Well I finally got my new wheels on ( I'll try and link some pix later) so the cars stance is all set-up. I have the hotchkis front and rear drop springs and the car has been on the ground for some time but has not seen any road action since I changed everything........

In my opinion, it still sits too high for me. At this point I'm going to assume with some road use, the suspension will "settle" alittle, but have any of you guys lowered your cars more with the Hotchkis set-up and if so, how ??????

I'm not looking for a ground scraped set-up, but something with alittle more aggressive of a stance........

Is it too high in the front? Are you sure that the springs are seated up in the pockets in the frame? (top of spring) When installing springs you can swing the upper A arm up and see a little hole right at the end of the pocket. You need to make sure that the spring is all the way into this pocket. When I first installed my new stock springs, the car sat waaay high. Someone here helped me and it made a couple inches difference!

Just a thought...

Robb

I've double and triple checked that the springs are seated right, so I'm 99% certain they are installed right....... I guess I just want the car to sit slightly lower overall.... its not a front vs back issue its an overall stance issue.......

I had to cut my Hotchkis BB springs on my car. I cut a full coil, lowered it another 2".

Just give your some time. My friend's car and mine both settled after a few hundred miles of driving.
Here's a pic of our cars with the hotchkis suspension all around. The convertible has a 1" lowering block added to rear and mine has a 1.5"
http://http://www.touringcamaro.com/updates/both.jpg

My car settled about an inch after driving the car.

http://www.touringcamaro.com/updates/both.jpg

Thanks guys.... I figured it would settle some but have no idea how much......there are so many other things to do on my car that I have no intention of lowering it more until I have most of it together and "broken in" a little on the road... that way I can be confident that lowering it more is what I want to do and I dont lower it too much before it settles......

Mine didn't settle at all. Hotchkis told me that they might settle 1/8", if at all.

I installed the same suspension and my car sat very low. Then I drove it for 20 miles and it dropped another 1". My car is comparable to other first gens with the Hotchkis setup. It is a bit to low for me but I think after I install the 17" rims and replace the original bushings up front it will sit allot better.

From the center of the wheel well lip to the center of the rim, I ended up with 11.25" in the front and 12.5" in the rear.

Here is a pic of the front of my car after the install. Sorry I don't have any pics of the rear yet. I am running 235/60/15 BFG's up front.
http://www.ragersworld.com/images/2inchdrop.jpg

Mark... I've heard about alot of guys with the BB springs having it sit way too high, but not the SB springs.

I'm hoping once the springs and new bushings get broken in some, it will settle, but I guess only time will tell.

Where's the pic's?? graemlins/hurray.gif

I have no idea how to post a pix on here directly. I can only do the yahoo link thing and I havent downloaded the pix to yahoo yet....

I measured mine........ in both front and rear fom my center hub on the wheel to the wheelwell lip is 13 inches................. I'm running 18 inch rims...... that sounds real high to me.

My subframe is about 6 inches from the ground both at the front crossmember and the last attachment bolt at the rear of the frame.

The entire suspension is new with poly bushings etc, so I'm hoping they just need to get broken in to get the car to drop some..... I did torque everything with the car on the ground, so I dont think I'm getting any binding etc, and the car is even side to side.

I made a few measurements of my Hotchkis conversion after the springs settled a bit. I got about 13.25" each side from fenderwell lip to wheel center. If you don't think these springs settle check out these before and after settling pics:

http://www.100megsfree.com/choptop/Hotchkis/pass%20front%20before.jpg

http://www.100megsfree.com/choptop/Hotchkis/drop%20pass%20front.jpg

I also have the Hotchkis set-up, and was not satisfied with the front ride height. Remember, the springs are 2" drop over stock, stock SB Camaro sat like 4X4's, so I, like Mutert, removed one additional coil, which is the most you can remove before affecting ride and performance characteristics, this from my source at Hotchkis.

Now my car sits "right", and also has 18's, and plenty of ground clearance....

p.s. a note for your other post. Don't use the braided hose covers...sounds like you have done alot of the right things to your car, and those things NEVER look good...use the real stuff, or do what I did, just use black hoses and clamp covers....you will be glad you did...IMHO.


http://www.pro-touring.com/featured_cars/Camaro/1969_Camaro/jeffry_trush_69_camaro_pace_conv/P8060024.jpg


Yes, Jody the car is done now, so I will get some new pics up ASAP!!!! ;)

Jeff.. the stance to your car is exactly what I was looking for...... can you do me a favor and measure your car from center of wheel to fender lip and from ground to crossmember etc.......

Remind me, but whats your engine set-up etc, so I can make sure we have similar weight up front etc.....

And with an additionl 1 full coil/2 inch drop, you still have good ground clearence and your front tires dont rub at all ??????

Did you end up lowering the reat too ??

One thing to remember about the car settling is make sure the car is completely put togther. ie
Glass installed, radiator, fluid, grill , interior, sound deadener, etc..
Once I started putting the car back together it just kept getting lower and lower. I wouldn't cut anything until then....

Sure, I can measure those for you, I am flying home today (Cold Weather Testing in Northern Minnesota!) so I will measure them tommorrow and post the values...

I only "finished" the car for the Detroit Autorama last Thurs. (20th) so I have not yet cranked it around the corners, but I do not anticipate any rubbing, and I can turn the wheels lock to lock without any interference with them fully loaded. Lots of planning, and a small sacrifice in tire width goes a long way to preventing problems in the long run....

Jeff.....can you take one more measurement for me..... from the back mounting surface of you wheel to the outside of the tire bulge..... I know you went 255 rather than 275.... I'm just curious how far your wheel sticks out from the mounting surface including the tire....

Thanks

ned

I took the measurements,

From the center of the wheel to the bottom of the front fenderlip is approximately 11".

The bottom of the front engine crossmember is approximately 4.75" to 5" of ground clearance.

I have to pull the rear wheel off to measure the third one you wanted, so I will do that tomorrow.

Let me know if you need anything else...

J.T.

Ned,

The rear sub attachment point has approx. 5" of ground clearance..The center of the rear wheel to the rear quarter lip is approx.12.25"

I still haven't yanked the wheel for the other measurement, but I will get to it this week,I promise smile.gif

take the shocks out, get like 5 fat friends and have them sit in the car, for a Nascar race, , don't drive it without the shocks,tho.
car should settle down another inch or so, ;) graemlins/beers.gif