Styling Replaced My Steels For Alloys....

[Kernow 70]

Hi I recently saw a set of 6J x15" Panda alloys with tyres on eBay a few of weeks ago, to be fair the guy did say the tyres were pretty much knackered and the wheels had a few kerb marks here and there some worse than others but all in all they looked pretty good in the pics, and all for £70 quid. So I bought them they only problem was the wheels were way up on the East coast some considerable distance from Cornwall and thus cost me more to get them transported down than what the wheels actually cost me initially.!!!
Anyhow they arrived and after getting the tyres removed I set about cleaning them up and refurbishing them. Once done gave them a couple of coats of primer including the inside of the rims because that's what you see when looking through the spokes + a couple top coats and lacquer. A new set of 185/55 R15 tyres pretty much a perfect match for the 155/80 r13 wheels & tyres, a new set of tapered wheel studs & matching lockers. Now all fitted to the car and IMO looking good.
Now I've read that Fiat 500 coil springs are a tad lower and a bit softer, so I was thinking of maybe just replacing the rears as the car sits slightly higher at the rear, as it always has and I think the stance would look better if the rears (only) are slightly lowered. ? My question is are all of the 500 springs the same height wise and will they fit straight onto my 2011 169...........????

 

[The Panda Nut]

View attachment 460444Hi I recently saw a set of 6J x15" Panda alloys with tyres on eBay a few of weeks ago, to be fair the guy did say the tyres were pretty much knackered and the wheels had a few kerb marks here and there some worse than others but all in all they looked pretty good in the pics, and all for £70 quid. So I bought them they only problem was the wheels were way up on the East coast some considerable distance from Cornwall and thus cost me more to get them transported down than what the wheels actually cost me initially.!!!
Anyhow they arrived and after getting the tyres removed I set about cleaning them up and refurbishing them. Once done gave them a couple of coats of primer including the inside of the rims because that's what you see when looking through the spokes + a couple top coats and lacquer. A new set of 185/55 R15 tyres pretty much a perfect match for the 155/80 r13 wheels & tyres, a new set of tapered wheel studs & matching lockers. Now all fitted to the car and IMO looking good.
Now I've read that Fiat 500 coil springs are a tad lower and a bit softer, so I was thinking of maybe just replacing the rears as the car sits slightly higher at the rear, as it always has and I think the stance would look better if the rears (only) are slightly lowered. ? My question is are all of the 500 springs the same height wise and will they fit straight onto my 2011 169...........????

You lucky so and so. Im looking for just that but have only found useless damaged wheels at over £100 each so far. I just need one. One pf the prettiest wheels around I think. Was it a private seller?

 

[Kernow 70]

You lucky so and so. Im looking for just that but have only found useless damaged wheels at over £100 each so far. I just need one. One pf the prettiest wheels around I think. Was it a private seller?

Actually yes & no he is a garage proprietor but selling on eBay as a private individual I guess not as a business, anyway yes i guess I was lucky to see it at the right time and clicked the buy it now tab....

 

[koalar]

.
Now I've read that Fiat 500 coil springs are a tad lower and a bit softer, so I was thinking of maybe just replacing the rears as the car sits slightly higher at the rear, as it always has and I think the stance would look better if the rears (only) are slightly lowered. ? My question is are all of the 500 springs the same height wise and will they fit straight onto my 2011 169...........????

All panda springs aren't the same

if you want the car to handle correctly, steering to self centre properly, stability control if fitted and so on, it's best to keep it within what fiat originally fitted, just go up the specification tree




Fitting shorter, softer springs sounds wrong to me, the 500 has anti roll bars fitted to the rear to reduce body roll, fitted to the panda will increase weight transfer in corners, more time on the bump stops, yes you can fit different bump stops, but now the suspension is working in an area it wasn't designed for, geometry has changed, I offered to set up a back to back test between my none modified car and one with 500 springs and wider axle on an old airfield


Be aware that the tyre fitted is a summer tyre

The cross was normal fitted with 175/65 R15 on the same size rim

 

[Kernow 70]

So probably best to go down the road of actual Panda aftermarket shorter springs if I'm going to lower slightly, which is all I want to do really.

 

[koalar]

So probably best to go down the road of actual Panda aftermarket shorter springs if I'm going to lower slightly, which is all I want to do really.

The panda 100hp had shorter stiffer spring, but also different front front subframe with different mounting point, in fact every part of the suspension is different,

Try it as it is for a bit as it is, I had 13" and 14" at the same time the 14" were considerably harsher over speed humps, I image the 15" would be worse still, although not driven the 15" myself, but it will probably depend where you live as to how annoying it is

And then decide if lower stiffer is the way you want to go, with it's add insurance premiums

 

[Kernow 70]

I've covered some 50 miles approx today since fitting the wheels with the new tyre's to my car and I have to say I can't detect any difference to the original wheels & tyres, certainly not any harsher ride by any means. The only difference it seems the new ones are a lot quieter despite the original tyre's being Continentals.?
Really I would just like the stance to be a bit more level i.e. front & rear to be closer to the same in an aesthetic way...

 

[koalar]

The rear is very weight dependant

Is the fuel tank empty.

Is the spare tyre and tools in the boot

 

[Kernow 70]

Spare tyre & tools all present & correct, approx 2/3rds tank full of fuel...

 

[koalar]

 

[Yolanda]

I see your reasoning of leveling the car up but with a full tank of fuel and two people in the back I would think the car would be hitting the bump stops a lot.

 

[Kernow 70]

I agree, but in my case very unlikely to ever occur in either case, other than maybe on young grandchild in the back. My car gets very little use tbh mainly just used as a local runabout, probably somewhere around 1000/1200 miles/year. I have however did use the car today over a longer distance than normal to meet a couple of mates for a bit of a social gathering and I have to say the new wheels & tyre's are a big improvement over the standard oem's. So much quieter and a lot smoother so I'm delighted with my purchase.
The jury is still out regarding dropping the rear slightly, so far a 30mm drop seems to be the least amount I can drop which would probably be about right keeping the fronts as standard length.....

 

[Dan at Adrian Flux]

Hi.
If you have any issues with insurance at all for any modifications you're thinking of then please feel free to drop me a line.
Regards,
Dan.

 

[koalar]

Here the difference in ride hight, several inches
Empty vs one large adult and a tiny person in the rear

1.2 2005

 

[Yolanda]

I agree, but in my case very unlikely to ever occur in either case, other than maybe on young grandchild in the back. My car gets very little use tbh mainly just used as a local runabout, probably somewhere around 1000/1200 miles/year. I have however did use the car today over a longer distance than normal to meet a couple of mates for a bit of a social gathering and I have to say the new wheels & tyre's are a big improvement over the standard oem's. So much quieter and a lot smoother so I'm delighted with my purchase.
The jury is still out regarding dropping the rear slightly, so far a 30mm drop seems to be the least amount I can drop which would probably be about right keeping the fronts as standard length.....

Many years ago, I had a Mk 4 Cortina and I lowered the rear by removing 1 complete coil off the tops of the springs. It didn't upset the handling at all as the springs were more robust than the ones on our Pandas as koalar points out.

 

[DaveMcT]

That axle spring pan is failing. You can see how stress is flaking the rust away inboard of the shock absorber bracket. It will even tally crack just there and you'll be stranded.

Mine was not this bad, so I got it grit blasted and zinc metal sprayed. It's not costly but you have to get the axle to the facility for the work to be done. Alternatively fit a replacement axle before this one lets you down.

Advert says this is not for 100HP but the stub spindle mounting plate can be drilled for the ABS sensor. The really hard part is getting the stub spindles off the old main axle. They have over-long fine thread M10 studs that are near impossible to clean. The nuts will get half way off before the threads strip and the nuts spin uselessly. DAMHIK.

In hind-sight I think a M10 standard die nut could be used. The threads will be trashed but the nuts should come off as the rust and gunk will be gone. Try finding an M10 fine die nut.

You will then have to extract the old studs from the axle stubs and use suitable high tensile bolts.

Eper says stub axle part numbers are 50702669 and 50704524 Called "steering knuckle" even though they don't steer. Prices on eBay are all over the place to buy carefully.

UPGRADED HEAVY DUTY Rear Axle for Fiat Panda 03- Thicker Metal NOT 4X4/4WD/100HP | eBay

Product Notes: The engineers at IM Axle Specialists have redesigned this axle to fix the weak points in the OE axle design and the following features are now included with this axle. This is the ONLY Heavy Duty Axle available for this model in the market.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[koalar]

That axle spring pan is failing. You can see how stress is flaking the rust away inboard of the shock absorber bracket. It will even tally crack just there and you'll be stranded.

Mine was not this bad, so I got it grit blasted and zinc metal sprayed. It's not costly but you have to get the axle to the facility for the work to be done. Alternatively fit a replacement axle before this one lets you down.

Advert says this is not for 100HP but the stub spindle mounting plate can be drilled for the ABS sensor. The really hard part is getting the stub spindles off the old main axle. They have over-long fine thread M10 studs that are near impossible to clean. The nuts will get half way off before the threads strip and the nuts spin uselessly. DAMHIK.

In hind-sight I think a M10 standard die nut could be used. The threads will be trashed but the nuts should come off as the rust and gunk will be gone. Try finding an M10 fine die nut.

You will then have to extract the old studs from the axle stubs and use suitable high tensile bolts.

Eper says stub axle part numbers are 50702669 and 50704524 Called "steering knuckle" even though they don't steer. Prices on eBay are all over the place to buy carefully.

UPGRADED HEAVY DUTY Rear Axle for Fiat Panda 03- Thicker Metal NOT 4X4/4WD/100HP | eBay

Product Notes: The engineers at IM Axle Specialists have redesigned this axle to fix the weak points in the OE axle design and the following features are now included with this axle. This is the ONLY Heavy Duty Axle available for this model in the market.

www.ebay.co.uk

That's my car, nothing to do with @Kernow 70 car

Used as an example of how ride height changes with weight in the rear, look at the gap to the bump stops in both pictures

Surface rust and paint flaking

Lasted another 2 years, out lasted the car

No it does not need a new axle

 

[DaveMcT]

Mine was similar but less flaking rust. I had it metal sprayed and it looks today just as it did the day it went back on. Plus some road dirt of course but no rust stain and no flaking.

The wife's axle was extremely thin in that area inboard of the shock bracket and one side was starting to sag. It was repairable but really not worth the effort. I painted the new axle (not cheap stuff either) but that paint has not lasted well. A wire brush and squirt of lanolin will have to do.

 

[Blackie27]

When I changed the rear brake shoes and wheel hubs on my 2009 Panda, I noticed that one of the springs looked new, less that a year old. The other one is defiantly older by a number of years, but not broken
Should I change the old spring?

 

[koalar]

When I changed the rear brake shoes and wheel hubs on my 2009 Panda, I noticed that one of the springs looked new, less that a year old. The other one is defiantly older by a number of years, but not broken
Should I change the old spring?

Rear shocks should be changed as a pair if they have done over 15K

There's no such requirement for springs as far as I know

Park somewhere flat, If from the ground to the top of the wheel arch measure roughly the the same each side, I wouldn't bother, a bit of surface rust is fine

Original springs a painted colour mark to identify them they should be the same colour, unfortunately it's often missing from third party springs