Strut mount cause a change in ride height? Somehow with B5 perches I have a 1" drop

[drewgold]

Could a strut mount cause the ride height to be lowered? Any other ideas?

I just replaced all front control arms as well as strut mounts and new (to me) low mileage OEM front sport shocks. (My OEM sport springs were re-used)
I also took the opportunity to install B5 spring perches to lower the front a bit. Most people report a 1/2" drop with some seeing closer to 3/4". For some reason I ended up almost a full 1" lower in the front. I went from 26, 1/4" on both sides to 25, 5/16. This is too much of a drop for my taste and I'm also rubbing now on the fender liners.

No idea why or how I ended up with so much of a drop. Any ideas?

The only things I can think are that:

1. The shocks are somehow letting the car sit lower. This seems unlikely as shocks don't really seem to affect ride height and the old shocks were leaking and very worn so in theory should have been lower than the newer ones anyway if this is a potential cause.

2. The replacement strut mounts (Lemforder) are a slightly different size, maybe different from originals by a 1/4" thickness? (I'm thinking not a difference in overall thickness of the mount but a difference in the height of where the rod on the shock mounts to the mount itself?)

3. The B5 perches I have are a different version and slightly lower? Pretty sure I checked the part # when I got them, but will double check today.

Any other ideas? Seems really strange. Will try to post up pictures later today.

[b7_Andy]

If you’re talking about that rubber strut mount on the top that won’t affect ride height since the aluminum upper shock mount will still sit flush with the frame of the car when it’s bolted down. Did you have non-sport shock dampers on the front before? On the sport dampers the spring perch sits a little lower than on the non-sport ones so that’s the only thing I can think of that would be causing it to sit lower than you thought it would.

[drewgold]

Yep, talking about the rubber mount that's on top of the aluminum bracket that the upper CA's attach to. My thinking is that if the piston/rod of the shock mounts to the center of the rubber strut mount, it could in theory affect the overall height of the shock. I know the aluminum bracket sits flush with the frame, but the rod passes through the bracket and mount. If the mount causes the rod to pass through slightly more (ie mount higher within the mount itself) I would think it could cause the car to sit lower. Not really sure though. This is grasping at straws, haha.

The old shocks were sport dampers as well. Exact ame part # and everything as the new shocks that went in.

[b7_Andy]

Yep, talking about the rubber mount that's on top of the aluminum bracket that the upper CA's attach to. My thinking is that if the piston/rod of the shock mounts to the center of the rubber strut mount, it could in theory affect the overall height of the shock. I know the aluminum bracket sits flush with the frame, but the rod passes through the bracket and mount. If the mount causes the rod to pass through slightly more (ie mount higher within the mount itself) I would think it could cause the car to sit lower. Not really sure though. This is grasping at straws, haha.

The old shocks were sport dampers as well. Exact ame part # and everything as the new shocks that went in.

I want to say that if the top of the piston was positioned higher or lower that wouldn’t affect ride height, it would only change the position of the piston travel. The spring will still be connected to the solid aluminum mount on top and the solid part of the damper on the bottom, which is connected directly to the control arm. So in your case the only two things that could change ride height would be the spring, and the position of the lower spring perch. I put B5 perches on a B7 wagon once and I remember the front sat fairly low, like almost flush with the wheel. I remember being pretty surprised at how much it actually lowered it.

[drewgold]

I want to say that if the top of the piston was positioned higher or lower that wouldn’t affect ride height, it would only change the position of the piston travel. The spring will still be connected to the solid aluminum mount on top and the solid part of the damper on the bottom, which is connected directly to the control arm. So in your case the only two things that could change ride height would be the spring, and the position of the lower spring perch. I put B5 perches on a B7 wagon once and I remember the front sat fairly low, like almost flush with the wheel. I remember being pretty surprised at how much it actually lowered it.

Ah, yep, that logic seems correct. I guess some may not be too unhappy about a 1" drop, but that's a lot in my books and certainly more than I wanted. I hadn't found other reports of a big drop such as mine but interesting that you remember a similar situation.

I may try to modify a second set of B7 spring isolators that I have to be flat discs instead of having the groove and nubs to hold the spring. I could then install this under the existing rubber isolator and hopefully raise things up about 0.4" getting me into the ride height I had intended. Not ideal but may have to work for now.

I should have measured the B5 perches compared to my B7 ones. Maybe the perches are a bigger offset than on other versions of B7 shocks. Who knows.

[drewgold]

Been driving around a bit today and definitely need to do something, lots of wheel rubbing going on.

Here’s a pic, but tough to get a good sense of the front height because the sun/shadow



Either way, it’s super low. No happy about having to remove the shocks again.

[Ashtonts]

I think it looks really good like that. How intense is the rubbing?

If you’re not scraping over shit on your normal commute and the rubbing isn’t unbearable, I’d personally leave it. Could always trim the fender liner a bit if it’s just rubbing slightly.

[drewgold]

It definitely doesn’t look bad but too low for my preference as well as needs. I can’t drive though my grocery store parking lot without scraping over speed bumps now and the wheels rub at least 2-3 times in a 10 min drive. I do some nasty winter driving too and being this low will be a pain.

[Ashtonts]

It definitely doesn’t look bad but too low for my preference as well as needs. I can’t drive though my grocery store parking lot without scraping over speed bumps now and the wheels rub at least 2-3 times in a 10 min drive. I do some nasty winter driving too and being this low will be a pain.

Obvious solution is to find a new grocery store and buy a winter beater

[drewgold]

Obvious solution is to find a new grocery store and buy a winter beater

Haha, this is true!

[drewgold]

I decided to add a modified rubber isolator under the OEM one. Seems to have raised the height a bit. Will try to get measurements tomorrow. Still at a loss as to why the drop was so much.

Maybe just tired springs? Wondering if compressing the spring could have shortened it a bit? Would an old spring deform from compressing it?