How to Set Ride Height on Coilovers
One of the great things about a coilover kit is that you pick exactly where the car sits. One of the most common mistakes is picking a number lower than makes sense for how you drive it.
Understanding Coilover Components
Before you set ride height on coilovers, know what moves when you turn a wrench. Ride height is the most visible adjustment in any performance suspension setup. It is also the one people most often set up wrong, because two kinds of kits do it in two different ways.
Threaded body. The outer shell of the damper, machined with threads. On every coilover, the spring perch rides on those threads. On a full-length kit, the body also threads into a separate lower mount.
Spring perch and locking collar. The perch is the threaded seat the spring sits on. A locking collar jams against it so it cannot turn. A loose collar is how settings change on their own.
Lower mount and lower lock ring. On a full-length kit, the lower mount bolts to the knuckle or control arm. The body threads into it, and a lower lock ring holds the setting. BC Racing describes its lower locking ring as a patented concave design.
Full-length versus sleeve kits. This is the part people get backwards. On a full-length kit, like BC Racing or Fortune Auto, you set ride height at the lower mount. The spring perch sets preload. On a simple sleeve kit, the perch is the only adjustment, so it sets height and preload together.
Importance of Proper Ride Height
The Sweet Spot for Daily Drivers
There is no single drop that suits every car. It depends on the chassis, the wheels and tires, and your roads. Start with the height range your kit lists for your car. Pick a mild drop first, drive it for a week, then decide.
Handling. Lowering the car drops the center of gravity, which cuts weight transfer in corners. Go too low and the geometry fights you. The arms sit at angles they were not designed for, which shifts camber, toe, bump steer and roll center.
Aesthetics. A modest drop closes the wheel gap and gives the car a purposeful stance without slamming it.
Practicality. Every inch you lower cuts ground clearance. On a sleeve kit it also eats bump travel. A car that rides on its bump stops feels harsh and wears parts faster.
Preparing for Ride Height Adjustment
To set ride height on coilovers, gather two coilover spanner wrenches, a measuring tape, a floor jack and jack stands. Add a torque wrench for the wheels and your kit's manual. Keep the phone number of your alignment shop handy.
Use the right spanner, and use two. Most locking collars take a hook spanner that fits the notches around the collar, and many kits ship with them. Seat the hook fully in a notch so it cannot slip and chew the edge. To lock a collar, hold the perch with one spanner and turn the collar hard against it with the other. A hammer and punch damage the notches, and a damaged collar is hard to lock again.
Park on a flat, level surface. Every time. A slight slope quietly adds error to every number you take.
Measure all four corners before you change anything. Use the center of the wheel hub to the fender lip, and write each number down. That is your baseline.
Know which kit you have. Look for a separate lower mount with its own lock ring. If it is there, you have a full-length kit. If the body bolts straight to the car, you have a sleeve kit.
Steps to Set Ride Height on Coilovers
Step 1. Lift and support the car safely. Jack it at the proper points and set it on stands. Pull the wheel. Never adjust ride height with the car's weight on the spring.
Step 2. Loosen the right lock. On a full-length kit, loosen the lower lock ring at the lower mount. On a sleeve kit, loosen the locking collar under the spring perch.
Step 3. Make the height change. On a full-length kit, turn the damper body in the lower mount. Threading it deeper shortens the coilover and lowers the car. Leave the spring perch alone, because it sets coilover preload. On a sleeve kit, turn the perch down to lower the car and up to raise it.
Step 4. Count your turns. Each full turn moves the part by the thread pitch, which varies by kit, so check your manual. The wheel moves more or less than that, depending on the motion ratio at that corner.
Step 5. Make the same change on the opposite corner. Work in matched pairs: both fronts together, both rears together.
Step 6. Lock it down. Tighten the lower lock ring or locking collar hard with the spanner. This decides whether your ride height stays put or wanders.
Step 7. Refit the wheel, torque the lug nuts and lower the car. Roll it back and forth and bounce each corner a few times to settle the suspension.
Step 8. Measure from the same points as your baseline. Compare to your target. Adjust and repeat if needed, front axle first, then rear.
Step 9. Get a professional alignment before any other driving, and drive gently on the way to the shop. Any height change shifts camber and toe. This is non-negotiable. Our guide to suspension geometry and alignment explains why.
Common Mistakes When Setting Ride Height
Turning the perch on a full-length kit. This is the big one. Turning the perch changes preload and shifts ride height too, which undoes the clean split between the two adjustments. It can leave the spring loose at full droop or squeezed far tighter than intended.
Going too low on the first try. Start closer to stock than you think you need. You can always go lower. Coming back up means lifting the car and repeating the whole job.
Not measuring before and after. Without a baseline, you are guessing. Measure before and after every adjustment.
Skipping the alignment. Every time. Even for a quarter inch. Until the alignment is done, drive only gently and only as far as the alignment shop.
Mismatching side to side. A car that sits taller on one side wears tires unevenly and feels wrong. Small differences can also upset corner weights, so measure carefully. If you race, finish with corner balancing on scales.
Leaving a lock loose. Tighten the collar and the lower lock ring every time. A loose lock is how ride height drifts.
Seasonal Ride Height Adjustments
Here is something a coilover kit does that lowering springs cannot. You can raise the car for winter and drop it again for summer. Plenty of drivers in salt-belt states do exactly this to protect the car and the kit.
Raising the car for winter follows the same process as any other change. Loosen the lock, make the change at the right point for your kit type, lock it down, and book an alignment. The alignment does not get skipped because the change is seasonal.
How you raise it matters for preload. On a full-length kit, you raise the car at the lower mount, so preload does not change. On a sleeve kit, raising the perch also adds preload. After a big change on a sleeve kit, check that preload still matches your kit's guidance.
Maintaining Your Ride Height Setting
Check ride height at every oil change and after any hard hit to a pothole or curb. Locks can loosen over time, mostly in the first few months after install. A lock that walks loose lets the setting migrate and throws the car off level.
Keep the threads clean. Before winter in a salt-belt state, coat them with an anti-seize that is safe for aluminum. Skip copper anti-seize, because copper next to aluminum collars promotes galvanic corrosion. Corroded threads can seize a collar for good.
Check the dust boots and the damper shaft seal while you are there. A torn boot lets grit reach the seal. A leaking seal means the damper needs service, whatever height you run.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you set ride height on coilovers?
It depends on the kit. On a full-length kit, loosen the lower lock ring and turn the damper body in the lower mount. On a sleeve kit, loosen the locking collar and turn the spring perch. Lock it down, match both sides of the axle, then get an alignment.
What tools do I need to adjust coilover ride height?
Two coilover spanner wrenches, one to hold and one to lock. Add a measuring tape, a floor jack and stands, and a torque wrench for the wheels. Keep your kit's manual handy. You also need an alignment shop lined up before you drive the car.
Does the spring perch set ride height?
Only on a sleeve kit. On a full-length kit, the perch sets preload and the lower mount sets ride height. That split lets you change height without touching preload. It also keeps the full damper stroke at any height.
Why is proper ride height important for performance?
A sensible drop lowers the center of gravity and cuts weight transfer. Go too low and camber, toe, bump steer and roll center all move away from where the car was designed to work. The right height gives you the gain without the geometry penalty.
Can setting the ride height too low affect my car?
Yes. Too low means less ground clearance, more bump stop contact on rough roads and suspension angles outside the design range. The car can handle worse than stock, wear tires unevenly and scrape on every driveway.
How can I make ride height equal on both sides of my car?
Measure from the center of the wheel hub to the fender lip on both sides. Match both corners of one axle before you move to the other. Park on a level surface for every measurement, and set tire pressures first.
How much bump and droop travel should I keep?
Keep useful travel in both directions at your set height. Bump is how far the suspension can compress before the bump stop. Droop is how far it can extend. If a lowered car runs out of bump travel, it rides on the stops. Your kit maker's height range is the safe starting point.
Suspension Dynamics Behind Ride Height Settings
Ride height does not live in isolation. On a sleeve kit, every millimeter you drop moves the damper deeper into its stroke. That leaves less bump travel before the stops. On a full-length kit, the whole damper moves with the lower mount, so you keep the full stroke at any height.
That is why the lowering range matters. KW lists a lowering range for each kit it sells. Check the range your kit lists for your car before you go past it. Past the range, you start fighting the bump stops and the geometry.
Some things do not change with height. Unsprung weight stays the same, because the wheel, tire, hub and brakes weigh the same at any height. Spring rate stays the same too. What can shift is the motion ratio, which changes how stiff that spring feels at the wheel.
Damping still matters here. A car that rides closer to its bump stops can feel harsh over big hits, even with good damping. Start from the kit's manual damping setting after any big height change, then tune from there.
A careful ride height setup is one of the most useful changes you can make without touching the damper settings. Paired with a good alignment, it changes how the car responds at every speed. Do not skip that alignment on any coilover kit.
Keep reading: Our guides to lowering laws and stance and wheel fitment.
Ready to Set Up Your Kit Correctly from Day One?
Ride height is easier to get right when you start with the right kit for your car. The wrong spring rate or the wrong kit for your platform makes every adjustment harder.
We carry BC Racing, KW, Fortune Auto, Öhlins, Feal and TEIN. BC Racing kits also take Swift Springs SPEC-R springs as an upgrade on most fitments. Call 1-800-460-9106 and tell us what you drive. We will tell you straight where to start.
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