I just had a set of Bilstein Damptronics and H&R sway bars installed. The car is still 'settling' so I'm planning on doing the final height adjustments myself (or perhaps sheepishly take it back to the shop to have them do it).
It's a 2005 997S Cab. I was looking for advice on how much to lower the car - assuming that it's going to see street-only use. I like to drive it hard now and then, and I do live in CA where the roads are pretty good.
On the 997TT forum, Cannga (who has a great thread on Damptronics) recommends lowering it 20mm. I was hoping to hear about lowering examples with the 'S', whether the TT examples apply equivalently.
Oh, one more thing. Can the height adjustments be done with the wheels on? On ramps or a lift? Or do they all have to come off to get the work done?
Thanks

 

With your kit there should be a small booklet with the "recommended" range of lowering but I wouldn't go anymore than 20mm. That's about the sweet spot although we've done it to 15mm a bunch of times too since that's in the range... You can't adjust the heights all that easily though and the wheels do need to come off. You'll have to use your wrenches that also come with the kit. And obviously when you do that you'll need to re-align it;(

 

Well, you're the expert so it sounds like 20mm is the answer. Sadly, I took the benchmark measurements before the new coilovers were added, by measuring the distance from the lowest part of the jack mounts to the ground. I've since heard that the best way is to measure from the topmost part of the fender wheel lip, to the lowest part of the tire rim.
So, my follow-up question (if I'm allowed one) is - is there in fact a standard measuring location and what is the stock measurement for that - for the 997S Cab? Since the car is no longer stock, but not at the final measurement, is there anyway to cite what the final measurement should be?
Worst case, I'll work off of my benchmark measurements (from the jack stand mounts). But any help re doing this right would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

Ohhh... hmm yeah that's kind of different. Measure from the center of the wheel well/fender in your case but obviously we do it with the wheels on/lift etc... I'm at home now so I don't have that in my head (the measurement) but I can look tomorrow when I go into the shop although I'm sure it's somewhere on Renntech.org. I can always look at Santana Row in the morning too

 

Guys- I had my 2006 cab set to 997 GT3 street specs, including the ride height. Came out perfect. This info is in the alignment computer and any competent shop should be able to do it right (and not charge you a ton of $$), hope it helps.

Doing a visual check there is a fat finger gap between tire and fender lip on F/R.




You are totally right to drive on the new suspension to settle it in first. You'll love it when it's aligned and dialed in!

 

Awesome job !!! What a stunning stance .

 

Actually, I think your measurements are better. Fender measurements will be less precise relative to the weight-bearing structure of the car. Get the ride height close to where you want it, then have a shop with scales corner balance it. The ending measurements will not be consistent side-to-side, but that really doesn't matter, as it is the proper weight balance you are trying to achieve.

 

Thanks. Like I said, rookie move. And it's likely not to be incorrect, but just not comparable to any one else's 'saved' figures. FWIW, I tried to be a bit thoughtful when doing it:

 

Hi:

I just had this work done. The actual Porsche measuring points are in the front from "Road contact surface to lower edge of hexagon-head bolt of cross-member screw connection to the body" and in the rear "Wheel contact surface to the locating bore in the rear-axle side section (between toe and camber eccentrics)"

I believe I can e-mail you this if you want to PM me your e-mail.

In layman's terms approx 26" front and 26 5/8" rear from the ground to the center of fender opening above the tire is about the same as ROW Sport -20mm or the new 997.2 PASM Sport. This is where I set my car.

There is a thread on Rennlist 2005-2008 997S Ride Height where I was asking stock height.

Hope this helps a little.

 

Thank you. Couple of things:
1. Wish I had a photo or two to highlight the points that are cited in the text. The front one is likely locatable, but I don't know that I can identify the rear points that the Porsche people are specifying.
2. I don't know whether there are any body or spec changes of the .1 versus .2 series of the car. I think I need to find the figures for the .1 - and preferably the 2005 S Cab to be certain. Or so it seems.
I really do appreciate the help though. I will try to figure out how to measure those benchmark points so that I can keep adjusting the car properly in the future.

 

My C4S was recently lowered 15 mm with Damptronics + realign by TC Design Fab.

The height is a good compromise for speed bumps and such, I just go a bit slower. However, I must take greater care going in and out of driveways (angle it), and I do touch down more readily on very bumpy roads, when driving in a spirited fashion.

I guess the take home message would be don't lower too much or you will touch down quite a bit on the street............

 

Yes, thanks. I spent some time with the car in my garage measuring the changes after the local garage put on the Damptronics w/o too much care or accuracy on getting the height and corner weighting right.
After a bit of measuring and calculating (I still need the proper initial OEM benchmark measurements and technique that I can check and reproduce) it seems like the 20mm drop originally recommended will be too low.
I'm likely to set it to 15-16 mm tomorrow and see how that works. Fun project. though.

 

Just found the thread you referenced. Thanks very much. It's a great starting point.

 

If anyone out there could shoot over or post some photos graphically depicting these two measuring points, I'd appreciate it. I'm not getting the rear descriptors, and am not certain of the former.
Thanks,
Verde

 

Verde- have you joined Renntech.org? for a $20 donation you get full access to Porche tech guides / TSB's. Not to mention Loren (site admin) is a walking encyclopedia of pcar knowledge. You'll find the lowering guide on Renntech - I recall looking at it once. -and if you can't find it, just ask Loren.