Measuring ride height

[Archer Fabrications]

hey everyone, i am no suspension guru so i have a newb question.

Where do you measure ride height from on a 2g? Do you measure from top center of wheel well? Or the bottom of the rocker pannel? I have DG koni's all around. I know HOW to adjust them, but i dont know how to make sure I'm low enough to not get wheel rub, right now I'm at the tallest setting my coilovers will go, because i have 26x9.50 QTP's i wanted to make sire fit before i lowered it. But currently I'm on stock 17" GSX wheels. Car is a weekend warior/deag car. My spring rates are 650 front 350 rear

Couple other questions,
What is ideal ride height for drag racing?

Is it better to be a little lower in front then the back to reduce weight transfer? How do i measure clearance from tire to upper control arm to make sure it doesnt bottom out? I'm not going for the slammed look, but currently i can fit 4 fingers between the top of the tire and fender. Sorry for the stupid question but I'm curious to learn a little bit


Edit: current measurement from ground to bottom of fenderwell is 27" up front 29" in the rear so it's truckin.. Help appreciated

 

[mbyoung424]

I'm not smart on this, but here is my 2 cents. If you're concerned about wheel rub get the front end off the ground, compress the spring until you hit the rubber stopper, then turn your steering wheel from one extreme to the other. As long as nothing touchs you know you're good for the extremes. If you're trying to match ride height from side To side I think make the same measurement regardless of where you choose would work, but I would measure center of wheel hub to fender.

 

[GST with PSI]

I just made some ride height adjustments today, actually. Here's what I do:

Put the car on a completely level surface. A garage floor works best.

I start with the fronts. I raise the car, and loosen both locking collars. Then I adjust the sleeve on one side to where I want the ride height. After I get it where I want it, pick 2 points on the coilover and measure between them. I then take that measurement, and adjust the opposite side to match it. Once both sides are adjusted equally, lower the car (leaving the locking collars loose). Once the car is on the ground, push it back and froth 3 or 4 feet forward and reverse a few times. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! Rolling the car back and forth allows the suspension to settle in its natural position. After the suspension is settled, take a measurement from the ground to the middle of the fender arch on each side. Compare from side to side, and see where you're at.

^***If you don't have room to roll the car back and forth, you can use 2 pieces of tile under each tire to allow the suspension to settle. Use some sort of lubricant between the 2 pieces of tile to allow them to slide easily.***

If your ground to fender measurements are not even from side to side, rinse and repeat the procedure above until they are. Of note, you'll only measure the coilover the very first time to get each side in the ballpark. After that, you're only checking height from the ground to fender. You'll probably jack the car up and down half a dozen times in some cases before it's perfect. Depending on the coilover, the distance you adjust the sleve may or may not translate to actual ride height adjustment. Meaning, if you adjust the coilover a 1/2" taller, typically you won't see a 1/2" of ride height increase. That's why this process is a lot of guess and check. Once you've got everything where you want it, raise the car one last time and tighten your locking collars. Afterwards, lower the car, repeat the rolling procedure and take one last measurement to make sure everything stayed where you last set it before tightening the collars. If it's good, move on to the rears.

For the rears, use the same process described above to adjust form side to side. To check ride height front to rear, I like to measure from the ground to the pinch weld on each side of the front and rear fender wells. I typically try set the rear equal to, or a tad taller than the front.

For clearance, the only way to REALLY check is to put the car through the ringer. I found I had no rubbing issues driving normally. But, the first time I got into a real corner during spirited driving, I saw a bit of rubbing. I bumped the ride height a bit on all 4 corners and no issues since. Additionally, if you can adjust your dampening, you may see rubbing on softer settings where you wouldn't on harder settings. Make sure if you're messing with the dampening a lot, you take this into account when doing your adjustments. I'd leave a bit of extra clearance if that's the case.

Lastly, be smart and don't get lazy. If you're like me and have to do this pain in the ass process with a floor jack, make sure you're supporting the vehicle with jack stands whenever it's in the air. This process is hard enough without trying to do it with missing limbs.

Edit: I know you already said you know HOW to adjust them, but it's easier to make sense of the process if I explain the whole thing. Hope this helps answer part of your question.

 

[Archer Fabrications]

Thanks a lot for the explanation. Yes i have room to roll the car, yes i have to use a floor jack (hopefully not for too many more months) i just measured from top of the wheel to the top of inside fender well and it's 3" in front of clearance and 6" in the rear. I assume the upper ball joing point on both front (and rear busching) dont move relative to the wheel correct? When i said. I know how i just meant i know how to unlock the collar and move the perch up or down. I assembled the coilovers myself so It's pretty simple to understand the coilover itself, other then that I'm in the dark on what exactally moves under the wheel wells when you go over bumps. Or how much slicks will expand at high speed