ride height conspiracy?

[RFR]

Ok,
I have searched, and searched. I have read all about torsion bar reindexing, and stuff to scare the crap out of me.

I bought the 101 projects book. In it it states under "tools needed" Tape measure............what?

Nowhere, have I found the actual procedure for adjusting the spring plates.

How do you do it, or does it remain a secret?


RR

[lfot]

I also need help with this.
I was told I need to reindex the torsion bar caps to lower the front, but I cannot find a procedure for this. It may seem simple to some, but I want specifics so as not to f*%& up my car.

[ZOA NOM]

First, use Wil Ferch's spring plate angle calculator to determine your desired ride height. You will need your car's weight and current torsion bar sizes.

You will need to place the car on jackstands as level as possible, and remove the bottom rearmost bolt from the torsion bar cover. This is to allow the spring plate to droop fully.

Disconnect the trailing arm from the spring plate and let the spring plate droop . Measure the angle it creates, and remember to account for any angle that the car is off-level, as measured at the door sill.

To re-index, remove the other three t-bar cover bolts and remove the cover. There are spline teeth on both ends of the t-bar. large changes in spring plate droop (ride height) are made by moving the t-bar inner teeth only. You pull the t-bar out slowly until the end is no longer catching, and rotate it until it falls into the next tooth. Small increments are made by moving the inner teeth one direction, and the outer teeth (actually the spring plate & it's t-bar cap) the opposite direction. Trial and error will result in the angle you are looking for.

[Trust Me]

Have it done by a professional. It will save you hours of headache. Nothing worse than a 80's 911 at factory ride height.
Ok, That was negative. How about getting together with another 911 person and doing it together. From personal experience it's a pain in the ass by yourself.

[imcarthur]

Zoanas: You make it sound so easy.

You will need 19mm sockets & wrenches. 24mm too I think. The thin ride height wrench. A big Allen wrench - 12mm for Carreras & 17mm for SCs (I think I'm wrong here - SC guys?). A torque wrench or wrenches: 34ft/lbs & 96 ft/lbs & 180 ft/lbs. Jacks & jack stands. Bandaids & beer.

Risks & pitfalls

The springplate is loaded & will whack down. In reverse, you must jack it back to position.

The springplate can be difficult to extract.

You will need an alignment after.

Ian

edit: see SC question

[JP911]

On the front you adjust ride height using the indexing screw (bolt) that sticks out of the torsion bar cap at the end of the suspension crossmember (back of the A-arm). You turn the screw clockwise to raise the height and counterclockwise to lower.

[ZOA NOM]

He asked for the procedure, which IS easy. He didn't ask for the list of tools. I've managed to re-index both sides of my car in less than two hours. It isn't difficult.

[RFR]

Ok, the front IS easy. No Problems there.

The rear has 2 bolts nearest the torsion bar cover, one is pretty much a locking bolt and the next one is an eccentric adjusting bolt, correct?

This is an SC i am referring to.

It would seem there would be a fair amount of adjustment that could be done WITHOUT removing anything.

Or am I just crazy.

RR

[JP911]

The ride height adjusters on the spring plates are for fine tuning. If you use Wil Ferch's calculator and are scientific about the indexing it will be easy (as Zoanas point out).

[imcarthur]

The height adjustment is 1/2 - 3/4" depending upon its current position. It is used for corner balance adjustments & fine tuning.

And no Zoanas, it is not hard. But the first time it is.

Ian

[RFR]

Guys,
thanks for the responses.
what I am asking is this;

From 101 projects, page146, picture # 2 ;

"The rear radius arm on this 911SC contains an assortment of adjustment bolts. The bolt closest to the torsion bar cover keeps the ride height secure ( green arrow). The bolt second from the right is used to adjust the height of the radius arm ( red arrow) there is some degree of adjustment available but not as much as can be achieved with the removal of the torsion bar"


So, what degree of adjustment IS available?

Seems this is done with out removing anything or jacking the car.

How exactly is it done, special tools?

thanks,

RR

[RFR]

AH, fine tuning. I see. So if dropping the rear end from 4x4 mode to euro height, this eccentric bolt is relatively useless, correct?

thanks for the pics, they are better than the book.

RR

[ZOA NOM]

The cars come from the factory with the eccentric nuts set so that the car can only be raised. If there has been no change from factory, re-indexing will be required to lower the car. There should be about an inch of total change available with the spring plate eccentrics. The adjustment should be made with the load removed fro mthe spring plate by jacking it up. Be ready for the plates' tension to snap in a pretty loud and frightening way when you loosen the lock nut.

Ian, I suppose it is intimidating the first time, but it is definitely easy, and results in a pretty satisfying accomplishment. There is nothing worse to me than paying a shop to do it, then finding it isn't "quite" where you want it, so you live with it because it's a hassle to tell them to do it again.

[imcarthur]

Originally posted by RFR
So if dropping the rear end from 4x4 mode to euro height, this eccentric bolt is relatively useless, correct?

Exactly. You must re-index. It is a great way to learn how the suspension works. Try it.

Ian

[imcarthur]

Haha. We're saying the same thing Zoanas. I agree. I like the freedom to try different ride heights & alignment settings & to not have to pay for it.

Ian

[ZOA NOM]

Definitely. I much prefer to try it myself and screw it up, rather than pay some other fool to screw it up.

[RFR]

Ok, Thanks Zoanas and Ian.

I am not quite up to trying it alone yet, need to read and study more and build up my courage. LOL

the front was easy, back seems like a b*tch!


Roman

[ZOA NOM]

There's plenty of Pelicans in LA. Put out the word on a re-index party and se if someone with experience will stop by and help out. That's how I did my first engine drop. I wound up with a great group of P-car friends that I track with to this day.

[JP911]

On a scale of 1 to 10, with a 1 being the addition of engine oil and a 10 being an engine rebuild, I would give the rear spring plate work a 6. It is definitely one of those "while you are in there" projects. In other words, it's a good time to install thicker T-bars and replace the spring plate bushings if you're looking to upgrade your suspension. You really only want to pull things apart back there once.

[450knotOffice]

It can be an intimidating job to try to tackle the first time, but once you've done it a few times (trying to get it just right) it's actually pretty easy.

When I rebuilt my suspension last year I got to the point where I could go from the car being on the ground to re-indexing the bars to the car being back on the ground again in 30 minutes.