Standard front ride height

[Fairlineguy]

Can any confirm the standard front suspension ride height .
By that I mean the distance from the centre of the wheel to the wheel arch.
I am kind of thinking its about15 inches?
Asking as I drove my series 1 car out of the garage today and the front is sitting way to high at 17 inch
When I measured my old donor 1973 car it's 15 inch but it's been jacked up and down and hasn't moved anywhere to know if that is the normal / correct height.
Early cars seam to sit a lot higher I am now running 205/55-15 and need to obtain
So suitable Springs without running into coil overs

 

[SeanDezart]

Does this help ?

 

[datsfun]

AFAIK the ride height varied market to market. So the JDM cars probably sat at a different height when compared to US supplied cars.

This is certainly the case when looking at other Nissan's of same vintage as they have regional variations. To make matters more complex the factory manual also lists normal and then "hard" suspension.

 

[SeanDezart]

True - 'standard' is as overworked and misunderstood a term as 'specialist'

 

[yellowz]

Different perspective (no joke intended - honest) from a newbie

I keep reading about up or down at the front and stance. Should it not be whether the car sits level, front to back - no matter how high or low?

Only asking..........................

 

[SeanDezart]

Different perspective (no joke intended - honest) from a newbie

I keep reading about up or down at the front and stance. Should it not be whether the car sits level, front to back - no matter how high or low?

Only asking..........................

Achtung, achtung - don't mention the w*r......err, ride-height !

Or with / without triple carbs or which diff is fitted (R200s are heavier) or tyre pressures.....or ful tank full or not.........

 

[Rudyard]

Well said yellowz you are spot on but be careful saying that on here and Sean

 

[johnymd]

The definitive answer is toooooo high. The standard height is and always will be too high.......IMO

 

[Albrecht]

I keep reading about up or down at the front and stance. Should it not be whether the car sits level, front to back - no matter how high or low?

Well said yellowz you are spot on but be careful saying that on here...

As has been shown (does nobody read/own a factory workshop manual?) the only reliable reference dimension for 'ride height' is given by the factory as the distance from the bottom of the spotwelded pinch seam at the front end of the sill ('rocker panel') to the ground.

This varied slightly from market to market and from model to model (yes, some markets got more than one model) but it's all in the relevant FSMs.

 

[Albrecht]

...but be careful saying that on here...

Oh and welcome back, Lazarus...

 

[johnymd]

Alan - would you know the reasoning behind the front higher than back stance? or did the first batch of springs get made wrong?

 

[Fairlineguy]

My simple thinking is that the distance from the centre of the wheel to the arch
Will not change with size of wheel or profile of tyre .
I have a USA car that is 17 inches and a uk car that is 15 inches
If I am to order some custom springs to lower the car to my preferred height I am guessing the company I choose will ask how much a drop I am looking for from standard .
I just not sure if 15 inches is the normal distance of original springs .

 

[Albrecht]

Alan - would you know the reasoning behind the front higher than back stance?

Who says there was actually any 'reasoning' behind it?

My take on it is that it was a natural 'set' caused - as much as anything else - by stiction. Driving the car tended to exacerbate it as the rear squatted and the front came up under acceleration more so than the opposite under braking. And once everything started to get worn out (springs, dampers, bushes...) I would expect the opposite to happen.

The front and rear suspensions are of a different, though similar, design and the wheel rate is slightly different from front to back. Add in dampers that were somewhat imprecise in their bump and rebound rates, and might tend to take on a set where they happened to equal out at, and you've got a characteristic of the marque.

...or did the first batch of springs get made wrong?

A lot of work went into designing and engineering these cars, and (to my mind certainly) manufacturing quality control was pretty good in comparison to other makes and marques of a similar price point (and higher!). There were lots of different springs for the different models (even in 1969...) and lots of dampers, not to mention different struts with differing spring platform heights. And yet the slightly 'nose up' stance was commonly observed across all models when the cars were new.

People tend to look for definitives (see above reference expecting the cars to "sit level") when they were not necessarily targeted - let alone achieved - by the factory engineers.

 

[Rudyard]

Albrecht as for you calling me Lazarus i forgive you as im sure you will be OK once you go past puberty.

 

[Albrecht]

Albrecht as for you calling me Lazarus i forgive you as im sure you will be OK once you go past puberty.

Is this Rudyard senior or Rudyard Junior calling?

Apparently Rudyard senior doesn't do name-calling or disrespect, so I guess it must be junior back for a second helping after crying wolf.

Mind you it's hard to tell, as syntax, sentence structure and spelling looked identical to me when junior delivered the sick note.

 

[Albrecht]

Oh and Lazarus old chap, it'd be nice if you'd post up some side-on photos of your (three? five?) cars so that we can have a look at what the *correct* stance and ride height should look like. A spirit level might come in handy too. On the camera as well as the ground.

No "huge gap" to be seen, I'm sure...

 

[Rudyard]

You really are a class act the original keyboard warrior dont worry son soon be half term.

 

[SeanDezart]

Skipping along, the FSM, is that Mr K's little red book sir 'cos I think I lost mine.....can I have a clue please where to find one 'cos I never found one in the glovebox or on the hotel bedside table ?

 

[STEVE BURNS]

Right stop it enough it is a bloody car forum not a bloody kinder garden
If people can not play by the rules don't come here
Such a shame as It certainly looked like people took a bit of notice of the comments by how others, in the How to improve Your club, where getting fed up with goading and belittling of people but hey that seems to have gone to the wall again