Ride Height
I'm seeking your assistance in determining the stock ride height for the different years of Pajero iO - my preference is measured from the lower edge of the rim to the edge of the guard above, in a straight line past the wheel center, however, I will accept what ever measurements you have, as long as you can tell me where/how you measured them.
Please also let me know what tires you are using and whther your car has the low or high spring pan on the front struts, the engine size and if it's three or five door..
This is a part of my quest to correct a negative camber problem with the front of my iO, which I believe is caused by sagging springs - it was originally my intention to replace the struts & springs, but the only "stock height" springs I have been able to track down are for the later models with the raised spring pan, and it seems that acquiring a set of these springs is going to be considerably more expensive than I had first thought, shipping is going to cost me more than the springs themselves.
My second option was to fit a set of the raised spring pan struts with the sagging springs that I currently have, with the expectation that I would get some lift from it - but - this morning, whilst measuring the ride height on a newer iO belonging to a friend, I discovered that the later model vehicles, [i]may actually have a lower ride height than the earlier ones[/i].
My friend's iO, which incidentally has the raised pan struts, and does not appear to have sagging suspension, has the EXACT ride height at the front as my sagging iO, and the rear rides some 10mm lower on both sides.
I'm now trying to get details from as many vehicles as I can, so to see if I can find a pattern.
For you guys with raised suspension - did you take before & after measurements? What were the before numbers?
Ride Height - revisited
I've measured a few iOs locally, and whilst there are too few "samples" to draw conclusions - it appears that the older low strut pan models have pretty much the same ride height as the newer ones with the raised strut pan.
I've got 4 vehicles
#1, LWB low pan - LF 665, RF 647, LR 690, RR 680 - slight sag on driver's side, this vehicle was in an accident affecting the right side, no suapension damage
#2, LWB high pan - LF 665, RF 647, LR 680, RR 670 - slight sag on driver's side
#3, LWB high pan - LF 650, RF 640, LR 682, RR 668, - slight sag on driver's side, this vehicle was in an accident affecting the left strut, both struts were replaced.
#4, SWB high pan - LF 665, RF 665, LR 660, RR 660 - these are the measurements I was given, this vehicle appears to sit level.
Now - it is known that installing a high pan strut on a low pan strut equipped vehicle will result in a lift of roughly 30mm, which is the difference in the height of the spring pan - raising the bottom of the spring results in the top of the spring being lifted by the same amount, so for the vehicles to sit at the same height means this 30mm increase has to be accomodated elsewhere - the possibilities are a different spring, a different mount or different sheet metal.
Mitsubishi lists half a dozen or more different part numbers for the springs, left & right are different, but with no details as to whether they have a different free length or spring rate, but KYB Europe, who make K-Flex springs originally had two part numbers, but have reduced this to one covering both sides of the vehicle, both 1.8 & 2.0 engines and SWB & LWB. Osaka Bane (OBK) list a single number and cross-reference this single number to no less than seven Mitsubishi numbers, so it would seem that the springs are interchangeable.
A look at the parts catalogue shows the same part number for the mount, so I suspect that sheet metal is different - I'm going to try to get two vehicles side by side to take a closer look.
I was able to measure a 5th iO today
#5, LWB, high pan - LF 655, RF 655, LR 695, RR 675.
I was also able to take a closer look at the under hood sheet metal where the strut mount is fastened - no visible difference - so I turned my attention elsewhere - the knuckle may be the answer.
I have the chassis number for three of the vehicles, mine, which is the only low pan strut equipped vehicle, and two equipped with high pan struts - a check of the parts catalog shows there are four knuckles - so to speak - left & right, early (98~2000.04.3) and left & right, late (2000.05.1~2007) - now whilst I can see how shortening the knuckle can compensate for a longer strut, I would think this would bring the pan back close to the tire - so I'm still stuck, but I will try to take a closer look at the knuckles.
struts
I don't know if this is useful information for you but having replaced the low pan with the high pan strut using the original low pan spring I can say that:
- The struts are identical in every dimension except for the pan height. The struts compressed and extended lengths measured from what I think you are calling the knuckle to the end of the rod are identical.
- The spring took a lot of compression to get the top hat on when fitted to the high pan strut - much more compression than I would think it was designed for which suggests to me the high pan strut normally has spring that has a shorter uncompressed length, and presumably slightly firmer to make up for the reduced travel.
one more thing
Thinking about it... what I don't know is whether the top hat is the same for the old and new setups. Perhaps the extra compression I saw was because the rim of the top hat where it bears down on the spring is lower in the original than in the later model.
Thanks for the suggestion
I checked - the top hat or upper spring seat is the same part number from 1998~2007 so it's not that - and - as I mentioned earlier, OBK lists one part as a replacement for about seven different springs - left & right and both early & late - I suspect I'm going to order a pair of the OBK springs, if this guy can get them for me, and then install them on the current struts to see what the resulting camber is, and then choose a strut to go with it.
Spring
This might help...If you check in http://www.pajerio.com/forum/okthat-sucks-broke-my-strut I mentioned, in post 24, a difference in the spring of half turn between Fab72, post 12, (lower strut plate) and Johnicue, post 13 (higher strut plate). This might not be the only difference and I cannot say that this half turn result in 25 mm between the 2 springs but it could well be.
Happy io.
Syndicate
Standard height
Here's my before measurements This is with standard 195/65 AT tyres, about 2/3 worn. measurement was from the ground to the wheel arch vertically in line with the hub.
Before: FL=768, FR=767, RL=785, RR=787
Hope this helps.