c5sean85

so my car is lowered no bolts up front and longer in the rear i originally measured the fender heights and counted threads on the rear bolts so there were the same and from the gaps in the fenders it looked even to me...

then i figured i wanted to correctly measure the car height by the jack puck area and the lower control arm area and i quickly learned the car was setting sideways.. when i was finished my left rear bolt has 6 more threads showing than the right.. the car measures correctly now but i learned that counting threads on rear bolts and measuring fender lip height is not a way to make sure your car is even... am i correct?

the car has all new shocks so its not sitting on any old shocks btw

dblerman

Correct. Fenders are rarely consistently even.

Measure at J and K.
most of the time having the same number of threads on each side will be close enough to make both sides measure evenly at J and K.
When I lowered mine I drove it around for a couple days before I measured.

c5sean85

did you measure at the underside of the fiberglass rocker panel or the frame area underneath?

racebum

this

if you really want to get down you can have a friend measure the car with you in it. find out how much sag you have, probably somewhere around an eighth and set the drivers side right height higher than the passenger

next best thing to using real scales

nmacdonald

Do you know what the base or stock height should be?

slvr bulit

I have a question. My car is not lowered and the rear lowering bolts have never been touched but the passenger side bolts has 2 threads left and the drivers side has alot. Ive been wanting to lower it but Im kind of afraid to mess up the stance and the level of the car.
because I'm not starting with the same amount of threads on each lowering bolt. Or shouldn't I worry because I'll be taking measurements anyways? Sorry to highjack your thread OP

dblerman

Frame. Rocker panels can be just as uneven as the fenders.

Base, FE1, FE3, FE4---------J Height (Curb)-----------K Height (Curb)
Service Preferred-----------153 mm (6.02 in)---------158 mm (6.22 in)
Service Allowable-----------153 mm (6.02 in)---------158 mm (6.22 in)

First thing I would do is measure the height of your car with its CURRENT settings.. It's possible it's not even as it currently sits. Then if you decide to lower it, just measure a few days after and make any adjustments as necessary. No need to worry, just measure and you'll be fine.

NukeC5

I found my passengers side to be a little higher (like 1/4") than the drivers side. I recently got an alignment though and cant change anything until I need one again. A minor adjustment like that is not worth having to go in to fix the camber.

c5sean85

after all my adjusting the driver side of my car sits about 1/4-3/8 of a inch lower than the passenger from points k and j............ FML

c5sean85

mine sits higher on the passenger also... my guess is that it always has had a driver in the car for how ever many thousands of miles so suspension will sit that way... i have all new shocks so i cant blame that

nmacdonald

May be obvious to many, but why does an alignment need to be done when lowering using stock bolts?

NukeC5

Any change in height changes the camber positively or negatively. This will cause the inside or outside of the tire to wear faster than the rest of the tire. It also affects traction.

In most cases people are lowering not raising. Lowering creates negative camber and people that do not get an alignment will find that the insides of the tire bald way before the rest of the tread.

racebum

this absolutely happens

but

it's not the real culprit for tire wear when lowering. toe is

when you lower the car the wheels toe out. now a little toe out in the front is a good thing, it aids turn in. out back it will make the car squirly. when you lower a car it drastically changes the toe which effects handling and how the tires wear.

set the front toe anywhere from zero to -.03 out each side with the rear somewhere around .05 in, possibly more if you want a really stable ride.

the only thing i would never do is toe in the front. absolutely kills steering feel and really slows the car down regarding handling

nmacdonald

Thanks. That helps me understand some of the dynamics involved.

01vetter

How level is the surface that you are measuring from? You should do this on a level surface like an alignment rack. Also, the factory recommended method is to measure the distance from the front bolt center of the lower A arm to the bottom of the ball joint. This way you eliminate any variances in frame manufacturing tolerances. You will need a special tool to make this adjustment. You can make on with a small level.

dblerman

This is the Z height measurement. The tolerance from factory spec is something like +/- 13mm. As long as your J and K measurements are close to even you will almost ALWAYS be within spec for Z height. If it's not, there is something wrong with your suspension.