5-lug conversion made my car higher?

[Fett]

Ok, I assume I am doing something wrong with the math...but this doesn't make sense.

I did my 5-lug conversion last week and noticed my car was sitting higher off the ground. Not only is it visibly higher, but my x-pipe used to hit the speed bumps and now it clears no problem. It is clearly higher off the ground....but I can't figure out why.

I used sn95 spindles and Ranger axles to keep rear drum, so the ONLY things I changed were the spindles and axles.

At first I was thinking that because I went from 16" to 17" rims, that must be it. But I couldn't really see that making such a big difference...so I did the math.

My front tires are 245/45/17 and my rears are 275/40/17. The old tires on my car were 225/55/16.

Doing the math I came up with this:
245/45/17: 25.7" total height. (12.85")
275/40/17: 25.66" total height. (12.83")
225/55/16: 25.76 total height. (12.88")

So right now, in theory, my car should actually be lower. The old tires were taller overall than the new ones. So how would that make my car ride higher?

I guess it is possible that my front springs might have slipped out of the groove in the lower control arm, putting the bottom coil ON the arm instead of being in that groove. But I didn't lower my control arms. Or am I doing the math wrong? Or am I overthinking this whole thing?

 

[88gt]

The math looks fine...you're only talking a 1/16" difference in height. Your suspension may just need to settle back down...drive around for a couple of days, then see what is going on.

 

[superhuaman]

those tire diameter measurements are without any load on the tires...

your old tires had a taller sidewall which wasnt as stiff as the new tires, and probably bulged more at the bottom than the new tires, effectively giving it a smaller diameter. also you could have had low air pressure before you got new tires.

 

[poneypower89]

those tire diameter measurements are without any load on the tires...

your old tires had a taller sidewall which wasnt as stiff as the new tires, and probably bulged more at the bottom than the new tires, effectively giving it a smaller diameter. also you could have had low air pressure before you got new tires.

exactly what I was thinking.

Small sidewalls don't give at all. So you will usually always be AT the ride height they suggest... with the larger sidewalls... you will lose some height because of the room to "squish"

 

[Shakerhood]

The Pigtail on the Spring should be in the middle of the 2 small holes drilled in the Spring Pocket in the Lower A Arm.

 

[SVT32VDOHC]

I have the same setup on my notchback, didn't pay attention if the ride was higher or lower. I went from 225-50-16 to 245-45-17. Looks great....that's all I know!!

 

[backfocus]

I had the same problem last year when I bought 17s for my car. The difference was the I already had a 5 lug conversion when I with 16s and just changing the wheels and tires I noticed a difference in the ride height, and I used the same size tires as you.

I know ride height varies from car to car slightly, but here is my theory. The tire measurements are for the tires, so yes they are really close to the same size. So what is different, the wheel. When changing to a bigger wheel, the center of said wheel is higher, in this case at least 1/2" bottom to center. So in theory this should raise the car wheel center 1/2" depending on wheel manufacturer, thus raising the car slightly. Yes the tire height is the same, but the side wall height is narrower, but the wheel height is taller.

Hope I that made since, it is just a theory but make sense to me. Maybe somebody else will chime in a confirm.