• December 8, 2008
• Category: General
• Written By: Chris
• No Comments

I will admit I made the same mistake many people make when adjusting their coilovers, just adjust each side by the same amount of “rings.” Example, I lower my driver side by 5 threads (rings), I should be able to lower the passenger side by the same amount and have a nice even ride height. I will tell you by my hellishness ordeal over the past week that this is by chance the worse idea ever.

First the story so you can all laugh at my expense, then the proper way so you all can learn after you are done laughing. Like anyone who just put on a new set of adjustable coilovers I wanted to go lower. The shop left me with a .5 finger gap from fender to the top of the tire and I ended up wanting about an eighth inch tuck. So I worked up some courage and thought how hard can it be, lifted up the car and got to work. Once I lowered each side by the same rings I stepped back, looked at it, and thought oh no, this is visibly not level! So for the course of a week every night I’d end up in my garage trying to get my car leveled out, all to no avail. I ended taking the car to a local shop to have them level it off once and for all.

The mechanic had a good laugh when I told him the story of why I was there only a week after he installed the coil overs and he went about leveling them off. About 20 minutes later he came out and said that I really wasn’t that far off and should feel pretty good about it but come out here and let me show you how to do it the right way.

To adjust your ride height properly you must first measure each corner as the baseline, then decide how much lower you want to go, we’ll go with a half an inch (1.27cm) for this example, be sure you are on a flat surface. Now raise the car with a jack and stands and remove the wheels. Adjust each side a half an inch (1.27cm) and measure the amount of threads you have adjusted on each corner to assure that you allowed for half an inch (1.27cm). Now put the wheels back on, tighten the lugs but don’t torque them and lower the car. Measure all four corners again to make sure they are even and you indeed did get a half an inch drop over your baseline. It is completely acceptable to be an 1/8 inch (.3175cm) lower on side depending on which side of the engine by the engine sits. If you have a corner or side that is off by over a quarter of an inch like I did, try again making small adjustments.

Here’s a more ordered checklist:

1. Measure all four corners on a flat surface from floor to the bottom of the fender in the center to get a baseline.
2. Raise the car up with a jack and stands then remove the wheels.
3. Decide on the amount you with lower or raise the vehicle (half an inch in this example), then adjust your coil overs by that amount being sure to measure the thread you adjusted.
4. Put the wheels back on and tighten the lugs (do not torque), take the car off of jackstands.
5. Measure all four corners to be sure they are even with one another, if one corner is off by more than an eighth of an inch raise the car and adjust again. Some of us appreciate at more raked appearance so just be sure the front wheels from fender to ground are even and the back wheels fender to ground are even.
6. Once you are even, torque your lugs down to manufacturer specs.

Be sure to follow your coil over manufacturer instructions when raising or lowering your car, I and JDMLove.org take no responsibility for damage done to your vehicle. Please observe Local Law Enforcement rules, laws, and regulations regarding vehicle ride height.

A friend of mine and fellow tuner made a good analogy when working with coil overs, he said, “measure adjust, measure, adjust, measure.” If you follow that simple analogy your ride will be even at all times.

Allow your coil overs some time to settle out after an adjustment, you can expect a little extra drop over the course of a week due to settling. Get an alignment after this week and your set to go. Congratulations you didn’t look like and idiot like I did!