Ok so I have moved and there is one spot coming into my new driveway that the Lexus always scrapes the nose on. I need a safe inexpensive non permanent way to raise the car 1/4". I was brainstorming and though maybe 3 washers on each stub of the strut mounts in the front?
I know the body of the strut mount would still contact the car through the strut tower hole so it wouldn’t be putting a ton of stress on the studs and there would still be plenty of stud to thread the bolts through, but is that a really bad idea. I have heard of a lot of subaru wagon drivers doing it to the rear of their cars.
Washers on top of the plate, under the strut tower, is a bad idea IMO. The surface area of the strut plate sitting flush on the strut tower is what disperses the load. The surface area of a washer, even say a decent sized washer like a fender washer, is MANY times smaller than that of the plate. Therefor the weight of the car, and driving impacts, will deform the strut tower top, and make like 3 dimples where the washers are sandwiched between.
NOW, if the strut top plate is FLAT, IE not some 3 dimensional, shape, making a 1/4" plate from steel, with the holes drilled out, would be perfectly fine. becasue the surfaces would be 100% in contact as designed.
Not being knowledgeable on Supra suspension- is there a spring pad or anything of the sort betwen the spring and upper and lower perches? Common things to raise a car a small amount would be a single thick spring pad or even doubled up spring pads… or swapping for springs that are slightly taller/stiffer?
Well I guess your only option is to switch your awesome static suspension to the ever gay air ride. Your car is going to look like a bag of dicks when its bagged…
Thing about that idea is that the steel lip rolled into the strut body that retains the spring might be too far UNDER the spring with another pad under there… and like you said if you ever jumped it or unloaded it to the point the spring floated (full droop) it could fall out against the strut/shaft.
Whats the strut top look like under the sheet metal now? whats the surface like? If its flat, I can plasma out 2, 1/4" thick plates and drill the holes in to pass the studs through.
If you can bring me a cardboard template of the strut top, or the strut top itself, I can make you a quick spacer from some 1/4 plate with the plasma and drill press in 30 mins.
