Renier

Hey everybody,

Was just wondering, do (good) lowering springs have to be ridiculously expensive? They seem to be around $250, which would make them unattractive to me. The car as you all know is pretty low out of itself and I often get comments about it (our cars are very rare here), but the ground clearance is just as any other regular car, which apparently most people don't notice but I sure do and other car guys too I suppose. I also don't like how my Flowmaster muffler is showing, as it hangs slightly uneven, lowering the ride could also fix this. But primarily I love the idea of the car being lower due to the more sporty and sicker looks, and also a lot due to the fact it should provide better handling or so people say, every bit the car will be able to handle corners better is very welcome for this supposed "zwabberbak" (usually negatively used Dutch term used for American 'sleds' that just 'zwabber' or swab about, bad handling and such). In a way I love proving people wrong about American cars, they're always horribly maintained here and (hence) have a bad reputation, I want to show them that they can be utmost decent rides and have good handling and don't even consume much for (inexpensive) V8's with 300+hp (after my LS/LQ/5300 Vortec swap). But enough about that, basically I want the sick looks and improved handling/cornering but don't want to lose too much comfort, so cutting the original springs is pretty much out of the question, although fairly it won't be hard to improve or match ride comfort when swapping out the worn out parts for something new.

Thanks in advance for all of your two cents.

Renier

Alright, probably going to shrink the stock springs after all to avoid these costly and possibly unnecessary alternatives, as my boss at the customshop claims it shouldn't have dramatic results for ride quality although it will still suffer a bit regardless.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Lowering the car causes a couple things to happen that would need to be corrected. A lower ride height can throw the LCA angle in the wrong direction-If the axle side of the LCA is not lower than the body side you need LCA relocation brackets. Also the panhard rod is not adjustable so you may need to buy an adjustable to recenter the rear end. Would probably need a new alignment also. Most shocks will blow out or prematurely fail if they are an inch or two lower so you may need the strut mounts that mount the strut an inch higher. Koni and Bilstein work fine with lowered f bodies. $250 for the springs is just the beginning....

Dakota W.

"shrink"ing the stock springs is a bad idea if you want the car to handle well...

Renier

Well, he runs a customshop, and it wouldn't be the first time he succesfully lowers a car. I'd imagine it being more like cutting a section off of the spring rather than actually literally shrinking it though. I drove his lowered 70's Mercedes and not only was it comfortable to drive but also did it handle very well, the only thing with it was that you'd have to approach speedbumps carefully but that'll probably always be a problem unless you've got the extensive luxury of airride.

I'm wondering though, what it would do for the handling of my car, he says it should improve it at least somewhat. If I do lower it it will also get Koni reds of the right length to go along with it, since the current shocks and struts are in dire need of replacement anyways and this is what's got me thinking of this small 'suspension overhaul' in the first place.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

if you only alter the spring heights and do nothing else you will probably decrease performance. Wheel hop, wrong alignment, uncentered rear axle, blown shocks, etc,.

Renier

Well, like I said I will get the proper length Koni reds and also I will let my car be realigned. Think I'll only do a 1" drop just to be safe however, seen and heard about some great results for those.

Dakota W.

Like Tibo said earlier, it's more than just an alignment.

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

On the other hand i have no problem with cutting springs if it's done properly. The only concern is that there's no way to ensure a proportional spring rate increase front to rear, so the more you cut the more "off" the spring rates get.

Look into Ground Control weight jacks. They're $500 usd but you can sell them for good money later on if you want, plus I figure the adjustability of them will make you more likely to want to spend the money. If your alignment is out of whack and you have wheel hop problems and odnt feel like dealing with it, just raise it back up and come back to it later.

Renier

Seems great, but also too much to afford unfortunately, as I am saving up for a 5300 Vortec or other modern V8 swap. Airride seems ideal in the end, although I doubt I'll ever get there, by no means anytime soon anyways. We will see what we can do with the panhard bar, probably modify it if possible.

So this is what we'll likely do:

Cut the springs properly for about a 1" drop.
Get appropriate Koni's to deal with the drop also, if possible, otherwise different strut mounts. Getting the right Koni shocks won't be a problem for in the back, know a guy that has 300 different Koni's in his attic, somewhat older ones but unused and at a very reasonable price.
Possibly modify the panhard bar.
Get the car realigned.

Thanks for your help, guys!

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

There is no advantage to airride over weight jacks besides it's easier. Air ride setups do strange things in performance situations. The less air you have in the bag, the lower your spring rate. Springs work the opposite. Weight jacks will keep a constant rate regardless of height.

The advantage of weight jacks is you can make changes to the suspension setup of the car. if you dont like how low it is, you can raise it up. They're not something you change every time you drive the car. Because every time you change the ride height you throw off the alignment specs on the car. So you need to pick a height and get the alignment/adjustments done to accomodate it. What weight jacks do is give you the flexibility to change it sooner or later when you get a chance, not the ability to change the ride height as you're driving down the road. I think that's moer of a gimmick, because even air ride doesnt fix alignment problems that result in changing the ride height. I only mention this because you were pretty focussed on handling earlier, and Air Ride will talk a big game about how well their systems work for track cars, except that you never see any track cars using their systems, plus their systems are fairly heavy. Stick to conventional springs unless you want the gimmick of adjusting ride height for shows or photoshoots.

It's a setup adjustment, not a "change it to suit my mood every 5 minutes" type thing. Also weight jacks will allow you to raise the car up to get it on a flat bed or a trailer or something. You will need to mark/note how far out of adjustment it is, but it would help keep your ground fx from getting destroyed in those situations.

Cut 1/3 to 1/2 coil off the front and cut half as much off the rear and remove the isolator. Use 1/2" heater hose to replace the isolator. This will give you a good start to a 1/2 to 1" drop. Depends on the weight of the car and how the springs have sagged over the years. You may need to take more off the rear, but that's easy to do.