ride height

[malibu43]

hi, i wanto to know some from the gurus about ride height in my 80 malibu.
How low can i go? whta shoul be the best way to low the ride height?
i want very low car for road course race
thanks

[JRouche]

hi, i wanto to know some from the gurus about ride height in my 80 malibu.
How low can i go? whta shoul be the best way to low the ride height?
i want very low car for road course race
thanks

Ride height is often determined by the control arms. Many times guys like to have the front lower control arms level with the ground so the alignment will be proper during suspension travel. When the lower control arms are parallel to the ground they induce the correct amount of movement on the lower part of the up-right, or spindle during travel. Mainly at compression when the tire is loaded, its the outside tire in a turn, the one that is taking more of a load.

If the control arm is not level at ride height, say tilted up from the engine out, as if you were to use lower springs to lower the car the lower control arms will go through a direction change that at first pushes the lower part of the spindle out till it is level with the road then pulls the bottom of the spindle in as more compression (speed in a turn) is seen.

It can make for a very uncomfortable high speed turn condition. I dont know if there is a term for it but I like to call it not linear. It changes the camber from a highly negitive gaining one, where the top CA is pulling the top of the spindle in and the lower CA is pushing it out. Very high camber gain till the lower CA passes over center (level).

And just thinking about it sounds like a decent suspension movement. Get some high camber changes (neg camber) for initial turn in, then it mellows out some as you increase the loads (speed in the turn).

But... A consistent feeling car is gonna get you through the turns faster. Start with a level lower CA and the spindle will always be pulled in during the turn at a predictable rate. So you dont look for the lower control arm to get you more caster gain, or even any part of the dynamics of the suspension travel nearly as much as the top CA.

I look at the lower control arms as a basic part, they suspend the car. They are the CAs that take all the suspension loads. The upper control arms are the tuning pieces. They dont handle much if any of the suspended loads. What they do is handle the top of the spindle and its movement. They control the top of the spindle and thats about all. You should be able to remove the bolts on the upper control arms and move the spindle in or out, with your hand and all of the car load in place, they dont take the weight of the car. They are the tuning pieces for the font suspension..

My point??? LOL Umm, try not to lower the car if it changes the attitude of the lower control arms. Thats why they came out with dropped spindles. So the control arms would have the correct geometry while dropping the body some for folks that didnt want to do some major suspension modifications. JR

[wellis77]

I sure learn a lot from your posts JR.

[malibu43]

thanks a lot,could you clerify to me about how to do it in the rear?(ride height),how low it coulb be?
thanks gurus

[Roadbuster]

I had an 81 El camino that I had the control arms level with 215/60R15 fronts on 15x7 wheels back in the late eighties. I think it had the light springs with a V8. The crossmember was about 3 inches or so off the ground. The tires just tucked under the front wheel lips.

For all the latest stuff call mark at SC&C (http://www.scandc.com). He knows how to set up a G body.

[JRouche]

thanks a lot,could you clerify to me about how to do it in the rear?(ride height),how low it coulb be?
thanks gurus

The rear will be dependent on what type of suspension you have, thats why I didnt talk about that. Most front ends have some type of lower A-arm so the talk can be kinda generic.

But there are so many types of rear suspensions that I couldnt go into any of that. And to be honest, I really dont know how to tune many of them. I have a parallel link 4-link, so I kinda have it sorted out. But there are so many others.

Leaf spring (hotchkiss), 4-link with angeled links (triangulated four link), 3-link, torque tube (non-hotchkiss), de dion tube, trailing arm with panhard bar, leading arm with lateral locating link, semi-trailing arm, twist beam, independent (many variations) and well even more variations, the list goes on and on.

And I only know how to setup the one I have, the parallel 4-link with watts link. And Im still trying to get it all nailed down, so many variables with this one.

Solly, no help for the rear. But Im sure there are plenty of folks here that can help out with that. JR

[malibu43]

thanks anyway.
regards