adjusting ride height

[Boydster]

Hi Boyd.

If it means anything, my setup is very similar to yours. 500# front spring, 350# rear spring. 427 iron Dart. At full droop, my rear spring is off the collar nearly an inch, for a rear ride height of 4.25. On the front, at full droop, the spring is still compressed to where it needs a spanner to adjust it, at a ride height of 3.9 inches. My measurement from top of collar to top of threaded housing (per your picture) is 3.05 driver side, 2.9 pass side. It did seem weird to me to have slack in the rear spring, and compression on the front, but I figured as long as I have plenty of adjustment room on the threaded housing (and I do), I'm good with it.

Pet the dog.

Bingo. Exactly what I needed to hear. My rear springs do the same as yours and it sounds like the fronts are very, very close with mine maybe still needing to settle some.

Dogs are awesome.

[Boydster]

Boyd

I have a 390FE with iron heads that weights about 650 lbs I could not get the ride height set with the 500 lb FFR springs no matter how much I preloaded the coil overs the ride height would settle down to about 3.5 inches after a few hundred miles

To get the correct ride height I had to install 9 inch 550 lb springs on the front coil overs and still had to preload the coil overs about 3/4 of an inch 6 turns

My weight is about 2700 lbs with about 1700 lbs front and 1000 lbs rear. The reduced weight on the rear springs made the ride very harsh and I replaced the 350 lb springs with 250 lb 9 inch springs which helped the ride but hurt the handling

To help correct the handling I installed anti sway bars front and rear now I am happy with the ride height and the handling

I’m sure that it doesn’t handle as well as one with a 50/50 weight balance but you have to do the best you can with what you have


Rick

Thanks for the response Rick. With your post, I'm thinking these front springs, although pretty stiff, are quite responsive to the different weights we place in the front of these cars. Some need to raise collars to lower the frame, others need to lower collars to raise the frame and yet others have to replace the springs completely. Simple as 100 lbs can make quite a difference.

Nice work on your car, getting yourself satisfied.

[CraigS]

Boat and anyone else reading here, a word of caution. Your spring collars should be the same height left and right. Unless you have the equipment to do corner weights, the best process is to make the car geometrically the same on both sides and trust that FFR welded the frame together correctly (which I do). think of it this way. Take a 4 leg table sitting on a flat surface. Each leg is pushing on the floor w/ the same weight. Now think of replacing those legs w/ adjustable springs that are all set to the same length. Again, each leg/spring is pushing on the floor w/ the same weight. Now take the LF spring and make it 1/8 inch shorter and adjust the RF spring and make it 1/8 inch longer. The table will still be sitting exactly the same, not leaning either way. But the RF spring will be pushing on the floor w/ more weight than the LF. So the LF will be more likely to lock up under hard braking.

[boat737]

Boat and anyone else reading here, a word of caution. Your spring collars should be the same height left and right. Unless you have the equipment to do corner weights, the best process is to make the car geometrically the same on both sides and trust that FFR welded the frame together correctly (which I do). think of it this way. Take a 4 leg table sitting on a flat surface. Each leg is pushing on the floor w/ the same weight. Now think of replacing those legs w/ adjustable springs that are all set to the same length. Again, each leg/spring is pushing on the floor w/ the same weight. Now take the LF spring and make it 1/8 inch shorter and adjust the RF spring and make it 1/8 inch longer. The table will still be sitting exactly the same, not leaning either way. But the RF spring will be pushing on the floor w/ more weight than the LF. So the LF will be more likely to lock up under hard braking.

Good point, thanks Craig. When I started the process, they were equal (side to side), but after going up and down a few times, I must have missed a turn on one side, that would be about my .15 inch (3.05 vs 2.90) difference I have. I'll even them up. It took me a couple tries to figure out that because of the mechanical advantage on the shock on the A-arm, a movement of .1 inch on the shock gets me .2 inch or more on the ride height change. (The rears are easier with a near 1 for 1 change.) I haven't measured the rear shock collars lately, but I'll check and even them up as well.

[Boydster]

Boat and anyone else reading here, a word of caution. Your spring collars should be the same height left and right. Unless you have the equipment to do corner weights, the best process is to make the car geometrically the same on both sides and trust that FFR welded the frame together correctly (which I do). think of it this way. Take a 4 leg table sitting on a flat surface. Each leg is pushing on the floor w/ the same weight. Now think of replacing those legs w/ adjustable springs that are all set to the same length. Again, each leg/spring is pushing on the floor w/ the same weight. Now take the LF spring and make it 1/8 inch shorter and adjust the RF spring and make it 1/8 inch longer. The table will still be sitting exactly the same, not leaning either way. But the RF spring will be pushing on the floor w/ more weight than the LF. So the LF will be more likely to lock up under hard braking.

Thanks Craig.

[SteveHsr]

Are pictures taken at ride height? The upper A arm angles ( downward to the outside) indicate higher than normal ride height or very short tire. They should be flat or tilting slightly up at the spindle. I don't know if my perception of the photos is correct but looks to me like chassis is set too high.

[Boydster]

Are pictures taken at ride height? The upper A arm angles ( downward to the outside) indicate higher than normal ride height or very short tire. They should be flat or tilting slightly up at the spindle. I don't know if my perception of the photos is correct but looks to me like chassis is set too high.

They are angled down slightly, thats with a 4" frame height. I figure it will settle some? Tires are 255/40-17 Nitto NT05 on 17x9 AR wheels.
Thanks for the input. I can drop the front height some, but I fear enough to get the arms straight would be drastic low.

[SteveHsr]

I should have said A arm angles ideally are flat to tilting upward. My car has fabricated spindles and relocated Upper and lower arms. Factory A arm mount locations may result in different range of angles for given ride height.
Picture of driver side actually looks pretty close to flat.

[Al_C]

It's always fun to restart an old thread, so here we go. Setting ride height was this afternoon's activity. I thought I had a pretty good idea how I was going to go about it, but found this thread. Quite useful, actually. But... a question: the front is equally set right/left at 4 1/2 inches. I was hoping to get it around 5, but I can't turn the collars any more (by hand). The rear, without touching it, turned out to be about 5 1/2 on both sides at the frame. (The round part of the frame, in front of the welded pieces that are just a bit lower at the very rear of the frame tubes) It appears (from some of the above posts) that it's not uncommon to have the rear a little higher. What about an inch higher? Too much? The solution would be to get one of the above listed spanners (oh boy! a new tool!). I like GoDad's option at 6.95 vs. the Amazon wrench at 30+ bucks, but I'm not convinced it would fit. So - raise front or leave it alone? GoDad wrench or Duke wrench? Thanks!

[GoDadGo]

Al_C,

I've used a Rubber Strap Wrench too.
That option is an easy one to come by too.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-2-Pi...l-Set/50029434

Steve

[Jeff Kleiner]

It's always fun to restart an old thread, so here we go. Setting ride height was this afternoon's activity. I thought I had a pretty good idea how I was going to go about it, but found this thread. Quite useful, actually. But... a question: the front is equally set right/left at 4 1/2 inches. I was hoping to get it around 5, but I can't turn the collars any more (by hand). The rear, without touching it, turned out to be about 5 1/2 on both sides at the frame. (The round part of the frame, in front of the welded pieces that are just a bit lower at the very rear of the frame tubes) It appears (from some of the above posts) that it's not uncommon to have the rear a little higher. What about an inch higher? Too much? The solution would be to get one of the above listed spanners (oh boy! a new tool!). I like GoDad's option at 6.95 vs. the Amazon wrench at 30+ bucks, but I'm not convinced it would fit. So - raise front or leave it alone? GoDad wrench or Duke wrench? Thanks!

You're actually kinda' high Al. I like 4" front and 4 1/2" to 4 3/4" rear. No tools would be necessary to accomplish this because you'd be loosening the collar away from the spring, not compressing it.

Jeff

[GoDadGo]

You're actually kinda' high Al. I like 4" front and 4 1/2" to 4 3/4" rear. No tools would be necessary to accomplish this because you'd be loosening the collar away from the spring, not compressing it.

Jeff

If you are a Chevy Guy and a 1st time builder then you 4.5" for the front and 5.0" for the rear will suit you fine; however, if you are a True Blue Ford Guy, then 4.5" for the front and 4.75" for the rear as Sir Jeffski recommended.

[SteveHsr]

Tire Diameter is a consideration, if you have short front tires compared to others. Are photos of car on the ground? Picture of right front looks like A arm angled down.

[SteveHsr]

Forgot my older post, senior moment.

[Al_C]

OK, I'll lower the rear and leave the front alone. Jeff, you're welcome to tweak it when we get the car to Bloomington!