Hey all......been searching the board all night reading the zillion of coil spring threads, but not finding my answer. 87 camaro. Factory non a/c. Was a 2.8 V6 manual shift. We swapped the 2.8 for a healthy 350. I figured with the extra weight, I needed stiffer springs, so I installed Moog 5662. Like an idiot, I tossed the old original springs. Anyhow.....it sits to high now up front. Almost 29 inches from the ground to the center if the fender lip. Specs for springs are all over the place. Should I order a set of V6 springs to allow it to sit a little lower? Was looking at MEVOTECHSMS5596 . Why does this have to be so hit and miss? Thanks in advance for any guidance

 

It sucks you bought a spring you don't like, but it's actually a bit of a blessing now because it gives you a known reference point to work from.

What you need to do is measure the height of the spring as installed in the pocket. This will give you the compressed height. Using that, and the known spring rate of Moog-5662, you can calculate the "sprung weight" of your car.

Having the sprung weight, you can run numbers until your heart content and find the spring that will get you the ride height you want.

 

I'm looking at a comparison graph I created for myself and I can tell you right now that every other current part number Moog lists for our cars is going to result in your car being taller, unless the car is on the real heavy side (which it probably is not). There used to be twice as many choices but Moog stopped making a lot of the part numbers sometime in the last 3 years.

There are two other part numbers not listed for our cars that appear to have compatible features. I'm guessing Moog doesn't list it because it is too low to be considered "stock", but it might be the hot ticket for you.

Moog-5660 (598 lb/in) gives about 1/4" drop from where you are now.
Moog-5658 (530 lb/in) gives about 1/2 inch drop from where you are now.

You can see the spring specs here, https://www.moog-suspension-parts.co...il_springs.asp

 

I used 5660 with one coil cut to give me 2" drop like i wanted and just stiff enough for me.
I started a thread years ago with spring rates too that could be helpfull.

 

That 600 lb/in would be darn nice for balance of ride quality and some spirited driving. Hotchkis uses same spring rate.

 

Thank you!! Very much. Great information. I can't find any specs on the Mevotech springs, so I will stick with Moog. 1/2 inch drop from where it is now would actually be ideal, it would match the rear and be level. I just wonder if the 5658 too soft of a spring. I guess I need to just give them a shot. I just tried to measure the compressed length of the 5662's......tough to get that perfect measurement......between 10.5 and 10.75 due to the margin or error. I would like to get the height to 28.25 so I guess I will give it a shot. I find it interesting how the free height of the softer spring is taller than the stiffer spring. How a slightly taller spring can slightly compress more I need to understand. Thank you

 

I tonight, I finally installed the 5660's. I am extremely happy. From the 5662's it lowered the front 1 inch, from 28.75 to 27.75 and I am extremely happy with the height and look!! Thank you. Glad I did not go with the 5658's

 

So the next obvious question lol. Now the rear is slightly higher. I have Moog 5665 in the rear. Would the CC635 be better? Lower it a half inch or so?

 

If you decide on the cc635 I have a brand new set in box im not using.

 

Not to thread-jack, but can anyone tell me the spring rate of the factory Z-28/WS-6 front springs?...

 

Did GM ever disclose spring rates?

 

I'm actually looking to do the opposite and raise my front end up a bit from the Eibach Pro Kit which was a 1" drop,

So the Moog 5660 brought you down 1" from OEM height? Maybe I'll look into the 5662 or some other threads that show similar minor drops to get me .5" or higher again.

 

OUTATIME why bother to slightly raise 1/2", is the handling that much different or some other reason.
If its for looks u can tell a 1" but a 1/2" i dont know.

 

Yeah, I should've said 1".

The front is a little over 25.5" and looks good, but I'd like to raise the car up due to the very low exhaust.

 

Ok thats one of the few good reasons to raise back up.