Ok, here's a dumb one. What is Ride Height....

I have always assumed the ride height was the distance from the bottom of the chasis from the ground. I recently saw an ad in a magazine with a car with adjustable ride height and there was a small descripton about what exactly ride height was.

P.s the mag was this months Car Action.

wow not a dumb question at all....

i never thought about it being a basher ...but ill be interested to see the replys

tweak..read the question again..he knows its how its measured but do you just place it down ..or push it down & let it spring back before you measure ...I'm sure its 2 different readings

I'd say both your descriptions are pretty much the same....unless you use some seriously under rated shocks the car should rebound to the same height as it was placed on the ground

I still think it is under the cars weight alone. why would you measure the distance while pusing the car down?

not while pushing the car down...after it's released...Does it return to the same height as when you placed it down...

then i guess my stock savage shocks are underrated or assembled wrong

because i can get I'm guessing 1/4" difference between placeing my savage down & pushing it down all the way and leting it rebound ....ooh i like this topic

Just like Plaidfish said.

If a person runs a shock setup that is on the soft side the suspension won't have enough energy to push the vehicle up to the same height as stated in (1). My S3 buggy is like that now. There is a huge difference between the two descriptions I've made. But since setups need to change depending on conditions there is a big discrepency in the obvious definition when the suspension is very soft.

Here ya go:

From RCCA:

RIDE HEIGHT
Ride height is the gap that’s between the bottom of the chassis and the ground.

HOW IT IS ADJUSTED. Ride height can be changed by adjusting shock preload by installing spacers inside the shocks, or by using downstops (aka “droop screws”) in the suspension arms.

LOWER RIDE HEIGHT. In most situations, you want to run your car as low as the rules will allow. Lowering it lowers its center of gravity (CG), and that generally make it handle better. This is especially true on high-traction tracks because a lower ride height helps to control the chassis roll from side to side.

HIGHER RIDE HEIGHT. The only time you would want to increase the ride height is when you run the car on low-traction surfaces. The higher CG of an increased ride height causes the car to roll more from side to side. This transfers more weight to the wheels on that side of the car, and additional weight on a tire equals more traction.

BEST BET. To change the handling, some racers adjust the ride height so that it’s different in the front and rear. By raising the front of the car, more weight will be transferred to the rear of the car when it’s under acceleration. This additional forward traction causes the car to steer less when it exits turns. Running the front ride height lower than the rear will have the opposite effect: more on-power steering when the car exits the turns. This is simply the effect of weight being transferred from the front to the rear instead of from side to side.

It's funny that you should ask that question. I never really thought of it as an issue for offroad guys as much as the onroaders.

To get a better measurement for ride height, compress the suspension a few times to get it to a resting position. Then take the measurements at each corner of the chassis.

Don't change your ride height with the droop screws. Droop screws are limiters for the suspension travel. Doing so will alter your suspension characteristics causing an imbalance on/off throttle whether it's in a straight exiting or entering a turn.

From what I understand, ride height is defined as the distance between the chassis bottom and the ground when the truck's weight is on the shocks, but not after you push it down and let it rebound. Just as a follow-up question to this, though, doesn't the position you mount the shocks along with shock spacers determine ride height?

to answer your question, yes it does change ride height.....as far as where your car rests when you place it vs. compressing it and leting it reset itself, it should be pretty freaking close on an offroad car anyway..on my TC3 it just pops to the same spot everytime I push it down.......my truggy is the worst one cause I run SUPER soft shocks. so it can vary if I lift it and let go slowly....but I wouldn't measure that...I drop it and let it set how it falls...but I never really gave a crap about ride height measuremnet on an off road RC....

I would run your car on flat ground and see which it looks closer to. If it runs at the height like when you set it down, use that measurement. If it is the latter of the two is more accurate(like Plaid's soft shock example) use that measurement.

I try to keep my driveshafts level for ride height. I know that cvas are supposed to provide equal power tranfer at any angle, but I am just superstitious like that. Although, if where you run is really smooth, and there are large landings with good transitions, you could run your buggy's ride height lower to get better cornering out of it.

I'm w/ Kx on where I set mine up for...unfortunately the truggy seems to ride lower than the axle height.....I used 30wt oil last rebuild and only use 4 shocks...DOOOH!

Hey, RP, sometimes the MT's will get hung up on rebound because the tires drag inwardly when you let the suspension re-raise it self after pushing it all the way down. You know, theh excdessive camber change and all that. I would presume there is less of that effect in a road car set up.

I agree with the rebound theory and here's why: in practical application, the vehicle is always bouncing around, even on on-road vehicles. The suspension is going to "come to rest" at a position after it bounces down. This should be your final "ride height."

I set my ride height by doing a 12" drop and observing the final position after that. Being all off-road, I set front/rear axles level, and on a rear-drive front A-arms level to chassis.

I agree with everybody else. It seemed obvious to me that the #2 scenario would be a much more accurate description. It just surprises me that it has never really been brought up before. I can understand why it get's overlooked though. the dynamics are just so much different in small scale when compared to measureing ride height in a 1:1 vehicle.

according to HUDY Setup System Manual ( page 11 )
"Push down and release the front and rear of the car so that
the suspension settles"

nitrolight said:

according to HUDY Setup System Manual ( page 11 )
"Push down and release the front and rear of the car so that
the suspension settles"

Click to expand...

ahhh, the official word. cool. now we know. :thumbup:

I've always heard that you check it after working the shocks up and down a few times then do a 12 inch drop and check it after it settles. So far it works for me just fine.