the piston/damper from road crap?

I think the thick band at the top is for NVH insulation reasons to cut down on vib/noise transferred to the shell.

Any excuse to post a pic and show my photo editing skillz

Insulator shown by yellow arrow (Not for your benefit Jim and Wes, but it's not immediately obvious to everyone that this is the insulator.)

To be fair, all the cars I have seen with new stock based suspension fitted do take some time to settle down, my CW stuff settled more and more over a couple of hundred miles. Jurgen's car for Suprafan was high initially as well wasn't it?

How about this Jim....

Measure the ride height as it is, fit the new bits, drive a few miles, re-measure the height and then let us know if it changed

Before that I would say measure the height, jack the car up but don't do any work, lower it an measure as it will be higher, then go for a drive and measure again. Then as dan says do the same when fitting the insulators.

As the gaiter is one one piece with the noise insulator the top coil sits on then a new one may give a minutely higher ride height, but I doubt it would be noticeable.

My springs do not sag within weeks

The usual cause for the ride height to "settle" is pre-load in the wishbone bushes being eased over time. Without a flat floor ramp it's all but impossible to re-torque the bush through bolts without any bush pre-load, so people see the suspension height drop and think it's the springs settling. A decent race spring would be condemned if its design loaded height changed by even 1 mm over a season.

dandan: You look to have made a nice job of those height adjusters!

I'll take some measurements tonight before and after the new insulators have been fitted, taking into account jacking the car up on both instances and we can see what happens...