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What is your ride height?

Kern Dog

Life is full of turns. Build your car to handle.
FBBO Gold Member
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Location
Granite Bay CA
I know that there is a factory spec for measuring this but for many years, I have just measured from the pavement to the middle of the wheel opening arch like so:

5_LI.jpg


Mine measures 24" in the front.....

6 kb_LI.jpg


....And 26" in the rear.
The front is just barely on the bumpstops. I have 1.15" torsion bars and Bilstein shocks.
The leaf springs are Mopar Performance 440-4 speed/Hemi units and I have 1 inch lowering blocks.

What numbers do you have with your 68-70 Charger?
 
70 Charger 25 1/2 front and 26 1/2 rear
68 Charger 24 1/4 front and 26 1/2 rear
But not exact from side to side and I need to lower the 70 in front apparently...
 
It can be hard to get it even from side to side. Somehow I got lucky. Mine is within 1/8" front and rear.
 
Obviously going for looks. Wat too low to drive on a street with any dips. Headers are almost on the ground.
The proper way is to measure from below the car. fenders aren't always square with the uni-body chassis.

RIDE-HEIGHT-ADJUSTMENT.jpg
 

Attachments

  • PRE ALIGNMENT RIDE HEIGHT PROCEDURE.pdf
    639.4 KB · Views: 211
Obviously going for looks. Wat too low to drive on a street with any dips. Headers are almost on the ground.
The proper way is to measure from below the car. fenders aren't always square with the uni-body chassis.

View attachment 1248609
F A L S E.
The headers have a few scrapes on the collectors but not on the tubes.
I drive this car everywhere. I've even had it on dirt roads.

BDF 5.JPG


I've had lowered cars for most of my life. I had a Camaro that would barely clear a Double Whopper...

IMG_4699.JPG
 
What part is false? That the service manual is wrong or that you aren't going for looks ?
I just gave anybody that wants to know how to properly set ride height how to do it..
"I have had lowered cars all my life"...and the point is ??
 
"What part is false? That the service manual is wrong or that you aren't going for looks ?"

First, the car is not too low for driving on the street. It might be for someone with stock torsion bars and shocks but I have never bottomed out and scraped the oil pan or anything.

Secondly, the factory had some great service methods but this one sucks.

Thirdly, the for looks comment is not entirely wrong. It does handle better with a lower ride height but at the same time, the appearance does work for me.

Besides....I am not climbing under the car and using some silly OEM style of measuring. I've measured from center of headlights, bumpers, wheel arches and trunk lids. Most of the time, these measurements are made to compare if I make some changes later with different tires or suspension components.
Back in the 80s and 90s, lowered cars and trucks were hugely popular. I lowered something like 30 cars and trucks in that time.
The Charger has never been in a major collision. Measuring the way that I do isn't meant to match factory specs, it is meant as my own personal record. I figure that anyone with a tape measure can duplicate it without laying on the ground.
 
Last edited:
Well your right. The factory never meant alignment techs to do alignments on their backs on the ground. They used a rack where you can see the whole front suspension.
I wish we had the roads down here that you have up there. I have bottomed my stock suspension 06 Magnum a few times with surprise dips.
Back in the 60's the stink bug look was in, but not very safe in turns.
 
We have some of the worst roads in the country. My stuff is always much lower than the factory spec. I'd say in the 25-26" lip range works fine.
Doug
 
I haven't used the factory ride height specs since back in HS when I learned you could put it basically anywhere you wanted it as long as it wasn't bottoming/topping out in "normal" travel and as long as the alignment wasn't compromised.

+1 Mopar factory adjustable suspension.

There's almost always enough lee way in the alignment to go up or down an inch or two without needing to redo the alignment unless it's right on the edge anyway.

That also means there's nearly always enough lee way to level the car without throwing the alignment off.
 
...and I learned all this in OHIO, at the time of OH having the documented worst roads in the US.
 
I know that there is a factory spec for measuring this but for many years, I have just measured from the pavement to the middle of the wheel opening arch like so:

View attachment 1248604

Mine measures 24" in the front.....

View attachment 1248605

....And 26" in the rear.
The front is just barely on the bumpstops. I have 1.15" torsion bars and Bilstein shocks.
The leaf springs are Mopar Performance 440-4 speed/Hemi units and I have 1 inch lowering blocks.

What numbers do you have with your 68-70 Charger?

Good timing on this post. I was just looking at a 2 year old post where you mentioned your ride height without resorting to drop spindles. Your ride height and stance looks great. Was going to pm you if you're still using the same setup. Guess i don't have to now. Thanks!
 
Thank you. Glad to help !
 
The ride isn’t bouncy but I might raise the front slightly. I need new lower bumpstops. Mine are urethane and showing some cracks. PST probably has those, right ?
 
Measuring from the front and rear of your rockers is probably more reliable than wheel lips.
I like to look at the center of your wheel vs the rocker, shows you the difference fr/ rr stance
 
67cm rear, 62cm front.
275/60/15 rear
245/60/15 front
Original HD leafs from eaton.
0.96 torsion bars.
Edelbrock ias shocks.
hotchkis upper Arms, struts and sways.
Alignment set as a modern car.

Such a breeze to drive.

IMG_20210815_210011.jpg
 
67cm rear, 62cm front.
275/60/15 rear
245/60/15 front
Original HD leafs from eaton.
0.96 torsion bars.
Edelbrock ias shocks.
hotchkis upper Arms, struts and sways.
Alignment set as a modern car.

Such a breeze to drive.

View attachment 1248908
Looks similar to my Charger.... very nice.
My Challenger has -1" Split mono leafs and Caltracs

jpeg-imag.jpg IMG9526341.jpg
 
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