front ride height

[gareyt]

Hi all, my Megane has numerous issues and after costly garage bills and dodgy workmanship i've decided to do things myself. So recently I changed both front strut assemblies including top mounts, springs and struts. It was like for like with some second hand ones that came assembled and when compared to my existing ones were definitely in better shape.

It wasn't easy for me but followed the book and got them on and all torqued up. I never noticed at first but there is a much larger gap between the top of the tyre and the wheel arch. The original gap was quite large I thought but now it looks ridiculous. Ive done about 500 miles since with no probs but does anyone know why the ride height is so high now. The strut assemblies were the same size so surely it should sit the same as the back ones.

Now ive noticed it, its driving me mad. What can I do.
Thanks

[craigyt]

Were the new struts off the same model car or off say a heavier model like the cc?

Are the struts fully home in the hub?

[gareyt]

apparently the strut assembley came from the same model but as there are a few variations of the 1.5 dci I wonder if that would make any difference.

Also I recently read somewhere that you shouldn't tighten things up to correct torque until the car is resting on its wheels. Would that make any difference really.

[craigyt]

Thats rubbish advice tbh, ignore that!

There wouldnt be that much of a difference between the 1.5 dci models only the cc as its heavier. As a general rule of thumb your suppose to replace springs in pairs, maybe the new one isnt sagging as much as the latest one

[gareyt]

Well I still have my old front strut assembley in the shed so I think I will take the springs off and swap them for the ones currently on the car and see if that makes any difference. Best get the Haynes manual out and see how its done

[Evoluzione]

The problem with the Megane 2 as any owner who has tried lowering their car will tell you is in the design of the car itself,
Try this,Park your Megane on level ground then stand right back and look at the chassis sills and the line they follow from back to front and there lies your limiting factor in "How LOw Will She Go",Now look at the front wing,summet not right here !!! To demonstrate u cant beat a good ole "Before And After"`pic so here in the first pic is the moment I pulled it off the trailer after driving back 230 miles from Halifax,Seconds after taking this pic i was yanking on the hood release cus I thought I'd bought acar without an engine



Heres where we are today after fitting a £300 set of Coilovers,I personally think I have achieved the "Stance" I like Slight Nose Down and think it willl look sweeter with a nice set of 18;s in place of the 17 in Mingers that r on it now

[gareyt]

That first pic is exactly what my car looks like regarding front ride height. I haven't got round to sorting the problem as ive been busy with other problems but why oh why does this occur when the springs are generic for most meganes.

PS, I like it lowered, it looks very cool indeed.

[AlexB]

Of what size are the tyres?

[Meganeccdarren]

At a guess they look like 17's x45. I bet I'm near!

[AlexB]

Yea... I think, instead of fitting the coilovers resulting in what we see now, a better option would have been to fit the stock 16'', at most 17'', alloys with chunky tyres. This is in my humble opinion only, of course.

Just have a look at he stock setup - not bad at all.

[craigyt]

On mine the tyre is in the arch on the back but the underneath of the car is a good 3" off the floor but on the front iv got a 20-25mm arch gap but the subframe is 2" off the floor!

The front wheel arches are massive!!!