Thoughts about leaf vs 4 link. Hotchkis/ridetech

[Carlsson]

Hi,
I have Hotchkis lowering springs/front and 1,5" drop leaf springs from Hotchkis.
Also planned to mount there tubular arms. This along with red koni shocks.
The plan have been to get a full tvs stage 2 kit eventually. I get stuff when my budget let me.

I bought my car in 2010 and it have been a rolling restoration. But now it's getting a ls1, new paint, wilwood brakes and it starting to look very nice.

And then.... I started to look on the ridetech stuff and as a nerd for details I started to think about 4 link. I'm probably not gonna mini tub it for now. And the goal is around 400hp with really nice (street) drive ability.
Not just straight forward.

One thing that bothers me with Hotchkis is that it's hard to get the right ride height especially in the rear. I realize that I should go with the 3" drop from the start. And I'm not a fan of lowering blocks.

Another thing is that I don't like to mix parts. So I stick with one brand.
What kind of benefits do the ridetech 4 link have? I need to consider if it's worth the money for me. But this time I do the chassi one time for all.
And if I should go with the ridetech stuff it will also be the same in the front.

When it comes to quality i really like Hotchkis but i also don't have much to compare with. As far as there leaf springs goes I think it will be absolutely fine for me.
This is a question about looks, quality, drive ability.
Also a lot of money:)

Maybe some of you members here have been in the same position?

Goal: street and show.
Car: Camaro 67

[Carlsson]

Pictures of my car...

[Carlsson]

and this is pretty much how i want it to look. The look of the car will be some kind of "classic" look, and not crazy pro touring. My goal or working line have been "how a 67 camaro could look like from factory" if that make any sense:)
And that with modern parts...

[Carlsson]

and right now its way to small tires on the car. Want more profile to gain a little more "muscle car feeling". The rear wheels is 24" tall now so that is also a issue of course.
The plan is to go with 275 in the rear and PROBABLY 18" but it would work with 17" also...


So bring me your knowledge!! =)

[Josh@Ridetech]

Hey Carlsson. Good looking car!

With what you're looking to do with the car, I think that our level 2 coilover package would be a very good fit for you. The kit would make a tremendous change in ride quality and handling for you (and still be an easy installation). I suggest the level 2 because of the HQ series coilovers that are part of the kit. With the rebound adjustability, you can fine tune the shocks to your driving style/preference. Having the wide range of adjustments to decide from really helps with making the car exactly what you want. The kit is designed to lower the car 2" compared to factory height but you can play with that height to get it exactly where you want it.

If you do the front suspension as well, the control arms will help correct geometry, allow more caster, and the tall spindles improve the camber gain. We also use delrin bushings in the arms that allow the control arms to move without seeing any of the stiction that you would see from a poly bushing.

On the rear, the four link allows the suspension to have more travel and movement than a leaf spring. A 275 tire will work just fine on the rear with our kit and the factory tubs, no problems there at all. The upper tabs for the upper control arms to mount to are the only parts in the kit that will require any welding.

[Carlsson]

Hi!
Thanks for answer! I haven't had any thoughts at all on 4 link before. But just recently I spent some time on your site and learned some more, and it grew on me. And messed with my head...
And I realize that I will have to replace my rear leafs with lower ones to be happy with it if I go that way.
Because lowering blocks that is around 2" is ain't gonna happen. And after all I want a top notch car. Both finish and drive ability.
If it's ridetech there will be that in the front as well!

[Carlsson]

@josh

Oh, one other thing, i bought a Wilwood brake kit with 6 Piston in front and 12'19" rotors. Its are ordered to fit stock spindle. How is this working with your spindle?
After spending some more couple of hours of research I'm getting more and more into change everything to ridetech.

[Tinker]

Hi Carlsson,

Just thought I would pop in on this thread to tell you the wildwood brake kit should fit the Ridetech spindles. In fact if you look on Wilwoods website it should list compatibility with the Ridetech spindle.

BTW, keep up the nice work. car looks great and enjoy the process of "getting it where you want it"

[Carlsson]

Ok, is there any more with experience out there that have something to say here before I make up my mind?

Done a lot of research and also spoke to ridetech. Super nice company...
Hotchkis have not replied on any of my questions, that's not so good customer support...

[David Pozzi]

I have experience with both. Hotchkis makes a great setup for a simple bolt on kit. The tuning is where they shine and the parts are well made. Hotchkis does not address suspension geometry flaws other than increasing caster settings which helps a lot.

Ride Tech goes a couple of steps further in fixing not only caster but offering tall spindles for improved camber gain. The tall spindles increase the already bad bump steer but they have a Tru-Turn kit for that. Fixing bump steer and using a firm feel steering box will vastly improve steering response & makes the car less twitchy/more precise, - more like a modern car. These fixes will really make your Camaro feel good to drive, it won't be pulled to one side when you hit a bump. It makes the car go exactly where you steer it.

In the rear suspension, the 4 link Ride Tech suspension reduces rear unsprung weight. You can feel the improvement in ride, even at low speeds. There is a handling improvement but it's not as large as the ride improvement in my opinion. Hotchkis makes a rear leaf that I like a lot but it's heavy so it isn't going to ride as well. It has a built in traction bar so wheel hop is usually not a problem, no extra traction devices are required. The advantage here is simple installation/factory appearance. A guy with a stock look Z/28 would want this combo.

Another option is the Ride Tech Street Grip package. It's more like a Hotchkis bolt on kit with lighter weight better riding fiberglass rear leaf springs. It's better riding than the Hotchkis kit, I think not as stiff.

[Carlsson]

Thank you for your answer! That was a kind of answer I was looking for!

[Josh@Ridetech]

Done a lot of research and also spoke to ridetech. Super nice company...


Thanks for the good words, it was good talking to you! Let me know if you have any more questions. :thumbsup:

[simon455]

Just by checking out the classified section, Looks Like lot of guys eventually are upgrading to a 4 link set up from the leafs.

[MCB Matt]

Yes, many are running 4 links or panhard bars. Either is a world of difference in ride quality and adjustability. The cost is not much more than good leafs and shocks either.

Matt

[Carlsson]

I haven't been able to DRIVE the ridetech system yet. But I have been looking at it irl on two cars(rear), underneath, and it looks good! And seems like it's not that of a big deal to install it either.

I think the price is wery good. As I wrote in the beginning I Have the hotckis leafs now and they are good quality and all that... But if I had done my research a little better before I started buy stuff I should go with ridetech right away! No doubt!
But as soon as I is on the right side of the budget again it will be ridetech...

For example, if you care about stance... Seems soooo much better to be able to adjust it with a coilover system, Ridetech or not..
Instead of cutting springs, use lowering blocks etc..

[jonathonar89]

Tires, like mentioned, are something to think about with either link or leaf suspension kit. Most of the performance 275-315 tire selection for 17" wheels at this time are short. 18" wheels have a pretty nice selection of performance tires which are taller and fill the wheel well. You may want to consider modifying this before buying kit to lower your suspension further.

The more and more you lower your car, the less suspension travel you will have. A coil-over spring that is compressed to lower the car has that much less suspension travel until you're riding on the bump stop. This is why I'm saying you may want to really consider getting a taller tire in there.

Also, the body can be lowered 1/2-1" to the subframe if you go with an adjustable solid body mount. This approach will lower your car slightly and still retain all of your current suspension travel. I would suggest the Pro-Touring F-Body setup for that. I know PTFB is not a sponsor on this forum and I'm a new member but they also have a really nice looking "Tall Spindle Kit" for 1st gens on their website. You may want to check that out.
http://pro-touringf-body.com/chassis_components.html

Hopefully this helps.

[Carlsson]

Thanks for your input!
Since I wrote this thread I have been researching like crazy and spent months of reading articles and on forums. I decided to pull the trigger on the ridetech level 2.
It's not only that I want the car lower in the rear. I also want the advantages of being able to adjust the stance a little bit to get it as good as possible with bolt on stuff. But higher wheels is necessary. I've looked on those cars I like and see what tire sizes (height) they're having and go from there.
I've already have solid body mounts.
I'm pretty shure that I would get the right stance with my leafs but that will for shure need some type of spacer in the leafs.

With that being said it's also about show. I've owned the car for almost 7 years and now I'm the version 2.0 there is new flawless paint, ls engine, wilwood brakes, more custom made interior... So for persons like me that like details I realized that a 4 link also is a esthetic question for me, and then I'm not just meaning the stance;)

And one other thing that I noticed now when taking the old engine out and the stock contro arms. Now I have NOT been driving with a good/quality shock in the front. But Hotchkis (cut) Springs. All new bushings) I've been lined up the car for at least 3 times in this years, but still I'm not satisfied. And now when taking it apart pretty much everything was done when it comes to bushings, spindles (that where brand new) alignment and so on. Not the springs of course... And I thought that the subframe it self could be the issue but that seems just fine. The problem that I see (and I'm not a chassi expert or a hard core auto cross car builder) is that the stock control arms and so on doesn't hold up over time if the car isn't lowered correct. And what correct is, is there a lot of opinions about. And not tho mention on all the forums;)

I can just speak for my self... My car haven't been driven very hard or that much in this years.

So it's gonna be fun (or not?!:) ) to see how the ridetech stuff will work. And I will post here for a review when it's been tested (that will
Be a couple of months though)

And some other stuff: since I live in Sweden it's being a lot of emails. And Ridetech (when it comes to chassi) was the only ones that actually cared and have a killer customer support! Emailed a lot and also spoke on the phone with Josh. And for customer service it is top nop notch. A lot of the other company's didn't reply at all. And one of the companies that "have cred" answered me with "ours is better than ridetech".... No explanations why and not even a "hello".
And then it doesn't matter if you have the chassi of a bat mobile, I don't like the approach to talk down others stuff.

Hotchkis, that this thread started about have not replied in a single one of my 10 emails they got from me under one year or so...

with that being said, the deal is closed and I'm waiting for my stuff to come home. And a review will be put here....

:)

[Josh@Ridetech]

Thanks again, Janne!

Let me know if you come up with any questions throughout the install. Looking forward to hearing your review :thumbsup:.

[jonathonar89]

Carlsson, at least you've made your decision on the Ridetech kit knowing that you could've made the same ride height using leaf springs. Many other people would fail to realize that. There's no argument that the coil-overs will look much cooler under there.

I've had the same issue myself with regards to email communication and some aftermarket suppliers for "performance" parts. This is part of the reason why I have gone about using Pro-Touring F-Body for my suspension supplier. Dave at that shop is extremely knowledgeable and has been involved with the performance/racing scene for that past 30+ years. I also live near that shop so I've gotten to know him more personally than the typical customer.

Keep us posted on the review/install. Also, make sure you tighten or weld the brackets to the frame good. I saw someone else on another forum have issues with the bolts becoming loose and falling out. This obviously was an install issue rather than an issue with the kit.