Reply to "Adjusting Ride Height - Shocks/Spring Tension"

Lessons in Shock Absorber Setups:

Well, now I know how the F-1 cars must have handled for the drivers in Canada this morning. The rear shocks were topped out to get the low front with higher rear. The roof of the car is level with a carpenters level, but the door jams measured with a level above the rockers are definitly sloping down in front. I was really pleased with the look, but the ride was rock hard, I felt bumps in the road I couldn't even see. Cornering is pretty tight too, but this'll shake my fillings out.

So: I'm gonna loosen the rear shocks almost back to where they were Friday and leave them there for now. I'm gonna get 16" front and 17" rear Campy clones, so I'll wait until they're installed before I do any more shock testing.

I agree with all the comments about spring height vs. spring stiffness, but I may end up sending my rear shocks back to the factory to have them install a shaft that is 0.5" to 1" longer, because the ride was great before, and only to get the look I like... a little bit more tire to fender distance, which also means it's easier to see how fat those tires really are...

These Panteras are like Harleys, people individualize them how they like and no two are identical. That's cool. They're also like Motocross bikes, you can infinitely fine tune everything exactly how you like it best. That's really cool!

"Is that a Ferrari?" How often do you hear that? Every time it leaves the garage?

Thanks for the replies and posts, I'm gonna hit the threads with WD-40 and wait to take the new spring compression tool back....

Is it more fun learning like this, adjust and re-adjust, or is it more fun to just know already exactly what shock length, spring resistance rating, and spring length you want and do it once? I just like tinkering around with it!!!!!