I was looking around at my car the other day and realized that the back springs were red. my buddy was like oh, cool you got coilovers. i really have no idea what these are. i looked on spohn and they seem to be a pretty expensive piece. if i take pics can you guys let me know if they are in fact coilovers, maybe let me know what brand they are, let me know what my advantages are with them and how i can use them (i.e. adjustable ride height if im lucky). i just dont know much about suspension and i was looking into it. but if these are worth the price i might not have to do as much as i thought.

 

Take pictures...springs come in many colors. just because theyre red dont mean they are coilovers.

Try to get pictures of the upper and lower mounts.

'coilover' is usually a phrase reserved for a spring setup where the strut/shock resides inside of the coilspring. Occasionally you hear of a weight jacker setup being claimed as a 'coilover' system just do to the adjustability factor.

Check out our sponser spohn for a real coilover setup to compare to what you have.

 

well i know the fact that it is new doesnt mean its coilovers. but my car is higher in the back so i was expecting to find some kind of lift kit. when i looked at it i told my friend about it. he looked at it and said it was coilovers. ill take pics when its light out. ill try to have them up on here tomorrow afternoon/evening. thanks a bunch.

 

OK i got some pics today. they are not the best. in a couple of the pics it almost looks like you could make out a brand name if you knew their logo. keep in mind the build up of this car took place in 1991 by the previous owner, so maybe the company does not exist anymore. and maybe he waited till just a few months ago to put them on, i have no idea. in one of the pics it looks like you can see another spring, so maybe they are not coilovers, since that is the spring and shock combined...right? i really have no clue, anyhow, here are the pics.









thanks again guys.

 

Yeah, they are def. coilovers. I can't make out the brand though. With the yellow writing in the one pic, it almost looks like Monroe or something but I'm not sure if they make/made coilovers.

 

The shock is a Monroe. I'm not sure who made that add-on "helper" thing. Probably came from JC Whitney or some such. It just clamps itself onto the shock body with those muffler clamps; it's not part of the shock, as such.

I'd get rid of that ASAP, before it breaks the floor out at the top of the shock. That's what happens in these cars, just from the normal stress of the shock itself, let alone with all that extra load on tha tsheet metal trying to hold up the car. I know, because both sides of my car broke out. I suddenly got all this weird clunking and rattling on the pass side one day, and found I had no shock action whatsoever on that side. I figured the shock had failed internally or something. So I went to the store and bought a pair, and lo and behold, when I took the lower bolt loose from the rear end, the whole shock just fell DOWN TO THE GROUND, floor pan piece and all. It had just punched itself right out of the sheel metal.

Get that crap out of there ASAP, and if it's really needed to maintain the car's ride height, just get some new rear springs.

 

I might be way off here, but I think I have seen helpler springs that mount to the shock in the JC Whintney catalog.

 

sofakingdom noticed it at the same time I did. Yeah, those are just the clamp-ons.

 

I agree. remove them.

 

remove the whole entire thing? and how?

 

remove shock. remove clamp holding spring. slide spring off. reinstall shock....unless its shot..then you'll need new shocks

 

so by adding it, the car has become worse? im confused. also would it drop my cars terrible rid height. i only got them in the back and its higher than stock.

 

I'm sure your rear end will sit very low after you remove them. I bet that is why they're on there.

 

yea, it would drop the ride hight by removing them, from the pics I see regular springs next to those getto-rigged coil overs so someone probabally put them in to "fix" saggy springs, so don't be supprised if your car will sit low on those after you remove those coil overs, you may need new springs, but those coil overs....remove them fast or your car will have expensive damage to fix when the top of the shock punches a hole in your floorbord.

 

well my bacl tires are pretty big. thats why i figured he did it.

 

so if i remove the spring and the thing in the middle the car will be drivable like that? also, how much do springs run (dont have to be nice). would i need new shocks too? please help me out, i guess i shouldnt have gotten excited about finding these. why are they so expensive to buy new? and what purpose would they serve if they actually were there for a reason.

 

I don't know what you mean by "thing in the middle", but remove the helper spring from the shock and put shock back on. The tires will probably rub if you don't get new springs though. I'm sure that's why those helper springs are there.

 

get moog cc635 rear springs, better then factory stuff, $50 a set of two from summit, but you can probably get a pretty close price at ANY parts store. I got mine special ordered for $75CA, which is a deal.

some new KYB gas-a-just rear shocks are nice too. Better then stock, I paid $54CA each for mine, $30 or so for you from summit.

I'll be bolting these into my car in the next week or two (once I finally get new TA bolts), and if you want I can show you what ride height it has. Fat 275/60/R15's in the back here too.


PS. I still love your car. Dead sexy.

 

Ok. Our cars didnt come with the second spring, so in theory the car should still be drivable without the "coilovers". they werent there from factory so why would effect the drivability.

Put if the stock springs are shot, and sagging bad, you should probably replace those. You shouldnt need new shocks just because you remove the 'coilover'...but if its bad..you might as well replace it while its off.

Compress the shock by hand once you have it off...you'll be able to tell if you need to replace it.

 

thanks for the tips guys. and sonix, definantly show me pics. want my wheels? i wanna ditch them.

 

That's a VERY GOOD IDEA. Especially the rears. They just plain DON'T FIT the car. I have no idea how far somebody had their head up their rectum when they spent money on that, but that's awful.

Stock C5 wheels, with 2" spacers, work and look REAL GOOD on these cars. The silver-painted ones would look about perfect on a car the color of yours. Chrome would look as out of place and mismatched, actually even more so, than those aluminum ones.

 

im thinking hyperblack zr1s (the slp ones for third gens) if i go aftermarket. otherwise, 85-87 irocs with black inserts or black gtas. i agreee that chrome would look crappy.

blyth18md, is there anyway you might be able to help me with this, i might be able to do something for you, plus youre also in maryland. i worked at a paint shop and i now work at a body shop, if you would be interested in any of that kind of work in return for helping.

 

I wish I could help you, but im all the way out in Cumberland. Really shouldnt be too bad to take those off though. Looks like all you will have to do is remove the shocks...

The shocks are really simple.

Jack up the rear. Place stands under the axle..but make sure you can get to lower shock bolt. Unbolt top bolt (under carpet right behind the back seat, under a little foam pad). Unbolt the lower shock bolt and then just pop the shock out.

Do one side at a time. Once you have the one side out..the second side will only take you as long as it takes to get the bolts loose.

Once you get the shock out of the car im sure you can figure out how to get the helper spring off. It just looks like its clamped on

Honestly one of the easiest things ive done to my car so far.


Nice tastes in wheels..I wish I would have stayed away from the spacers my self. I eventually want to go to 17x9.5 ROH ZS's (Ive heard they dont clear the c5 brake swap though)...thats another thing you should think about... Most 17's worl with most brake upgrades, though i think ebmiller has a solution for 16" wheels now.

If you need any more help try to catch me on AIM.

 

k, when I get the rear axle in, i'll put on the front wheels and lower it down to get a pic of ride height, etc.

I would love those wheels, I don't know what you guys are smoking, but I think they're slick. I have 15x8 snowflake 2nd gen wheels, and not a large budget for other wheels, otherwise i'd take 'em off your hands.

 

do you maybe want the wheels and not the tires? the only big deal would be shipping, considering youre not too broke.

 

well yea, but I already have wheels, so it'd be hard to justify buying new ones.... Not that i'm broke, but i'm doing a full resto on my car, and i've already bought these wheels so...


(then again, I could sell mine to someone wanting to do a
2nd gen resto, and needs these wheels...)

PM me what you think you want for them, and when you'd be looking to get rid of them.

I'm not super interested in buying new wheels, but just out of curiosity.

 

im not super interested in selling them either, but i could go for a change.