Front end too high

[Vette66AirCoupe]

My '66 sits too high in the front. I can stick my flattened hand in under the fender and reach straight in and go right over the top of the tire. The car has KO's on it with 205RX15 tires. I've tried to see if the coil springs were seated at the top but damn if I can tell, couldn't get a glimpse from any sight angle I could attain. I do know they are not seated at the bottom but if memory serves me correctly regarding some other discussion on this topic the bottom doesn't matter. The springs have been on the car for over three years and probably around 5,000 miles so I don't think they are going to come down any more on their own. I have no idea if they are the correct springs for the car. If I simply replace the springs I'm afraid I'll end up with the same result. A mechanic recently mentioned the possibility of cutting the springs. Considering the aerodynamics of the mid-years, having the nose up to start with makes the ride seem awkward with the front end rising so much more under acceleration. How should I proceed?

 

[BarryK]

Terry, I've never noticed your car "appearing" to ride high in the front at least from any of the times I've seen it.
I think you are correct about the springs. I asked about my front springs once and whether they were seated correctly and JohnZ mentioned that the bottoms aren't the important thing but that they have to be seated correctly at the top.
If they ARE seated correctly than maybe a different set or type of spring may bring your front end down a bit or perhaps have a little bit of your current springs cut down an inch or so?

 

[magicv8]

Ride height is (GM spec) 8 inches to the ground from the bottom of the rocker panels - front and rear. Is the front too high or the rear too low? My car has the original 66 front springs and sits 8.25 off the ground. I like my car tail high, so I raised the rear an inch with shorter spring bolts. That lowered the front to spec height.

PS: I just noticed your 66 is also a 427 with A-C (like mine). These cars got heavier springs than just 427 or SB A-C cars. IMO measure the rocker heights.

 

[Marlar]

My small block '65 had just the opposite problem, ie, it was down in the front. The previous owner had put a new rear spring in. I don't have the specs in front of me, but the assembly manual shows where to measure the assembled height both front and rear. Mine was down 1-1/2 inches. A set of replacement stock springs wwere only about $100 or so and the result (replaced shocks while at it) was very good. The vehicle was returned to spec. I would measure the rear height first to make sure it isn't just sagging in the rear. Then check the front height against the spec. The big blocks might have had different springs, but I saw nothing in the assembly manual indicating a different height stance for the two engines.

 

[magicv8]

The big blocks might have had different springs, but I saw nothing in the assembly manual indicating a different height stance for the two engines.

IMO the point of the different springs was to get the same ride height when heavy options were added, and to compliment handling characteristics of sway bar and shock changes.

I mentioned the fact that my car stands above spec 40 years after it left the factory to underscore the reliability of factory springs. If you check out my website, you will see that the heavy BB is in a bag in the corner of my garage, and a 215 pound lighter SB is in it's place. That's probably the reason the front of my car stands higher than spec after all this time.

I wasn't trying to obscure anything. The 8 inch height measurement is from the GM resto spec sheets.

 

[JL66REDCPE]

Unless it is REALLY high you probably wont lose any judging points for this condition. Maybe 1 or 2 out of the 4500 if that. You may want to move on to something else. Make sure you come through the operations tests clean -- you can really lose points there.

 

[Vette66AirCoupe]

Thanks for the advice John. The height problem isn't an NCRS judging matter in my mind, it's strictly a matter of my own visual preference. I just think it would look so much better leveled out or slightly higher in the back.

 

[Vette66AirCoupe]

Guys, I am sitting up like a bull frog if the 8" measurement is correct! Front rockers to the ground measure at 12" and it's 11.75" in the rear. So I'm too high all the way around.

 

[BarryK]

wow Terry, you are really sitting up that high?

well, instead of trying to lower the car why not put on big-tread truck tires and make it into a 4WD off-road Vette? it you are sitting that high you must have the ground clearance for that.........

 

[Tom Bryant]

Maybe you aren't measurering at the right spot. It seems that JohnZ touched on this subject a while back. There was someone else whose midyear set up like a 4x4. You may want to search the forum. He gave the correct place to take the measurement on the rocker or to the bottom of the frame in front of the rear wheel and behind the front wheel. I think he said that the rocker panel should be level with the ground.

A general rule of thumb for cutting spring coils is 1/2 coil equals approximentally 1 inch lower. Reducing spring wire length will increase it's load rating. Use a cut off saw, not a torch and gring the bevel back on the end of the wire so it don't eat into the seat. The heat will take the temper out of the spring steel. For the rear longer end bolts will put it where you want it. Some aftermarket springs are just too tall or with too much arch.

Tom

 

[JL66REDCPE]

The measurement of your car from the ground to the top of the roof should be 49.6 inches. That will tell you how high you are. You can maybe use a piece of string suspended from the ceiling of your garage to find the top of the roof. I use a tennis ball at the end of the string so that it just touches the top of the roof. Then I back the car out and measure. I am sure there are many other clever methods to measure this distance.

 

[JohnZ]

Guys, I am sitting up like a bull frog if the 8" measurement is correct! Front rockers to the ground measure at 12" and it's 11.75" in the rear. So I'm too high all the way around.

If you're at 11.75" and 12", that IS way high - those measurements are taken from the horizontal flat surface on the bottom of the rocker molding to ground (which can be affected by tire size). The true measurement which determines suspension height relative to design (independent of tire size) is the "Z" height (front) and "D" height (rear), shown in Sections 3 (front) and 4 (rear) in the Assembly Manual.