Ridetech Coilovers just Installed 2000 Trans Am
 

Through a strange set of circumstances, I ended up purchasing a set of Ridetech Level 2 coilovers for LS1 F body this past week. While going to do a DMS lowering spring install I realized my front struts were seized with rust and decided to take the mod bug route, and give the new product from Ridetech a try. I have probably 60 miles on the setup and I have to say, I am impressed.

The real test will be on the strip, my car is a street/strip car and I was looking to improve the stance, ride quality, and 60' times with this setup. I chose this over a QA1, Viking, or Strange for the 1 million mile warranty, and customer support the Ridetech company offers. Here is some pictures and things I ran into during the overall successful install.

Here is the link to the kit from Ridetech that I purchased.
http://www.ridetech.com/store/1993-2...m-level-1.html

A big shoutout goes out to Hubbard Racing Inc as well for the assistance in the install, You can check out there page at the link below:
http://hubbardracinginc.com/


I installed Midwest Chassis Transverse Shock Mounts at the same time for my Moser 9," to rotate the shock 90 degrees and provide superior shock position eliminating binding at launch.

Ridetech Front and Rear Coilovers unboxed
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New vs. Old Front Setup
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The front coilover setup appealed to me because it eliminated the rubber upper shock mount that is prone to rust, as mine was when removed. Here is the solid mount provided
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The front coilover setup was basically a bolt-in setup, the only modification required was drilling out a hole for the bumpstop placement. The hole drilled appears in the picture below
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Here is a picture of the front coilover assembly fully installed
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The rear assembly caused more of an issue, mainly due to the incompatibility of the Ridetech product with the Midwest Chassis transverse mount. The Ridetech product provides a larger diameter stud for mounting to the stock lower shock mount, which would require drilling out if you used the stock location as you can see in the picture below
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Instead, Ridetech shipped me a 1/2'' ID spacer to adapt the Midwest Chassis Transverse Shock Mounts to their kit, the spacer required to use the transverse shock mounts look like this.
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The Midwest Chassis Transverse Shock mounts use the factory shock mount hole for the lower bolt, but you will need to drill out a hole for the top mount, they use a two bolt mount as opposed to the single from most other setup.s Here is a finished picture of the shock mount
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Due to the fact that our cars have separate shock/spring assemblies in the rear, the Ridetech kit uses a upper shock mount that distributes the weight across the factory rear spring perch.
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Here is the rear coilover setup installed with the Midwest Chassis transverse shock mounts
http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps8f4819e3.jpg

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Overall I am pleased with the ease of install, we ran into a few snags but nothing major. The customer support from Ridetech was superb throughout the install process and continues to be so from then on. I am running the spring rates that came with the kit, which I may change down the road if I do more weight reduction for the track. They are 350# front springs and 200# rear springs. They are 30 setting single adjustable and seem to perform superb thus far. I have removed my front sway bar and the car handles better now with this setup than it did with a swaybar.

Between the product quality, customer service, and ease of install I would not hesitate to recommend these to anyone looking for a premium suspension upgrade to their F Body Camaro or Trans Am.

Be sure to checkout Ridetech for ALL of your suspension needs, Check them out on Facebook @

https://www.facebook.com/ridetech

Ethan Hubbard from Hubbard Racing Inc was a pleasure to work with throughout the install process and providing not only knowledge and assistance, but an overall demeanor that has made me a return customer. Check him out for your F body performance needs on Facebook @

https://www.facebook.com/HubbardRacingInc

Here are a few pictures of the stance it has given my car. It is setup for a 2'' drop but I believe you have 3/4'' each direction if you want a different look.

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looks nice, where is the adjustment screw? didnt notice one on the pics. also interesting choice of spring rates. you typically see around a 500# front and 125-150# rear

Looks good Tyler!

Adjustment is on the top, it's a knob that you click left/right for change. The ride height and preload is done with a spanner wrench on the bottom of the spring

Thank you buddy!

Absolutely gorgeous car! wheels look familiar ;)

Yeah, Ridetech says you can get yours with different spring rates; it's not a problem.

For corner carving I'd go with 500 lb.in.front spring rate, for the rear 175 lb.in. spring rate.
Since the front springs are 14" in length, 500 lb.in. is the highest rate I found available. With the rear springs being mounted forward the standard 200 lb.in. rear spring rate is more like 175, so if you want with a 175 lb.in. rate it would be more like a 150 spring rate in the factory rear spring position.
BTW the rear springs are 12" in length.

Beautiful car, but please clean-n-paint those rusty ass front upper A-arm mounts! :cheers: :barf: :thumb:

IndyRPM TransAm, so how much preload did you put on the front springs..?
Also how much thread length is above the front spring lower spring seat right now..?


FYI,
I'm just trying to figure out if 12" spring are long enough to allow plenty of preload, and upward height adjustment .

very nice setup

Normally, you can adjust the height roughly an inch lower or higher than what we have it set up for (about 2" lower than factory height) before you get too far out of the shock stroke. The springs give you plenty of room to adjust if you need/want it. :nod:
Looks great bud, thanks for the install pics and finished product! Let me know if you have any questions!

Overall this was a great product with a very smooth install. The only thing to note, as Tyler mentioned, is that if you plan to run the transverse shock mount setup you will have to get another set of the 1/2" bearing spacers with your kit as the included ones were not meant to work for the aftermarket mount.

I am honestly impressed with the quality of this product!

Very nice setup, and car.

I've purchased from Ethan a few times now, and you're spot on, he's a great guy.

That's awesome. Clean install. I'm still somewhat confused though, other kits come with a weld in bracket for the spring perch in the rear. Is this one just bolt-in? Just using the one shock bolt or are there other bolts you use?

This uses the single shock bolt. What kit are you referencing that uses a weld in bracket?

Any updates on how they car does at the drag strip? I am trying to choose between Ridetech and Viking coilover kits. I want something that doesn't ride terrible on the street.

This kit rides great on the street, IMO much superior to the Viking kit. I run a full spool and no front sway bar and it still corners better than stock. I have my settings setup for mostly track use but it rides like a dream.

Have you tried the Viking kit in the past? White is now my 2nd favorite color on a WS6 - nice car!

I've never owned a car with Viking, but I have ridden in a few, and they don't ride nearly as well as my car with Ridetechs. Also, Ridetech has a 1 million mile warranty as opposed to Ridetech or QA1 a 1 or 2 years.

More pictures with the Ridetech suspension and CCW Classics!

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