G'day

Had the BF XR8 on a 4 poster hoist today and noticed the IRS is basically sitting on the bump stops (no clearance/probably little bit of compression).

I assume this isn't right? (That isn't standard for XR8 ride height? I checked and made sure the previous owner didn't do anything dumb like chop the springs) to me there isn't much movement left in those arms till they max out the stops :O

What would cause that? Bad shocks or springs? (Looks like the left side is sagging a little more than the right) or something else maybe? (and the boot was all but empty)

ps, Whats the normal oil pressure/oil temp operating range for the Boss 260?
Finished wiring up my oil pressure/temp gauges, i get between 23psi (hot motor/idle) to 105psi (hits that if i flog it, seems to get to 95 at around 2500rpm and stay there) and oil temp between 70 and 85 (got down the 70 Deg C while cruising @ 110kmph down the freeway for 1/2hr - climbed up when it hit local streets/stop|start)

Cheers

It's been lowered, or has had incorrect bump stops fitted.

Well i'm not sure if it has or not, i don't know what standard springs look like.

The ones on it haven't been chopped (unless they did a very good job of hiding the cuts), but they could be lower aftermarkets - Though all the lowered springs i've seen are bright colours (yellows/reds/etc) these are black and look very stock looking :O

Bump stops are standard ford ones and one side is slightly lower than the other (Which i guess if they were cut, might explain why that is/uneven cuts)

How long do standard shocks last on BF XR's anyway? Cars coming up on 120,000km's guessing they'd be rooted by now

has it got a tow bar? or had one? it may have been a tow vehicle... i which would explain the compression on one side if its parked on an angle at night with a load on the back...

I worked at pedders some time ago now but fondly recall seeing this on a regular basis, most if not nearly all of the ba/bf/fg XR's that i remember seeing were like this, from factory there doesn't seem to be much bumpstop clearance and where i worked we had "lowered application" bumpstops available to give more room between the bumptop and lateral arms to avoid "bottoming out"

Yes it does have a tow bar, so that could definitely be a reason too.

Though after measuring ride heights/etc looks like the front is stock height and the rear is lowered (either through completely screwed springs or shortened springs)

Did the XR's you saw at pedders even look this low? Surely this isn't normal
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That said, having no idea how long the shocks have been on there
(Heres a pic of the shock thats on the rear atm is that a stock shock or has it been replaced?)
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I'm looking at replacing them all round front and rear shocks and springs.

I was looking at pedders or king's but have gotten my self a little confused with heights, i was thinking of just keeping it at stock height but i can't tell if the website "standard" height shocks are in reference to XT or XR height, i don't want to raise the thing! Plus they're all listed as Standard plus raised 10mm more ??

Too keep XR height should i be looking at low springs, or standard (don't mind going a little under standard xr height if thats what the low springs will give me aslong as it doesn't screw up the camber on the front....want to avoid camber kits as the local tyrepower kept pointing out how hard/they don't like doing the V8 front camber cause theres no room last time it was aligned)

Do you have any recommendations for pedder setups (their website lists like 3 of the same named part with 3 different part no's, no indication what the difference actually is, i assume the stiffness of the shock/etc). Really just looking for something that gives better handling/performance than a stock setup but also keep it pretty comfy as it is a daily driver (avg 100km's a day - freeway driving) - will probably change the front swaybar to the 27mm from pedders too, heard thats ment to make a big handling difference (the 30mm might be a little too stiff)

Cheers for the help!

This quote is from one of EB92s' posts, dunno how to post links. I f you dont want to go lower than you are, just measure your "HTG" hub centre to guard distance and work out which one is best.



I have the Kings setup with short monroe shocks, and mine sits on the stops like yours.

So ended up getting a good match of Pedders sports ryder's & springs/bumpstops for the back + a 27mm swaybar for the front (gotta save a little more for the front shocks/springs)

Stuck them all in yesterday night and holy crap what a difference.

The old shocks were definitely dead and on close inspection of the springs, they were stuffed too, the left side has a definite "lean" to the spring and the right side has been rubbing a little "lip" that runs just near the spring (like it was trying to lean over also but stopped by the body).

Which leads me to believe that either someone has been towing with the car and left it parked many times on a bit of a angle/loaded to one side, or the last owners hit a gutter (due to the left front wheel bearing crapping out, the left rear driveshaft/outer CV having massive movement, left rear tyre was brand new (cheapo) tyre and that rim had a buckle, plus the whole rear was way out of alignment)

Anyway borrowed a hoist for the swaybar and got the suspension in, heres a few pics
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New vs Old swaybar (Whiteline 27mm swaybar w/ Whiteline bushes)

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New bar in

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New - shorter pedders bumpstops to suit the ride height. Note old suspension was still in, you can see how low the clearance is even with shortened stops

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Spring/Shock in (Matches the caliper )

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Old spring/Shock vs New spring/shock

Havn't snapped any pics of the car and the new bumpstop height but yeah definitely over 100% better than the was previously, now the only vibrations in the car are coming from the subs

Installation of the rears was a cinch (just remember to drop that rear swaybar!), fronts no doubt gonna be more of a headache

oh and that swaybar, my god! i was pretty skeptical about how much difference it'd make but daaaamn, the car used to understeer horrible on a few particular corners forcing a slowdown/covering of the brakes/etc, last night the car went around them like it was putting around them at 30kmph, damn things on rails now When you think about how much of a difference it makes, really a joke that it was like that in the first place for the sake of a few $$$'s per car ....

Worst part is, now i feel how mushy the front end in compared to the rear (and since i got the car after the shocks were already stuffed i never knew what i felt like originally ), gonna have to get those done as soon as i can!

Cheers all!