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Hello, everyone. I am looking to replace my struts, shock absorbers, and coil springs all the way around. I want to keep the ride height as close to original as possible. I know that in this day and age of lowering that that makes me a weirdo, lol, but I am interested in originality. I have gone to rockauto.com and found Z28 specific coil springs for the front, but I was not able to find any for the rear that are specifically for the Z28. I guess I have two questions: one, was there a difference in the rear springs used on the IROC and the Z28, and two, if so, where could I find Z28 specific rear springs? Thanks in advance for any help.
Last edited by FinallyGotMyZ; 02-14-2019 at 10:40 AM.
There are none "specifically for" Z28. Or IROC. Or Sport Coupe. Or GTA. Or or or or.
It's a Camaro/Firebird. The same rear springs were used on all of em. They were "computer selected", wherein for each vehicle, the total weight was added up, and springs with the same part number that had been sorted into bins of different stiffness (not the bins) were given 2-letter or 3-letter codes and matched to the car weight.
Closest to stock is Moog CC635. Another choice is Moog 5665. CC635 is variable rate; 5665 is constant rate. IMO the CC (Cargo Coil ®) is better for a daily driver, 5665 is better for closed-course racing in most cases. YMMV.
You will find that if you "restore" your car to its "original" ride height, it will look, by today's standards, like a jacked-up 4WD. Not that it's "wrong" or "bad" or anything; just, warning you. Check out the History forum on this site, and search for the terms "photos Norwood" and "photos Van Nuys" (those were the 2 assembly plants that produced these cars) to see what they REALLY looked like rolling off the production line. THAT'S what putting "original" springs in your car will do. For that matter, people who buy new "lowering" springs often come on this site and post all about "I put 'lowering' springs in my car and now it sits higher". Well, that's because "lower" means "lower THAN NEW", not, "open my box and pour me all over your car and it jumps [1", 2", whatever, fill in the blank] closer to the center of the Earth than wherever it is now". In other words, be REAL careful what you ask for, because you're probably going to get it.
There are none "specifically for" Z28. Or IROC. Or Sport Coupe. Or GTA. Or or or or.
It's a Camaro/Firebird. The same rear springs were used on all of em. They were "computer selected", wherein for each vehicle, the total weight was added up, and springs with the same part number that had been sorted into bins of different stiffness (not the bins) were given 2-letter or 3-letter codes and matched to the car weight.
Closest to stock is Moog CC635. Another choice is Moog 5665. CC635 is variable rate; 5665 is constant rate. IMO the CC (Cargo Coil ®) is better for a daily driver, 5665 is better for closed-course racing in most cases. YMMV.
You will find that if you "restore" your car to its "original" ride height, it will look, by today's standards, like a jacked-up 4WD. Not that it's "wrong" or "bad" or anything; just, warning you. Check out the History forum on this site, and search for the terms "photos Norwood" and "photos Van Nuys" (those were the 2 assembly plants that produced these cars) to see what they REALLY looked like rolling off the production line. THAT'S what putting "original" springs in your car will do. For that matter, people who buy new "lowering" springs often come on this site and post all about "I put 'lowering' springs in my car and now it sits higher". Well, that's because "lower" means "lower THAN NEW", not, "open my box and pour me all over your car and it jumps [1", 2", whatever, fill in the blank] closer to the center of the Earth than wherever it is now". In other words, be REAL careful what you ask for, because you're probably going to get it.
Thanks for clarifying. My confusion came from the RockAuto site, as they have designations like, "Front, Berlinetta, Sport;", or, "Front, IROC-Z;", or "Front, Z28:", or "Rear, except IROC". I wanted to make sure I didn't end up selecting something incorrect for my vehicle. I'm trying to learn as much as I can about these third gens, and I think I know that Berlinettas rode a bit "floatier" than other models (if I'm wrong, someone please chime in). Wasn't sure if that floatiness was due to the springs, shocks/struts, or some combination of the two. I wanted to make sure I selected springs true to my particular model.
Front is an altogether different situation from the rear.
IROC, T/A, and the other top "performance" oriented cars, got stiffer front springs. There were a substantial range of stock ones. Plus, different engines and other option packages, had different weights, which also changed the spring specs. But the rear end of these cars all weigh pretty much about the same.
For replacements though, there isn't near as much variety, although still more than for the rear. AFAIK there are ONLY those 2 part #s listed for these cars in the Moog brand. Of course in other brands like Eibach there are others.
Berlinetta in general got the LEAST "performance' oriented of anything. It was marketed as all image, not reality. In the Firebird, the SE was roughly the same thing. It was the sort of car people would buy their teenage daughter. So you are right that whatever you look up for that package will typically be the softest ride available for any of these cars. Those had the softest springs, softest shocks, lightest sway bars, etc.
Front is an altogether different situation from the rear.
IROC, T/A, and the other top "performance" oriented cars, got stiffer front springs. There were a substantial range of stock ones. Plus, different engines and other option packages, had different weights, which also changed the spring specs. But the rear end of these cars all weigh pretty much about the same.
Stuff like this is why I come to this site. Now it all makes sense as to why there are more front options than rear. I appreciate the insight. Thank you!
02-14-2019, 10:36 AM
