Guys and gals,
I'm currently in talks with an H&R rep. in an attempt to bring to light an issue with the springs they've been selling. The advertised average drop with these springs is 1.2" in the front and 1" in the rear. Personally, my front springs were pretty close to that, but my rear fender dropped just an 8th of an inch short of 2 full inches. Some people may not consider "too much" of a drop an "issue", and others may find yourself in the position that I do with wheels & tires that aren't fitting because the car's too low, etc. Others may just not like the "reverse rake" that these springs are producing (where the rear is lower than the front). Regardless of whether you're ok with the discrepancy or not, I'm asking that you make an attempt to contact Ryan at 1-888-827-8881 and simply inform him of the amount that your H&R springs lowered your V. The more people that inform him/them, the more likely it is that they fix the discrepancy.

This Ryan fellow is now aware of the possible issue and in our last conversation he told me that he's looking into it. He said he pulled 3 sets of rear springs out of their bin and tested them (I'm not sure what this testing entails), and they all "tested to their standards". I gave him my before and after floor to fender (through midline of wheel) measurements which showed a drop of 1 & 7/8ths in the rear. Ryan asked if I'd made any bump stop modifications or other suspension modifications, to which I told him I had not, except for the shock relocation spacers. I explained that these spacers have no effect on the static ride height of the vehicle, but were simply to compensate for the Nivomat auto-leveling shocks. He didn't seem familliar with this modification, but seemed to understand and accept that it did not effect the static ride height of the vehicle.

At one point in our initial conversation, Ryan did say that these springs were not made to work with vehicles equipped with auto-leveling shocks. I informed Ryan that I wasn't aware of ANY cts-v that did not have Nivomat auto-leveling shocks and thus, if this were the case with the springs, that they never should have been marketed as springs for the CTS-V. That was the last that I heard of this arguement, and Ryan continues to look into the subject.

Anyway, if you do contact H&R, please post up here with any pertinant info.

Thanks guys.

 

that usually means he wont do anything.. u will be saying

 

Thanks for the incredibly valuable input...

Had I thought that this was going to be the case, I probably wouldn't have gone to the trouble to post this thread. Regardless, I'm not really even looking to get anything out of this, rather than just make them aware of what's going on. If there happens to be any type of renumeration once/if they realize their mistake(s), then even better for those of us who put the effort into bringing this to their attention.

 

So you modified your rear suspension my relocating the shock, and now the lowered results are more than what the manufacturer claimed?

That doesn't sound like their problem to me and I guarantee that is what they are going to say.

 

Whistler - You MUST have read at least a few of the posts out there that explain that shock spacers (MM or otherwise) DO NOT effect static ride height of the vehicle. The info is posted all over the place, including on my 2 recent threads that you've chimed in on. Do you just refuse to believe it, or what?

Guys, talk to anyone around here that has a decent understanding of our Nivomat shocks and these types of spacers, and theyll all tell you that the spacers DO NOT, directly or indirectly, effect static ride height.

I could uninstall these spacers and, as long as the car isn't or hasnt very recently been in motion, get the same floor to fender measurements as I have now. THE SPRINGS DETERMINE THE RIDE HEIGHT, not the spacers.

 

That wont matter to the manufacturer. They tested the springs in 2004 and sent them to market. In 2008 the MM mod came out. Only after that did people complain about the rear being too low.

Companies (dealerships too) don't care that the mod you did has no effect or whether it even helps a poor design (axles on a V), if you modify it they will not help (in most cases).

Best of luck though.

 

Thanks for the encouraging words, but as I said in my reply to Babrown18, I wouldn't be persuing this if I didn't feel that Ryan was open to getting to the bottom of the issue. If I have to go in and uninstall the spacers to convince him, then I will. Hell, maybe we'll even get someone in touch with him that doesn't have spacers installed and is still seeing the issue...

 

I would love to be slammed... what kind of tire fitment issues are you having? Could it be fixed with any cuting in the wheel well?

 

Oh, and don't get mad at this statement as it could be a commen error but based on the height that you posted it almost seems that you reversed the springs (rears up front and fronts in the rear?) I'm not saying that its the case or even if its possible but I've been known to do some pretty stupid **** just because I would get a head of myself..( built a bookshelf inverted) and got laughed at for days...

 

Now that I think about it, the shocks being reversed would make since.. your super low in the back because the front shocks would be a tad softer causing the ride height to drop lower in the rear and the rears would be stiffer causing the front to not be very affected by the added weight... or I'm just an idiot and need to rethink life... prolly later of the 2... haha

 

^ Front springs/shocks won't fit in the rear...front is struts...rear is separate spring/shock

 

I may call Ryan as my car also dropped just short of 2 inches. But the look is kinda growing on me

 

AJ1 - What Nikon said. My wheel fitment issues are posted up (with pics) in 2 other threads I started recently.

Camminv6 - the look might have grown on me too, but these rubbing issues with the new wheels and tires ruined it for me.

 

Might want to take out the MM spacers and replace them with just a few washers. This way you can play with how thick your spacer will be and get a better ride height.

 

If its too low ditch the MM and do the spacers that have worked for years.

 

Not as effective of a means to adjust the ride height as modifying the spring or how the spring fits. Modifying only the MM spacer may alter the dynamic ride height of the car, but will also change (most likely for the worse) the ride quality because that aforementioned height change is due to the auto-leveling of the shock. For best ride quality you want there to be ZERO load leveling occurring during normal driving (i.e. empty trunk, and empty back seat). It's not something you want to induce by modifying the spacer.

 

It rides like **** on the shocks and clunks going over bumps....OP is right, adjust ride height by the springs and control damping with shocks.

Besides, car would be a different height driving than it would sitting still.

 

Is this a joke? I fee like I'm in the facking twilight zone here. LOL SHOCK RE-LOCATORS/SPACERS DO NOT CHANGE THE RIDE HEIGHT! THEY JUST COMPENSATE FOR THE NIVOMATS (only when car's in motion)!

 

Dude, if you install lowering springs on stock V the rear does not go down.

If you install the 1" spacer (four 1/4" washers) on the top of the shock and install the springs you will drop 1".

I did this in 2007 and there have been hundreds of others that have. Y'all that are doing the MM mod are getting the rear MUCH lower than with just the spacers. And it seems that most of you are finding that the MM mod lowers the rear too much for you.

Original spacers (WW and Nels) = 1" drop.

MM Mod = ~2" drop

 

hmmm, maybe I need to check into the washers then...but right now I have no rubbing issues like the OP so I may just give it some time. The 2" drop looks good just don't wanna tear anything up.