I am trying to get my ride height just right. I have been through many threads looking, but can't seem to find the right answer.

I have a 1971 corvette. I pulled the previous engine out and am rebuilding the font suspension. I am at the point where I need to decide on front springs: stock vs 460 vs 550 and would like to keep it balanced with the rear (550 with 360 or 460 with 330).

Changes: The small block going in has no AC, aluminum heads & intake. I am also putting 275/40r18 tires on back and 245/45r18 on front. In fact they are the boss 338's 18x8 on front and 18x9.5 on back (the same as the white convertible in the pictures.)

So what do you all recommend for the correct ride height? I have included pictures below of what I consider too high, perfect, and too low. I borrowed pictures from the forum so thank you to those members (and beautiful cars btw). Thank you in advance!



Too High-- (too much fender gap).







Perfect-- (slight fender gap)









Low-- (dont like tires disappearing into fenders).

 

Rookie here; the top/red car seems to have the factory ride height.

(Remember: tire diameter has a huge effect on gap/clearance between top of tire and curve of fender lip)

I prefer the middle pics/about 1" to 1.5" gap

(remember: when the gastank is full and the driver/passenger is sitting in the car, it will sit lower/closer to the top of the tires causing a smaller gap)

Lighter/aluminum components require a "lighter weight" coil spring to support the car without causing a large gap.

("Shorter" aftermarket springs can be purchased to reduce excessive fender gap)

BASICALLY.....Install factory "lightweight: springs/drive the car for an hour or so to "seat the springs properly/then decide if "shorter or lighter" springs are needed.

It's not a "cut 'n dry" solution to the problem.

 

On my 71 with the LS1. I cut a full coil off the aftermarket front spring.
I think it sits just a bit low in the front.

In the back it sit's just a bit high but the half shafts are level. Could lower it bit but would need longer bolts.

 

I'm with Doorgunner here. Ride height is subject to personal tastes and what you are willing to give up for practicality, and not a cut and dry situation.
My car is lowered probably a little more than what most people like but I love the aggressive look and it is still completely drivable with the exception of speed bumps being my main nemesis.
For me, stance and tire fitment are paramount and I have certain parameters that I apply to all my lowered rides. For one, regardless of wheel diameter, I want the wheel and tire combo centered in the opening (front and back) with equal distance around the wheel and tire combo and the wheel wells. Also and very important to me is pushing the wheels to the outside as far as possible without fender clearance issues as far as travel and turning.
As folks here have said, lowering the rear is as simple as using 8" or 10"spring bolts and tuning your height to your personal preference. The front, however, is solely set by your springs and aftermarket or trimmed springs being the options.
The pics of my car show the same suspension settings with 15" as well as 20" wheels. The 15's would definitely look better with a smaller front tire. The 20s, on the other hand, need some fine tuning. The wheels will be pushed out a full inch to completely fill the wheel well and the front tire size will be reduced from the 255s currently on to 235s or 245s max.
Again ride height and wheel diameters are purely personal tastes but these pics show different options.

 

Hi FS,
I'd say that a lot of the variation in the appearance of the cars you posted has to do with the tires that have been chosen.

Some of them appear to be of low profile which makes them 'shorter'. This increases the distance between the top of the tire and the arch on the fender arches.

A tire can be VERY wide, but if it's too SHORT it still doesn't FILLl the wheel well when viewed from the side.

Many people feel that the tire needs to be at least 27" tall, and maybe a bit more.
Regards,
Alan

 

Alan makes a good point, many people go with larger diameter rims but don't maintain the rolling diameter.

I have 245 & 255/45/18's and thats just around the 27"

They stance has to come from suspension.

My Blue 71 (third in your middle group) has semi coilovers on front with tubular arms. Th rear is stock spring with 8" bolts to bring it down (soon to be replaced with VanSteel Coilover rear setup)

I like to keep adjusting till its perfect to my eye. (Cant do that with fixed springs)

Ride height is a very personal thing.

I do like them low but if you want to still drive them then bags are the way so you can bring it up and down as needed (not many vettes with bags on the forum)

I chose to get it lower but not so its a pain to drive over bumps and into driveways. I sent time looking at how the wheel looked in the wheel arch till I got it how i liked it.

You just need to ensure you check all clearances around the wheels in th total arc in case they hit when compressing etc.

 

That blue car in the middle section seems to look perfect.
I wonder what size those wheels and tires are . I keep looking
And thinking . It may not happen till spring now. We will see.
Thank for the info.

 

Thank you all for your feedback. I think I may have misworded my question.

I meant to ask: Given my engine weight (sb with alum. heads and intake, no ac but power steering) and tire diameter- 26.7 inches, what spring weight should I go with to get the ideal fender gap which I posted above?? The stock springs should have similar to stock ride height for a regular all iron sb, and the vbp 550 springs are known to lower ride height 1" from stock.

 

I think the common thread here in terms of tuning front and rear ride heights is, unfortunately, trial and error. I imagine that custom front springs can be bought but it would be very difficult to have them built that could be dialed into your personal specs whether it be small block, big block, aluminum heads or even air conditioning systems.
As Craig said, coilovers are a fantastic option to fine tune your height. As for front coils, you can get different spring rates but ultimately as with the rest of my lowered rides, it comes down to the length of the spring itself. I had my front springs in and out of my ragged '75 a number of times to get the height where I wanted.
I know its a pain to have to put them in and take them out but that is the only way that I know of, with coils, to get the exact ride height in the front that you desire.

 

I know a bit off topic but as I'm working on my 68 C10 project I was considering the coil over conversion shock. Make sure as you lower the car you don't bottom out against the coil over shock if you decide to go that way.

Nothing against the coil over conversions I had them in two Camaro's and they worked well. Stock bump stops protect the shocks or should.

 

I ran my semi coilovers with stock upper and lower arms for a few years and while I did not notice the shocks hitting bottom at all, is is obvious that you get less available compression stroke in the shock the lower you go.

That’s why I ended up using the extended travel tubular lowers now that sets the shock bottom much lower and gves you back all the shock movement.

Is coverered in my build thread.