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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ Ride height

Posted by: qa1142 Jun 30 2004, 08:14 PM

Ok, so my 30 year old springs we a little droopy in the rear. I took 2 turns out of each front torsion bar adjusters.

Car looks closer to level, still drives good, but measure ground to wheel well and I am not even side to side.

Where should I be measuring ride height? Is there a right way?

Does anyone bother to do this on scales to set the "tweak" like on my Radio Controlled cars? Does that matter for daily driver?

Posted by: Joe Ricard Jun 30 2004, 08:24 PM

Ride heigth is always important. so is spacers under the rack to keep tie rods at the right angle. new springs and shocks are always a good idea. Match to what you intend to use the car for. ie. don't get 180lb rear springs for the street. match the torsion bars to the springs.

Corner balance is only necessary if you drive it like you stole it. (only way to drive these cars).

Then after all that is done a good alignment will go a long way to drivability. Autocross, road race, and street driven would require different settings.

When you are ready someone here can get you the settings. Man I didn't think I had that much hot air in me

Posted by: Andyrew Jun 30 2004, 08:30 PM

measure from the top of the wheel arch, in the center. The front to back will be different, not much you can do about that. The adjustment knobs should be use to get it close to perfect.

Asside from that. Do what Joe said.

Andrew

Posted by: Toast Jun 30 2004, 08:33 PM

If you want to set to factory, it's in the Haynes Manual.

Measure from center line of wheel to ground is dimension "A"

Measure from center closing cover on torsion bar to ground and this is dimension "B"

A - B = 90 mm

+/- 5 mm difference between sides is maximum.

If you want it lower, just set it where you want it. The rack must be raised with spacers to keep the tie rods parallel to the ground or you get "bump steer"

Posted by: Dave_Darling Jul 1 2004, 12:25 AM

I suggest measuring from a suspension mounting point on the chassis. Fenders can get tweaked fairly easily--if the suspension mounting point moves everything is hosed anyway...

The factory measurement results in a really high tip-toe 914. I feel the cars should be set up as high or as low as the owner likes. I think it's preferable not to go any lower than having the A-arms and the trailing arms parallel to the ground, but if you like it lower...

--DD (who is too keyed up to sleep!!)