Ride height

[Ozbrick]

Hi dudes!!

I am getting my ride height lowered. I have 185/60/R14 tyres on and there is a 70mm gap from tyre to guard at the front and 60mm gap at the back. What is the best distance from wheel to guard?? Will it scrub at all?? I was thinking of dropping 2.5" or 63mm at front and rear.

Cheers,
ROb E

[Ronnie]

That's going to be a pretty hard ride

[hatch360]

I thought most ppl lowered it by 3"?

[stuartB]

2" escort lowering block on the back (you need to slighly adjust the geometry here - drilling new holes - mine was a bit guessworky but works ok), 2-2.5 coils copped off the springs at the front

works fine for me. but the front is still a little high, probably going to get new springs soon instead.

I got a bit of rubbage on the back wheels till i went 55 profile, now its all cool. then again, Im running on BBS rims and the offset makes them stick out more than usual; you might even be ok , depends on your rims and tyres. Mine are 14s i think ("think" being the operative word hahah)

dunno if this is teaching you to suck eggs as it were but you will need 8 x HT bolts for the back (the escort kit comes with U bolts, these dont fit) AND TIGHTEN THEM UP AFTER A COUPLE WEEKS

mine were well loose when i went to tighten them (almost 3 months later, woops)

[germ]

i run 185 55 14 i wouldent go any lower than 2" tbh

[Nikdev]

I have both 15"`s and low 13"`s on my car and its no problem! Adjusted the lip in the arches a bit...

2" lowering rear and 80mm front, 13"`s:

[pistonpen paultje]

mine is 6cm lowered allround.

Pic:


Didn't have a better pic. This is with the same tiresize as you have, and was slightly higher on the rear back then

Edit: Don't go to much further then that on the back, otherwise its gone be quite a hassle to fit your exhaust...

[classicswede]

http://www.volvo300mania.com/forum-uk/v ... hth+height

[stuartB]

RE: exhaust





Yes, there is a bit of £$"%'ing about to make it fit without knocking on the axle and the springs. I raised it right to the body of the car, practically, and cut a hole in the rear valance to make it high enough.

If you have a side exit... well, you wont have for long

It does mean strapping it up tight - the option being the car sounding like it's falling apart all the way down the road - but once up there, it stays there that said, i have blown a few holes in it here and there, but this is probably more to do with the fact that the engine mounts are 23 years old :$

2" is fiiiinee i can assure you... and i live in just about the worst area ever for savage speed bumps. Just make sure you put nice stiff shocks on and slow down a bit for the lumpy stuff.

I heard this weekend (sorry if its really OLD news) LANDROVER SHOCKS!! think about it, it totally makes sense

for the front, either get custom springs, or use higher ones and cut the dishes off and weld them on lower. PLUS change the oil in the shocks for diff oil - it's thicker, and gives a more solid ride. not to mention change all the bushes cos they'll end up split anyway, probably, and you can stick some lovely polyeurethane ones on there

thats the plan, anyway - better get saving up

Kudos on all the sick pictures though guys, i'd be proud to be seen in ANY of these sexy low 300's. Still, no-one beats my mate Rick, who has lowered his 240 6" inches. SIX!! lol it looks proper ILL. If you do a youtube search for "Volvo rick drift" he's there messin about with the old 740.

[Jason B]

Not sure about a couple of the above points, diff oil makes a good bodge but I wouldnt want them locking up due to any kind of crap that accidentally found its way in there whilst refilling them. Land rover dampers will fit, but I'm dubious as to whether they are actually an improvement at all because of the nature of their intended original application (unless they are adjustables). I know griffo fitted some but he never got round to posting a video so we could compare before and after fitting. The problems with the rear handling of 300's is more than something a damper can fix imho (thats not to say its necessarily difficult to sort).

[stuartB]

aye

bloody leaf springs - cant just get stiffer ones... can you add another one above/below like they do on the trains? lol

anything to stiffen it up tho would be nice - mine tends to be quite uncertain at the rear end round quick twisty stuff

[Ozbrick]

aye

bloody leaf springs - cant just get stiffer ones... can you add another one above/below like they do on the trains? lol

anything to stiffen it up tho would be nice - mine tends to be quite uncertain at the rear end round quick twisty stuff

HAHAH, I've done a lot more to the springs than posted here. You can add an extra spring as I've done. I had a custom set made.

New springs hardness:

Front std: 130kN
front stiff: 180kN

Rear std: 160kN
Rear extra leaf: 220kN

I did have them lowered by 2 inches initially, but due to the stiffness, the car actually sat higher!! So they have gone back to get re-adjusted, should be finished by friday.

[Ronnie]

I have both 15"`s and low 13"`s on my car and its no problem!

Ummm.... But, Nik - didn't you say on aother thread that:

But the car is so stiff and uncomfortable that I went out and bought a new daily drive....

[stuartB]

HAHAH, I've done a lot more to the springs than posted here. You can add an extra spring as I've done. I had a custom set made.

Very interesting... just out of interest how much did these set you back?

I was thinking along the lines of chopping the back end off a sierra or 740 or something, and getting involved with a 'proper' rear suspension conversion rather than the nang leaf suspension

still undecided... apparently someone i know is already thinking long and hard about the quickest way to get rid of the old and the easiest way to put the new in. ears to the ground on that one, its only a matter of 5 pointing the hubs etc.

[Ronnie]

Nev from Driftmoto has developed a 5 point rear suspension set up for the 300