Sway bar diameters VF1 SS FE2

[wetwork65]

Now, its my turn to go OCD.

My 2016 Calais V (V6, 72,00kms) with stock suspension and 19" rims is riding between 385-390mm front and back. The back is slightly lower than the front. It doesn't have any tow accessories, has a full sized spare and about half tank of fuel in it.

I doubt if the suspension wear down enough over 70k kms to bring 15-20mm drop in ride height. The ride comfort/ firmness has stayed pretty much the same since I bought her home.

Thanks - it's helpful to have a real world point of reference to confirm my measurements.

 

[panhead]

I would have liked to have measured the ride height on my Redline when I bought it home from the dealer, but I didn't have a long enough tape measure.

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[RevNev]

Now, its my turn to go OCD.

My 2016 Calais V (V6, 72,00kms) with stock suspension and 19" rims is riding between 385-390mm front and back. The back is slightly lower than the front. It doesn't have any tow accessories, has a full sized spare and about half tank of fuel in it.

I doubt if the suspension wear down enough over 70k kms to bring 15-20mm drop in ride height. The ride comfort/ firmness has stayed pretty much the same since I bought her home.

I can tell you these Calais (below) aren't 385mm at the rear! If yours is that low with stock components, there's weight or a sag in the rear as there are no rear ride heights GMH specified for VF lower than 398mm. Sometimes the RHR can be 10mm lower than the LHR on certain vehicles. Lower front ride heights are generally strut top collapse you can see in the engine bay with large gaps between the strut tower and top plate.
HSV cars can have a lower rear ride height appearance with the taller rear tyre used 275/35 20.

I would have liked to have measured the ride height on my Redline when I bought it home from the dealer, but I didn't have a long enough tape measure.

My ute (FE3) was 410mm at the rear stock after tow bar removal and the front was 405mm with 3,304km's, overlander specs!

 

[dassaur]

I can tell you these Calais (below) aren't 385mm at the rear! If yours is that low with stock components, there's weight or a sag in the rear as there are no rear ride heights GMH specified for VF lower than 398mm. Sometimes the RHR can be 10mm lower than the LHR on certain vehicles. Lower front ride heights are generally strut top collapse you can see in the engine bay with large gaps between the strut tower and top plate.
HSV cars can have a lower rear ride height appearance with the taller rear tyre used 275/35 20.


My ute (FE3) was 410mm at the rear stock after tow bar removal and the front was 405mm with 3,304km's, overlander specs!

Alas my Calais suffers from ride height imbalance. About 6-8mm lower on entire RHS

 

[RevNev]

Alas my Calais suffers from ride height imbalance. About 6-8mm lower on entire RHS

Yes, it's common with V8's more than V6's for some reason. I've got a 5mm shim under the RHR spring on my Redline ute and had the same in my old GenF R8 sedan. In VT to VZ, King Springs had a specific RHF spring that was a bit longer to correct ride height imbalance. My SV6 wagon is only 1mm low in the RHF likewise with another couple of SV6's I've lowered were near perfect. VE V8's seemed better than VF for ride height imbalance.

 

[dassaur]

Yes, it's common with V8's more than V6's for some reason. I've got a 5mm shim under the RHR spring on my Redline ute and had the same in my old GenF R8 sedan. In VT to VZ, King Springs had a specific RHF spring that was a bit longer to correct ride height imbalance. My SV6 wagon is only 1mm low in the RHF likewise with another couple of SV6's I've lowered were near perfect. VE V8's seemed better than VF for ride height imbalance.

The shim is not a bad option - what are you using? some kind of steel or a urethane? does it sit between the spring seat and the base of the spring on the rear shock?

Have you ever heard of the entire side of the car being lower? I thought it was quite odd. even the front is lower but prob closer to 6mm whereas rear is closer to 8.

 

[RevNev]

The shim is not a bad option - what are you using? some kind of steel or a urethane? does it sit between the spring seat and the base of the spring on the rear shock?

Have you ever heard of the entire side of the car being lower? I thought it was quite odd. even the front is lower but prob closer to 6mm whereas rear is closer to 8.

The shims are aluminum I had laser cut on the OD and I cut the centre hole to fit over the shock with a hole saw on the drill.

One side of the car can be low but the car pivots diagonally, so if it's low on the RHS front and rear and fit a shim under the RHR spring, it lowers the diagonals, so it lowers the LHF and raises the RHF and RHR. LHR remains the same. It's how we corner weight race cars and maintain equal ride heights.
The front struts are harder to shim so unless you elongate the lower strut bolt holes and relocate the strut mount, but that's too much messing around and correcting it from the rear is far easier.

 

[lmoengnr]

Alas my Calais suffers from ride height imbalance. About 6-8mm lower on entire RHS

Pretty normal for a car with an engine capable of more than 500Nm of torque.
The R/H springs are always fighting the engines torque reaction.

 

[MaxCommie689]

I can tell you these Calais (below) aren't 385mm at the rear! If yours is that low with stock components, there's weight or a sag in the rear as there are no rear ride heights GMH specified for VF lower than 398mm. Sometimes the RHR can be 10mm lower than the LHR on certain vehicles. Lower front ride heights are generally strut top collapse you can see in the engine bay with large gaps between the strut tower and top plate.
HSV cars can have a lower rear ride height appearance with the taller rear tyre used 275/35 20.

I don’t have junk in my boot, no towing accessories, strut towers look perfect, running on stock 19” rims and tyres. My ride ‘comfort’ is also close to another stock Calais I drove recently. So, maybe I’m measuring it wrong. For the current measurements, I used a tape measure, eyeballed the centre of the wheel and took the reading on the outer edge of the guard. This was done on the driver side. I’ll get the measurements from the passenger side too.

 

[RevNev]

I used a tape measure, eyeballed the centre of the wheel and took the reading on the outer edge of the guard.

The eyeball thing in the centre is a bit difficult. I measure from the bottom of the rim to the guard and deduct half the wheel diameter, minus 260mm for a 19" wheel to get an accurate measurement.