Need to raise front end??????
Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 20,054
Likes: 44
From: Swansea IL
Need to raise front end??????
When I bought my 03 Z last May, I made contact with the original owner. He confirmed he had lowered the car during his ownership. The dealer made him return it to OEM specs prior to trade. Seems not only didn't he get it right but he didn't do any alignment. Yesterday at a local car show I used a tape measure and measured 10 Z's. Turns out my front is lowered (hence the front end scraping everything taler than an inch) and my left front tire is shot (ZERO tread on the inside of the tire going into the second block of treads.). Needless to say I'm pissed. 11K miles and my front tires are dangerously worn.
Can I raise the front end to OEM height by just turning the lowering bolts w/o doing anything else? Do I need to index them to get the left and right even? Any advice is appreciated.
I'll then get a full alignment and buy two new front tires.
Thanks in advance.
Can I raise the front end to OEM height by just turning the lowering bolts w/o doing anything else? Do I need to index them to get the left and right even? Any advice is appreciated.
I'll then get a full alignment and buy two new front tires.
Thanks in advance.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,989
Likes: 10
From: Columbus OH
If you don't want to spend too much money, you can probably just raise it to some height, use equal height principle and have it aligned.
If you want to do it properly, take it to a dealership/race shop who can do corner weight balancing and then align it.
I think your tire wear problem is more about alignment, the ride height is quite secondary.
If you want to do it properly, take it to a dealership/race shop who can do corner weight balancing and then align it.
I think your tire wear problem is more about alignment, the ride height is quite secondary.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 8,762
Likes: 2
From: Murphy TX
Agreed - if you like the height just get it aligned. If you don't like the height, just turn the bolts - THEN get it aligned.
On even ground measure the frame height on the rails right near the jacking areas. Ideally with your weight in the seat. Make note of the numbers. If you ever do any high speed track driving I think the recommended front to rear offset is ~5mm (rear higher).
Just turn the bolts - each side the same at first and remeasure (give it 50-100 miles to settle depending on how bumpy the road is) noting the #s.
Either way you'll need an alignment.
If in this process you should notice one side responding much more to changes in the bolt than the other - check your shock. I had this on the rear (seemed like it took much more to get the left up) and the shock was shot.
On even ground measure the frame height on the rails right near the jacking areas. Ideally with your weight in the seat. Make note of the numbers. If you ever do any high speed track driving I think the recommended front to rear offset is ~5mm (rear higher).
Just turn the bolts - each side the same at first and remeasure (give it 50-100 miles to settle depending on how bumpy the road is) noting the #s.
Either way you'll need an alignment.
If in this process you should notice one side responding much more to changes in the bolt than the other - check your shock. I had this on the rear (seemed like it took much more to get the left up) and the shock was shot.
