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Ok, you guys might think I'm nuts, but I want to raise my front end about 1/4"
(My kit is super low in the front....)
I'm doubting anyone makes taller springs or struts, so.....
Can anyone see any downfall to using a spacer between the top strut mount, and the bottom side of the strut tower? Maybe just getting some more of the rings that go on the top, and stacking them underneath the tower to push the strut down?
Next Q, if that seems acceptable... where do I find those 'rings' ???
It's not, as far as I'm aware... lol... it's factory struts...
I've got a Duraflex kit on it which runs really low and with factory wheel size I'm scraping the front all the time... The look is more sport... not VIP'ish...
I also want some rubber on the car, so the idea of 20's with skimpy tires is not appealing... I don't want a rough ride... so 18's or 19's will do fine... enough to fill out the wheel wells but still some rubber....
I want to bump the front up a hair... the car is raked to the front pretty good as it is, so between bumping the suspension up a bit, and running a bit bigger diameter wheel and tire combo, I should be good...
If you're running the stock suspension then I don't know of any ways to safely raise the car higher for an extended period of time. You could try the spring spacers that autozone/napa carry but I wouldn't trust them. If I were you, I'd just remove the kit and run stock until you get larger wheels on the car.
As for wheel/tire sizes... you can run whatever you want regardless of wheel size. I run larger tire sizes on my 20's than I see most run on 18s or 19s and my next set will be even wider. However, I also run a more conservative offset since where I live, I can drive much faster for longer periods of time so an overly stretched tire just wouldn't be safe above 100mph constantly.
Back to the main point: just go back to the stock bodykit until you get wheels/tires then decide from there... or go air suspension.
You are scraping the floor but you have stock suspension? You've lowered your car to the ground with bodykit?
So you have it like this atm? It's just a quick photoshop to demonstrate if what I'm thinking in my mind is correct.
Isn't that a bit ridiculous to have that amount of wheel gap and still scrape the floor with your bodykit?
I don't know how bigger wheels would help 'cause they're approx. the same diameter still as the stock wheels.
You could run 19's with bigger tires than is recommended but doesn't that f'up your speedo etc.?
Here's the deal... got the car for dirt cheap, cause it was in an accident...
It's straight (Verified on a rack), but the passenger 1/4 was crunched and rear passenger door was jacked, front bumper and passenger skirt were jacked....
Fast forward to door replaced, odds and ends mechanicals repaired.....
I grabbed a Duraflex body kit for dirt cheap off craigslist... NOT my first choice, but I'm going with it at least for now
The car is on stock suspension....
I plan to keep the car on stock suspension at least for the time being
The Duraflex kit extends lower than the factory bumpers and skirts did, so yes, much like your mock up...
I'm currently on stock wheels and tires
So, the combination of stock wheels and suspension, and a lower kit, is causing me to scrape in and out of driveway/parking lot approaches.....
I plan to run a larger wheel, and with the tire size, going to a somewhat larger overall diameter...
For instance, a stock 16" is with 215/60-16 is 26.16"
A 245/45-18 is 26.68"
So, I gain .52" .... this would raise the front clearance by just a hair over a 1/4"
If I also raise the front suspension by 1/4", then I gained a total of 1/2" clearance
I was thinking of going with an 18 and the 245/45, so that I have more wheel, but still have some rubber, and stay close enough to not throw the speedo way off.....
The more I think about it, the more I think I may just go to a 19 and still run some rubber, for even larger overall diameter, but then I'm gonna have to correct my speedo
I'm not going for slammed and tucked. I'm going for more of a daily driver, that can still handle MN winter.... so clearance is a concern for me....
Follow?
I'm thinking the shimming method I described will be best.... 1/4" shouldn't be enough to cause any issues.... and obviously if it raised the front any higher than the rear, I'd do the same in the rear...
I'll attach a photo of this sketchy lookin beast ... I'll be starting all the body work soon (Fitting the kit proper and fixing dents and all that, then color)
Northstyle, what size tires and what rim size and offset are you running?
I really don't want a rough ride, so I want some rubber... I don't really mind the more 'sport' look...
I have a couple ideas to tie it together and make it work
Currently, I'm running 225/35/19s (19x9.5) in front and 275/30/20s (20x11) in back. My new setup will be 255/35/19s (19x10) in front and 285/30s (20x11) in rear.
My setup is pretty comfortable to me, but that's coming from an R32 Skyline w/ Tein coilovers, a MKIII Supra with Tein coilovers and an S14 with Kei Office coilovers. The coilovers I have play a large role in it as well since the Fortune Autos that are on the GS are smooth as butter. My wife loves it as well, considering she absolutely hated riding in the S14...
225/35/19 is smaller than the factory size by nearly an inch (.96" smaller diameter)
275/30/20 is just a half inch bigger overall
Neither of those are as much rubber as I'd want....
but... doesn't mean I can't run a 19 or 20 with more rubber
... still won't be as smooth a ride as a 245/45/18..... but...
Hmmmmm......
Decisions decisions.....
Ultimately, I want a static situation I could run till next spring if I wanted, so winter clearance is a consideration....
Even if I did coil overs at some point, I'd want enough adjustment I could run my low or high settings without too much messing around.... maybe I really should consider air.... I just don't like the idea of air...... and air feels more VIP to me.... I'm not going that route..... I want to be able to go beat the streets in this thing, and take her sideways through gravel if I feel like it
I'm really not a fan of the look of the kit... and had no intention of going 'sport' with the car.... but, there is a backstory to this thing, and so it is what it is at this point lol....
Honestly though... being in MN.... not being slammed completely, and/or being a seasonal car, or dealing with air, I'm not super mad about it....
If anyone knows where I can get those 'rings' or what the proper terminology is for them, that would be great.
Well... I don't like the kit either, but the factory kit was jacked up bad and had to be replaced.... I found this kit for dirt cheap... and the car is a budget build, planning to be in it for $2k, and so far I'm on point to make that goal (probably a few hundred over by the time I have wheels on it)
I don't know about 90's... but... I agree, I'm not a huge fan.... if I keep it around a long time I'll probably get a different kit for it... something less sporty... but I'm not going VIP either...
Anyway... I decided to raise the front lip of the bumper rather than mess with suspension...
Brought it up about 1 1/4" and I'm not scraping now.... had to fix a couple cracks and reshape the fit around the headlights anyway, so being I was already glassing it I figured I'd just do it all in one shot.
Clearance issue solved... and by the time I put a 245/45/18 on it, or something maybe a little bigger with a 19 or 20 combo, that's raise me a little more... a 245/45/18 gives me .52" overall larger diameter, giving me another .26" clearance overall, so I think that will be good.....
I like the little sweep it gives the bumper too... looks better on the car.
04-07-15, 10:00 PM
Raising front end
