proper ride height!!

[OM3GA]

I have been sitting here reading and reading trying to figure out how much to lower my car.. I want it to be as low as it possibly can be without ruining the suspension geometry and or causing binding anywhere. I have not seen or heard any threads discussing this to a point where it actually makes sense.

[Papi Chulo]

http://grassrootsmotorsports.c...ights/

[AZ89two4Tsx]

I would think there'd be more than a few variables to this, mostly depending on what suspension parts you have. Idk, I know slammed and functional usually don't go together though.

Edit: ^^^good read^^^

[OM3GA]

Heres a list of what suspension parts i have Feel free to add anything i need in order to slam it and still have it handle great.

Tein Super drift coiloversFull RS*R polyurethane bushing kitAdjustable RUCAsSolid aluminum subframe bushingsTein strut barsNismo power brace

BTW i want to use the car for drift and also be able to do auto x and stuff like that i dont want any binding or anything happening at all.. I want it very controllable.

[OM3GA]

Damnit every time lol maybe someone should move this to the suspension something section haha

[ViolentRunning13]

MY car is slammed and don't have any special suspension parts to help my geometry. My car still handles amazing.

[OM3GA]

MY car is slammed and don't have any special suspension parts to help my geometry. My car still handles amazing.

Do you have any pics or anything and does any of your suspension parts bind? and is your bump steer horrible? lol im trying to get motivated to lower it because right now its a monster truck here see

[OM3GA]

[ViolentRunning13]

No my car handles perfect. TO me at least. No pictures. Maybe next time I am at the exhaust shop. My rucas dented my frame in a good inch or so. Do work make clearance.

[charat]

whats wrong with the front fo your car?

[RCA]

I have been sitting here reading and reading trying to figure out how much to lower my car.. I want it to be as low as it possibly can be without ruining the suspension geometry and or causing binding anywhere. I have not seen or heard any threads discussing this to a point where it actually makes sense.

With stock components you cant lower your car at all with out effecting your Suspention geometry in some way. Although a slight lowering might not make MUCH of a diffrence to your sus. geo. But a lower your car 8 inches and you are going to have issues.

So as long as your car has stock suspention you cant lower it at all.

A great handling car needs some decent rubber and well tuned sway bar setup. If your stock struts are falling apart buy some coil overs and you will hang with most.

If that isnt enough then you should invest in wider tires, drop your tire pressure and your center of gravity. But as soon as that happens you would need full adjustable suspention as well as some track time to tune it to your perfection.

[nifares240]

you will bind your tie rod ends after lowering the car. always good to upgrade to the spl ones.

[nifares240]

you're going to have a crazy alignment. you'll wear out your tires more when daily driven.

[OM3GA]

whats wrong with the front fo your car?

What do you mean?

With stock components you cant lower your car at all with out effecting your Suspention geometry in some way. Although a slight lowering might not make MUCH of a diffrence to your sus. geo. But a lower your car 8 inches and you are going to have issues.

So as long as your car has stock suspention you cant lower it at all.

A great handling car needs some decent rubber and well tuned sway bar setup. If your stock struts are falling apart buy some coil overs and you will hang with most.

If that isnt enough then you should invest in wider tires, drop your tire pressure and your center of gravity. But as soon as that happens you would need full adjustable suspention as well as some track time to tune it to your perfection.

Yeah i have 17x9.5 + 15 all the way around with 225 45 17s all the way around as well.. -1.6 camber in the front and -.6 in the rear.. I have coilovers i posted this stuff if you didnt see it.

Heres a list of what suspension parts i have Feel free to add anything i need in order to slam it and still have it handle great.Tein Super drift coiloversFull RS*R polyurethane bushing kitAdjustable RUCAsSolid aluminum subframe bushingsTein strut barsNismo power brace

BTW i want to use the car for drift and also be able to do auto x and stuff like that i dont want any binding or anything happening at all.. I want it very controllable.

you're going to have a crazy alignment. you'll wear out your tires more when daily driven.

Yeah thats fine with me im wondering also what alignment setup do they use on most comp drift cars? Is there anywhere that has like pics of their alignment sheets?

you will bind your tie rod ends after lowering the car. always good to upgrade to the spl ones.

Yeah i want to get the spl ones sometime soon i have the circuit sports ones sitting right here and i dont know if i want to install those or not.. Which tie rods allow for the maximum drop?

[nifares240]

the spl ones does not compensate for the drop but your steering angle. you can read up about it in the SPL website. I would just wait for the spl ones and do it in one shot. but keep in mind, with the SPL spherical bearing ends, their z32 inner tie rods are the only that can be used with the outer ends.

I have way more camber than you in the rears. I have about -2.15 degrees and I am not even using coils.

[OM3GA]

haha yeah im thinking about getting 225 40 17 tires instead of the 45 series i have now... And im going to change the camber alot of i do decide to lower it alot more..

[tramp_drift240]

you will bind your tie rod ends after lowering the car. always good to upgrade to the spl ones.

uhh. my frame rails are like 3 inches off the ground and my tie rods dont bind.

granted, i had tein inner and outers, but theyre still the OEM balljoint style.

im sticking with the balljoint design, i dont really trust the pillowball s*** for that. ive seen 'em break and pop out.

and WTF is up with your hood.

[PyroTecK]

i think the basic rule is to not lower past the point that ur lower control arms are parallel to the ground, which isnt that low at all on 240s.

[hai1206vn]

Nismo s-tune coil-shock combo only drops the car about 1" to work with stock control arms, so I'd say lower 1" at most if you're not ready to fix any change.

[OM3GA]

and WTF is up with your hood.

Clearance..

i think the basic rule is to not lower past the point that ur lower control arms are parallel to the ground, which isnt that low at all on 240s.

I know its not low at all on 240s i want it lower than that... but i want to be able to compensate for things not being parallel to the ground and causing excessive bump steer etc..

Nismo s-tune coil-shock combo only drops the car about 1" to work with stock control arms, so I'd say lower 1" at most if you're not ready to fix any change.

The car is already lowered around 2-3" from stock however when i put the 17s on now the cars height is either the same as stock maybe even a little higher...

[sjbsuperman1425]

clearance from what? people with CA18's and CA18 specific strut tower bars dont need to alter for hood clearance...

[musashin]

The car is already lowered around 2-3" from stock however when i put the 17s on now the cars height is either the same as stock maybe even a little higher...

New wheels should not raise the car at all, as long as you got the right tire sizes...

[Ajax]

clearance from what? people with CA18's and CA18 specific strut tower bars dont need to alter for hood clearance...

Its clearance for the Xcessive intake manifold and TB bracket. I'm curious as to Om3ga's setup- I'll have to shoot you an email so as not to threadjack

[OM3GA]

New wheels should not raise the car at all, as long as you got the right tire sizes...

Right now there is 225 45 17 on there.. I have an option to get 225 40 17 instead but im afraid of having so little tire that the wheel takes the abuse.. ie. bending or cracking...

[Gabes13]

I use to think my car handled amazing when it was an 1" off the ground. Then I raised it 1.5" and surprisingly it handled way better.

I wish I would have gotten spl inners/outers bc I cant stand my steering.

Im going to lower more once I find my MAX collar tool thingy... I can't stand my wheel gap.

[OM3GA]

yeah idk what to do about tires!! i have to figure this out by tomorrow lol idk what is better to run 225 45 17 or 225 40 17 or whether there is like no difference.. im just wondering if the wheel can easily get abused with 40s on it i feel like im getting sidewall flex on my 225 45 17s but im not sure if they are or not they are federal ss595 and they are on a 9.5 inch wheel i would imagine there to be no slop but i feel it its weird..

[ZX88]

your problem will be solved with 215/45's you can go lower with less of a pull and you have more than enough tire for safety.

[RCA]

Yeah i have 17x9.5 + 15 all the way around with 225 45 17s all the way around as well.. -1.6 camber in the front and -.6 in the rear.. I have coilovers i posted this stuff if you didnt see it.

Heres a list of what suspension parts i have Feel free to add anything i need in order to slam it and still have it handle great.Tein Super drift coiloversFull RS*R polyurethane bushing kitAdjustable RUCAsSolid aluminum subframe bushingsTein strut barsNismo power brace

BTW i want to use the car for drift and also be able to do auto x and stuff like that i dont want any binding or anything happening at all.. I want it very controllable.

Sorry I under stood your list as parts you would need for a perfect setup. And not what you already had.

But the "drifting" thing is an issue. Now that I know you are going to drift means that the stock suspension geo is out of the window. Drifting suspension setups are WAY different then any "Stock" car. And I hope you plan on doing Drifting and Auto Xing on two separate days. Because what feels good for drifting won't mean it is the best setup for Auto Xing, so you would need time to change wheels and tires and re-align your suspension. Unless you set up a "best of both worlds" scenario with your suspension setup.

For drifting lots of camber, higher tire pressure and thinner tires while auto X requires less camber, lower tire pressure and wider tires. It really comes down to you and how each setup feels.As for proper height is concerned the best height is as low as you can get with out hitting oil pans and the physical limits and range of motion of your suspension parts.

So basicly your suspension geometry will never be the same unless you figure out how low you want to go, then re-engineer a whole new rear subframe and suspension parts. And if that is the case you might as well design a double wish-bone suspension system.

[OM3GA]

"physical limits and range of motion of your suspension parts." describe this.. basically lets put it this way i want it to only be a drift car then. What do you think is a good setup in terms of height, camber etc... tire size that i should run on the 17x9.5s i have i have 225 45 17s on there right now im thinking 225 40 17s because i will have less clearance problems in the front hitting the inner well etc.. i could really care less about the fenders ill roll them with a bat, hammer and pliers until it clears by a milimeter the rears i am going to roll more and do a newspaper pull most likely and run some crazy camber too not sure what yet though haha..

[RCA]

"physical limits and range of motion of your suspension parts."

What I meant was certain suspension parts were designed to handle different loads from certain angles. When you increase or decrease the angle from which the suspension part is absorbing this load you can wear the part more quickly and cause failure. This of course is in EXTREME situations but can be an issue when serious lowering occurs and the high stresses of competitive driving.And what I meant by range of motion was basicly if your car has 3 inches of suspension travel and your car is 2 inches from the ground. Eventually you are going to hit a bump causing your suspension to travel its full RANGE OF MOTION and before it reaches the 3rd inch, your car will hit the ground.

But now that you mention that you want a drift oriented setup it makes it MUCH easier. Drifting suspension setups are VERY vague. It really comes down to the driver and his or her's drifting style. Tanner Foust (350Z) and his drifting team have come to the conclusion that lower rear camber and a strong toe angle gives Tanner better control while sliding and better ability to break the rear end lose. But other drivers with 350Zs might like it a totally different way.But there are some obvious things to do that most drifters would call "common knowledge". You want the ability to break the rear so higher tire pressure and thinner tires are DUHH but when it comes to a "perfect" setup it comes down to you getting in the driver's seat and going for it. Then tweaking it to what you like.

Also there is ALLOT of things that can affect your choice of suspension setups; how much power you make, the cars gearing, the TYPE of rubber, the size of the track, the style and ability of your opponent etc. Of course this would be if you are competing at the highest levels but if you are weekender then just go out there as is and next weekend change one variable, like just change the camber a little bit. If it is worst then try something else and continue until you find "your" perfect setup.

But you dont have to change things blindly there are some suspesion rules that you should follow to help you change your setup each weekend. If you own a Grand Turismo game or a Forza game you can read the description text to tell you what happens when you use to much and too little of a certain suspension spec.

But I would go to a engineering forum if you want some serious suspension answers and ask some drifters around your area that go to the same tracks you do. They might be the single best resource you have.