pikkashoe

Just lowered the car with koni yellow's and ground controls. I let the car settle for about 2 weeks, and went back today to do some measurements and also adjust the ride height. Now I have a couple observations and questions.

Observations
1. Does the right front corner of the car have more weight bias than the left front, in order to set the front height to be equal on both sides, on my car i have to set the right front coilover about 2 full turns higher than the left, anyone else noticed this, my guess is that most of the engine's weight is located just off right of the center of the vehicle.
2. Appears the eibachs only settled minimally, maybe about 1/8 of an inch.

Question
1. What is the best or proper way to measure ride height, I am measuring from the bottom of the rim to the fender, is this the best way to get an accurate measure?
2. I noticed im loosing the rear end more easily, should i disregard this until i get an alignment before I start adjusting different settings.

r_duff

set your ride hieght first (you can eyeball it, really). Remember ur ride height will cahnge with people in the car so you dont have to be PERFECT. Get your car aligned when you're happy with the height.

Lastly, the springs will still sag over the next few months, not just 2 weeks.

Mr. Francesco

measure ride height from the ground to the fender right above the tire...

i think stock is like 27'', and mine right now is 25''

no ride height is really perfect. it will all change as suspesnion settles and people are in your car.

r_duff is right though, you really can eye it out

ps: get it aligned asap

gomarlins3

Mine were installed Monday and I have the alignment appointment Saturday. I need to drive some more miles first. Rain rain go away!!

pikkashoe

I started assuming the springs would settle for more than 2 weeks, the right front now has dropped about 2 mm from when i measured a couple days ago, and the left has dropped about 1 mm. Does this uneven ride height cause my car to pull right just a tiny tiny bit, or should I not worry as it will all be corrected when I get my alignment.

If and when I get my wheels back from being repainted, I will do the final ride height adjustment, and then get the alignment.

iam7head

that's not the right way to do it, the CORRECT way to do it is to measure from the fender(pt a) to the center of the wheel(pt b).

if you measure anyother way, you will get different number because of the tire series size and size of the wheel.

for example, some people will measure by finger gap, finger size varies and tire wall height varies

some people measure it from the ground to the fender, which again, will be affected from the tire size and wheel over all diameter.

CoralDoc

If you care about performance, first establish ride height based on how much suspension travel you want. Then, the correct way to set up each corner is to have the car corner-weighted. That accounts for variation in assembly of body components. Another slightly less precise method is to drive the car up onto a known flat surface and measure from the ground to several points on the frame rails and/or sub-frame assemblies. For my race car, I couldn't care less about fender gap, it's all about getting symmetrical handling characteristics.

If you're doing this for style, then you can simply eyeball the ride height.

Absolutely have an alignment done before assessing handling balance. The alignment is a critical part of how a car handles and responds to suspension setup changes.

pikkashoe

Hey Coral, I see your in Davie,

What alignment shop do you recommend for Corner Weighing the car, I just called my alignment guy and he does not have the equipment to corner weigh a car. When they corner weigh the car, do they adjust the ride height at each corner?

CoralDoc

If you are not racing the car it is usually sufficient to eyeball the setup (unless the frame is tweaked). I did this when I first set up my Miata and was very close to ideal cross weights when I had the car checked by my mechanic.

Unfortunately, I do not know of a good local place for corner weighting. I took my Miata up to a specialist near Daytona Beach for the setup, and I know of a really good shop in West Palm Beach. That's not to say that closer shops are bad, I just haven't used them nor have I heard any feedback about them.

For performance, ride height is set based on suspension travel. That means that if you're expecting a smooth, grippy surface, you should lower the car more than if the surface is bumpy with uneven grip. Since you're driving on the street, I'd want a relatively high ride height - not much lower than stock. Once that's established by measurement off a flat plane each corner is adjusted up or down to achieve even cross-weights. Scales are placed under each tire and the coilover assembly is adjusted until the left-front & right rear combined weight is nearly equal to the right-front & left rear combined weight.

After all of this is done, then you align the car.

S2000_Europe

is posible this?

lower the car about 0.75-1in and keep the stock handling? I want use springs only. I currently have bigger tires and 32mm front swaybar.

I was thinking in Ground control. any other Suggestion