Pre-2005 GEM ride height

NEV & LSV Forum
1

One of our 2002 GEMs has the inward canting of the wheels which usually indicates bad shocks. But we replaced these very expensive shocks just last year. This GEM has never been exactly right with suspension and alignment. With stock tires and no weight inside, I measure 4 1/4 inches from the bottom front of the frame to the ground. Our other 2002 GEM measures 5 inches in the same spot. If I use a jack to raise the GEM to 5 inches, the wheels look fine. We really don’t want to buy another set of shocks. I may switch shocks between the GEMs just to see if there is a difference. Could someone measure their pre-2005 in the same spot and post the measurement? See image below.

Daniel

2

[QUOTE=GEMmechanic;10290]Could someone measure their pre-2005 in the same spot and post the measurement?[/QUOTE]My 2002 e825 short bed measures 5.5". Of course I did lower the curb weight by about 75 lbs when I converted to lithium batteries.

3

Thanks for the measurement. I can’t think of anything else wrong with it, so the next step would be to look for alignment shims. I doubt the factory offers these, so I may just have to measure the degrees of camber offset and machine my own out of aluminum. The alternative is a vehicle that rides crooked and eats tires.

Daniel

4

I reduced battery weight by 134 lbs. from 120AH trogens to 160 AH Lio batteries.

does anyone know how to program the GE Sentry for the Gem T2 controller?

5

How is your Lithium conversion going? I have one as well, but we don’t hear much about many others out there.

6

WOW. 25 batteries puts voltage up there. I have 22. took it out yesterday for a 10 mile test run. Up hills and down, some flat. used 24.1 AH for a 15 mile run. = about 1.6 AH / mile. voltage drop pattery pack was 73.9 v to 72.8v. difference in power was negligable.

Regards

7

25 cells puts the pack right at the top limit of the motor controller when fully charged, maximizing the power I can get out of the motor controller and motor. What made you choose 22 cells? The conventional wisdom is 4 cells = 1 12V lead battery, or 24 cells to replace our 6 lead battery pack, so I’m wondering how you came to choose 22 cells for your conversion.

How are you dealing with charging? I had my Zivan NG-1 reprogrammed by Elcon, but I still have to monitor the charge to avoid overcharging.

Any pics anywhere? Start a new thread and show off your hard work. It may help the next guy wanting to try the same thing.