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So I've been told that some of my front tire rub is because my car is too low. The suspension must've settled a bit. It only has 2 or 3 thousand miles on it so far.

 

Before I break out the tools and start turning bolts and such, I wanted to get a clear picture.

Here is a shot of the adjuster on the top tube of my beam. The bottom tube does not have one of these adjusters on it, so I guess it's not adjustable.

Height adj 1

Correct me if I'm wrong:

A1 is threaded through the spring bundle, so do not screw it out.

A2 is a locknut and holds A3 against the tube to lock the bundle in place. I couldn't tell if A3 had any "teeth" underneath to aid in locking. I've seen another adjuster where the teeth were obvious.

B1 is used to adjust the ride height. Turn it in and the suspension gets higher out gets lower.

B2 is another locknut.

So, I've got the front end jacked up on stands, and the tires removed.

I've read somewhere that I should unbolt the shocks. Also use a jack to take up the weight of the tires, but since I've removed mine, is this necessary?

I should basically loosen the lock nuts. With A3 loose, turn B1 in some, since my aim is to heighten, then tighten both lock nuts back up.

Put everything else back on and rip around the block and check it. I have adjustable coilovers in the rear if I need to tweak them for level, or balance the front. I think I've got a grasp on those.

I did take some before measurements from the frame to the floor at all 4 corners.

Thanks for any help,

CG

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  • Height adj 1
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The much (unfairly) mal-aligned 914 shares the front torsion bar suspension with the early 911.  Rarely will you find a 914 with anti-sway bars though.  The big difference is from the spindle out.  Here's good write up on 914.

See - "The torsion-bar front suspension was lifted straight from the 911, but front hubs were VW 411 units"

https://classicmotorsports.com/articles/porsche-914/

Yes I cried.

Back to the Spyder.

When I loosened the A2 nut, that whole piece slid up by itself. I did have the front end jacked up on stands with the wheels removed. I adjusted B1 to meet A3 and tightened B2 and A2. I then put the wheels back on and lowered it, rolled it back and forth while turning the wheels from left to right. Some sitting on the fenders to compress the shocks did also occur.

It doesn't take much of a movement of the A3 piece to make a huge difference on the ride height. I turned my car into a Gasser.

I had to readjust. So this time I rolled the front wheels up on some ramps and crawled underneath. This time I adjusted B1 halfway between where it was originally and where it was after my first attempt. I then loosened A1 and I used the weigh of the car to drop it down to meet B1 and tightened everthing up. This looked pretty close. Now I've got to wait for a dry day to take it out for a run before I know for sure.

If this is the height that it needs to be, I might up the rear coilovers a notch. Or maybe not, aren't these cars supposed to handle better with the front a touch higher than the rear?

 

Last edited by Carlos G

@GO550 You only need to adjust one adjuster. I've always used the bottom adjuster, it's easier to work closer to you.

You only need to move it one "spline" or "tooth" either way, possibly two if the car is too high or low. ALWAYS mark where you start. Loosen the outer locknut, then the inner. The large allen key may pop out of position if there is tension(torsion twist) on it.

I remove the shocks from the lower mount. Then I use a floor jack under the tire or lower trailing arm to push the arm up. The push on the arm twists the already loose adjuster. Tighten the first nut, then the locknut where you want, and go for a ride. If you got it right, it will be fine.

If you got it wrong, you'll hear and feel a "pop", which is the adjuster moving to where you didn't set it. Sometimes it's tricky to get the "splines" in perfect alignment on the adjuster.

Last edited by DannyP

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