Ride Height?

[Railroad]

I was going to rough in the front and rear alignment today and have a question.
I thought I had read that standard ride height as 4 to 4.5 inches. My helper quickly noticed, I would have very little shock travel left is we went that low.
,,,,so we measured on a reasonably level floor to the bottom of the frame at 6 inches.
With strings, levels and angle finders we got the tires all headed in the right direction.
I will get a machine alignment later. Main questions, what is a good right height and where do I measure to check?
thanks a bunch,

[David Hodgkins]

Ride height is ~4". When you mean shock travel, I'm not getting what you mean. Do you mean how far you need to adjust the collar to get it to that ride height?

Pics help a TON! If you need help with embedding pics, let me know.

:)

[Murd]

These cars don’t have much travel. Mines at 4.5” and maybe has 2” shock travel on the rear

[CraigS]

Tell us more about your rear suspension type. Also, I believe there are two sets of holes for the top coilover mounts. Which did you use?

[Railroad]

I guess some info would help. I have the MkIV Anniv. edition. Koni double adjustable coil over, front and rear. New type IRS with 400 lb springs, 500 lb on the front. 4" is going to be REAL low. Coyote, TKO 600, battery in the trunk, power steering.
I should be the same as the other Anniversary editions, less engine options. I just hate to be at risk for scrubbing the bottom with a low ride height. I will get a picture up later.
thanks,

[edwardb]

You're going to want the ride height to be 4-1/2 or so in the back and 4 inches in the front. I normally set them about 1/2 inch high for a new build, and then keep an eye on it. It will settle in the first 500 or so driving miles. Yes, it's low but the suspension is designed to be at that level. Plus the car won't look right if it's set too high. The wheel/tires will not have the proper fit into the body openings. Watch out for high speed bumps or driveway transitions. But in general it's not an issue.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Had great luck at 4". Initially was at two stacked 2X4 as a start point but had bottoming issues with some speed bumps. Raised it & have been good to go for a few years of daily driving. Did one settling adjustment & it been stable since.

[BadAsp427]

I guess some info would help. I have the MkIV Anniv. edition. Koni double adjustable coil over, front and rear. New type IRS with 400 lb springs, 500 lb on the front. 4" is going to be REAL low. Coyote, TKO 600, battery in the trunk, power steering.
I should be the same as the other Anniversary editions, less engine options. I just hate to be at risk for scrubbing the bottom with a low ride height. I will get a picture up later.
thanks,

I've followed Paul's lead and have mine set at about 4.75 rear and 4.5 front at the moment... Everything seems to be fine as far as the shocks and and suspension goes. Yes, you will only have about 1.5-2" of shock travel, but with the shocks/springs that we are running on the 20th anniversary cars, that is going to be plenty.

[Railroad]

Thanks for the confirmation and information. I am nearing the go cart stage and will probably leave it at 6" and let it settle. Thanks again, to all for help. Another factor that just entered my mind. I have the car on a set of 17" rims off a 99 Mustang Cobra. The anniversary wheels are 18" I think and have not bought the tires yet. So all of this is prelim work.

[rich grsc]

Diameter of the rims have little or no effect on ride height. 6" is way too high, it will look very strange, and I'm sure handling will be effected as the front geometry will be off.

[GoDadGo]

Railroad,

Make sure you check out our offsets before ordering your 18" wheels.
If you are getting the Halibrands from Factory Five Racing, then you need to know that their 18" rear wheels have a tad more offset to the outside than there 17" version.
Check out this thread to make sure that you end up being A-Okay:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29816-Rear-tire-to-body-clearance&highlight=banker

Steve

[BadAsp427]

Railroad,

Make sure you check out our offsets before ordering your 18" wheels.
If you are getting the Halibrands from Factory Five Racing, then you need to know that their 18" rear wheels have a tad more offset to the outside than there 17" version.
Check out this thread to make sure that you end up being A-Okay:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29816-Rear-tire-to-body-clearance&highlight=banker

Steve

He has the 18" Halibrands that came with the 20th anniversary, offset is all good... (or at least should be)

[GoDadGo]

He has the 18" Halibrands that came with the 20th anniversary, offset is all good... (or at least should be)

Agreed, and my pal Donnie has the new IRS in his MK-4 and F5R 18's and they fit very well and he's running 255's up front with 315's out back.
The offsets on the front and rear spacing on that car look great with no clearance issues.
I think the big issue is for folks running those wheels with the solid axle setups.
You can even get a quick look at Donnie's car at the end of the attached video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhbftk4AP4k

[edwardb]

Diameter of the rims have little or no effect on ride height. 6" is way too high, it will look very strange, and I'm sure handling will be effected as the front geometry will be off.

Rich beat me to it. 6 inches is way too high. If you're just doing a shop roller right now, with temporary wheels, OK. But I wouldn't try to align it that way or try to drive it either. Get it sorted out with the right wheels and ride height down to a more reasonable amount.

[Railroad]

Thanks for the advise and cautions. Will definitely be re setting the hide height after the new rims and tires. Though research and discussions on this site. I hope to be ordering 245/40ZR18 and 315/30ZR18s for the tires soon. Did the valves stem discussion result in a specific stem for the anniversary rims, or can I just leave to the tire jockeys?

[edwardb]

Thanks for the advise and cautions. Will definitely be re setting the hide height after the new rims and tires. Though research and discussions on this site. I hope to be ordering 245/40ZR18 and 315/30ZR18s for the tires soon. Did the valves stem discussion result in a specific stem for the anniversary rims, or can I just leave to the tire jockeys?

The 18-inch rims with the 20th Anniversary Roadster are the some ones still being sold. Valve stems used to come with the wheels, but haven't for awhile in my experience. Don't just leave it to the tire changing guy though. When I took my Anniversary rims to the installer, he tried to use a "standard" valve stem first, but when it didn't go in "normally" tried to use the bolt-in variety, which also wouldn't work. A few scratches later (:mad:) he wanted to give up. I called Factory Five from the tire shop, and Jay told me the Factory Five rims were designed for a commonly available rubber pull-through valve stem. TR413 stems to be exact. With a little lube and some twisting, the TR413 pull-through valve stem compresses into the countersink and seats properly. With that information, your installer shouldn't have any issues. Gave that info to the shop that did my Coupe rims (same 18's) and they didn't have any trouble.

One other hint. I'd recommend using a shop that has a touchless tire mounting machine. With all the fancy rims out there, they're pretty common these days. But not every shop uses them. The nice rounded lips on these wheels can be scratched pretty easily.

[BB767]

Hi Railroad. In my opinion don't be afraid of an extra 1/2 inch or so. I live in the country, lot's of bumpy roads, pot holes, and big speed humps. I wanted a little extra breathing room under the car, set the frame height at 5 inches. I like the look and I am not worried about bottoming out. The alignment and handling is just fine. I am told the ride may be a little stiffer, but I'll drive the Lincoln if I want luxury. 97164

[Railroad]

BB767, thanks for the input. There is some safety cushion in that extra inch. Your body/wheel relation looks perfect to me. As stated before, I will let things settle after carting, installing final rolling stock and getting the body wt on the car.
Nice Ride!