White Lightnin'

Fixed it for 'ya...

Mrmerlin

FWIW the first parts to hit the ground will be the AC compressor lower adjustment bracket,
followed by the alternator,
then the oil pan.
Usually the girdle supports will break off for the AC then the Alternator

Hilton

The engine block is the more likely to be damaged than the sump.

Too low a ride height, and the bit that usually hits the ground first is the AC compressor, especially on speed bumps, driveways etc. (makes a nasty thump and noise). With a few of these knocks with a 1.5 tonne hammer, it cracks the block where the AC bracket is bolted on.

My white '87 did have too low a front ride height for Aussie speed bumps when I first got it - after I first tapped it not-so-gently on the ground, I raised it to 160mm (still slightly below factory spec).

A few people here have managed to fix the cracked block by pre-heating and welding it up (IIRC tailpipe is one such rennlister).

edit: doh - just saw Stan's reply too

Speedtoys

Maybe..

Bust into the AC/Alt too hard, and you take chip off the block.

dr bob

Fixed that for ya. Devil is in the details.


HTH!

The Devil

Rob Edwards

No idea, but my guess is it's similar to later cars, where the spec is 180 front, 173 rear. To measure (if you haven't done it already), make sure your car has been driven at least 50 miles since any of the wheels were last off the ground (jumping railroad tracks doesn't count...) Then measure from the floor to the following points, in mm:


Front:


Rear:



Measure these with your custom-made set of coat hanger measuring sticks:

GlenL

I thought I might be wrong and hoped The Devil would be there for me.

Guys! It's dangerous when you leave the garage. An inch down it looks better and handles better.

Go slower near curbs, driveways and speed bumps and you'll be fine.

I use the method Rob illustrates with a few sticks cut in 5mm increments.

Dave928S

The manuals and specs for the early cars show a front height of 190mm with a tolerance of -20mm ... which was amended to 180 with a tolerance of + or - 20mm. It's unclear to me why they changed, but maybe there's a service sheet which details it .. perhaps to correct the nose up attitude the OP has noticed (if his is at spec heights).

The rear height on the early cars is specified at 173 with a tolerance of +or -10mm, with the same for later cars.

Ispeed

At proper ride height a 928 will LOOK too high in the front and too low in the rear. Measuring from the factory points will give you the real answer as to how high or low the front and rear are sitting.

Jim Devine

have a look at this thread from last year. Shows how bad damage can be.

https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...ld-you-do.html

Fogey1

Sorry, Fraggle, you'd lose. None of the spec books or manuals show any US/ROW differences. Same for all the cars.

What is your ride height? "I lowered it" is kinda imprecise.

If you're hitting your underpan, you're taking big chances with your block. Listen to MrMerlin. Ask me how I know.

Rob, thanx for the numbers and the great pix.

As for what works better, at spec or lowered -
A) I trust the factory engineers to get it more right than I can, and
B) Imagine you're doing a pushup; are you more agile in the middle or all the way down or up? For me, it'd be when my upper arms were approximately parallel to the ground, i.e., the middle.

As for what looks better? I'm inside the car, it always looks the same to me.

GlenL

Uppers, lowers or both?

I'll be spending some quality time with my suspension this Spring and will post the numbers that achieve this.

Vlocity

I'm running 170 mm front with just a slight rake, about 173-175 rear. I actually put a level on the door threshold to establish a little front down attitude.

Keeping the car in the established specs lets it work correctly. I'm running Eibachs and externally adjustable Konis. Thinking about going to 800/450 fixed rate springs for track work later this year.

Ken

Pcplod

Ken, how is this working for you on the street?? Do you have any problems with bottoming out??

fraggle

Maybe I'll measure it sometime, but for now I'll stick with imprecise. I did raise it "a little" the last time I whacked the pan, and it hasn't done it again since, so I'm happy.

Like I said... crime!!