johnfm

Pics of car before & after lowering. Still issues with rear left strut noise, but more on that later this week.

joey bagadonuts

Nice job with the pics! Good forethought with the before and after setup.

Only comment is that the front still seems a bit high (or perhaps you're happy with it). If you'd like to go lower, the shop might be able to make further adjustments by lowering the threaded spring perches on your front struts. The common recommendation is to get the front down to approximately 25.5" as measured from the ground to high point of the fender.

Obviously, you need to be careful to not go too low, especially if you frequent bumpy roads or steep driveways. Then you'll find yourself straightening your grin and cursing my name.

Well done! <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

johnfm

Joey

heights measured are 25.5" front from ground to wheel arch and 25.5" at the rear EXCEPT drivers side rear (RHD). This side is 25". I think I will wait until I put the harder dampers in before going any lower, if at all. It nosedives less under braking, it is more stable at speed and is low'ish. It is nowhere near as low as the LHD C4 I saw yesterday, which looked another 1.5" - 2" lower all round!! LHD RS at the same garage is much lower than mine too, but I drive mine daily and don't want such a harsh ride.

Still trying to sort out the rear end clunking. The garage is still to concede there is a problem - we drove a stock tiptronic yesterday - no noise. We are driving another car that they are lowering today with the same springs & stock dampers. I expect some noise fro mthe harder springs, but not the rebounding clunks that mine generates.

joey bagadonuts

I took some measurements off mine and it's a little lower than the recommended numbers. All arches are below 25" (and yes, my grin needs straightening).

johnfm

Nice pic - nice looking car. Still no solution on the clunky rear end - may have to start writing letters to the garage - hope it won't come to this though.

Hope all is well in sunny Illinois

(I have some relatives there somewhere!)

MIK911

Johnfm,
Much better lowered.
What type of springs did you use to lower it?

I drive an '86 3.2 Carrera, so coil springs are foreign to me.
Mine is lowered to: F 25.25, R 24.75 or so, and would like it a little lower also, but must compromise since it's used for street driving.

Mike

Jeff Curtis

Keep in mind Joey B., John has new springs, original shocks...so his front shocks only have 10mm of adjustability with the spring perches, which might already be used up...I dunno. There is NO adjustment on the rears that I remember.

This is why people need to upgrade their springs with aftermarket "upgrade" shocks!! That way they can get the benefit both cosmetically and performance wise from lowering springs with proper dampening. Four-corner adjustability is a MUST, it's the right way to corner balance.

If you have a car that has stiffer springs, regular shock absorbers and is NOT corner balanced...have you really improved the handling performance?

Either way, BOTH of your cars look great, Joey, love the Sport Classics (right?) and John, love the 17" Cup I wheels.

Hope you get your issues resolved John...don't make ME come over there and fix that thing!

...I really dislike most shops...it's their nature to have an "assembly line" style...after all, they have to make money. Every now and then someone finds that "special" shop that has a couple of great guys, maybe gals(??) that do a good job and have attention to detail.

After all, that's what SHOULD be required to work on a P-Car - RIGHT?? <img src="graemlins/cussing.gif" border="0" alt="[grrrrrrr]" />

anil999

I know its a bit off topic , but have you got more piccys of the nice Mercedes in the background???

Is that the 280ce for sale in your signature??

Cheers

Anil

johnfm

Thanks for the comments...my wheel will go for re-frb next month or so - PO hit alot of curbs!!

The shop in question is a little shop with 2-3 great mechanics...BUT I think they're on the hop pat the moment. Sadly the head guy passed away recently (all my sympathies to Mark's family) and they've got a guy on holiday.

I think they will solve my problem,just not to my time frame. I've isolated the problem to the back left. There is something not right- I grab the wheel & give it a good pus&pull (really need to give it some heave-ho) and I can feel some play accompanied by a metallic clunking. This is not present on the rear right. So, somewhere on the rear left there is some play. Any clues??