Need help on height adjustment math Options

[Green_Machine]

I'm adjusting the front end ride height.

Haynes manual says

1. measure center height of wheel center cap to ground... 12"
2. Measure center height of torsion bar cover to ground.... 5"

3 Make the difference of these two measurements be 3.54"

That would mean I would have to raise the car to 8 1/2 inches off the ground?

Am I figuring this right? I'm not trying to build an off road 914!!

Can anyone tell me what height their center of torsion bar cover to ground is?

8 1/2 just seems really high to me.

Thanks

[machina]

I wouldn't follow the haynes manual for this.

Just set your front a-arms biased toward a low angle and adjust the rear so there is about a 1deg rake forward.

imagine the ground plane as parallel, the plane of the a arm should be 2 or 3 deg down from center.

dr

[JFJ914]

Well, you are really NOT setting the ride height. You are really setting the lower control arm angle and essentially doing a "Factory" bumpsteer. As you lower the car, the 90mm delta increases raising the tierod into a less linear point on the new arc. This leads to BIG toe out on bumps and turns. You can lessen this characteristic by adding a bumpsteer kit to raise the rack and decrease the new angle to more of what the factory had in mind.

Now, to answer your original question, my car has 195/50-15 front tires.
Center wheel cap to ground = 10 7/8" ( 276 mm)
Center height of torsion bar cover to ground= 6 3/8" ( 162 mm)
Delta= 4 1/2" ( 114 mm)
Spec= 3.54" ( 90 mm)
Difference= x1" ( 24mm)

So, my front end is 24mm(x1") lower than optimum geometry. I have an actual ride height of 6" at the front donut. This means I'm going to have lots of bumpsteer if I ever get this thing back together and drive it again! I better take my own advice and get a bumpsteer kit! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

[Green_Machine]

Thanks for all the advise,

I have been toying with it all morning and I think I'm getting the hang of it.

I'm still pulling slightly to the right when driving, but I think it's about the best I can do. I guess I'll need to find an alignment shop that will do a 914.