Ride Height

[redranger]

On the front of my 86 911, I put 225/50/16s on 7s and have some rubbing issues. I rolled the fender just a little where it was rubbing, but still no luck. I then raised the car slightly by 1/4 inch and that solved the problem. The front now sits at 25.5" and the rear is at 26.5. This car is a street car, but does some duty on the track...are there any issues I should be worried about. I know most people try to lower their car, but seems as though I had little choice.

Some history here...I replaced my rear boge shocks with Bilstein sports and that raised the rear by 1". I then replaced my front struts, also with Bilsten sports, but ride height didn't change.

Thanks

[Oh Haha]

Where are you measuring the height at?

Yes, the rear should measure slightly lower than the front, which is due to the front fender shape. A common setup is 25.5" front and 25" rear, as measured ground to fender lip.

It sounds as though your rear could come down a bit. Be warned that when you start messin' with ride height settings the corner balance and alignment will get out of whack requiring an alignment.

[redranger]

Using center of wheel cap as a guide, measuring from floor to bottom of fender lip. Took car out, still drove straight, felt the same. Haven't touched rear settings. Guess I'll have to keep an eye on the tires to see how they are wearing.

[Oh Haha]

Unless the rake is like a 72 Nova with Gabriel Hi-Jackers, I wouldn't worry about it.

Keep an eye on tire wear and adjust the settings if needed.

[80-911SC]

PICTURES

what a ride height ??????????? without a picture


straight in from the side and a front corner shot down a side will do just fine ........
also the tail /rear photos are very popular .........also the better half or cute assistant always welcome in the shot ........................

[msk1986911]

I just replaced the worn out Boge strut inserts and rear shocks on my '86 with Bilstein HD. Although at first I didn't think it sat any higher, after living with it for a few days I am not so sure. The non-scientific measurements at the top of the fender are: LF- 25 3/4"; LR- 25 1/2"; RF- 25 7/8" & RR 25 3/4. Whaddaya think, is a lowering and alignment in my future?

Thanks.

Mike

[wildcat077]

Mike,

I would guess that you're in need of some lowering ...
The front is pretty easy,although the rear is a different game altogether !

Cheers !
Phil

[Oh Haha]

I vote yes but I like your very clean wheel wells.

[80-911SC]

rally height is highly underrated

you should drop a it it looks a little high

very nice car , dont take the first comment wrong

[msk1986911]

I never really noticed how clean the wheel wells are until I washed the car today. I will make some calls on Monday and see what kind of money I am looking at to lower and align.

Thanks for the comments.

Mike

[WIL84911]

Originally Posted by redranger

On the front of my 86 911, I put 225/50/16s on 7s and have some rubbing issues. I rolled the fender just a little where it was rubbing, but still no luck. I then raised the car slightly by 1/4 inch and that solved the problem. The front now sits at 25.5"......

I then replaced my front struts, also with Bilsten sports, but ride height didn't change......

Got an identical issue. I lowered my front 1/2 inch down to 25 and it's now rubbing though I don't have rolled lips yet and running 225/45/17 on 7.5 rims. I will look into rolling plus bringing it back up 1/4 inch if necessary. Oh and I also run Bilsteins according to the stupid mechanic who put it in though they are probably not sports.

[Gunter]

Considering that the SC and Carrera came with 15" stock 6's front and 7's rear with 16" being an option, it's not surprising that issues arise with cleanrances when going wider and bigger.

Side-load on the front spindles increases plus a bunch of other dynamics change adding stresses.

I am sure that performance doesn't get better by going bigger; I suspect it's just for bling.

With 205/55 on 7's in front and 225/50 on 8's in the rear plus Euro height and mildly aggressive cambers plus corner balance, I am very happy with handling.

[Dixie]

Are there any concerns? Baring the previous mention that your corner balance and alignment changed some, no.

Can the car sit lower? Sure. There are two variables that affect how well those 225/50s will fit. How much negative camber you've got, and how much you rolled the fenders. Mine's set at 24.5" front and 23.5" rear, running 225/50 and 245/45 16" tires. Here's a photo.

[WIL84911]

I like better performance and bling. Oh I plan on going down to 16 inch blings.

[jimbauman]

I read somewhere that if you put a degree level on the door sill, you should measure a downward slope of .... someone help me out here... I don't recall what it was....

JB

[Jerome74911S]

The rake should be 3/4", according to the Ray Scruggs alignment book.

Jerome

Sorry, you my be asking for the degree of slope. Can't answer that.

[redranger]

Went to the track this weekend, I still had major rubbing issues with my left tire, gouged a nice groove along the side of my new 888, left tire also showed some signs of rubbing. Rolled the fender so that it was flat against the inside fender and that helped a lot, but still had some more minor rubbing on the left side only, I think fenders need to be flared a bit. Probably would help if I wasn't running stock suspension...no issues on the way home, so at least I know I'm good for the street.

BTW, running new 888s and bilstein's all around, the car really runs great, of course, can't keep up in any way with 100k beemers and GT3s

[450knotOffice]

Camber will help you big time. I run 225's on front and 255's in back on my pretty low '84 and have no rubbing issues now that my camber is -2.1 degrees in front and -2.5 degrees in back.

[450knotOffice]

Here it is during hard braking. No rub.

[msk1986911]

What is the typical charge for a height adjustment and alignment?

Thanks.

Mike