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Dan Eiland Member
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I installed the DMS upgraded springs and I'm concerned about the height of my car. Currently the car is completely stripped to bare metal, but I have rebuilt the front and rear suspensions with all new polyurethane bushings and the DMS upgraded springs. I re-installed the suspension and left all the attaching points loose for now. I will have to take it all apart again for painting so I didn't want to tighten the suspension down yet. I have noticed the car sits up very high above my new tires and wheels. Just doing a quick, and not too accurate, measurement, the rear fender sits about 4 inches above the rear tire and the front fender sits about 4.75 inches above the front tire. I'm having my fenders flared front and rear to fit my tires which are 245/45/16 in the rear on an 8 inch rim and 225/45/16 up front on a 7 inch rim. Once I have the fenders flared I was hoping the car would sit very close to the tires. This isn't going to happen. I have already had the engine and transmission in the car and there was almost no change in the height, maybe a half inch drop. From the looks of things I might need to remove the DMS springs and have them modified to drop the car to the height I want. Anyone run across this issue before? Dan Eiland Attachment: Slide1.JPG (Downloaded 106 times) |
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Jim Ketcham Member
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Interesting. I used DMS uprated springs on both my cars and did not see any noticable height change http://jhppg.com/gallery/album61/After4 with the car fully weighted. My springs were purchased several years ago. I do not know if Delta has changed the spec since then. Jim |
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Brett Gibson JH5 20497 Member
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I changed out mine along with the poly bushings last year, and only had a 1/2" rise all around, I just cant imagine how they could raise a car 4" above normal, are you sure they sent you JH springs. Brett. |
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Jensen Healey Super Moderator 
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Something seriously wrong with that picture, Dan. Measure and compare with the stock springs. Last edited on 11-17-2007 12:07 am by Jensen Healey |
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Dan Eiland Member
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Jim, Your car is quite beautiful. Did you do your own body and paint work? That is the next thing on my list after I finish the fender flares and the drivetrain. I purchased my suspension parts about two to three years ago, I think. I rebuilt my suspension about a year-and-a-half ago, maybe two years and then began working on the engine. I finished rebuilding the engine earleir this year and now I'm back to the body work. I needed the body back on the suspension with my new wheels and tires so the metal guy can finish the fender flares. As one can see from my photos the car sits way too high. Maybe I can get the engine and transmission re-installed this weekend and see if that will make much of a difference. I wonder if I placed a lot of weight on the car and then torqued the suspension down if that would help? What are the collective thoughts of others? Dan Eiland Attachment: Slide1.JPG (Downloaded 82 times) |
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Dan Eiland Member
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It seems to me that if the springs are made stronger, then it would be logical to expect them to be shorter than the originals they replace in order for the car to keep it's original height. If I recall the new springs were the same height as the old springs. This could be the problem. It would take more weight for the body to sit at the same ride height as the original springs due to the increased rating of the new springs. I may just take the springs off the car and take them to a local spring company and have them shortened. If the company I used to deal with years ago is still around they would have the equipment to resize the springs and insure the ends still fit my Jensen Healey correctly. |
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Jim Ketcham Member
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Dan, If I recall correctly, the DMS springs were just ~10% stiffer. If your car is unweghted in the photo, then that would account for most of your lift. With engine and tranny, interior and tank and a few good bounces I bet the height will be very close to stock. Jim |
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Dan Eiland Member
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I'm planning on installing my engine and transmission tomorrow and I may go purchase some bags of concrete and throw them into the car and trunk to weigh the car down and see how it sits. I still would like to lower the car a bit. Not looking to get it closer to the ground just trying to get the fenders closer to the tires. Not sure how to do this. Maybe I can get the guys at the metal shop to work some of there magic. |
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Jim Ketcham Member
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Dan, Attached pic shows my white JH without engine and tranny, but with everything else except fuel in the tank. It also has DMS uprated springs circa 2000 and superpro bushings (just installed). Clearance above stock tire and wheel is about 4.25 inches. Pictures in the gallery (with engine) show its height to be same as stock. Jim Attachment: JH no engine.JPG (Downloaded 94 times) |
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Dan Eiland Member
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Jim, Your white car is exactly what I'm dealing with. It sounds like I just need to put some weight on the suspension to get it to come down to normal height. I put my engine and transmission together yesterday and hope to place it back in my car today. I'll probably have to purchase some bags of sand or concrete mix and place them inside the car and trunk to distribute the weight and get the rear of the car to come down to the correct height. Have attached some photos of my engine and T5 conversion with my temporary wood transmission adapter still attached. After the fender flares are finished I'll take the car back to my CNC guy and have him make my transmission adapter out of structural aluminum. Attachment: Slide2.jpg (Downloaded 76 times) |
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Dan Eiland Member
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I just finished putting the engine and transmission back in my car and now I have about 2.5 inches of clearance between the tire and the fender. Does this sound about right? |
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Judson Manning Member 
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Dan, Under the heading of obvious mistakes I've made; did you roll the car back and forth? Not an issue for the rear but short lower arms result in a lot of lateral movement in front when weight is added. The greatest change in height I've seen comes from bushings, etc. The suspension will naturally settle 1/4"-1/2" after a few hundred miles. BTW Delta advertises +10% stiffness while maintaining correct height. |
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Dan Eiland Member
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As I brought up once before, my car seems to be much too high with my rebuilt suspension. I have all new polyurethane bushings front and rear with upgraded springs from DMS and KYB shocks. Since I'm having steel flares put on my car to clear the wider tires and wheels, I needed the car to sit at the finish height so I can get the correct measurements while working on the flares. The car should have 5 inches of clearance off the ground, but my car is more like 10 or 11 inches off the ground. I'm running 16 X 8 wheels in the rear with Sumitomo 245/45 16 tires and I'm running 16X7 rims in the front with Sumitomo 225/45 16 tires. There are no clearance issues in the rear but there are some on the front when the steering is turned lock-to-lock. These issues will be solved when I'm done modifying the fenders. I installed the engine and transmission into the car, which brought the front-end down a lot, but I still have way too much clearance at the frame member under the car. I had my car on my trailer today and I strapped it down until I had the fenders just about where I want them above the tires. With the car strapped down it turns out to be the correct clearance from the bottom of the car's frame to the floor of the trailer. Actually I had a little extra clearance. With the car unstrapped it looks like I need to lower the front end about an inch-and-a-half and I need to lower the rear about two-and-a-half inches. These are the measurements taken from the top of the tires to the top of the fender openings. The only conclusion I can come to is to have some springs made for my car that would lower it far enough but adjust the strength for the lowered geometry. I already have two of our local racecar suspension and chassis builders looking at my car and they both agree it is way to high and needs to be lowered. They also agree I will need to have the geometry looked at to make sure I don't have any issues on the road with the lowered suspension and wider tires and wheels. I can get all the suspension work done locally but I was wondering if there was a company out there that I could purchase a set of springs from? I recall seeing some springs on ebay about a year ago that were just the right height for my car, but I let them go and didn't bid on them. I think they were from the UK. Anyone know where I might find some lowering springs for my JH? |
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