81 SC ride height adjustment

[JohnD211]

Is there something more complicated than it seems about changing the ride height? The car is up on the QuickJacks, the axles are out, and I'm wondering if it's more nuanced than it seems to adjust the ride height.

Right now it has the ground clearance of a Jeep and the right side rear is just short of an inch higher than the left. The leaking CV boots have sprayed goo all over the underside of the car (all 4 were leaking!!) so I've been busy cleaning things up. I took the cover plates off for the spring plate bushings and cleaned them up and it doesn't seem like that much of a further step to pull the spring plates themselves and adjust the angle of the dangle. I even have the 4 bushings sitting here in a box.

I've watched many videos on doing this and it seems straightforward. And yet I'm worried that I'm missing something and then I'll get it to the point that I can't even put it back together enough to take it to a shop. What tricks or details am I missing?

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by JohnD211

Is there something more complicated than it seems about changing the ride height? The car is up on the QuickJacks, the axles are out, and I'm wondering if it's more nuanced than it seems to adjust the ride height.

Right now it has the ground clearance of a Jeep and the right side rear is just short of an inch higher than the left. The leaking CV boots have sprayed goo all over the underside of the car (all 4 were leaking!!) so I've been busy cleaning things up. I took the cover plates off for the spring plate bushings and cleaned them up and it doesn't seem like that much of a further step to pull the spring plates themselves and adjust the angle of the dangle. I even have the 4 bushings sitting here in a box.

I've watched many videos on doing this and it seems straightforward. And yet I'm worried that I'm missing something and then I'll get it to the point that I can't even put it back together enough to take it to a shop. What tricks or details am I missing?

It is straight forward over the limited range provided by the factory adjusters, beyond that range you need to pull the T-bars and re-index them.

There is the additional complication that the car will need a new corner balance and alignment.

[JohnD211]

Thanks. I’m probably overthinking this. I just want to lower to euro ride height which should be well within the range of the stock torsion bars. Alignment and corner balance was expected.

[Alan L]

From a very vague memory you get about 30mm range on the spring plates without pulling the T bars (depending where they are sitting now and which direction you want to go) . If you are unlucky they may already be maxed out in the direction you want to go. In which case you have no option but to pull the bars. Pull the T bars and you start from scratch. There are lots of threads on it. You can pretty well nail it first time around - providing you have your previous measurements to work off and know where you want to go. Other than that, there will be a bit of trial and error.
If you need to pull the T bars to get to where you want, I suggest you set the spring plates to mid range, then work off the spline adjustments on the T bars to get you close. Then hopefully you won't need to pull them again.
Plenty of threads - all been well covered.
Alan

[Ryan_Cunningham]

You “should” be able to simply rotate the rightmost bolt (driver side) in the attached image to change the ride height I believe.

My 81SC required replacement plates because the passenger side was ****ed.

[JohnD211]

Interesting and frustrating so far. Both plates came off pretty easily. I can’t get either torsion bar out. Bushings were well worn so I spent hours removing them and cleaning up all the various parts. Then discovered that the right side plate was pretty far from flat. Drat.

Fun times.

[Ryan_Cunningham]

There is probably a little corrosion. Keep working it back and forth and they’ll eventually come out. I have a nice scar on my left hand from removing the passenger side TB that was stuck.

[creaturecat]

i recall reading - the spring plates are set at the minimum height, from the factory - which seems ridiculous.
is this true? certain years/models only?
is there an easy way to determine this with a visual inspection?

thx.

[aoncurly]

If your 1981 SC is an American model with the bumper height requirements, you'll need to reindex the torsion bars to get to Euro. And yes, you will need to balance and align. It's a good opportunity to replace all the rubber suspension bushings if they are original. Otherwise, you will have to align again if you replace them later. Struts too. Also, those bars can be a pain to remove. This is why I had a suspension shop do mine. They found that someone before (this was a reputable Porsche shop too) had beat the hell out of the bar mounts to get them out and punched a hole in the body. They had to weld the hole up and paint over the damage. Also, I've found that lowering to Euro makes the car difficult to drive up and down driveways. I've found that lowering to just above Euro (1/4" above Euro) allows me to get up and down most driveways without scraping and to my eye looks better that Euro. Good luck.

[SkunkWorks]

Originally Posted by JohnD211

Interesting and frustrating so far. Both plates came off pretty easily. I can’t get either torsion bar out. Bushings were well worn so I spent hours removing them and cleaning up all the various parts. Then discovered that the right side plate was pretty far from flat. Drat.

Fun times.

I've got a set of height adjustable Swayaway spring plates if you're in need. They give significantly more height adjustment than the stock plates before needing to reindex the torsion bar.

[creaturecat]

Originally Posted by aoncurly

If your 1981 SC is an American model with the bumper height requirements, you'll need to reindex the torsion bars to get to Euro. And yes, you will need to balance and align. It's a good opportunity to replace all the rubber suspension bushings if they are original. Otherwise, you will have to align again if you replace them later. Struts too. Also, those bars can be a pain to remove. This is why I had a suspension shop do mine. They found that someone before (this was a reputable Porsche shop too) had beat the hell out of the bar mounts to get them out and punched a hole in the body. They had to weld the hole up and paint over the damage. Also, I've found that lowering to Euro makes the car difficult to drive up and down driveways. I've found that lowering to just above Euro (1/4" above Euro) allows me to get up and down most driveways without scraping and to my eye looks better that Euro. Good luck.

i have an '83. North American model.
same? factory set at lowest point? weird decision by Porsche - as if someone would want to jack it up, even further.