We have an 87' Trans Am here and we put sportline springs on it and it raised the car up instead of lowering it.

Will the car settle over time or will it stay like this?

Is there any other set of springs that will lower the car further?

Should we put the old springs back on since it lowers it further than the sportsline ones, even though it was factory springs?

Many thanks for any help.

 

well.. if your old springs were severly ratched, then I could see the springs raising the car. The thing is, sportlines sit pretty low to being with.

I think you may need to reindex your springs. They will settle over time, but not that much. It sounds like a spring index issue to me.

 

your stock springs must me shot or something. i have sportlines and it deffy lowered the car.

 

Thanks for the reply, but what exactly is reindexing the springs?

 

I changed a control arm once and when I reassembled the car, it sat higher in the front. It turned out that I got the spring in a wierd bind and it didn't set right. Even if your springs were SHOT, there is no way that Sportlines should have raised your car, unless you took out the engine too. Jack it back up and make sure they are seated right.

 

With your front springs, there is a little notch in the A-arm where the end of the spring is supposed to sit. Make sure that it is sitting there. You can easilly gain an inch or so if they aren't in the right spot.

 

Here's a close up of the front with sportlines.

 

Here's a picture of the back with sportlines.

 

Here's a full car picture with sportlines.

 

This one is a bit blury, mods can delete if needed but this really shows the gap.

 

the back sits right but the front is deffy f ucked up .

 

I dont have a clue, at this point I wouldnt mind cutting them.

 

dude, take your fronts out and re-install them... they must be seated wrong....

 

..they were professionally installed, at a local shop. The guy said he put them in right, slide them into the little notch and what not.

Another thing, before the install I had this same problem (front higher then rear) I assumed new springs/shocks/struts would solve the problem. Guess i was wrong.

 

Try double checking where the spring sits in the a arm just to make sure. Here's a link to ebmiller88's site on installing springs if you want some references.http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tar...m/taramiller72

The indexing that was mentioned above is where the spring should sit in the a arm. I attached a pic of the indexing point from the website . The end of the spring should sit in between the two holes that is being pointed to. Hope this helps.

Anthony

 

Thanks a lot for all the help guys, I'm taking it back to the shop and demanding it done right. Next time I think I'll take the time to do it myself.

 

IT LOOKS LIKE THE TOP OF THE SPRING IS NOT SEATED RIGHT I HAD THIS PROBLEM BEFORE WHEN CHANGING SPRINGS

 

Something is definately not right in the front. It should match the back as far as fender gap. Have you removed any stuff on the front of the car? (AC delete, fiberglass hood, helium filled fenders?

Also, keep in mind that the GTA (WS6) suspension is lower than the standard Trans Am suspension to start with, but the Sport lines should be visably lower.

Good Luck
Troy
So Cal

 

This is kind of a stretch, but maybe the spring isolator is not seated on the spring or possibly upside down? Maybe check the springs and make sure they're the same ones you gave the mechanic. The fronts and rears could be mistakenly switched, also. Just thinking of other possibilities.

 

Yeah check on that too. I've had that problem also before.

 

when i did my springs. my car sat all lopsided and ****ed up. took it for a ride and first big bump i hit the springs shot into place and then it sat correctly. so if u havent try takin it for a nice good ride down a bumpy road

 

You guys will love this....I left later that night (in another car) and when I got back my dad asked me why my struts and shocks were not on the car. I about sh**, racking my brain about the springs, I had completely forgot to check the struts and shocks. Sure enough they are not on the car. So the next morning we call the shop and talk to the manager. He finds my struts and shocks in the shop and finds that I had paid in advance about a week. Realizing how screwed up of service I've had he's buying me all new suspension upgrades. Coil-over up front and new shocks and springs for the back. Should have pics around wednesday afternoon.

 

You mean you got new struts? Technically, you wouldn't even be able to drive the car if there were no struts on the car itself.

That still doesn't explain the issue about the car sitting high. Struts don't hold a car down, they just dampen the springiness of the ... well springs.

They still had to be installed wrong..

Anyway, congrats on the coilovers

 

I took nearly 200 pounds of weight of the front of my car and it didn't raise it nearly that high......

Unless you forgot to lower the jack, they are installed wrong......