Ride height does not look correct

[ClaudeB]

Had Bilstein HD put on all 4 corners. My tire size is as follows: front 205/60/15 & rear 225/60/15. I know the dumbed down version of ride height is 25.5 inches to top of wheel arch in the front and 25 inches back.

My measurements are front left & right 25.5, rear left & right 25.75.

Looks a little high in the front to me and if I go with reccomended 25 inches in the rear (go down another 3/4 inch) it will be too low in the back. Should I have the front lowered another 1/2 inch and leave the rear alone? Thanks for the help.

[livi]

Very nice car ! I like the ride height as it is. I would not lower it anymore.

[toddu]

I think no matter what, there is supposed to be .5" difference between front and back (front lower obviously) if you use the less technical "fender" measurement. If you don't want to adjust the back due to what's involved, your front should still come down a bit.

It is a nice looking car!!!

[walt]

Looks a bit high in the front to me also. It would look best lowered front and rear.

[Jesset100]

Nice car! What color is that? In my opinion I would lower it so the top of the tire is level with the top of the fender. Just remember when you mess with the ride height you have to get the alignment redone.

[ulrichd]

Claude,
When I put Bilstein HDs on my 78SC the ride height increased about 3/8"-1/2". After driving the car for a few weeks it has come down a bit. I would wait to lower until your suspension has settled.

Ulrich

[imcarthur]

First off, ignore all of the guys that have 16” wheels. They never seem to understand that 15s will never fill the wheel well like 16s and yes, you can still buy decent 15” tires. And there are some advantages too. Anyway . . .

Using the wheel well is technically inaccurate due to variations, but we all do it. By wheel well measurement I agree that 25.5 fr 25 rear is a decent height for your 60/15s. So you will have to drop your rear ¾”, which would mean re-indexing the torsion bars. It also means an alignment.

The front wheel well is cut out larger than the rear which is why you need a ½” higher front measurement than in the rear. This will give you the ideal 1 degree ‘nose down’ stance.

That said, I might be tempted to go lower . . . and I LOVE that color.

Ian

[ZOA NOM]

Originally posted by toddu
I think no matter what, there is supposed to be .5" difference between front and back (front lower obviously) if you use the less technical "fender" measurement.

This is incorrect. The front fender is cut higher than the rear, so the measurement at the front is actually .5" higher than the rear for the desired front-down rake.


edit: imcarthur beat me to it.

[toddu]

My bad. In my head I was thinking that the front actually does sit lower than the back, even though the measurement comes out .5 inch higher.

Thanks for the clarification.

[Miguel Antonett]

Nice looking car!

Whatever you do, the front MUST be lower than the rear by about .5".

To lower the front is pretty easy = 10 minutes deal. Try it, you'll see.

[azasadny]

Beautiful car, I'd leave it just as it is...

[masraum]

Originally posted by toddu
My bad. In my head I was thinking that the front actually does sit lower than the back, even though the measurement comes out .5 inch higher.

Thanks for the clarification.

Actually it does, the front of the chassis is lower than the rear by 1 degree if the measurement of the wheel wells is 1/2" higher in the front because the wheel well is cut differently (when the car is lowered to racing height the front tires need more clearance when they are turned, the rear tires never turn (hopefully).

So, based on the measurements of the original poster, to get to the de facto standard Euro ride height, he should leave the front where it is and lower the rear by 3/4". That would have the front of the car sitting a bit lower than the rear. The standard right height doesn't really look "cool" by today's standards. If you go with stiffer torsions you can probably go a bit lower and still have decent geometry.

You're lucky, your car could be sitting at 26.5" (or more) at the front and 26" (or more) at the back like some American 911s. I've seen some people here report measurements into the 27" range, Paris-Dakar here we come!

[ClaudeB]

Thanks for everyone's input. I'm one of the guys that reads 1000 post for everyone I post. I failed to mention that I had the new shocks put on 2 months ago. My mechanic said wait for it to settle. I'm printing you're replys and taking them to him. She turned 20 years old last month and the odo clicked 72,000 miles this morning. Original paint in Dunkelblau = Dark Blue.