Lowering 101

[Steve Chryssos]

Wow. That Scott doesn't mess around. I hit submit on a really sweet (and constructive) reply and find out the sucker's locked. Luckily I was able to hit the back button and copy paste my words of wisdom.

Good. I'm glad he locked it. Okay. Let's start over, shall we--and play nice:

Here's the deal:
It's virtualy impossible to talk about lowered front springs without also discussing rear springs. It's a matter of ride height.

If Jake is frustrated, that must mean that he has installed lowered springs, dropped the thing off the jackstands, looked back, and said WTF? Same as me. Show me a nicely lowered car and I'll show you a garage with a pile of extra springs laying on the side. Springs are wierd. And it really sux to spend money on springs only to find that you did not achieve the desired ride height. Then your buddies tell you "Don't worry, they'll settle. B.S.!!

Coil springs are easy. Bust out the whiz wheel or chop saw and a bucket of water. But leaf springs? You gotta find someone to de-arch em, put em in, check, remove, de-arch, lowering block. It blows. So DSE came out with a lowered leaf spring especially for cars with 25" tall tires. Nice.

Here's your avatar pic:
http://www.ageoflegends.com/~antirice/me/sig.jpg

I'll tell you what. The car in that picture has DSE 3" springs plus maybe a lowering block (which you won't want or need) and some 2" drop coils with a half a coil removed.
Like I said, springs are wierd. And so am I.

[68protouring454]

once again, kickass post, nice work
jake

[XcYZ]

Yep, I locked that thread. Perhaps it was a little premature, but hey, I'm new at this. lol We all know where negativity leads, and it spreads like the plague. I know to an extent, it's inevitable.

[sinned]

I read the last 2 pages of the thread in question to see what the fuss was about, I'm curious as to why the negativity toward dropped spindles. Properly built they are the single biggest improvement that could be made to the front of a 1st gen camaro.

[XcYZ]

Dennis, it was the comments that Jake and Eric made toward each other that got that thread closed. I was making a statement that I do not care for people making personal attacks towards each other.

[MaxHarvard]

Steve,

While the picture i posted may look lowered it was photochopped by me just to give me an idea of what it may look like. I'm not sure what i'll do with the back when i put the new lowering blocks Scott gave me in, they may look nice or they may look like crap... i wont know until i put them in.

Sorry jake, steve, scott and whoever else was collateral damage there, it just felt as if no one paid attention to what i had asked after about the 3rd or 4th post. The reason that i wont do anything from DSE is the price, i work part time to pay my bills and am a full time graduate student, and on top of that i'm trying to help pay for a wedding coming up here in a bit. Scott has always been nice to me and helped out quite a bit, and for the most part so has everyone here that i've talked to *Cough jim, jody scott cough* i was just confused as to why i asked a specific question i get something completely different. Which is not what i am used to on this site.

~Eric

[68protouring454]

who makes a well built drop spindle for a first gen??? i know the sed's are gonna be nice, but they are also gonna be 500-700 bucks, which is to much for the average street car guy, let us know
jake

[Steve Chryssos]

I wont know until I put them in.
~Eric

Xactly! That's exactly the point. You're there. No more from me on the subject. Now let's talk about you getting married...... :rolleyes:

[MarkM66]

Great post Steve! That's exactly right.

I went though the same thing when I used Hotckis front coils on my '68. Dropped the car, and thought, wtf? It sat about 2" too high. So I had to cut them.

Lesson learned: Just buy coils with the proper rate, and cut trial and error method.

I was really please with how the Hotchkis rear leafs made the car sit though. I would of liked maybe another 1/2"-1" lower, but with the truck loaded, it would've rubbed.

ps, I've ruined a few sets of coils in the past too, ;) .

http://www.pro-touring.com/featured_cars/Camaro/1968_Camaro/marks_68_camaro/camaroleftside.jpg

[sinned]

I figured that Scott. :thumbsup:

I like the hidden adjuster idea more than the cut check.

[MaxHarvard]

Xactly! That's exactly the point. You're there. No more from me on the subject. Now let's talk about you getting married...... :rolleyes:

what about me getting married? :)

[Steve Chryssos]

Adjusters are great but you better be in the ball park first. Every once in a while I meet some dude with weight jackers, pattin' himself on the back just because he's running them. Then you look under the car and realize he's in coil bind at ride height. Hmmmn... Way to go.

Actually, being bucks down, I'd cut the stock springs first (slowly) in stages, get the ride height where you want it and then go for a spin. If the handling meets your current needs, Spend money down the road (wedding money?) on the perfect springs. You can use the data from the exercise to help determine proper spring length and rate later.

Cost = Zero.

The best part about that is putting it together without coil springs installed, then raising and lowering the car on the floor jack just to see how cool it looks at different heights. Ooooh!

Wait. I said I was done. Okay. Now I'm done. Sorry.

[MaxHarvard]

Adjusters are great but you better be in the ball park first. Every once in a while I meet some dude with weight jackers, pattin' himself on the back just because he's running them. Then you look under the car and realize he's in coil bind at ride height. Hmmmn... Way to go.

Actually, being bucks down, I'd cut the stock springs first (slowly) in stages, get the ride height where you want it and then go for a spin. If the handling meets your current needs, Spend money down the road (wedding money?) on the perfect springs. You can use the data from the exercise to help determine proper spring length and rate later.

Cost = Zero.

The best part about that is putting it together without coil springs installed, then raising and lowering the car on the floor jack just to see how cool it looks at different heights. Ooooh!

Wait. I said I was done. Okay. Now I'm done. Sorry.


lol, done? wait... now done? lol just kidding.

the no-spring approach isnt a bad idea, the only thing i'm worried about is constantly having to pull them out every time and risk ruining a ball joint each time.

[trapin]

Max...I think I may have been the one that set you off. :_paranoid I guess I mis-read your post to mean the entire car all the way around, not just the front. My mistake. Your original post read:

if i want to lower my car, do i need drop spindles too or can i use the stock ones with a lowered spring?

Sorry about that. But I'd like to clarify something. When we mention 3" drop springs, it means 3 inches from the stock ride height, not from your current ride height. Or are you at the stock ride height now? As for the front, I have the Hotckis springs in my car (with no motor) and when I bolt the fender up, the top of the tires are about 1 inch below the wheel lip. So I'm guessing they'll be good to go. If not I plan on cutting them and if my memory serves me correct I think 4 inches along the coil equals 1 inch of drop. Although I could be wrong. Someone chime in here if I am.

[sinned]

Adjusters are great but you better be in the ball park first. Every once in a while I meet some dude with weight jackers, pattin' himself on the back just because he's running them. Then you look under the car and realize he's in coil bind at ride height. Hmmmn... Way to go.

:lolhit: that would suck. I don't have that problem as I don't run weight jacks, just adjustable shims on the top of the spring.