[William Miller]

I've got mine up on the lift now.
Looking closely, I noticed a tiney dot / dimple in the center of the front torsion bar cover. Handy for the measurement.

Rear caps do not have this but they are aprox. 45mm dia. so center is 22.5 added to the measurement from the bottom.
I'm going to be taking a close look and tweeking over the next few days.

Things are a little screwy now, maybe because the fuel tank is not full or that the rear settled more than the front. (remember this is the 1st settlement after setting it up after removing and replacing the whole suspension.
Anyway these are my excuses for the front being high!

Front: Wheel centers 11-3/4", t-bar center to ground 143.5 mm, fenders 25-1/8"
Rear: Wheel centers 11-5/8", t-bar center to ground 267.5 mm, fenders 24"

I'm going to fill the tank and see what happens.

What method / techniques do you use for setting front caster/camber?
I did not have slip plates before and it took some effort to move the top camber plates within the adjustment area (like a box). Is this because of the weight of the car or because I'm fighting the tires?

[William Miller]

Filled the tank and did further adjustments.
Here is where I am now:
Front: 132mm to center t-bar fenders 24.75 +/-
Rear: 259mm to center t-bar fenders 24.0 +/-

Based on some things I read, and after speaking with Matt DeMaria I'm going to raise the car back up. (This low is way more track setup then I want and I can't get my front camber less than -1.3 deg. without egging out the adjustment holes. I also found that the front a-arms were angled up twards the wheels which I read throws the suspension out of wack as it compresses further. This low should only be with spindles raised and more bump steer than the weltmeister washers.

I'm going to raise back up to where the Center line of the wheel and the rear Toe bar are the same. This will be 16mm below euro height. (I'm now 55 mm below euro height.)

I learned a few things in this go-arround:
I bought a water level at Home Depot which beeped when level. This gimmic might be ok for deck building, but my home made setup was substantially more precise and reliable.

I also bought a digital level from Sears (Simular to many sold these days.)
I found in the documentation that the digital part is accurate to 0.1 degrees while the bubble and vial is accurate to 0.029 degrees. For setting camber I calculated the size of some gauge blocks which I plan to attach to the top of bar I made to span from the bottom of the wheel to the top of the wheel.
Measuring points are 16.75 apart on the rim so 1 degree will need a guage block 7.43mm. 0.1 deg = 0.0743mm

I won't get that precise, but I think it will be more precise than the 0.1 deg on the digital scale. (I don't like the fact that I can move the digital level quite a bit before getting a change in the digital level reading.)

I wonder if the smart racing camber gauge is more precise? Does it have specifications in the book?

I also calculate 1 deg rake using the rubber strip on my rocker. It's 58.5" at the bottom so 1 deg rake is 25.93 mm, just a hair over an inch. I couldn't get a good flat spot on the door sills nor reliable readings on the digital level.

How do you guys measure rake? Is the rake measurment more important than keeping the factory delta between the front and rear torsion bar heights?

[Jase007]

How do you guys measure rake?

Harbor freight Cen-tech angle finder $2.39

Is the rake measurment more important than keeping the factory delta between the front and rear torsion bar heights?

I would keep the factory delta between bar heights and then adjust only if rake disappeared [front to high]. For aero and weight distribution purposes, I would try to stay close to 1" - 25.4 mm rake towards the front [front is lower].

MS Excel Spread sheet:

Thanks for taking some measurements guys. It would be very helpful if the rest of you could also take some measurements of your 911s so I can plug into the attached spread sheet.

My purpose in doing this is so that if people want to report a certain benefit / issue in handling, or want to see what a drop of X looks like ... we can have a reference point.

* RSR Bilstein or raised spindle equipped 911s may be NA

911 ride heights.xls

[VaSteve]

LOL, I just looked at the spreadsheet and it looks like I have some homework to do. I messed with it a little and finally gave the whole mess to Taylor who set it up for me. He told me that the rake measurement was the most important. The fender measurement we use is just backyard mechanic stuff.

I'll try and get on the measurements for you.

[William Miller]

Thanks Jase,
My tires are:
F 225/50/16 on 7"x16 BBS RS Rims
R 245/45/16 on 8x16 BBS RS Rims
Rears are a little smaller Dia.
When you described rake you compared the Rear T-bar height compaired to Front T-bar height.

On an SC Euro is +16mm Rear and -108 front compaired to wheel center so using this delta method the varience is 124 mm (Front below rear). So on my next try I'm going to set ther rear at "0" (Zero) and front -124. I'll report back the fender height measurments.