socorob Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 When setting ride height, is it good practice to set it by using a certain control arm angle, by looks, or by _____ for a street / occasional autox, track day car? When I see pictures of Zs, ride heights seem to be all over the place. Is it an aesthetic issue mostly or do you want some certain angle down of the control arms to give a little camber gain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 To get the "proper" geometry I think you leave it at stock height. Stiff springs help make perfect geometry less of an issue. Not trying to win trophies as a road racer helps too. So, I set it for looks. I lie and say its for aero-but I truly set it for looks. Then, I look at tire clearances and the ability to get my jack under it, which usually makes me bring it up a little. Then I go down my driveway and when I scrape I bring it up a little more. Then i load it on my trailer and it scrapes, so i raise it a little more. Then when I go to the red-neck drag strip and scrape on the tree roots that are tearing up the return track, I raise it a little more. When I put my slicks on in back and I get a little tire rub, I raise it a little more-that's where it sits right now. That's how I set my ride height. I hope you make it to ZCON, we can mess with all of this and you can try on some of my wheels and tires if you are still 4-lug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socorob Posted May 23, 2015 Author Share Posted May 23, 2015 I hope I make it too. I am using 5 lugs, but appreciate the offer. If I go, I probably won't do any of the motorsports events because I will have to be able to drive the car there AND back, and I don't have a trailer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 For a street car set the front ride height so you have at least 1.5" of bump travel at the shock shaft before hitting the bump stop. Measure the Ride height at the front of the rocker panel just behind the front fender bolt. Add 1/2" to that number that's your rear ride height measured at the rear of the rocker panel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socorob Posted May 23, 2015 Author Share Posted May 23, 2015 Thanks! I think I may have an opportunity to use a lift for the next 2 days, so I would like to use that time wisely to swap my heavier springs to the front. and get my ride height and alignment set as close as possible. Then I will try to run down some scales to corner balance the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 Does corner balancing screw up your ride height? I've never corner balanced. Plus, I'm always changing height, so I don't know which ride height I would corner balance from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 Corner balancing a street car is silly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boosted300 Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 To get the "proper" geometry I think you leave it at stock height. Stiff springs help make perfect geometry less of an issue. Not trying to win trophies as a road racer helps too. So, I set it for looks. I lie and say its for aero-but I truly set it for looks. Then, I look at tire clearances and the ability to get my jack under it, which usually makes me bring it up a little. Then I go down my driveway and when I scrape I bring it up a little more. Then i load it on my trailer and it scrapes, so i raise it a little more. Then when I go to the red-neck drag strip and scrape on the tree roots that are tearing up the return track, I raise it a little more. When I put my slicks on in back and I get a little tire rub, I raise it a little more-that's where it sits right now. That's how I set my ride height. I hope you make it to ZCON, we can mess with all of this and you can try on some of my wheels and tires if you are still 4-lug. Could this be considered like automotive Alabama Windage? In any case, sounds like a very effective to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 (edited) Absolutely. Soco, i just gave you wisdom that was built over 25 years of Z ownership-we all wanna go low, but it just gets impractical. Johnc, I'm glad I haven't bothered-the local Cobra club is all into it (corner balancing), and I can't get them to do anything automotive beyond waxing and polishing (and bragging about how much their $30,000 engine made on the dyno before it was shipped to them)! Edited May 25, 2015 by RebekahsZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socorob Posted May 25, 2015 Author Share Posted May 25, 2015 Good, saves me work and time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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