Who has experience using factory adjustable spring plates?
 

Is it hard? I usually just take the spring plate off and rotate the plate in 1 degree increments to fine tune my ride height. I don't want to hassle with it though and I have never fully utilized having adjustable factory (not aftermarket) spring plates on my SC.

Do I need to take weight off the wheels i.e. jack the car up?

I have a 32mm bicycle headset wrench so I think I have the tools.

What is the range of adjustment...I think I am in the middle now.

Thanks for the help and advice.

Re: Who has experience using factory adjustable spring plates?
 

You will need to take the weight off the wheels, and depending on which way you're going, you may need to either remove the lower shock bolt or use a floor jack to remove it's weight.

The 32mm wrench must be very thin - drop the $25 and get the ride height wrench, but don't use it to break the nut loose.

The first time you take that bad-boy loose it will be a b*tch to get it loose. It took an impact to break mine loose.

The plates slide against each other, so there's no way to move a pre-defined amount.

Total range of adjustment is about 1.75", so if you're in the middle, you can go about 1/2 of that either way.

Is that 1.75" at the wheel or where the two plate parts slide against each other (which would mean more than 1.75" at the wheel)?. Is one of the bolts an eccentric?

At the wheel.

Here's the procedure:

• jack up car and support it
• support suspension with jack
• make scribe marks where the two plates meet,
  along the entire length - this will be your clue as to how far you've moved the plates
• loosen the bolts holding the spring plate halves. The front (front of car) is just to add clamping, the rear is the eccentric
• rotate the wide nut using the ride height wrench, which will move the plates in relation to each other. Moving the outer plate *up* raises the car, moving it down lowers it.
• when you get it where you want it, tighten the front clamping bolt first, tight, then tighten the rear one
• let suspension back onto it's own weight, lower the car.

Check the factory torque specs for those adjuster bolts-they want those things tight! Seems like it was over 200ft.lbs. If you have not broken them loose yet, be prepared.....

Good advise so far. I would also disconnect the swaybar and the shock (lower bolt) You will find it much easyer to move the eccentric bolt if everything is loose. I put a scribe mark on the body (inner wall) on top of the spring plate with the car fully down to start. My adjustable spring plate was at the end of the eccentric adjustment, so, I moved that into the center (neutral) of the eccenter bolt and then re-set the height entirely with the torsion bar splines. The splines have 40 teeth on one end and 44 teeth on the other. When you move one tooth clockwise, you have to move anti-clockwise one tooth with the other end of the bar. Find out about that system and be prepared that you have to go up and down with the car and each time you need to have everything connected. That is just for the right height. Now you have room to move with the eccentric bolt either way for corner balancing. (I believe the wrench size is 36mm) Once I found how it is meant to work, I was impressed.

Torque spec on those two M16 - 10.9 bolts is 245 Nm or 177 lb-ft ...

Chrisp the spanner size for the ride height eccentric is 36mm not 32mm and the bicycle spanner works fine and is a lot cheaper. The range of adjustment on my car [81SC] was 1.5" total.If you have your eccentrics in the middle of the adjustment range,this will give you 3/4" up or down ride height change.You also need a 24mm spanner for the clamp bolt.The tension for the nuts on these two bolts is 181ft-lbs[245nm].

As always very, very good input from the world of Pelican.

Thanks guys.

I spaced on the 32mm thing. I meant to write 36mm. So much time working on 1" headset bikes that 32mm for that wrench always pops into my head.

As per Early/Warren...Not torqueing the M16 properly led to a 3 day visit to Boone's S.P. in N. Carolina while on a big ride. Wasn't to bad. Early May is pre-bug and pre-kid season. Wasn't lucky enough to see a light duty "test flight" on the back roads of a real Grand Nat'l.http://www.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/fles.gif