360 ride height adjustment...help please | FerrariChat
Buy

360 ride height adjustment...help please

Discussion in 'Technical Q&A' started by JimM, Mar 19, 2005.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. JimM

    JimM Rookie

    May 14, 2004
    1
    Surrey, UK
    Full Name:
    Jim Monks
    #1 JimM, Mar 19, 2005
    Just had a call from Ferrari UK saying my 360 with 4600 miles on the clock needs the ride height adjusted. A common problem I am told......but I can't find any of my friends who have 360's who have had this problem. Anyone else had this problem?

    I am the first owner of this car and it has had no prangs, and not been driven hard.

    Ferrari say they don't know what causes the ride height to change from the correct settings. However, when I asked, Ferrari UK also tell me they do not check ride height when delivering the car new, as they assume the factory set the car up correctly.

    So this relatively lengthy and expensive adjustment procedure is down to me, because guess what.......it is not covered by the warranty as it is considered to be wear and tear.

    Am I being ripped off here?

    Ferrari UK cannot prove it was ever set correctly, and I cannot prove it was not set correctly, because it is not the sort of thing I think of asking when I buy a new car....or do regular Ferrari buyers always ask for this type of information and technical detail to be checked and confirmed when they buy a new car?


    Any feedback from you knowledgeable guys out there would be appreciated.
     
  2. Willis360

    Willis360 F1 Rookie

    Aug 4, 2001
    3,928
    Redmond, WA
    Full Name:
    Willis H
    #2 Willis360, Mar 19, 2005
    I've had my 360 for 4 years and put over 32,000 miles on it. Have not had a ride height adjustment problem. This is the first I've heard of it. Could it be a Euro-only problem?
     
  3. thomas_b

    thomas_b Formula Junior

    Sep 15, 2003
    765
    #3 thomas_b, Mar 19, 2005
    If you mean by ride height adjustment a suspension alignment than that should not be expensive or involved – a good shop with an electronic alignment system and the 360 parameters can do it

    The only alignment problems with 360s I have hear of is a chap in the UK with a CS (RH) who had a misaligned car but his toe-in/out was screwed up http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50545&highlight=alignment+toe
     
  4. RobHulme

    RobHulme Karting

    Mar 13, 2005
    53
    #4 RobHulme, Mar 20, 2005
    I collected my 360 Spider from the factory and when the car arrived home I asked my dealer to check the ride heights and allignment which were found to be wrong from the factory. My dealer corrected them free of charge. Subsequently I then decided to lower the car by 20mm and decided to check the car's cornerweights after lowering and before wheel alignment. Most Ferrari dealers have not heard of setting cornerweights. I borrowed a set of electronic cornerweight guages from my local Porsche dealer and found the corner weights to be out. My Dealer adjusted and I now have a perfectly handling 360. Any 911 owner or racer will tell you how important cornerweights are . Don't assume that the ferrari factory sets everything perfectly. Previously I took delivery of a new 355 Spider which I found to be down on power. We found that the throttle linkages had not been set properly at the factory and were not opening fully. In a few minutes I gained 15kws at the back wheels
     
  5. sparetireless

    sparetireless Formula 3

    Nov 2, 2003
    1,596
    #5 sparetireless, Mar 20, 2005
    You cannot have a perferctly handling car and a perfectly level car, they are mutually exclusive. Sounds odd, I know, but if you have the corner weights set with a 1/2 tank of fuel and a driver only, the most common set up, the corner heights must be different. I have heard of mismatched springs on the challenge cars, most of the serious folks pull them, compress them on a test bench and use matched sets. When you really get into it, it never ends.

    Proper alignment and weights does make a noticeable difference in my experience. But it like the difference between a $15 wine and $60 wine. Tough to tell especially after the 3rd glass.
     

Share This Page