A bit of a silly one this one....
Has anyone ever thought of converting a BX to conventional suspension?
Not as daft as it may sound: The Peugeot 305 has a remarkably similar basic overall set up in that the mountings appear the same and the rear suspension units are laid down and the entire BX subframe at the rear looks like a modified 305 design. As regards the front the hub is very similar to the 305/405 item and a Macpherson strut from a Peugeot or Citroen should fit in place of BXs hydraulic item. Just compare the two using the Haynes manuals you may be suprised. I wil look into this further and post any info I come across usig Hayne as a reference. Yes it may seem a silly idea but I am bored stupid waiting for a back operation and my mind start to work overtime thanks to the morphine I'm prescribed. Just imagine the freedom from miles of pipes and the ability to use uprated suspension kits.
Happy fixing. The GTX was the 'hot' version of the 305.......
i prefere the hydraulic system myself. Its one of the reasons i bought the bx. Have thought about it but wouldnt do it. I would have thought because the bx was designed with hydraulics converting to conventional springs and dampers woud afect the geomatry of the car and upset its handling/braking though i could be wrong
The hydraulic suspension system works in tandem with the brakes and steering, so you would not actually loose much piping or complexity.
After 12 years or so, you do have to replace the octopus and perhaps a few other pipes and the HP pump, but then it should be good for another 12 years.
If you would like a conventionally sprung BX16V, the Pug 405 Mi16 is exactly that, straight out of the box.
I love my BX as it is, it can be troublesome, but when it is working well it is excellent.
Mike E (uk) wrote:The hydraulic suspension system works in tandem with the brakes and steering, so you would not actually loose much piping or complexity.
After 12 years or so, you do have to replace the octopus and perhaps a few other pipes and the HP pump, but then it should be good for another 12 years.
If you would like a conventionally sprung BX16V, the Pug 405 Mi16 is exactly that, straight out of the box.
I love my BX as it is, it can be troublesome, but when it is working well it is excellent.
Mike
I was thinking in terms of losing the braking system as well, and going for a conventional braking system. Have you ever done a pipe count on a BX with ABS: the complexity, added to by the additional pipe lengths for the RHD version, is staggering. I've tried the Peugeot 405 and the BX back-to-back in the same morning. The 405, at least around town, is the superior solution, especially over speed bumps shows no advantage of the hydopneumatic system at all..........
I agree the speed bumps are not catered for very well in the BX, if the bumps have a steep sides.
The softer sprung non GTI versions are better in this respect.
But the BX brakes are superb, & better than the 405 brakes as I remember.
BX suspension is best at speed, when it feels so much smoother than my conventionally sprung cars.
I do like the 405, but the BX is a much more interesting car.
I can see both sides, yes all bxs when they get old give problems with the hydraulics and I would imagine thats why alot of them met there ends, and a conventional set up would be more reliable and less costly.
On the other hand its what makes them that bit different and in my mind that bit "special".
Try towing and running about with 5 people and luggage in a 405... like holidays or work perhaps?
Then you'd stick with Hydraulic, no contest!!
The self compensation for load is brilliant, Std spheres in good shape cope quite well enough with with speed humps, even in Gti spec, its all a matter of speed and frequencies! And the french have allways chosen a different base frequency to evryone else, the Germans just choose the one which jars the bones the most!!
I had an orion mk2 1.6i ghia once. good car it was but with a full load in the boot the suspension was sat on the floor at the back! and the front end was so light it felt like i had power steering even though i didnt!
