Ground clearance is one of the most important characteristics of a car, which determines its cross-country ability. However, this value is not constant, so every motorist who takes care of his car must adjust the ground clearance in time, returning its original value.
The ground clearance of any car is the distance from the lowest point of the center of the car to the supporting surface. In other words, the clearance (ground clearance) can be called the highest obstacle height that the car will not catch on.
How to find and measure ground clearance
This is not as easy as it might seem at first glance. For sports cars, low ground clearance is characteristic, for off-road cars - large. In some models, an element of the exhaust system will be considered the lowest point of a car, in others - a spare wheel attached to the bottom - in others - a part of the suspension or the bottom of the engine. Sometimes it can be a bumper. Knowing the ground clearance will help not only to drive a car comfortably without touching obstacles, but also to send it for preventive repairs in time, thereby saving money on the restoration of the suspension.
To find out the value of the clearance, you will need a viewing pit with aligned ramps and a regular ruler (tape measure). Before starting control measurements, check the tire pressure and remove unnecessary weight from the passenger compartment. Take measurements at several points: for example, under the engine sump, front bumper, under the axles. As a result, get the average value (in mm). For reference purposes, the average values of the distance from the bumper to the road are presented below:
- passenger cars: 1400-2000 mm;
- parquet: from 1800 to 2500 mm;
- off-road vehicles: 2000-3500 mm.
To protect the front bumper, you can use a special "skirt" made of plastic or parking sensors that have a shutdown function. However, it is not enough to know only the clearance from the bumper to the road; when driving on a country road, there is a danger of a breakdown of the engine crankcase. Therefore, you need to understand in advance whether you have a crankcase protection. If not, then it is recommended to install it. Below, for reference, are the ground clearance from the crankcase to the road surface (on average):
- passenger cars: 1200-1700 mm;
- parquet: from 1700 to 2100 mm;
- off-road vehicles: from 2000 mm.
Ride height adjustment
The need to increase the lumen arises often. For example, when installing wheel arch liners or when the suspension elements (springs, shock absorbers, etc.) are worn out. Another reason is the periodic movement with a load. In most cases, on budget cars, you can increase the ground clearance by installing special gaskets for the springs. On more expensive models, the ride height control is already integrated into the tuning control system. The change in the clearance value is carried out using hydraulics or pneumatics.
