But yet another question....lo siento!

I lowered the front end of my car(see my blog) and now it rides a little rough. Back in my lowered truck days I would just buy smaller bump-stops. Is there a similar solution for a 914? At the center of the wheel it is 23" from the ground to the fender. Is that high enough to expect a "decent" ride quality?

QUOTE (MW 914 @ May 18 2005, 04:12 PM)

Is that high enough to expect a "decent" ride quality?

dunno squad about stock non flared fenders ....

how much is it from the ground to the bottom of the fender well right where the bend is (see pic.)

lowering the front too much will make the ride pretty harsh. is it the stock suspension/torsion bars or do you have a 911 frontend?

also, the shocks could be toast, that would make the ride pretty hard as well ...

Andy

It is 11" to the point you referenced in your drawing. It is all stock 914 suspension with the exception of the 22mm Weltmeister sway bar. As for the shocks...I have no idea what condition they are in. My guess is, not very good.

Rule of thumb..for a not too bad ride..lower the car so the control arms are horizontal with the ground. If they are tilting upwards (meaning the ball joint side is higher from the ground then the bushing side) then you have it too low and it will be real bumpy!

check your ride height from the ground to the bottom of the front jacking donuts (they are in the front corners about where Andy indicated). get a measurement from the rear jacking donuts as well. I am around 5-5.5 with 205x55x15 tires. My front A-arms are just about parallel with the ground.

QUOTE (MW 914 @ May 18 2005, 04:30 PM)

It is 11" to the point you referenced in your drawing.

no way!

look at the pic again, on my car it's 4 1/2" on a flat surface (and my car is pretty low!) ...
Andy

You are right. I went to the bottom of the fender. Looks like your drawing is the bottom of the rocker panel?

QUOTE (MW 914 @ May 18 2005, 05:20 PM)

You are right. I went to the bottom of the fender. Looks like your drawing is the bottom of the rocker panel?

nope, bottom of the fender well. where the floorpan attaches to the fender well. where it curves around the passanger (or driver) front foot area.

there's a lip (seam) alonf the bottom of the fender well where it is welded to the floorpan ...

the distance from the ground to that lip should be somewhere around 5" - 6" depending how low your car is.

and the guys are right, with half a tank of gas and the weight of the driver in the car, your a-arms should be close to parallel to the ground and whatever your groundclearance is, it should be eaqual on both sides ...

Andy

My bad. Below is where I measured. Tomorrow I'll check out all the suggestions that were mentioned here. As always, thanks for all of the help.

QUOTE

and the guys are right, with half a tank of gas and the weight of the driver in the car, your a-arms should be close to parallel to the ground and whatever your groundclearance is, it should be eaqual on both sides ...

I believe it's the "tie-rods" that need to remain parallel to the ground guys. This is what reduces the "bump steer"

Also, you may want to take the nut off the top of your strut (with the front jacked up and the wheels removed) and let the strut come out of the mount. Remove the dust cap and take 1 notch off the rubber bump stop (roughly 1.5")

Also, GT arches and stock arches should be the same. 23" is good and low but it should be acceptable. You probably are running out of suspension travel. I have the same 23" but my spindles are raised 18mm.

QUOTE (Eric_Shea @ May 18 2005, 04:47 PM)

Also, GT arches and stock arches should be the same. 23" is good and low but it should be acceptable. You probably are running out of suspension travel. I have the same 23" but my spindles are raised 18mm.

Your spindles are dropped? Can I assume this is an aftermarket spindle?

QUOTE (MW 914 @ May 19 2005, 05:53 AM)

QUOTE (Eric_Shea @ May 18 2005, 04:47 PM) Also, GT arches and stock arches should be the same.  23" is good and low but it should be acceptable.  You probably are running out of suspension travel.  I have the same 23" but my spindles are raised 18mm. Your spindles are dropped? Can I assume this is an aftermarket spindle?

Oops! I meant "raised"

from the picture of your car, it doesn't look too low to be causing problems unless like Eric mentioned the bump stops for the shocks are too long.

my car is lower than yours with 17" low profile tires and the ride is not half bad....

for the spindles, there are few methods to raise the spindle, special 911 strut, modify the stock strut and last one is a new strut from SmartRacing.

i'd avoid even thinking about special spindles unless you are building a serious track or autocross car....put your money into something else

QUOTE (Mueller @ May 19 2005, 06:35 AM)

i'd avoid even thinking about special spindles unless you are building a serious track or autocross car....put your money into something else

Believe me, there are PLENTY of other places on the car to spend money.

Thanks for the advice.

QUOTE (Eric_Shea @ May 18 2005, 08:45 PM)

[ Also, you may want to take the nut off the top of your strut (with the front jacked up and the wheels removed) and let the strut come out of the mount. Remove the dust cap and take 1 notch off the rubber bump stop (roughly 1.5")

I agree, check your shock travel first, you may be riding on the bumpstops. BTDT..

Sorry... was out of town.

I'm using 911 Koni struts with the spindles raised 18mm. I agree with Mike. Don't bother with this process unless you're racing etc.

Probably bumping into the shock buffer.

Shortening the snubber (bump stop) may put you into shock "bottoming out" territory. Be careful. If they're Konis, that voids the warranty, such as it is. The Cap'n

Thanks for all the advice. I did remove one section of the bump stop and the car rides MUCH better. I think that I am still going to look for some new shocks, however. Any thoughts on front shocks?