Ride Height -- Again

[sig_a]

Recent suspension upgrade to include: (1987 3.2 Targa with 25,500 miles)
Turbo Tie Rods
Bilstein "Sport" Shocks (4)
Torsion Bars; 22/29

Fender Ride Height: 25.62 inches on all four corners. (Metric converted to inches)

Control Arm: slight decline from center.

Known Problems: slight toe out left front wheel.

Good things:

Drives nearly straight (toe out problem)
Brakes straight with hands off wheel - pulls on lockup.
No bump steer over bridge expansion joints.
Level at both door sills and rear bumper.
Most important, predictable handling and comfortable.

Alignment/corner balance next.

Ride height is compromise between euro and US.

Please comment - good or bad.

[ZOA NOM]

Fender height should be higher at the front due to the larger cutout. If your measurement is the same at all four corners, then your corner balance is way off.

[sig_a]

Originally Posted by ZOANAS

Fender height should be higher at the front due to the larger cutout. If your measurement is the same at all four corners, then your corner balance is way off.

That;s what I thought yesterday when front was "US Spec" 26.5" front and 26" rear. But the handling was not nearly as predictable, so I lowered the front and it improved markedly. Lowering front another 1/4 inch will change the way it handles and might improve handling even more. And I believe that would reduce the slight control arm angle nearer to horizontal, which might be beneficial.

Here's some other factors and observations;

No a/c components.
No spare tire.
Lower front height shifts weight (center of gravity) forward compensating for stiffer 22 mm TB's and Bilstein "Sports".

I also may be mistaken, but believe the control arm "attitude" is very important to suspension geometry where the closer to level the better?

[911pcars]

"If your measurement is the same at all four corners, then your corner balance is way off."

Not necessarily. The current f/r heights may not be the suggested amount, but assuming the ride height adjustments were performed identically, side-to-side, the weight proportion should be the same as before the adjustments. As long as the front or rear, side-to-side heights go up and down identically, the same relative corner balance is maintained - which is not say it's even close to the ideal until you measure each corner. Your road test sorta confirms it's pretty close; either that or one alignment element is compensating for another and producing neutral symptoms. Long term effects or a different driving mode could reveal different results.

Sherwood