Re: Adjustable height cars

- P
- Pete C.
  
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posted
16 years ago

Thu, Jul 19, 2007 12:53 AM

> 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? > --

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.

- Z
- Zimmy
  
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posted
16 years ago

Thu, Jul 19, 2007 1:52 PM

"Proctologically Violated©®" wrote in message news:vtuni.13585$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe12.lga...

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.

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- C
- C. E. White
  
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posted
16 years ago

Thu, Jul 19, 2007 4:54 PM

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