New member, Xantia estate

[Zeb]

Hey all.

I bought this car a few months ago as a new daily after having been won over by the economy of a few friends' XUD9 powered Peugeots, that and I've always been a closet Citroen fan, so the Xantia appealed even if the styling is toned down compared to earlier models.

Also, although I bought this with intentions to leave as is, and even though modified examples are so few and far between, I can't help but see the potential given by having height adjustable suspension from the factory. The shape and styling has grown on me too. I have some period aero wheels on the way and plan on shortening the front suspension about 2" so it looks more even both at driving height and the lowered height. I know this has been done before but I haven't found any info on the process, if anyone can direct me to such info that would be very helpful, otherwise I'll just need to figure it out as I go along.

I'm also here for parts!

Thanks

[Mungous]

Welcome along!  I love me a nice Xantipants Estate!

Height control is governed by a clamp on each of the anti-roll bars.  It is really only possible to adjust this on a four-post hoist, otherwise you may get squashed.

With the car up in the air on the hoist (with engine running and suspension height control lever in the normal position) push the front of the car up as far as it will go and wait for the suspension to start to release pressure (the weight on your hands will increase until you can't hold it up any more).  Then let the car go - it will sink too low, and then readjust itself.  Then hang all your bodyweight on the front of the car and it will sink a little.  The suspension should then again react and lift the car (and you) back up.  Once it has lifted your feet off the ground, let go.  It will now drop down and settle to the standard ride height.  Measure this height at a sensible reference point.

Now find the clamp that holds the suspension height control rod to the front ARB and loosen the clamp bolt slightly.  Rotate the clamp around the ARB a little and retighten.  Repeat height settling procedure above.  If you rotate the clamp too far the car will start reacting immediately.  About 2-3mm of rotation should make the difference you want.  Once the car has settled properly, compare to reference height and repeat adjustment if necessary (or rotate clamp in the opposite direction if the adjustment went the wrong way).

The same procedure applies to the rear.

Have fun, and post more pics!

(If all this seems like too much of a ball-ache, I totally recommend Bishop's Garage in Aucks to sort it out for you.  Assuming you are in the area...)

[Zeb]

Thanks! That's all really helpful and I will likely use that technique to tweak the normal ride height later. Perhaps I explained it poorly but what I really want to do is get the lowered (fully de-pressurised) height even lower by physically shortening the strut. 

I've attached a photo of one that has had the front suspension lowered by at least 1" from standard (that's a 16" wheel) to help illustrate what I mean

[Zeb]

Here's another photo of mine and a rough photoshop of what I would like to do. the wheels are 15x6.5 +15 (nearly the same as the factory 15x6 +15) but will need an adapter as they're 114pcd. so I've tried to show what they will look like pushed out 20-25mm (yes they will fit). The rear height is the same as normal (I don't think the protruding face of the new wheel would clear any lower anyway) but the front is shown with the wheel about 2" higher in the guard like I want. I will also go from the 195/60 to 195/50 or similar so excuse the big sidewalls.

[CaM]

Hi Zeb!

[Carpentry]

Hey man

That's a rad car. Raaaaaaaaaad car.

The boot space, the diesel.

Welcome!

[rolly]

Welcome.

Nice looking ride, will be interesting to see how it all turns out!

[Zeb]

I've just been sent some drawings from the guy who owns the green car above! I had previously thought of spacing the struts up at the top after having seen it done on a BX, but after seeing just how little space there is under the bonnet I couldn't see it making much difference, after seeing these drawings maybe there is (he could have notched out under bonnet a little too). At the other end he has slipped the strut down through where the hub assembly clamps on. It's already close to the axle so I'll be careful to make sure they don't foul at any height before deciding on a height. But anyway it's good to know that with the method the 2" I'm chasing is possible, maybe a little more.

[Zeb]

A few more photos of his car..

[Zeb]

Got wheels back today, will fit just as i had imagined with the 25mm adapter and small tyre (175/50 or so) still need to get started on shortening the front end but that may have to wait until i have some decent time off