Ride height help needed
Discussion
roseytvr said:
Hi Chris
I will bow to the superior knowledge of others on the how but mine has standard 15/16" wheels 50/45 profiles and when TrackVroad did the geo they measured the wheel arch hieght at 620mm front and 650mm rear.
HTH
Ian
Ian,not always a good idea to use wheel arch heights due to differences in body moulds, the way the body sits on the chassis etc.I will bow to the superior knowledge of others on the how but mine has standard 15/16" wheels 50/45 profiles and when TrackVroad did the geo they measured the wheel arch hieght at 620mm front and 650mm rear.
HTH
Ian
Chassis measurements are far more regular.
It's hard to know where to start?.. and where to measure to... I'm sure my garage floor is not flat but it can't be far off... I have Billies on the car now but need to fit my Nitrons soon so I'm asking the same questions... Looking at my front arms the drivers side one appears to be down a tad.. where as the passenger side one appears to go up a tad.. that is also shown by the various measurements I've taken....
I was told to get the front arms level as Ant says... but that would give me a ride height lower than what I have now I think... But he then goes on to say 'add 10-15mm' which does sound right to me.. this would give about 145 front, corner plate to floor.... and I'm not so far off 150 at the back now and mine is quite high... But I've been told to go as heigh at 165 at the back?.. It would be miles in the air?.... These are the measurements on my car :-
??...
You may be have to consider twist also in the chassis... But I think the only way to take that into account is corner weighting?...
I guess I'm going to set the front to 140 / 145mm same turns on both front shocks... Then do the rears the same.. but not sure if I'l go to 165?
Would be good to get some more measurements from folk who's done this... and as Chris says.. where is the best place to measure to?.... Can't really see how measuring floor to wheel arch acuratley equates back to chassis measurements
I was told to get the front arms level as Ant says... but that would give me a ride height lower than what I have now I think... But he then goes on to say 'add 10-15mm' which does sound right to me.. this would give about 145 front, corner plate to floor.... and I'm not so far off 150 at the back now and mine is quite high... But I've been told to go as heigh at 165 at the back?.. It would be miles in the air?.... These are the measurements on my car :-
??...
You may be have to consider twist also in the chassis... But I think the only way to take that into account is corner weighting?...
I guess I'm going to set the front to 140 / 145mm same turns on both front shocks... Then do the rears the same.. but not sure if I'l go to 165?
Would be good to get some more measurements from folk who's done this... and as Chris says.. where is the best place to measure to?.... Can't really see how measuring floor to wheel arch acuratley equates back to chassis measurements
Edited by TVR Beaver on Thursday 22 December 21:59
The thing is though John, how accurate are the outrigger measurements from one car to the next, especially if chassis work has been done. Also how the body is fixed to the chassis can differ from one car to the next, These are TVR`s at the end of the day.
When i put my body back on, i set the rear shocks the same either side and also the set the fronts same either side. When viewing the car from behind it was quite noticeably higher at one side than the other, more so at the back. I measured to body work wheel arch, as this is what the eye sees and it was out at the raer, side to side by about an inch
I certainly didnt want this look and so the only option was to wind one shocker up more to get them the same. I was concerned as to what this would do to the handling etc, but to be honest i cant tell. For me it was important to get the look right. I have read about numerous other people with this problem, especially with early cars. Seems as though a little more care should have been taken at the factory when fitting the body.
Anyway back to the original question, i have set mine to what i think looks right ie tyre to wheel arch gap. I have no complaints re handling and for road use i am perfectly happy. I think measurements from floor to outrigger and floor to wheel arch may differ on most cars, thats why i have just set mine to what looks right.
When i put my body back on, i set the rear shocks the same either side and also the set the fronts same either side. When viewing the car from behind it was quite noticeably higher at one side than the other, more so at the back. I measured to body work wheel arch, as this is what the eye sees and it was out at the raer, side to side by about an inch
I certainly didnt want this look and so the only option was to wind one shocker up more to get them the same. I was concerned as to what this would do to the handling etc, but to be honest i cant tell. For me it was important to get the look right. I have read about numerous other people with this problem, especially with early cars. Seems as though a little more care should have been taken at the factory when fitting the body.
Anyway back to the original question, i have set mine to what i think looks right ie tyre to wheel arch gap. I have no complaints re handling and for road use i am perfectly happy. I think measurements from floor to outrigger and floor to wheel arch may differ on most cars, thats why i have just set mine to what looks right.
Mmmm. people like Peter (Haircutmike)who track their cars and play about with settings would say otherwise I think...
Even on my existing set up, I have one arm below level and one above... So on hitting a dip, one side will go through the arc and the other just carry on up.. so it will change you stearing goe etc.. not by much, but does it matter?
But I think I'd go more for correct setting than looks?.. .that said, if it was 1" out
Even on my existing set up, I have one arm below level and one above... So on hitting a dip, one side will go through the arc and the other just carry on up.. so it will change you stearing goe etc.. not by much, but does it matter?
But I think I'd go more for correct setting than looks?.. .that said, if it was 1" out
The easiest way to set ride height IMHO:
Get all tyres on blocks of wood, you can stuff sand in to level if you want to be accurate. Then you can lay a straight edge across the blocks and measure up to the main chassis rails (square ones).
Consider loadings and different tyres (yes the hub height makes comparisons very flawed) when thinking about 'copying' someone elses settings. As said many times lower wishbones level is the best starting point (it's all to do with the geometric arcs that unequal wishbones make & that is the whole point of using that wishbone design), think of that as the 'sweet spot' of your suspension and any deflections (unstability) around it add camber - just like you stick a foot when you're stumbling to use a simple analogy.
Get all tyres on blocks of wood, you can stuff sand in to level if you want to be accurate. Then you can lay a straight edge across the blocks and measure up to the main chassis rails (square ones).
Consider loadings and different tyres (yes the hub height makes comparisons very flawed) when thinking about 'copying' someone elses settings. As said many times lower wishbones level is the best starting point (it's all to do with the geometric arcs that unequal wishbones make & that is the whole point of using that wishbone design), think of that as the 'sweet spot' of your suspension and any deflections (unstability) around it add camber - just like you stick a foot when you're stumbling to use a simple analogy.
Best to aim for pre-loading with what you consider the most average, 1/2 tank, you or equiv in drivers seat...
Forget the drag queens that want 2 fingers twixt wheel & arch when they are posing in the park
It isn't that accurate even so with the varying weights, but even so getting the ride height in the right place is the crucial first step to any geometry setting (change the height & all those - I've got this toe / this camber go right out of the window. You should also overinflate your tyres to the pressures you see when hot IMHO BTW Jon, but when you get to that level of detail it's in the realms of keeping your own book about the changes you've made.
Forget the drag queens that want 2 fingers twixt wheel & arch when they are posing in the park
It isn't that accurate even so with the varying weights, but even so getting the ride height in the right place is the crucial first step to any geometry setting (change the height & all those - I've got this toe / this camber go right out of the window. You should also overinflate your tyres to the pressures you see when hot IMHO BTW Jon, but when you get to that level of detail it's in the realms of keeping your own book about the changes you've made.
yes.. good point.. so plus 5 psi?.... but how far do you go here?... should you also load the nose for down force? 
.
wonder how far the chassis could be out?.. mine are original outriggers and with a bar across the centre structure measure the same on both sides, so I guess my outriggers are in the same plane as the rest of it...
so why the dip on my passenger side front??..
could be the springs I guess.. will see what results I get when I put the new ones on
Any more offers on measurments of chassis to flore etc
.
wonder how far the chassis could be out?.. mine are original outriggers and with a bar across the centre structure measure the same on both sides, so I guess my outriggers are in the same plane as the rest of it...
so why the dip on my passenger side front??..
could be the springs I guess.. will see what results I get when I put the new ones on
Any more offers on measurments of chassis to flore etc
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