Hello,
Last night, my mechanic and I installed front and rear Bilstein shocks (the better valved ones according to Sam) with a set of Hotckis lowering springs for a 1" drop. The car sits lower in the back than it does the front. (I somehow forgot to measure before we got started ). My car does looks better than it did before the modification, but I know that if I could get the front down about another 1.5 inches without the rear dropping anymore, the car's stance would be perfect. Any advice other than buying adjustable shocks. I don't have the funds right now and really don't want to fight with the car again. (passenger side nut that sits on top of the shock just below the A-arm car was pretty much rounded off with rust--had to grind it out, cut the shock, and stock spring to get it out). I've only driven the car 40 miles to get home and an alignment is the next order of business.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated....

P.S. In all of the pics that I saw with the Hotckis springs, the cars sat even-Did we possibly do something wrong?

-Lamar

 

Did you use the isolators in the rear? Did you twist them down on the spring and hold them while putting the springs into position? Well most 1" drops the rear is .25" lower. In my case I used a pad on top of the isolator to get me real close to what I wanted. Your other option is to buy spring spacers from Summit or Jeg's.

 

or you can get adjustable spring seats for the back and be able to raise it at your discretion

 

Where do you get those?

 

Hello,

-Intercooler 2...We reused the stock isolators for the rear and the stock isolators for the front as well. We did make sure that the rear isolators were held in place when placing them into position.

-beezer1519...thanks for that info.

I came across a thread posted back in '04 with a similar problem. Same shocks different springs though. But the concensus was that the shocks had to be driven a few 100 miles in order for the suspesion to settle. Some said that the driver side sat a little high as well when using the bilsteins shocks.
I'll just get an alignment, drive the car and see what happens.
Also for the record to everyone reading this post.... I'm not trying to bash Hotchkis or Bilstein products in any form or fashion. Due to the milage, my car may have other issues that manifested once better shocks and springs were put on.

-Thanks again
-Lamar

 

What I haven't seen here, or heard during out conversation is a single measurement, either before or after....

These cars do not sit 100% level at all 4 corners, stock they tend to be about 1/2 high on the driver's side. Given that the springs are the same for both sides (different front and rear) the result tends to be about the same after the drop. Sometimes it's more noticeable that it's different because you've closed what was a much bigger gap up. It's not as easy to see a 1/4-1/2" difference if you are looking at a 3" gap when compared to say a 2" opening.

If you think the springs or shocks are doing this, you can swap them side to side--but I'll lay money that the result will be the same. That will rule out any spring or shock issue right away.

 

Thanks for chiming in Sir.
What you say makes perfect sense. I'll post some after measurements when I get off work today.(I took a quick measurement 2 nights after the install, wrote them on my hand late one night with intention of posting them, but got side tracked). For the record, I haven't had a chance to drive the car because I haven't gotten it aligned just yet. Looking at the car last night very thorougly from ALL angle and SIDES, what you said in the above post in 1000 % correct.

Thanks again for the service and sharing your expertise.

-Lamar

 

I did Hotchkiss and saw the same, and I did measure
all 4 corners before & after and saw a dead-even -1"
drop. It just looks wrong, is all. Try your stockers and
"hose mod" in the back, I think you'll like it.

 

After you drive the car for a while and feel it out, as well as get used to the look I'm sure you'll get used to it. It's just different.

 

I had same setup, Hotchicks drops it 1" it just doesn't look like a 1.5 or 2" drop anymore you start to run into problems like wheels, speed bumps etc.

 

Hello,

Here are the measurements with Hotckis 1" lowering springs and Bilsteins shocks on my car...

Driver side: 27 1/4"
Passenger: 27"
Rt rear : 26 1/8"
Lt rear : 26 1/8"

Thanks guys and thanks for the help.
-Lamar

 

IMO, Put a few miles on the car first before you have it aligned. 10-15 miles if all your roads are good, and 2-5 miles if they're not so good!

That way your suspension should be fairly settled when you get it aligned.

 

when i lowered my car a couple months back, it took about a week for the car to get all settled. i thought my passenger side was lower but after a few days, or 1 week, my car sat perfectly. i put the Eibach Pro kit with a 1.25 drop. i think it sits now at 1.50 or so

 

That's opposite of what I'd expect.

My car stock sat @ 27" front, and 28" rear. My springs put most cars around 25.75-26" front, and 26.6-26.75" rear, and historically Hotchkis have been very consistently about 1/8-1/4" taller.

If you have not driven it, the front has not taken it set. Ever notice how when you let a car off a jack slowly it it "propped up"? The rear still seems a little low, which makes me wonder if the isolators are in place (I know you said they were, but this is quite backwards.

Maybe you can post some pics of the car and the parts installed...

 

i lowered mine a couple months ago,me and a buddy switched and my driverside does sit ever so slightly higher than the pass. i think all f-bodies do that my v6 car even did. and yes drive the car a few miles and let it settle

 

Could this be the problem.....
I looked at the car again tonight and I noticed that there is about a 1 inch gap/space separating the isolator (which sits on top of the perch) and spring on the driver side. There is about a 1/2" space between the isolator and spring on the passenger side. The isolator and spring should sit flush up against one another shouldn't they? Would this little gap cause the car to look the way it does? Also, would I have to remove the spring/shock just to turn the spring so that its flush up against the isolator?

Thanks,

-Lamar

 

How's the GlobalWest Adjustable rear spring seats working out for you?

 

I told you that in the first reply which you blew right past.

 

Hello,
Intercooler2.....I got my signals crossed your 1st reply to my post. I was so focused on getting the front driver side lowered that It just didn't register too me about the rear. And when I seen the word "isolator in the rear" my mind automatically clicked to the front isolator again--not the rear isolator at the very top of the rear spring. It never registered to me to raise the back little as you and Beezer1519 had mentioned from the get go. (my bad). As soon as I can, I'll put all of this info and knowlege to good use.

I got the car aligned today and the car drives amazing well. I'm very happy. Now I've got to install my stb and have my SFC welded on. I shoud be good to go for a while. Other mods coming as funds permit.

thanks

-Lamar

 

Hope you made out okay.