Adam talks 15/17 Suspension

In this article we are going to talk about strengthening the body shell and suspension setup for fast street use and the start of competition.

Starting in the engine bay the first strengthening item that should be considered is MIG welding the suspension tower tops as Renaults, seven spot welds will often separate under heavy loads. Some of us can attest to this happening on Volkers, car in its previous life. You could see through the inner guard and there was an unintentional 5 degrees of negative camber on one wheel.

While performing this welding, weld in a 10 millimetre plate to act as an anchor for a strut brace between the towers. This will add the necessary amount of rigidity to the front shell, to allow for further suspension modifications. As Renault stiffened the rear shell considerably from the factory the only addition we would recommend here is a simple welded strut brace between the tops of the shocker towers to spread load evenly through the body.

Springs - New springs will be need to be made one inch lower all around and 30 percent stiffer than 15TS/17TL springs. Contact GT Suspension, 137 Mount Alexander Road, Flemington VIC PH- 03-9376 0777, they will make custom springs at around $200 per pair.

Sway Bars - For normal road use the standard 15TS/17TL bars are quite adequate with the addition of Toyota Tercel 4WD D-bushes "Sure Trak- code a2196u, which are a perfect replacement for the standard rubber D-bush at approximately $30 per pair. For more competition oriented use Gordini spec swaybars, 24mm front and rear bars can be made, however this will increase the "twitchyness" of the chassis and care should be taken while driving on loose or slippery surfaces.

Shocks - Adjustable rate shock absorbers preferred for the ability to match the new spring rates. For sports/competition use custom built shock absorbers may be necessary. For Koni advice contact Top Performance Products at 1 Trade Place, Vermont 3133 PH 03-9873 1722. I would also recommend staying with new rubber bushes rather than any firmer material as these are the best compromise for a car that needs to be used on the road.

General bush replacement is also a great aid to restore the handling of your 15/17. Bushes that should be checked are castor arm, upper and lower wishbone, drop links to sway bar, tie rod ends and the internal nylon bush in the passenger side of the steering rack. The rear trailing arms should be replaced with new ones, however, the pivot and hourglass bush on the rear A-arm rarely need to be changed due to their light stress loads.

Negative Camber - The front wishbones can be lengthened to relocate the ball-joint to allow for up to 2 degrees of negative camber helping to cancel the built in factory understeer. If tempted to go over 2 degrees of negative camber be warned that Renaults, long suspension travel can cause the inner CV joint to separate at the end of it,s travel.

Also, a warning for people who want to lower their car more than one and a half inches. Due to the long suspension travel the shock absorber piston rods and bump stops will need to be shortened to allow adequate effective shock absorber motion. The final item to take advantage of the up rated suspension specifications is a set of widened 14-inch steel specials as now the chassis will easily over-power the standard Renault rubber.For widening your Renault steel wheels contact Eastern Wheel Works

+61 3 9720 7378 Factory 4/5 Edelmaier St Bayswater, Victoria 3153. I hope this answers some of the basic questions you've had about setting up your suspension for your 15/17 coupe or 12/17 sedans.

The Supreme Dictator "Adam Schonekas"

R12/17 Sedan Strut Brace

R15/17 Coupe Strut Brace