Would lowering my car actually help it handle better or just look better? I want both so i will probably do it anyway. I love lowered f-bodies, but how low is too low? It's hard enough to jack my car now but the shocks and struts should help. Is 1-2" good? Thanks repliers.

~Matt

 

I did mine by cutting a coil or so off the springs.You get better handleing and looks.

 

That sounds cool Steve. I wouldn't really know how to go about doing that. I'll just get the springs. Do you have a pic? How much better did you handle, and far did the car drop? Thanks man.

~Matt

 

Eibach Pro-Kit Springs, 1982-1992 V8 F-body (1" Drop Front & Rear)
$229.00


http://www.thunderracing.com/index.c...ategoryid=1071

 

Eibach sportlines = better looks and better handling

 

Shifty...I was thinkin' about sporlines on the RS. In that pic your ***-end looks like it's saging. Is that because of the kit? I like the slight raise in the back and don't want to lose it. I'm getting a 4th gen rear and I'm going to have the 'bulldog' stance. Like I said I don't want to lose that. Thanks

 

Lowering your car can give both performance and looks. Unless you get some crappy springs like INtrax, drop zone, etc. The eibach prokit is a good spring set which will drop your car for looks yet also for handling. Lowering a car to much will cause your suspension to go out of wack and you will handle ****tier. So a 1" drop is a good drop for both worlds. Another company you can check out is globalwest they have a good set of springs also.

 

The rear does sit a bit high in the rear but is not as bad as the picture shows. Few reasons

1. Car is on a slight grade
2. Stereo (100lbs or so) in the hatch
3. Larger diamter tires in the rear than front so the fender is filled up even more
4. 12 year old shocks (I have heard that new shocks raise the rear up a little bit and make it look nice)

However if I could do it all again I would actually buy two sets of springs. I would get the sportlines for up front and the prokit in the rear. That way the car would be level with all of the above mentioned scenarios. This may change when I get better shocks and the rear may raise up. You have to be looking hard in real person to tell the difference. From the front and rear the car looks even and really really good. trust me

 

I used spindles. 2" drop in front, and i cut out 1.5 (or hell maybe it was 2) coils in the rear. The rear ain't low enough for me yet but I need some lowering springs for it back there. I'm looking for a good deal on rear lowering springs right now, because I can't cut any more out or the damn rear springs fall out when I jack up the car (maybe even over a large drop in the road). My tires rub the plastic a little (ok maybe a little mor than a little, but not a lot) on drops in the road, I guess struts will fix that. Here is a pic of my car.

 

Cool. I figured that you had something in the trunk. I've got a system going in also, not to sure it's going to weigh taht much, so I'll be aight. Thanks for the info though, now I'll know what to look forward to.

 

It weighs more than it looks. plus I have the spare and jack still in there.

 

Shifty, is that thing stationary? It looks like it could move around. I'm looking at mine and it goes all the way across the "trunk" so to say. I like it though, looks good. I might have to look into that, I'm getting SLP cold air intake and they're gonna move my battery to the back, that would give me more room to adjust. even though I'm putting her in the spare tire compartment.

 

GTA-SPD:
With my 16 year old stock suspension, my car sits exactly like yours right now. Once i get the shocks and struts in it will sit higher, but then the springs should even it out. I love the way thirdgens look lowered. Mine kind of looks lowered now, but it doesn't handle nearly as well as it will when i'm done

~Matt

 

Mike91rs,

My box is in place and does not move around at all. I have had it in there for about two years now. I made it myself so that I could have two sealed chambers yet have room on the sides to slide some junk down there if I ever had to. Notice how it is built around the latch mechanism and wedged against the back seat area. This prevents it from moving at all.

 

drop spindles are also a good way to drop your car. It will lower the cars center of gravity yet not affect the cars suspension geometry. Though the spring rate will still be kinda to soft. If you have a 1le or soemthing of the sort it wont be to bad.

 

I hate to make a random, not tech statment, but REVLIMIT, your picture of that "riced out" third gen offends me.

 

i don't care for it too much either. I don't really like that evolution body kit for the f-bods either. Just my two pennies.

~Matt

 

Shocks and struts will NOT affect the static ride height of your car. They provide a resistance to suspension movement, but they do not provide any sort of measurable lift. Yes, they are gas charged to prevent aeration of the shock oil, but the amount of pressure involved here is so small we're talking maybe a thousands of an inch increase in ride height. Shocks and struts are hard to compress because of their dampening characteristics. Once they are fully compressed though, it takes very little to keep them compressed. They slow down rate of movement. That's all they do.

 

ShiftyCapone, what kind of rims are those. And how high is the front of your car now (from the top of the fender to the ground).

 

ShiftyCapone I would like to know what kind of rims they are too and where to get em.

 

They are ROH Snyper's, 17x9. They are pretty common and easily available. Check any chevy mag and they always have ads for these wheels. Also, any good wheel shop should carry them, and I don't mean your local firestone branch. A lot of people on this site buy these wheels from www.jdwheels.com.

PimpWillis,

My car sits about the same exact spot as it did before I lowered it. Since I went with bigger tires and wheels than stock it sorta kept the car at the same height after the lowering. I just crawled under there tonight to put my clear corners in, so I would say a solid 8 inches or so, fender to ground distance. I will get a measurement for you.

 

ShiftyCapone I was wondering if you could email me the specs (D*W*H) of your sub enclosure or post them on here cause some others might want them too. I am fixing to be putting 2 10's in my Iroc and I like the box you have built. I have kids so it would be nice to have a little storage in the trunk area. I will probably make it a little shorter so I can close my locking lid when I park my car for a while at the store or different parking lots so they will be hidden and keep the honest honest. Thanks for your help, John

 

GTA-SPD:

If you're looking to buy just a pair of rear lowering springs, I know that JC Whitney sells Suspension Techniques drop springs by the pair (at least they did when I bought mine). One warning though, they really didn't seem to make my car sit very low (I only did front drop springs, with stock IROC springs on the rear). I can't give a before/after comparison because I changed everything at one time: V6 to V8, 14" wheels to 17", springs, etc.

Here's how the car sits with only front drop springs (and 24-1/2" tall tires):

 

jRaskell:
I know the shocks and struts don't lower the car, but my 16 year old ones are stock and they are crap right now. I have to either have someone lift the car or drive it onto bricks to jack it up. It is low now, and with the new struts and shocks it will sit stock. The lowering springs should drop the car to where it is right now after i install the shocks. Just making it more clear.

~Matt

 

Thanks, but I think I'm going to go with the Bell Tech's from Summit. I have heard some bad things about ST springs (not to mention that JC Whitney sells them. That's almost like buying high performance audio equipment from Wal-Mart! LOL :d) from a few SCCA/AutoX guys (mostly that they are too soft for racing with). Since I plan to do more AutoX next year, I'll go with the Bell Techs (they get pretty good reviews from the guys and they aren't too bad on price).

For an update, my new KYB GR-2 (I know now that they aren't the best bet for AutoX but they were cheap and I was in a bad way on them) struts have almost completly solved the rubbing problem over bumps. Now my tires hardly ever rub, which is good since I just put brand new ones on.

 

True. Believe me- the front springs are the ONLY parts on my car from JC Whitney. I only bought from them because they sold lowering springs by the pair. Oh well, the drop springs didn't drop it any, but my header collectors are probably grateful.

 

Here's a pic of my Formula with Sportlines. It sits pretty low but still rides decent.

 

hey MDFormula, i looked at the site and which would be better, the pro-kit or the sportlines? You have the 1" prokit, but the sportlines are 1.6"front and 1" rear. Which would be better? Also would the package with the panhard rod and LCA brackets be worth it? What does a panhard rod do and do i already have one? Is it like a sway bar? I have the new front LCA bushings in my garage so maybe the new brackets will help too. Thanks a lot guys. All your cars look really sweet. Hopefully mine can look as good with the suspension work, new tires and paint job.

~Matt