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Issue With Front Suspension

3K views 24 replies 7 participants last post by  69X11 
#1 · (Edited)
I have almost everything worked out. 12 Bolt with 3.73's, New TK0600 and new Serpentine system with new power steering pump and alternator. The brakes finally feel like brakes and the power steering pump works great.

But when I drive it, the front end doesn't feel right. I did just see a post about a guy that had suspension issues. Mine aren't exactly like his, but close.

With the weight of the car on the ground, I push down on the front fenders and I have absolutely zero travel of the front springs. It's like the shocks are stuck.

My setup is thus;

Front tires: P235/60R15
Tubular Control arms
QA1 Coil-overs with 600# springs
Height from floor to lip of fender: L/F: 22-3/8" R/F: 23-1/4" (Will verify equal adjustment)
Front end is a little too low-tires rub while turning.
I DO NOT have 2" drop spindles.
Rear: I have Hotchkis 1-1/2" drop multi-leaf springs with 255/60R15's
Height from floor to lip of rear fender: L/F: 26" R/F: 26-1/8"
Height of car in rear is just right.

I feel like I need to replace the coil-overs. Heidts has a P/N CB-130 HERE, but it doesn't show what spring they come with. Guess I need to call them.
A really don't have a problem replacing the control arms and going back to the originals, but if I can get the front end to come up a little with these tubular control arms I would prefer that direction.
There are also these HERE . These are Stance Air cups. Will fit on coil-overs so you can raise the height.

I had Ride-Tech on my Chevelle, but the coil-overs require their StrongArm Control arms and the kit is pretty pricey. I can't find a Ridetech assembly that contains only the parts required to get the coil-overs to go onto the front. You would think they would have a kit that included the coil-overs, upper and lower control arms and the spindles.

I guess at this point, I will pull the coil-overs and try to determine if they have been over-extended.





 
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#2 ·
Maybe the shocks are bottomed out. Your adjusters are all the way to the bottom. Turn them up and raise the front of the car. Should be no reason to replace QA1 coilovers with Heidts. Do you have the coilover adjusting wrench?

If you jack up the front of the car do the wheels drop? If they do then the shocks are not fully extended.

Don
 
#3 · (Edited)
Thanks Don. I am not certain if the wheels drop or if it is just the tires unloading when I jack the car up. I will go confirm that. I do have the wrench, and I swore I just saw it recently, but now comes the journey of trying to locate it. I can't believe that when you get older, it becomes harder and harder to find stuff. I put it somewhere where I will be able to find it when I need it, then when I go looking for it, it disappears! :nerd:
I did also install the torrington bearings and I do have anti-seize on the threads. It could also be why one side is at a different height. This time I will try to get them both up to 23" or taller.

Thanks,

Brett.......
 
#5 ·
I edited my response....
 
#9 ·
Crap, now I got confused. You guys are thinking the shocks might be "Bottomed Out" Does that mean that the shocks are fully compressed?
And The nut that is at the bottom of the spring needs to be rotated up, or more compressing the spring? Doesn't that mean that in order to compress the spring more it would be better to have the wheels on the ground, or with weight on them? That would seem to mean that compressing the spring would more compress the shock. You see how confused I am!

Brett....
 
#10 ·
If the shocks are bottomed out, it would mean that they are fully compressed. You'll want to adjust your collar upwards to further compress the spring (and raise the ride height).
 
#11 ·
Ahhh! Compressing the spring means that the shock will not be compressed?
B...
 
#15 ·
If the adjustment nut is at the bottom of the shock body you are definitely bottomed out.

Turning the adjuster upward will compress the spring to the point the weight of the car is supported by the spring. As you continue to adjust up the spring will not compress further and the car will raise as you adjust.

My guess is you'll be going up with the nut 2"-3". QA1s have approx 4" of travel. Ideally you want to be close to the center of travel.
 
#12 ·
Correct... think of it this way.....

You want the shock piston to be relitively centered in the shock tube. If you had NO spring on the coil over, the car would sit very low and the piston of the shock would be all the way down in the bore (for coilovers).

By compressing the spring... you make the spring take the load..... raise the ride height, and allow the shock piston to come up in the bore.

Is the car sitting extremely low on the ground (on the bumpstops)?
 
#13 ·
About an inch. The thing I do see is that the spring nut is at the bottom of it's travel. I have a Looong way that I can raise the spring. This should be all I have to do (I hope)! Thanks guys!

Brett......
 
#16 ·
You guys are awesome! Right now I am up with the nuts aprox. 1-1/2". It put my ride height as follows:

From: L/F R/F L/R R/R
22-3/8 23-1/4" 26" 26-3/16

To: L/F R/F L/R R/R
24-3/4" 25" 26-1/4 26"



Brett......
 
#18 ·
I'm a bit late to the discussion here. Brett, sit in the drivers seat and have someone
measure the height. See if it changes much. If it does adjust for level or close. Being
able to set each corner height is one advantage of the coil overs. Be sure to get a front
end alignment done. I've actually done alignments with a driver in the car. Use the specs
from David Pozzi's site.
 
#23 ·
Yes! It's great. It is pretty stiff, and I might could go a little but more, but I am close to the rear height and I want the front to be lower for sure. I will drive it now and see how it feels. Friday I took it out and it felt a little restrictive while coasting. I went up to the gas station and filled it up with premium. Then I went over to the air pump. All four tires before I put air in them were at 18 PSI! Haha! Guess that is why it was restrictive, lol.

The one last thing I want to do to the engine is machine the top fins of my M.T. valve covers and get rid of the current ones.

Thanks,

Brett......
 
#24 · (Edited)
Okay! Went out for a drive and it's the first time I actually could tell I needed a front end alignment! Before it seemed like it was all bound up. Now it drives like a normal car, less alignment. It actually drove great. I could barely feel it wanting to drift to one side or the other slightly. First time I have been able to turn into my garage without any tires rubbing! :grin2:
70 mph @ 2000 rpm's

Only problem I saw was one of my O2 sensors was not reading. It had a E4 and the "M" at the bottom was flashing. This was on the passenger side.

Thank you guys for preventing me from spending unnecessary dollars.

Brett.....
 
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