Tein SS coilover settings and alignment specs

[hjkim483]

It's been about a month or two since I installed my coilovers and recently I lowered the rear on my own to about a finger gap (2.5 - 3 ish on default). It doesn't feel quite as nice as the default settings for some strange reasons and I'm talking in terms of tire slippage. After I dropped my coils further my tire is in / \ shape too.
I'm thinking about doing some precise measurements on all four coilovers and then realigning it. What would be a good drop appearance wise and performance wise. The default tein settings were 1.5 finger gaps in the front and 2.5 - 3 fingergaps in the rear. It felt like the car was too front heavy appearance wise. I also do not have any trunk plastics and spare tire and this could be the reason why my car's a$s was sticking high up in the air.
And if I want to align my tires after the readjusted drop (I'm thinking 1 to 1.5 in the front and 1.5 in the rear), should I align my wheels to factory specs or is there a good suspension oriented alignment specs that you guys use?
What would be a way to professionaly adjust the height of my car? Any kind of exact measurement tools rather than counting finger gaps and thread turns? :)

Thanks

[hephaestus]

I don't know what a finger gap means. I always get my suspension done by a professional. You should follow the measures on the diagram in the instructions for each coilover. Measure from the bottom of the spring seat to the bottom of the threads, for all 4 dampers. This should be about .99 inches (25 mm) for both front and rear. Also measure the distances from the wheel center and the fender edge. This should be roughly 12.9 inches (330 mm) front and 12.6 inches (320) rear. Use a good tape measure. This was from a Tein SSP settup by the way. Hope this helps.

[hjkim483]

Yeah, for Tein SSs the instruction said .79 inches from the base of the thread. I think I'll go to a professional and just let them do it and align it afterwards or something...