Ride Height

[w-lewis]

I'm trying to adjust my coil over shocks to lower my Unique Cobra's ride height a bit, yet don't want fender rub, but realizing all fenders openings are different, the distance between top of wheel well opening and ground is meaningless. How high is your car's frame above the ground, both in front and in rear?

[mdross1]

For me it was the clearance over the tires to fender wheel arch with correct size/dia 15" tires. As it remember that was 1" it sure looks right in my eyes looking at the car from the side. Another important aspect is backspacing, the tire/wheel has to have free movement throughout it's full travel up and down as well as lock to lock.

[lnfletcher]

Not high enough for the road hazards, Not low enough for the look!

[DesertMK4]

Most MKIV owners use the bottom of the main frame rail to the ground as the measuring point. Most also set that distance at between 4 and 6 inches at the rear. I have used 4 1/2 to 5 1/4. My wheel size is 17 inches. A lot more of the difference comes from tire size. I would go with better ride rather than having 3/4 inch more or less gap at the top of the tire to the wheel well. Fronts are about the same, with higher settings to increase the tire to wheel well gap when the front tires are turned to full lock.

[DanEC]

Most Cobra replicas have a chassis based on a 4 inch main frame member although the relationship of that frame member to the body is not always going to be the same. On ERAs they recommend a frame clearance or height at the front of 5-1/4 inch and 5-3/4 inch rear. I run about 5-1/4 inch front and rear.



But it's going to depend on the manufacture, the wheel well opening shape, tire size & height in addition to your preferences and local road hazards.

[8litercobra]

My Unique FIA: bottom of the main frame rail to the road - front 6-1/8", rear 6-5/8".

[w-lewis]

I dropped my coil overs about 3/8-1/2" all the way around, leaving about a 1 inch gap between the front tire and fender arch and about a 2 inch gap in the rear, yet the frame is lower in the rear, about 6 inches, whereas the front is 6 1/2" from the ground. Oil pan is about 4" from the ground. I'm running 15" tires.

[Tom Kirkham]

Most road cars are designed with the front lower control arm inner and outer pivot points level to the ground. This minimizes camber, castor and scrub changes when the vehicle hits a bump (or pot hole) while traveling straight down the road.

[Bernica]

These are handy little gizmos for measuring ride height.

Longacre 78320 Short Chassis Height Gauge

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Bernica

These are handy little gizmos for measuring ride height.

Longacre 78320 Short Chassis Height Gauge

... and of course you always have to readjust your corner weights after monkeying with ride heights. Yes, even on a street car, you need to set them.

[Bernica]

Originally Posted by patrickt

... and of course you always have to readjust your corner weights after monkeying with ride heights. Yes, even on a street car, you need to set them.

Yup, and it can become a circular conundrum of the 3rd dimension trying to get both just right!

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Bernica

Yup, and it can become a circular conundrum of the 3rd dimension trying to get both just right!

Corner weights are one of my favorite topics, as evidenced by this wonderful thread from the past: Best way to adjust rear coil overs for proper height on my SPF and the last post on Page 8 says it all.

[Bernica]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Corner weights are one of my favorite topics, as evidenced by this wonderful thread from the past: Best way to adjust rear coil overs for proper height on my SPF and the last post on Page 8 says it all.

I wish someone would publish step-by-step instructions on how to do both properly at home for idiots like me! Chasing around and around the car can get tiresome. Then, I had ride height set what I thought was perfect and sent it to a shop to corner balance. When I picked it up, it was like all my height adjustment work was out the window!

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by Bernica

I wish someone would publish step-by-step instructions on how to do both properly at home for idiots like me! Chasing around and around the car can get tiresome. Then, I had ride height set what I thought was perfect and sent it to a shop to corner balance. When I picked it up, it was like all my height adjustment work was out the window!

That's my understanding of the process. You can either 1) have ride height exactly as you want and damn the corner weights, 2) or corner jack the car with the springs to correct corner weights and possibly skew the ride heights in the process, or 3) try to shift weight physically around in the car platform to correct corner weights and permit uniform ride height. If the car wasn't designed and built around door number 3, then you are left with door number 1 or door number 2.

[w-lewis]

8litercobra, what size tire are you running on your FIA and how much space do you have between your tires and fender?

[Steve Gallegos]

OK, I have a Backdraft, the way I was told to adjust height, by Reg at Backdraft, was to use 2 fingers between the tire and the top of the fender well. Also, I guess it depends how large your fingers are for how much the distance is.

[Snake2998]

I set my ride height to 4" at the lowest point of the oil cooler air inlet scoop in front, then measured the chassis rails in front and set the rear 3/4" higher. This was done to get some chance of clearing speed humps. Can't remember chassis rails clearance.