I have read and read information from chassis books to online material but starting off with a new 2x3 chassis build, how do you determine the ride height? I know you want to be low, but I don't want it so low that it's a pain getting the car in and out of the trailer either.

Well the body you choose to use will affect how low you can go before it is issue loading it up. My first car was a monza so it didn’t have much nose on it to have any issues loading it up but not I have a 95 Monte Carlo and I have to use ramp extensions so nose doesn’t hit the ramp and I am 5 1/2” off the ground due to how the car was built. I would be lower but have to redo the strut mounts to get it any lower.

Buy the rear wheel/tire combo you want, gut the car from the rear seat back, put the tires where you need them in the wheelwells and start measuring! Everything else you build will be based upon simple mock-up of the tire in the wheelwell. I went with 11" rocker height and it's ok for loading.

Ride height should be set by power level/ET from what i have read. Crank CL to ground for lower power cars 13" to 14" to ground. 12" to 10" for higher power cars.

quote:

Originally posted by Bob Payton:
Ride height should be set by power level/ET from what i have read. Crank CL to ground for lower power cars 13" to 14" to ground. 12" to 10" for higher power cars.

Okay but where do you define low power/ high power?

quote:

Originally posted by chasracer:

quote:

Originally posted by Bob Payton:
Ride height should be set by power level/ET from what i have read. Crank CL to ground for lower power cars 13" to 14" to ground. 12" to 10" for higher power cars.

Okay but where do you define high power?

1300 plus

When I build my car I set the bottom of the frame rails 6" off the ground, level all the way back.

The body is only 4" off the ground. Mine is round tube. Like what was said above setup the rear tires and mock-up the rear setup ladder bars or 4-link and see where you will have the best setup i.e. bottom ladder bar level to start and have adjustment both ways. Same with ladder bars.

You can move the body up or down to fit the tires add rake, etc...

You can go to my website and see my two builds, 81 Malibu (2" x 3" frame, ladder bar) and 96 Cavalier round tube, 4 link. When I front halved the Malibu it was slammed so we had to cut the bottom of the hoop and move it up to clear. Look under 2006 & 2007 Seasons