BrettJ Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 I'm about to lower my car onto the ground for the first time and would like to set the ride height. Can anyone let me know what length of the coil between the collars should be on each unloaded Bilstein shock? I'm looking to do this as a starting point and I know this will have to setup correctly afterwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SM25T Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 You want to be sure you have adequate ground clearance under sump, bellhousing, chassis or floor ... with your weight in the car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Hutton Posted November 23, 2021 Share Posted November 23, 2021 I had this very same issue when building my 310R as the build manual gives no advice at all. I contacted Lee at Caterham and he said that 161mm Front and 330mm rear would give a decent starting point and he was right. These are the dimensions between the faces of the spring platforms.I did a flat floor setup afterwards and in the process dropped the front a little bit to get a bit of rake in the car, improve the weight distribution and do the corner weights etc. I didn't need to alter anything drastically though.Might be worth pointing out that mine is an SV chassis with 15" wheels. The rear strut length means the wheels really fill the arches which is good as some of the cars with 13" wheels can look odd if the rear ride height is too high.Anyhow, enough rambling, but 161/330 was definitely a good starting point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Hutton Posted November 23, 2021 Share Posted November 23, 2021 Oh also worth mentioning that at the end of it all I have about 90mm clearance under the sump which seems about OK. I've not grounded out on anything yet but the car looks fairly poised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevehS3 Posted November 23, 2021 Share Posted November 23, 2021 Thank you for this info Graham. I am about to do a basic setup on mine so that's a good starting point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettJ Posted November 23, 2021 Author Share Posted November 23, 2021 Thank you Graham, this was the exact info I was looking for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 my 1600K is 150 mm front ( chassis to ground at the back of the cycle wing )) and rear 165 mm ( chassis to ground at the front of the rear wing ) . The rear must be 10 or 15 mm higher than the front Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayjackson1950 Posted December 22, 2021 Share Posted December 22, 2021 Their should be something in the manual, I would have thought. I have a 1997 Crossflow, which has itRide height.pdf .Tried to upload but failed. If you want the onfo, messag me with your email and I will send to you. It is different for Live Axle and De-dion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted December 22, 2021 Member Share Posted December 22, 2021 Image shows OK for me.Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettJ Posted January 11, 2022 Author Share Posted January 11, 2022 So I have tried to adjust my dampers to the length mentioned above only to realise that those measurement are for the "Road" dampers, as I have the "Track" dampers, does anyone have the measurement for these? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenF Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 Hi Brett, I would think it's best just to put the car on the ground and do things based on the sump clearance / ride height as mentioned above.Also, I remember a rule of thumb which was that it should be possible to roll a wine bottle under the sump and that was a good ground clearance. This works out at 75mm, but the advice was given by someone who was quite aggressive with running the car low, so 90mm sounds good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevehS3 Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 I did 20,000 road miles in my last 7 (K series with standard road springs) with approx 85mm under the sump with me in the seat and I don't remember ever scraping it. I'm aiming for 90mm in my Sigma car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisC Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 Remember putting my 420R with stock suspension on the ground for the first time, it was a very low, but looked fantastic. I used the ride height settings from the old build manuals, which covered the 420R, for the drive to IVA, and the running in. The intention was to get a flatfloor at 1000 miles, but other things have taken focus so it's still on my todo list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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