[Tigers] Drop Spindles

[Stephen Waybright]

How technical should we get on this??? It depends on how much the drop, but  in general if nothing else is changed I believe front caster angle increases (not bad in itself), understeer should decrease (or oversteer increase depending where things started) since the front end should turn in better and have less roll whereas the rear will not improve appreciably in this area since the lower CG is the result changes of weight height mostly at the front end. 

The best solution is to drop the rear as well so you capture the same handling benefits at that end of the car. Just keep it high enough not to cause other problems like rubbing or hitting the bump stops prematurely (very bad surprise if you're cornering at the time). From the aesthetic side of things, most prefer a slight forward rake (the front is slightly lower than the rear).

As example, I just installed adjustable Koni's and stiffer lowering springs on my '02 WRX wagon. I chose springs that lowered front ~ 1.5" and rear ~ 3/4" since in stock form it looks like the front is way too high. This also comprehends the fact that adding passengers and luggage will affect the rear ride height more than the front, so being a little more conservative in lowering the rear is a god idea for how I sometimes use the car. I timmed the bump stops by ~ 3/4" so suspension travel is not affected in the rear and only slightly in front. This may not be true in all suspension designs, but it works as such on the WRX.

That all said, older drag racers seem to jack up the rear a lot, I assume simply to fit big tires and allow for the extreme loading of the rear suspension while launching the car. I think they now just open up the wheel wells and use stiffer springs and mightier traction bars. Can anyone clarify this?

Best regards,
Stephen Waybright
585-905-5842 (m)
585-624-3482 (h)
www.linkedin.com/in/gswaybright



----- Original Message ----
From: "coolvt at aol.com" <coolvt at aol.com>
To: cmccann at lwpb.com; tigers at autox.team.net
Sent: Fri, December 18, 2009 12:03:59 PM
Subject: Re: [Tigers] Drop Spindles

Continuing the theory of lowering the front end....what happens if it's  
lowered and the rear remains at the original height?
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