When do I need steering rack spacers?

It is time to lower the car.

I assume standard Euro height does not need steering rack spacers but lower than this will.

Apart from appearance is lower than Euro. spec any better?

The car is being entered in hill climb events which as far as I can tell is broadly similar to Autocrossing.

I was thinking of maybe going a tad lower than Euro spec. At what point do the tie rods stop being parallel with the A arms?

Again I am assuming that if you space the rack down then you have to lower the car, possibly more than I would like, in order to preserve the steering geometry.

Thanks,
Jon
'76 2.7S Targa

The most qualified person to make this decision is the expert who does your alignment job.

Charlie '87 Carrera

I bought my car lowered by the previous owner. It measures 24.25" from front fender lip to ground and 23.75" from rear to ground. Looks awesome but causes some trouble over only the largest of speed bumps.I believe Bruce Anderson says 25.5 and 25". I don't have an alignment guy that can work on it within 120miles. Can't find the time to get out there but it seems to handle very well without being to stiff for now. Is this tooo low? I didn't check for spacers but I don't feel too much bump steer. It's my first porsche and am interested in answers to Jon questions.

1986
factory turbo-look

[This message has been edited by poorsche (edited 04-25-2001).]

Point taken, the alignment shop will know but only with respect to the new height setting.

I'll slightly re-phrase my question:

Has anyone played around with ride height,
if so, in their opinion what ride height gave the best handling? Did this new height require the rack to be spaced out?

Really low cars look great, too low & the handling is compromised.

I'm looking for a 'golden' ride height as a starting point really.
There are plenty of suggested steering geometries but can't find any ride height discussion.

Does anyone know the dimension of the steering rack spacers, i.e. their inner/outer dia. & thickness.

I could make a few thin spacers & shim up the rack until the tie rods are straight.

I've found most of the advice on Pelican to be spot on so far with respect to tyres, wheels etc..

ride height suggestions anyone?

Cheers, Jon

I believe that many people have been satisfied with the 25.5" front and 25" rear setup (measure from fender lip to ground). The front is "higher" b/c of the more open fender lip, but the front of the car actually ends up slightly lower. I think, though, that the euro's may have been already set at this...not sure. Anyhow, I lowered mine and installed the "bump steer kit" from Automotion. About $13, consists of longer rack bolts and some large washerlike spacers. No complaints here. Looks and handles great. I would suspect that if you are doing hillclimbs which may sometimes be on dirt, you may not want to go too low, right?

Good Luck.
Nick.

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Nick Shumaker
1982 911SC Coupe
nickshu@yahoo.com
PCA -- Rocky Mtn. Region