jhale

I just picked up my car this evening from getting the HD/M030 suspension and sways done and wow what a difference. All I need to do now is get the aligment done this week to finish the project. I has a great experience with a local p-car mechanic if anyone in the Denver area is looking for an independent.

One question:

My ride height specs are as follows:

Front Height: 144mm +- 10
Rear Height: 127mm +-10

I'm positive this is the ROW sport height, however, I was hoping it would be a tad lower. Does anyone know if I can easily lower the height slightly more without a major undertaking? Before and after pics coming shortly.

Thanks- JH

pcar964

Raising/lowering will require re-alignment. Not sure if that's what you're asking about...

FlyYellow

there is some adjustablity in the front. if memory serves me correctly i would say about 12.5mm. all you do is spin it down on the partial coilover. you can ask them to do that when they align the car (shouldn't cost anything extra). The rear is not adjustable aside from changing springs or going to a full coil over setup (i.e. pss9).

hope that helps. make sure to adjust ride height prior to alignment, otherwise you'll need a new alignment again.

cheers,
boris

Garth S

Your Bilstein HD rears are fully adjustable as well; however, there is a little disassembly involved to be able to turn the adjusters and drop link bracket. Measure your height carefully after driving to settle the suspension. Then, determine if and how much further you wish to drop, and lower the rear adjusters by 1/2 that amount.
The fronts are dead easy to adjust. Your current shop should be able to tune that for you prior to going for an alignment.

jimbo3

Going lower than the lower end of the ROW Sport range puts you at risk of bump steer. Some have gone as much as 5mm lower than that spec (total of -15mm) and not had a problem while a couple have reported bump steer at only -5mm total. I played it fairly safe and went a total of about -10mm to -12mm to both avoid bump steer and avoid scraping the front end.

If you wish to go lower, just add the RS strut braces and you can go up to another 20mm lower.

Regards
Jim

InTheAir

What are your ACTUAL measurements--you shouldn't have any +/- amounts with your actual measurements. I suspect that you asked you mechanic to achieve ROW Sport, but I would be interested in knowing what the final numbers actually were, before recommending lowering further.

For reference, however, my car is at RS ride height + 5mm (i.e. Front 129mm, Rear 112mm) and I don't experience any bump steer.
Once the suspension is installed completely but before alignment, the level of difficulty in further adjustment ranges from "easy" to "much-less-than-easy". The fronts are easy to adjust as they only require you to remove the wheels (in most cases) and change the height of the spring perches. Remember that for every 1 mm change on the perch, the reference point moves about 2mm'ish.

Adjusting the rears is much more involved. You will need to remove the rear drop links and the lower suspension arms to permit the spring perch (particularly the drop link perch) to be spun down or up. You will then need to reattach the lower suspension arms, lower the car, and remeasure. Not the easiest thing to do. But, depending on time and motivation, it can be done.

jhale

Jeff, thanks for the good information. It looks like I will be going back this weekend to bring the car down approximately 1/2". I already postponed the alignment until I get the ride height confirmed. My mechanic mentioned that this was something that I could wait for so I assume it's not too labor intensive.

Thanks-JH

jimbo3

If you don't know where ride height is currently, how do you know you can drop it 12mm????

Before alignment, be sure to have it corner balanced, too. Also, remember that your mechanic MUST be able to adjust the kinematic toe, which requires a special gauge and knowledge.

jhale

jimbo3, the ride height is Porsche specified ROW sport setting... 144mm F, 127mm rear. All of the measurements were taken from the proper points on the body of the car and not from the fenders. In terms of the alignment, he also provided me with the alignment specs ('96 ROW Sport) which is going to be prepared by a local dealership. I would assume that the dealership has the appropriate kinematic toe guages.

Jeff, did you or anyone else notice that the suspension settled a bit lower after sitting overnight? I didn't get a chance to look at the car this morning before I left.

Thanks- JH

InTheAir

Jhale, did you take the measurements yourself, or did the mechanic? I believe Jim is trying to ask the same question I was trying to ask--what is the actual measurement, not the book specified target? I have a feeling you asked the mechanic to give you ROW Sport and he told you you got ROW Sport. However, the range for ROW Sport is a 20 mm difference (nearly an 1"). We wanted to know where in that range you actually are.

It doesn't really "settle" that much just sitting there, however, it will settle after some driving. In my case, I drove mine over some bumps in the roads (driveway, speed bumps, etc.) to compress the suspension under normal circumstances. I also did some low speed cornering (aka back and forth) in a parking lot to shift the weight etc. Be careful not to overdo it yet since your alignment is not done yet, but I would be sure to exercise the car a bit to get everything settled. You might not realize this unless you install the suspension yourself, but the top spring perches are contoured to fit the springs. If they aren't fully seated, the car will be higher, but as the perches rotate a bit and seat on the springs, the car will come down.

jimbo3

JH- Not to make a fine point of it, but you indicated in your first post that your ride height was "X"+/- 10mm and in post #7 that you haven't confirmed your ride height, so it still isn't possible for the reader to discern that there is an established height for your vehicle.

I'm not trying to be mean here, just taking the time to make sure that you understand and have everything initially set correctly before taking it in for corner balance and align as it gets real expensive to re-do corner balance and alignment if you decide later to change ride height.

Also, I'd initially max the front camber and carefully drive it around for 30 to 50 miles to get it to settle before corner balancing and alignment. I did, and one corner on mine settle a couple of mm and two others settled by a mm.

Regards
Jim

jimbo3

JH- I've returned your PM. Good luck and let us know where you end up. Pictures!

Regards
Jim

InTheAir

Hey, I didn't get a PM. :-(

jhale

Jeff, I didn't need to PM you since I used your great DIY write up to compare fender heights and suspension settings. In fact, it is your height that I am trying to acheive. I am planning on measuring the height tonight (fender) and comparing it to some others on RL.

I think my next question is going to be about corner balancing. It seems that several people do not tackle this portion of the alignment. I asked one of our local p-car dealerships and they said they do not do corner balances. Confusion...

JH

InTheAir

Corner balancing:

If it is only street driven, you don't ~have~ to corner balance. But it does improve handling.

BTW, my local dealership doesn't corner balance either. But, the funny thing is that I don't want them to. I brought my car to a performance shop for my CB and alignment. They did an awesome job!!