Long-term settling after lowering and rake...
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,884
Likes: 2
From: Walnut CA
Long-term settling after lowering and rake...
So I was wondering why at speeds of 120+ I felt my front end not be as planted as I'd like--the front of the car felt like it was lifting a bit (esp. when going downhill) so I went outside and checked the distance between the front tire and the wheel well and the rear tire and the wheel well. Sure enough the suspension had settled so that the front end is now about a quarter inch higher than the rear. I'd originally set the car up to have the front sit about a half inch lower than the rear... How much does the rake effect high speed stability?
When I orginally put the new springs in, we put the springs in, adjusted the ride height, drove the car around for a while and then went back to adjust the springs after we allowed for settling. Apparently, the front end seems to settle quicker than the back cause the back settled over the past few months... maybe cause the engine is in the front and there's not much weight in the back?
When I orginally put the new springs in, we put the springs in, adjusted the ride height, drove the car around for a while and then went back to adjust the springs after we allowed for settling. Apparently, the front end seems to settle quicker than the back cause the back settled over the past few months... maybe cause the engine is in the front and there's not much weight in the back?
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 19,948
Likes: 6,753
From: Bonneville Salt Flats
Settling after suspension changes is a given, but can be rather unpredictable, as you see. I find that at least a couple weeks is necessary in most cases.
The end with more weight should settle faster, but that also tends to have stronger springs, so... Each vehicle's aero characteristics are different, but a rule of thumb is that you definitely don't want the front higher than the rear and can often benefit from the front lower (as long as you don't swap ends at speed
. Consider a typical wing and what happens when the front edge lifts.
Look at my avatar and see how much rake we run that ol' antique at 225mph for adequate control! Less doesn't work. Fortunately, our C-5's are mucho better aero-ly and take far less rake. But, some still seems like a good starting point for high speeds.
All the best.
The end with more weight should settle faster, but that also tends to have stronger springs, so... Each vehicle's aero characteristics are different, but a rule of thumb is that you definitely don't want the front higher than the rear and can often benefit from the front lower (as long as you don't swap ends at speed
. Consider a typical wing and what happens when the front edge lifts. Look at my avatar and see how much rake we run that ol' antique at 225mph for adequate control! Less doesn't work. Fortunately, our C-5's are mucho better aero-ly and take far less rake. But, some still seems like a good starting point for high speeds.
All the best.
