so i have a 89 firebird that is a daily driver/project car. My rear shocks are just not cutting it anymore and the ride is really rough so i think i want to work on suspension next. I want to lower it 3 in instead of just fixing it stock but i have no idea where to start in looking for parts. I want to do it the right way instead of heating/cutting springs but i dont know where to look for the right parts so any info is helpful, thanks.

 

i see you are a newbie here.. 1 post.. well anyway, have you really thought about how low a 3" drop is on a 3rd gen?? assuming you have, and have thought out all the consequenses of going that low i would say buy any drop spring kit and hack a coil or 2 off.. there are alot of banners on this site for aftermarket parts.. for example, look up top, there will be a banner for something.. well back to the topic, i would use the SEARCH button and look into drop kits and pros and cons of doing it.. i really dont think you have any clue what you are getting into with a 3" drop.. so do some research and then see if you really want all 3".. sorry to come off as an a$$.. but try to at least do a small search before you ask something like a 3" drop.. it will save us from having to write things twice.. and after a while of people asking the same questions(not necessarily your question) it gets annoying.. and again, sorry for breaking it to you like this.. happy searching..

 

I agree on both points first before you ask a question search it and youll probably end up with more information than if you started a new thread. Also you DONT want a 3" drop only if you were to bag it or dont plan on driving it

 

Mine is dropped about 3", it is very low. there are not "lowering springs" that will do that, I am running a ground-control weight jack setup. be prepared though, you will not really be able to get into any driveway's without draging parts of the car.

 

mines is at least 3 inch drop in the front and am changing it. my air dam drug while driving, not scrape, drug, i have about 1/8 inch from the top of my tires to my wheel wells. CANT drive it. lucky for me it hasnt been drivin for about 6 years now. i put about 5 miles on it to switch it from my old garage to the new one and couldnt with the front that low. sportline springs are nice, but when i put spohn a arms on it dropped like a bitch. so now im doing coil overs soon. anything more then 2 inch and you will destroy your car

 

Ya, I was gunna say; our third gens are already low enough. Mine is stock and I scrape everywhere, and can't park in a lot of driveways. Think of the consequences before you do this, and like everyone said, do a search on pros and cons. I myself would jsut fix it back to stock, I also need to do this, my ride is a bit rough in the rear end, but it might be becuase of the subs, I dunno.

 

do you got a pic i never seen a third gen witha 3" drop thats nuts

 

i used intrax 2" springs in my 89 formula, and the measured drop was 1-1/2" in the front and only about 3/4" in the rear. and that's about as low as i'm willing to go. air damn scrapes every where, where the exhaust passes under the oil pan is way too low, and i need to pick up on the front fender to get it on the lift. looks good though.

 

Mine has a 1.75 drop on it. I would not go past that w/o making it adjustable. I can get in most driveways around here, but I can not go over speedbumps, pull onto shop racks, let alone get it towed if it quits on me.

I have to drive onto 2x4's to jack it up

Actually, its there enough stock tire clearence for 3"?

 

yes. i had my gta lowered roughly 3 inchs, and damned if it was a crappy ride. luckly, i pulled soooo much wieght out of the car, that it raised up about an inch and a half. never again would i do such a stupid thing...

now i have sphon coilovers, complete tubular suspension, and less ground clearance due to the exhaust. i still have not finished putting the car back together, but you can be sure i wont roll around that low anymore.

 

dillonrager..... go to www.bigbrakeupgrade.com and go to customer feedback and look for the black camaro. it is only a front shot for the guy to post of the brake kit he did for me but you can see the drop there.

 

ElusiveWhite,

Eibach sportline would give a 1.5 - 2" drop. There are lots of pics of guys who have done this on the board. It looks good and the wheels look like they fillout the fender. A 3" drop would be a very hard ride and not really practical as some have ointed out.....good luck

 

Thats so low, it looks like the suspension is broke

 

it does doesnt it........lol it sat perfect when i put the sportlines on but then i later put spohn tubular a arms on and it dropped it about another inch or more....i have c5 brakes on so it moved my wheels out 1/3 inch and the top outside edge of the tire is at most 1/8th inch away from inner wheels wells!!!

 

It’s all relative… 3” from where a late RS with springs that have been sagging for 20years is a ton (hell, in that condition the car probably sits about the same as it would with a new set of sportlines), 3” from stock ride height of an early 80’s car (say before about 85, they sat at least 1-1.5” taller then a later car) is not so much.

My ’83 TA was lowered about that much (somewhere in between those 2 extremes), it was down far enough that the stock bump stops would touch the k-member at ride height. At first I trimmed them down, later I replaced them with shorter, poly bullet shaped stops. I think at it’s lowest point, with everything tucked up tight (custom exhaust…), it was around 2.5” off the ground even with fairly tall (235/60/15 and 255/60/15, roughly 26.1 and just over 27” tall tires, compared to the 25.5-25.7” tall that most people run).

My formula (with eibachs and normal height tires) looked like a 4x4 parked next to it, it was at least 1”, probably more taller.

I didn’t have any real problems with driveways, at least not more so then my ’97 WS6 does, actually it’s probably worse, but did have the occasional weird incident. I smashed 2 tranny pans going through the same fast (>60mph) dip in the road with some weak front struts (I’m sure it wouldn’t have happened otherwise), and my wife got stuck in a gas station when she hit one of the fill caps for the underground tanks. It was tough to drive in anything more than about 3-4” of snow because it would get packed under the K-member and the front tires would loose traction.

Come to think about it, I probably didn’t have any problems with driveways/speedbumps because I made a conscious effort to not have problems, as in I remember reading 4wheeling magazines about entry/exit angles to maximize clearance over big bumps..


I am considering swapping the same set of springs into my ’87 TA, but that will probably depend on what tires I end up running, but I’ve never been a big fan of short, low profile tires (I was happiest and fastest autoXing the ’83 on G60 hoosiers, which are about the same as 245/60/15’s) even though I do tend to like a low ride height.

One thing that I would suggest to anyone going that low… figure out your bump stop heights in the front without springs in it. There is a spot on the back of the control arm that comes close to hitting the frame/k-member, and there isn’t a lot of leeway WRT to shorter bump stops before you’re liable to end up with metal to metal contact (read, a bad, BAD thing) on the back of the control arm. Also, make sure that none of the frame/body contacts the ground with a flat tire, or it could make for an ugly situation if you have a blow out going down the road.