molopaa

iTrader: (1)

So, during the last winter I did some modifications/repairs on my car, which were the following:

-KYB shocks
-Eibach Sportline springs
-New brakes everywhere
-Energy Suspension polyurethane bushings everywhere
- New balljoints, wheel bearings etc.
- KYB upper shock mounts

Today I put my car finally back on it's wheels and notice that the drivers side is about 1" higher than the passenger side in the front. In the rear the difference is about 5mm ~ 1/6 " . I put new rubber dampers (there were no old ones, weird huh?) and the bottom of the spring is correctly installed, so that it covers a part of the hole in the LCA (installed according to the factory manual). So what the heck is wrong?

I know that it might take a little while for the springs to "find their final place", but a difference of 1 inch is too much. I haven't got a chance to really drive it yet (have to get it re-registered/insured tomorrow), but I did some driving in my driveway.

Any ideas what to do next?

redlsed88

this may sound stupid but double check the springs and make sure they are seated correct on the top and bottom, also make sure you didnt put a stock spring back in by accident, dont laugh it happens

molopaa

iTrader: (1)

I checked the bottoms of the springs they seem to be seated correctly. Is there some trick to check the top of the spring while it's in place?

And since the stock springs were all rusted to hell and the Eibachs were a pretty brand new red color, I'm pretty sure I put in the new ones.

On a side note, the driver's side spring was actually broken from the bottom. A piece of the spring was broken off and rusted to the lca. I offcourse cleaned the LCA with a chisel and a wirebrush+drill combo, so there was no rusted parts of the spring left behind.

I also cleaned the part where the top of the springs go.

...Maybe I should obtain a small camera/fiberoptic camera to check the seating of the spring at the top........dammit.

Any other ideas or similar experiences?

naf

iTrader: (7)

Are you measuring from common reference points? Not to the fender sheetmetal that's attached to the body to line up with the doors-not necessarily to ride height? Driven it around a little to get the front tires level? No pre-load on the sway bar?

1 inch at the spindle will be about 1/2 inch at the spring. You may want to measure the distance from the spring perch to the top of the spring pocket. Make sure the rubber isolator on top of one hasn't fallen out of place or bunched up. Sometimes the old ones will stick to the top of the perch too.

molopaa

iTrader: (1)

Well actually yes, I took the measurements from the fender, but still the difference is so big, it's somewhat noticeable from inside the car.

The distance from the ground to the bottom of the LCA is the same on both sides, so wheels,the balljoints or spindles aren't the problem (Probably).

I'll have to drive it around tommorrow and see if anything happens and after that I have check out the top of the spring.

Now what exactly do you mean with the preload on the stabilizer? I had the stabiler in mind and that maybe I had effed up while putting the end links back on. My inital idea was to take the end links off and see if anything happens....
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And also, I'd like to point out that since I had to change the upper shock mounts my camber and caster angles are all screwed up. I adjusted the camber to maximum negative (the mount all the way in), but it didn't have any effect.

naf

iTrader: (7)

You can loosen your end links to make sure the sway bar is not loading one side unevenly.

Drive it around for a while and let it try to settle. Measure from the bottom of the a-arm, up thru the spring, to the top of the pocket. You should also be able to shine a light up there to verify that the isolators are placed correctly.

2.8RS

iTrader: (5)

I would jsut drive the car for a week and see where the springs sit afterwards. I know that my car is a little higher on the driver side with out me in it. When you sit in the car is lowers the driverside.

Oh and just to ask. How does the front look compered to the back as far as wheel gap. I have always wondered since these springs are for V8s so our nose may sit a little higher.

molopaa

iTrader: (1)

The wheel gap in the rear is definitely smaller than in the front, but it looks nice in the front also from the passenger side. I can take some pictures and post them here. Just hope that height difference settles on it's own.

zs&tas

hi, dont know if this would make any difference ?? i have to say that i have never looked at the suspension that closely although ill be getting the same springs soon so pics would be good. i did notice in my engine bay that my camber settings are different each side, now i assume that since it drives like a dream the settings are correct @ wheel/hub although ive never checked this. does anyones else's appear different each side??? it may help. it may not. but do drive it around for a bit.

drdave88

iTrader: (3)

loosen and retighten the sway bar brackets, not the endlinks. if you tightened them while the suspension was not loaded, hanging, that will preload the sway bar too. see if that helps. there is also a possibility that there was an old isolator left where the upper part of the spring sits, and thats throwing you off. or when you installed the otherside, it fell off or is not seated correctly in there. when i put mine on, i taped them to the spring to hold them in place during install.

Dale

iTrader: (12)

I installed different springs on mine this weekend.

The left one sat very high right after install. Soon as I started jacking up ont he pass side, the left one settled. Loud bang I thought something broke it moved so much. Also, I drove mine around the block and it squatted about another 1/8" from that.

1.Make sure the springs are indexed
2.Some springs have top/bottoms. Make sure you didnt put it in backwards
3.Make sure the top is not caught on the "crown" or "cup".
4.Make sure one of the coils isnt caught on the spring pocket
5.Have some friends or family bounce the front end of the car good.
6.Did you take the suspension apart at the strut/spindle, or ball joint? If ball, make sure its back together tight.
7.You do need to drive the car a bit before measuring.
8.Make sure the swaybar is not in contact with the body, or tie-rods.
9.Make sure your spacers and washers are the same on both ends of the swaybar. In fact, for now, remove the endlinks tell this gets figured out.

Dont worry about that rear measurement tell you get that one front fixed. 1/6" could be the body tweaked, front spring in wrong. Hell, 1/6 is nothing. Look at an s10, they dont sit level from the factory.

Ive been lowering cars n trucks for 7-8 years now. Ive seen some crazy stuff and the smallest thing can be over looked and mess the whole thing up. If you still cant figure it out. Post/link some decent sized pics and well look.

molopaa

iTrader: (1)

Yay! The problem has been located and fixed!

Thanks everybody who pitched in.

Anybody want to guess what it was? It can be found on Dave's list above.











Surprise surprise! The top of the spring was not installed correctly. It was sitting straight on top of the crown and when I put it back in correctly, the left side of the car came down almost 2 inches. Now the difference between different sides is almost non-existent. The ride is quite firm and the car handles and looks a lot better.

zs&tas

good one, can we have a pic as i want these springs but have no idea how thel look?

molopaa

iTrader: (1)

Right, here's a picture. Sorry about the quality, but I was in kind of a hurry when I took it.

micktroup

So, let me get this straight... you have 2.8 V6 and you installed V8 Eibach springs and they work great? Because, I called Eibach and they said that they do not make a Third Gen V6 spring... if yours work great, it must be the usual legal bull***t from the manufacturer.

molopaa

iTrader: (1)

Yes they are for the V8. The thing is that the sportlines should lower the car 1.6-2 inches IIRC and on a V6 they do lower the car, but not by that much. I haven't gotten a chance to drive the car very much yet, but the ride is 'quite firm'. And it handles a lot better than before.

There is at least one other person on here, who has put in Eibach Sprotlines without any modifications to them.

So in conclusion, the springs should work with a V6.

zs&tas

sweet, mines black as well, looks good. you can see the front has dropped, i thought about skiming the top and bottom of the front coils to help. im defo getin em now. thanks for the desktop!!!! lol

TomP

Looks like a few of us have had that problem- same thing happened to me a few years ago! (laughs)
And if I remember correctly, it seated with a loud BANG too. That's good to know the v8 Eibach's fit OK; I have Suspension Techniques v6 springs on mine- but I don't know if they make them anymore.

[edit] Hey, they might still make them, they're listed on http://stracing.com/download/st_shocks_springs.pdf , and Summit has a listing for STQ-60115 ...

zs&tas

Any updates on how your getting on with these?

molopaa

iTrader: (1)

My car is in storage for the winter, but the miles I got during the summer where nice.

The ride is very firm and during the winter I will definitely be installing weld-on sub frame connectors. I don't know if it's the springs or the polybushings (probably both), but road noise has definitely increased.

I would also recommend getting Bilsteins or Konis if installing these springs as the KYB GXR's seem a bit soft for them.

zs&tas

hi thanks, yeah ill do the frame conectors aswell at the same time, although this car isnt guna be driven hard i want to help the body as it gets old !
how do the springs hold up when youve got a passenger, full tank and maybe the shopping in the boot ?
ive cars before that were great untill loaded up then they went to pot.

molopaa

iTrader: (1)

Unfortunately I can't answer that question as I haven't loaded anything heavy in the car or had more than one passenger in it.

But seeing as the springs are quite a bit stiffer than stock and that they are meant for a V8, I would think that it holds up well under a load.

89' RS/blue

Well for one the eibach sportline, or prokit springs are for a V8 engine weight, your V6 doesnt weight enough to sit correctly in front, it is in the front im assuming. I put Eibach Prokits on my Camaro and it sitts a little higher in front than back, but once i put my LT1 in it will solve the problem

molopaa

iTrader: (1)

Read the whole thread, problem solved 6 months ago.

And although the Eibach Sportline springs are for a V8, they do work for the V6. They just don't lower as much as they promise, which is fine, since I don't want to lower my car 2'' .