Team-BHP > Technical Stuff


Closed Thread
  Search this Thread
26,235 views
Old 27th February 2009, 16:24   #1
Newbie
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 11
Thanked: 0 Times
Old Honda City ...Help Increasing the ground Clearance.

Hi TBHPians,

I have a type II city and want the increase the ground clearance of it.
My silencer has been welded thrice so was wondering if 1 inch spacers and upgrade from 13 '' to 14 '' wheelbase would really help overcoming this problem. Want to know if any consequences for such upgrade .....heard ride becomes more bumpy.


Thanks & Regards,
Pras
prasannapatil is offline  
Old 27th February 2009, 19:17   #2
GTO
Team-BHP Support
 
GTO's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Bombay
Posts: 70,336
Thanked: 298,736 Times

Hi Pras,

Are you sure that the culprit is ground clearance? The reason I ask is, the OHC's stock exhaust is known to have weak mounts. Once my car crossed 30K, it would require an annual weld / repair job at the time of service. No problems once I shifted over to an Automech exhaust though.
GTO is offline  
Old 27th February 2009, 22:09   #3
Newbie
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 11
Thanked: 0 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO View Post
Hi Pras,

Are you sure that the culprit is ground clearance? The reason I ask is, the OHC's stock exhaust is known to have weak mounts. Once my car crossed 30K, it would require an annual weld / repair job at the time of service. No problems once I shifted over to an Automech exhaust though.

Well when we are five in the car the silencer always touches on the speed breaker( kinda feel that it touches start to end). Day before yesterday I had a look of the car while washing at car washing centre. Saw the front drum was much lower and pretty much scratched. So decided to add some spacers to the shocks to avoid such bruising. What say sir?

Thanks & Regards,
Pras
prasannapatil is offline  
Old 28th February 2009, 13:15   #4
GTO
Team-BHP Support
 
GTO's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Bombay
Posts: 70,336
Thanked: 298,736 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by prasannapatil View Post
Well when we are five in the car the silencer always touches on the speed breaker( kinda feel that it touches start to end).
Aha, that's because of the soft rear end:

1. How many kms has your OHC run? Beyond 50,000, the stock suspension is pretty much beyond its optimal life span. See if your car needs a suspension overhaul.

2. If the stock suspension is still good, upgrading to an after-market (firmer) setup is your only other option. This will affect your ride quality, but will improve the handling.

I haven't really had a problem with speedbreakers in my OHC. And the really nasty type, I attack diagonally (one wheel at a time).
GTO is offline  
Old 28th February 2009, 13:55   #5
Senior - BHPian
 
Shan2nu's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Hubli - Karnata
Posts: 5,533
Thanked: 125 Times

Had the same prob until i got the shocks stiffened. U can get it done for around 4-5k.

Im pretty happy with the street spec setup which is neither too stiff nor too soft.

Shan2nu
Shan2nu is offline  
Old 28th February 2009, 14:02   #6
BHPian
 
sameel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: cochin
Posts: 268
Thanked: 3 Times

GTO sir thats the only way to do it. the diagonal approach

the firmer suspension set up will only make the ride suffer. but yes if you are hell bent on attacking corners in the ball park of 100kmph all the time then its a nice idea
and yes a tyre upgrade say from the normal 175/80 R13( not sure if its the right size for OHC. pardon me if its wrong!) to 185/80 R13 these tyres will increase the GC ( very slightly ) this might help!!
the best way is to approach the speed breakers slowly . thats why they are kept for in the first place!! lol.
sameel is offline  
Old 28th February 2009, 14:14   #7
Newbie
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 6
Thanked: 0 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shan2nu View Post
Had the same prob until i got the shocks stiffened. U can get it done for around 4-5k.

Im pretty happy with the street spec setup which is neither too stiff nor too soft.

Shan2nu

Hi , can anyone tell me where to get the shocks stiffened up in mumbai ? How long do these stiffened suspensions last before they become soft again ?

Thanks !
pbp0us is offline  
Old 28th February 2009, 16:19   #8
BHPian
 
kailashnj's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 958
Thanked: 375 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shan2nu View Post
Had the same prob until i got the shocks stiffened. U can get it done for around 4-5k.

Im pretty happy with the street spec setup which is neither too stiff nor too soft.

Shan2nu
Hi Shan2nu,

How did you get gt the shock stiffened. I am interested in doing the same for my Baleno. Kindly provide more details of the same.

Regards,
kailash
kailashnj is offline  
Old 28th February 2009, 16:32   #9
Newbie
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 11
Thanked: 0 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shan2nu View Post
Had the same prob until i got the shocks stiffened. U can get it done for around 4-5k.

Im pretty happy with the street spec setup which is neither too stiff nor too soft.

Shan2nu


Hey GTO
My OHC has done 62000 kms till date. My tyres are Good year 175/70 R13.
I feel the suspension are quite good ( One of the mechanic told me pressing the front of the several time should stiffened the the shocks ..He himself did that and said no need to change the shocks..well thats what his opinion was..). He also talked about rubber / metal spacers can be placed on the lower end on the shocks to increase the height of the car.

Hey Shan2nu where can i stiffen the shocks in mumbai? So that I can forget about adding any spacers.

Thanks ,
Pras
prasannapatil is offline  
Old 28th February 2009, 16:43   #10
Senior - BHPian
 
Shan2nu's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Hubli - Karnata
Posts: 5,533
Thanked: 125 Times

Quote:
Hi , can anyone tell me where to get the shocks stiffened up in mumbai ? How long do these stiffened suspensions last before they become soft again ?
You can contact viper or rocam, they might help you out.

I've been running my car with stiffened shocks for a year now and haven't seen any drop in stiffness.

Quote:
How did you get gt the shock stiffened. I am interested in doing the same for my Baleno. Kindly provide more details of the same.
From what iv heard, they replace the stock fluid with one that has a higher viscosity rating.

Shan2nu
Shan2nu is offline  
Old 28th February 2009, 16:54   #11
BHPian
 
WAGON_R's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: MUMBAI
Posts: 60
Thanked: 0 Times

Whats the exact process of stiffening? i believe the springs are stiffened in case of the cars.
once i mean shock absorbers overhaul guy. he said he can stiffen them by changing the oil in the struts. he mixes 2 types of oil.one is for softness and one is hard. he said if the hard quantity of oil is mixed more the suspensions are stiffened.
he was doing the same for one bike there.
WAGON_R is offline  
Old 2nd March 2009, 11:08   #12
Senior - BHPian
 
sushrutha's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Chikmagalur/Ban
Posts: 1,703
Thanked: 333 Times

Some options for increasing the ground clearence are
1. Add spacers ( Handling will get effected)
2. Increase the tyre profile size from 175-70-R13 to 185-70-R13
3. Upgrade from 13" tyres to 14" tyres & Rims, but this will effect your Speedo & odo reading
sushrutha is offline  
Old 2nd March 2009, 11:50   #13
Senior - BHPian
 
lohithrao's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Kudla/Mangaluru
Posts: 3,204
Thanked: 225 Times

I had got my OHC's shock stiffened to and had done about 24k kms on it before i sold it. i was very happy with it and no issues at all.

Just make sure that you get it done from the right guy.

I would recommend Fazal(FRK) in Bangalore for that.
lohithrao is offline  
Old 11th April 2009, 22:13   #14
BHPian
 
di1in's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Thrissur
Posts: 510
Thanked: 285 Times

I upsized mine from the 13incher to a 15incher adn it's solved all my clearance problems - besides making it look good. I'd recommend an upsize from the 13" always - it makes the car look quirky.
di1in is offline  
Old 12th April 2009, 01:37   #15
BHPian
 
ankitahuja's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Gurgaon
Posts: 921
Thanked: 94 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by di1in View Post
I upsized mine from the 13incher to a 15incher adn it's solved all my clearance problems - besides making it look good. I'd recommend an upsize from the 13" always - it makes the car look quirky.
Agreed, also because the 15"ers make the ride stiffer due to a lower profile. But do you also know how badly the suspension takes a beating!?

Stiffened shocks is a good way to improve the handling on the OHC. Does ANYONE have any idea who can do this effectively in NCR?

(Abhik, are you following?)
ankitahuja is offline  
Closed Thread

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks