13 replies to this topic

[Will16]

Hi all,

I'm struggling with my rear Hilo's ATM. I want to lower the rear by about 1" to 2". I fitted them, in their lowest setting, but the car hasn't dropped, and the HiLo's, when their shortest were the same height as the standard trumpets. So what I'm asking is this-

1) Can anyone measure their HiLo's, in their shortest and longest length?
2) When lowering the rear, is the HiLo meant to be longer or shorter than the standard trumpet?
3) Will I need lower shocks? I'm only lowering 2" max, but I recently brought some spax shorter shocks from a carboot sale. Not sure if they will be fitted.

Many Thanks,
Will

[Bungle]

are these the real hilo's as made by minispares or a cheap ebay copy

[adam_93rio]

Have you let the car settle after adjusting them? When you let it off the jack it won't just drop down to the final resting point like a car on springs would.
You shorten the hi lo to go lower, the ratio is about 1:5 so every millimetre you adjust the hi lo, the suspension will drop 5mm
I normally open my boot and bounce on the hinge panel a few times to get it to settle

[Bungle]

a hilo for a lowered mini will be shorter than a standard trumpet

 

once you get you ride hight measure the shock from mount to mount and see how this compares to the shocks you have

[Will16]

are these the real hilo's as made by minispares or a cheap ebay copy

I'm not sure. I got them second hand off here. I'm pretty sure they are not adjustarides. There are them-

Have you let the car settle after adjusting them? When you let it off the jack it won't just drop down to the final resting point like a car on springs would.
You shorten the hi lo to go lower, the ratio is about 1:5 so every millimetre you adjust the hi lo, the suspension will drop 5mm
I normally open my boot and bounce on the hinge panel a few times to get it to settle

It's settled for about a fortnight now. It's actually higher than before :/. Thanks for the lowering info though.

a hilo for a lowered mini will be shorter than a standard trumpet

once you get you ride hight measure the shock from mount to mount and see how this compares to the shocks you have

I think I'm going to have to shorten them.

Edited by Will16, 22 April 2014 - 05:11 PM.

[Tamworthbay]

That pic looks to have them set at their longest possible position.

[Bungle]

and that lock nut isn't doing anything

[Cerberus]

Is it just me or do those rods look a bit long?

 

Might just be the photo and the fact that they're vertical rather than horizontal and not on a car, but they look longer than the rods on my rear hi-los.

[Tamworthbay]

Is it just me or do those rods look a bit long?
 
Might just be the photo and the fact that they're vertical rather than horizontal and not on a car, but they look longer than the rods on my rear hi-los.

I think that is just the pics, never seen black ones before but I assume someone has painted them.

[Leonrjohnson]

I had to cut a bit off my rods when I got them because they were too long(maybe to compensate for fitment to a Ute or Traveller). I screwed the adjusters out as far as they could go safely, then compared the length with a standard trumpet (measure from the donut end seat of the HILO to the end of the ball). I don't remember how much longer the HILO's were, but they were longer by about 0.25 inches if I recall. I trimmed off the 0.25 ? inches off the ball end of the tube, then made sure that the stem of the ball wasn't too long to fit inside the hole in the end of the tube without bottoming out.Mine wasn't, but if yours is, you may need to drill the hole inside the tube deep enough that the ball stem doesn't bottom out. Now you will have plenty of down adjustment.

Hope this points you in the right direction  .

[Tamworthbay]

I had to cut a bit off my rods when I got them because they were too long(maybe to compensate for fitment to a Ute or Traveller). I screwed the adjusters out as far as they could go safely, then compared the length with a standard trumpet (measure from the donut end seat of the HILO to the end of the ball). I don't remember how much longer the HILO's were, but they were longer by about 0.25 inches if I recall. I trimmed off the 0.25 ? inches off the ball end of the tube, then made sure that the stem of the ball wasn't too long to fit inside the hole in the end of the tube without bottoming out.Mine wasn't, but if yours is, you may need to drill the hole inside the tube deep enough that the ball stem doesn't bottom out. Now you will have plenty of down adjustment.
Hope this points you in the right direction  .

Apologies if I am missing something but why did you screw the adjuster all the way out? They are adjustable - you set the length to suit, rather than cutting anything you could of just screwed them in a bit.

[Leonrjohnson]

I screwed them all the way out so they were the same length as the standard trumpet so I could make the HILO the same length (this let me work out how much to cut off the tube). Then when I fitted the HILO's I adjusted them to the ride height that I wanted.

When I initially fitted the HILO's before cutting the tubes,with the adjusters fully wound in (shortest), they made the car sit higher than the original trumpets. That is why I cut them so as to get a range of adjustment. I did fit new donuts at the time as well, and was initially disappointed at the height being too high with the standard trumpets. Now all is good.

[Leonrjohnson]

I might add that after I got my ride height where I wanted it, the shocks were too long, resulting in the base of the HILO disengaging from the donut when I went over a speed bump, or even jacking up the rear. I measured what length shock I needed by jacking up the car, and letting the trailing arm swing down(jack under arm) till the HILO tried to disengage the donut. Then I measured what length shock I needed, and sent an order to GAZ Shocks in UK, who made a custom pair for me( good price too). Now the shock stops the HILO from popping out of the donut!

[Will16]

Thanks a lot guys. I think my rods are too long. My neighbour has a lathe, so may see if he can turn them down a bit.