How to not lower a car...

[JJEH]

... or "what's wrong with that?"

Guys, I purchased a set of B&G lowering springs for our '10 Ford Fusion S.

After putting them on all 4 corners I was kind of surprised... because the back is lower than the front. The springs are supposed to have a lowering rate of 1.6" all the way around.

Does anybody have the same or a similar problem?
Does anybody has experience with this brand?

I didn't get a hold on the company yet, but I try that they can verify the information on the Box. Because other Brands like H&R offer springs with a lowering rate of 1.6" in the front and 1.9" in the back...

Here's a snapshot, I know its dirty (I washed it 2 days before)...



I know, they will settle a bit after a while... but what if they also settle in the back...?!

Thank's for any help or rather your opinions...

[monteboy84]

Are they seated right on the struts? If they're turned wrong the car won't sit level. That's pretty bad though....

-matt

[elitecustombody]

it's possible you have rear springs on front and front springs on rear? I did that once

[gmjj13]

hey Jochen, hows it goin? do you have any pics of the car before? only thing i can think is to make sure the springs are seated properly up front, or like stefan said, front springs on the rear and rear on the front maybe? I should be back in a week or so, if you haven't got it figured by then, i'll swing by and see if I can help out. Good luck, and keep us posted. talk to you later bro...

[robertjra]

i have a 2007 lincolin mkz with H&R springs and its the same thing the back sits low and the front is a little high
this is befor the kit


and after the kit

[Roadbuster]

I think there is an optical illusion here. Look at the body line near the bottom of the doors and compare to the center of the wheels. To me it looks like the center of the front wheel is a little higher than the back - slight nose down. Look at the difference in wheel well hight at the door handle body line. The front wheel arches are much higher than the rears, which gives it a lower in the back look. Also the rear tires tuck and the fronts don't. This gives the illusion that it is much lower in the rear.

[robertjra]

i think you are right i will take out my tape and find out what is going on its my wife's car so i never do anything with it I'm always at work and if I'm not there in working on my camaro!

[MrQuick]

did you look at it after you backed off of the parking block? just checking. LOL

[79-TA]

I think there is an optical illusion here. Look at the body line near the bottom of the doors and compare to the center of the wheels. To me it looks like the center of the front wheel is a little higher than the back - slight nose down. Look at the difference in wheel well hight at the door handle body line. The front wheel arches are much higher than the rears, which gives it a lower in the back look. Also the rear tires tuck and the fronts don't. This gives the illusion that it is much lower in the rear.

I see what you're saying about the wheel arches, but I disagree. Ever since the 80's cars have been basically designed as wedges. The fender heights should be the same, though the rear arch will have a whole bunch more sheet metal above it. This is true for pretty much any modern car. In my opinion, the lack of the modern wedge shape is what makes some older cars so much better looking.

If the car doesn't settle back to level, perhaps he'll have to cut the springs to get the right static ride height.

[JJEH]

Thank's Guys for your opinions/experience...

Tonight I will measure the hight of the car - front to back.
It's also my wifes car and I don't drive it every day...

Mixing up the springs is not possible!

Jeff, things are doing okay - just cannot wait that Jess' holds her orders in her hands...
Hope you are doing okay.

Mr. Quick, LOL

[TCI Engineering]

I think there is an optical illusion here. Look at the body line near the bottom of the doors and compare to the center of the wheels. To me it looks like the center of the front wheel is a little higher than the back - slight nose down. Look at the difference in wheel well hight at the door handle body line. The front wheel arches are much higher than the rears, which gives it a lower in the back look. Also the rear tires tuck and the fronts don't. This gives the illusion that it is much lower in the rear.

^^^This

I went round and round with springs on my daily driver('06 Accord). One manufacturer claimed 1.8F & 1.6R, another was 1.6F & 1.6R the last one was 1.6F & 1.8R and non of them looked right. The front fender opening on said vehicle is higher(more space between the top of the tire and bottom of fender) so I finally settled on coilovers to set it where I wanted it. Unfortunately, to even up the fender spacing front to back the car has to sit at a pretty drastic rake, so I found a happy medium between the two.

[JJEH]

We thought about a coilover... but with around $1300.00 too expensive right now.

Sure it would be the best option...

I try to measure the car later. The Company got my information but didn't answer yet.

Btw: This board is awesome fellas

[69stang]

I think there is an optical illusion here. Look at the body line near the bottom of the doors and compare to the center of the wheels. To me it looks like the center of the front wheel is a little higher than the back - slight nose down. Look at the difference in wheel well hight at the door handle body line. The front wheel arches are much higher than the rears, which gives it a lower in the back look. Also the rear tires tuck and the fronts don't. This gives the illusion that it is much lower in the rear.

I agree, most front wheel drive cars have a taller front wheel arch due to more articulation with the front suspension. ex.- my old 86 tempo, old 87 taurus, my 01 sable, my 00 ZX2.

Measure at the fwd end and aft end of the rockers

[LeighP]

Measure from the bottom of the sill (rocker) panels at each end...that will give you a true reference to front vs rear height.
Thats the way the factory does it.....well, used to according to my 71 Firebird assembly manual, lol.

[JJEH]

Alright fellas, i was measuring some heights and everything is okay.

I was measuring at the ends of the rocker panels as well as the front- and rear wheel arch.

All 4 corners at the rocker panels are around 16.5cm (6.49").

Front fenders are around 66.5cm (26.1"), rear fenders are around 64cm (25.2")...

So technically the car is fine, but optical it looks dumb...

Here are some pics...

[JJEH]

Oh, and btw... finally I ordered some sticker for my Initiative (keep-sharks-alive.com)

If anybody is interested in one or more sticker, just provide me your adress [email protected] and donate $1.00/ea. [paypal via [email protected]]





It measures ca. 4.5 x 3.5 inches, color is anthrazit.

[MrQuick]

off topic but my dad would love one...he's an avid diver and outdoorsman. I would love one too....i just hate seeing what they do to have shark fin soup. no animal should be put through that.
keep up the good fight.
vince

[JJEH]

Vince, thanks for your kind words. I'm really greatful that you and your Daddy likes my Sticker or rather my Initiative. Just send me your Adress to the e-mail adress I posted some posts before

It's really horrible what humans do to sharks. Not only finning is a big problem, also longlining and "sportfishing"...

Sharks are toxic if you eat them. Sharks are contaminated with methyl-mercury which is 1000x more toxic than mercury. if you eat shark products you poison yourself.

The circumstance that high doses over a short time period cause a more severe, sometimes irreversible damage to the human organism than lower doses over a long period of time makes this problem even worse. The national academy of science in the US estimates that only in the US more than 60.000 children are born each year with neurological damages caused by a methyl
mercury exposure during pregnancy.

So I only can advise to AVOID all shark products!

At the time I'm attending the Padi OWD. When we move back to the States I will take classes for u/w photographing and I will change my website (more photos and diving stories).

Also I will build a shark themed car (jorges-garage.com).

I thought about it to open a seperate thread about what I'm doing, but I did it before in a German US-Car board and most people don't care. Some say "good job" and others say "go get a life"...

Well, but I guess thats my passion... sharks and cars...

[6'9"Witha69]

I found the real problem: you lowered a Fusion.