Questions about ride height, corner balancing and alignment

[Pman1961]

So I have been on vacation this week trying to get the Cobra optimized. The week before I installed R/T ball joints and R/T rear shock mounts. I adjusted the ride height according to SCOF guest tech article 22.5" from fender to bottom of rim lip at the front and 22.44" at the rear. I rolled the car back in forth in the garage with each adjustment. Then car was loaded and taken to Enterprise, Alabama for dyno tune, corner balance and alignment. After all was done I measured the ride height and the car apparently needed more than rolling back and forth to settle as my ride heights had dropped another 1/4". After the corner balance the dimensions from fender to bottom lip of rim reads as follows. I also measured my coil over bolt centerlines and they seem to be way off of recommendations. Note, only the LF coil over was adjusted to corner balance the car:

LF 22" fender to bottom lip of rim (SCOF 22.5")
11.125" Shock bolt centers (SCOF 11.87")
RF 22.25" fender to bottom lip of rim (SCOF 22.5")
11.57" Shock bolt centers (SCOF 11.87")
LR 22.25" fender to bottom lip of rim (SCOF 22.44")
13.125" Shock bolt centers (SCOF 12.79")
RR 22" fender to bottom lip of rim (SCOF 22.44")
13.5" Shock bolt centers (SCOF 12.79")

Notice how the fender to bottom lip of rim are similar in the diagonal direction.

What are your guys thoughts? Will I need to do an alignment should I adjust the ride height and have car corner balance again?

[JBCOBRA]

I know the body on my SPF is not symmetrical, so by utilizing the measuring to 22.5 is a complete waste of time. If the corner weights are dialed in correctly, you are good to go.

[mdross1]

It was rather agonizing when building my car wanting to get the look just right. Ride height, tire to fender clearance, the right wheels and tires, the exhaust, etc etc. In the end it all came together. When everything was set the car was very scary driving down the road till finally getting it scaled after that a pure joy. Good Luck

[RICK LAKE]

Pman1961 The first thing to do is get the corner weights right. This is with your weight in the drivers seat. Once you get this done, ROAD TEST the car doing right and left turns to settle the car. Springs and shock will drop a little in height. Have a 1/2 tank of gas in car. Now recheck your weights in the corners and check the ride heights I like a between a 48-52 and 49-51 ratio of front to back weight. This all depends on what springs you are running. I like the car to squat and leave without smoking the tires. Have about 1.5 inches of drop in the rear total. I have gone up in springs over 150# from street setup in the front. I autocross and road race the car. It is still very drivable and not jarring on the street. This also stopped the car from plowing into and out of turns. The best thing is to get video of th car in a parking lot or at a track or autocross event and look at how the car responds in handling.
Another big thing is how you drive the car. Some people like 15" wheels and slide their car around, (drifting) others like 17" wheels and drive point to point.
Other thing to take into account is does the car have power steering? This with change the alignment specs between the 2. The rest is all tire wear and reading them for the best alignment. Again what works for 1 car will not for yours.
Start with the weighing the car, get loads on the suspension, recheck your corner heights and adjust if needed to get the look. wheel alignment and retest with video. You want the car to track straight and turn flat and not plow. Other changes to follow. I learned this after a upped the front springs and changed the handling of the car so much. The video showed it also. Good luck Rick L.

[Mark IV]

We recommend using the center of the headlamp and tail lamp as the ride height measuring point. Easier to determine than the wheel opening and takes out any variations.

[fordracing65]

I don't know the proper measurements, but the lower you can go the better it looks...

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by fordracing65

I don't know the proper measurements, but the lower you can go the better it looks...

Until your oil cooler scoop kisses the lip of the speed bump....

[fordracing65]

Take them at an angle. look how low my bmw is on my profile, I never scrape, knock on wood, now my trans pan will be all over the next bump...