Magilla Gorilla

hey guys n gals,
since getting rid of the iron block and putting in an aluminum engine in my 98z, the car sits very high and unevenly in the front. the passenger (right) side sits over an inch higher than the driver side.

being 250 lbs, it dosnt get much better when i sit in the driver seat.
ive switched coils from right to left and it didnt make any difference.
everyone says just get coilovers, but it is not in the budget at this time.
so i want to cut a coil off each to lower the car a bit.

my question is, will it be ok to slightly cut more off the passenger side coil in order for the car to sit level after its all together?

the car is still going to go in for a full alignment once i get the new rear tires.
just want to make sure there wont be any weird issues with alignment if i do this.

thanks
-Mag

fleetmgr

If you cut the springs, it will be super bouncy as you'll have increased the effective spring rate.

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

You've got some suspension issues going on that won't get solved by cutting the passenger side spring shorter than the driver side. I'd cut the springs on both sides the same amount. IMO, if you swapped front from L to R with no change I'd start by unbolting the sway-bar end links and then checking the ride height again. If the ride height evens out completely or a large amount side to side the either your sway bar is bent, and/or you end-link/s are , damaged or there just not adjusted the same from side-to-side, which could be from tightening the end-links while the front suspension is in full droop, instead of at ride height which is the correct way. You could also have one of the upper mounts that's compressing more than the other, which would likely be the driver side upper mount., and if your camber setting in you current front-end alignment is noticeably different from the left and right side it could also effect the ride height some from side-to-side.

Magilla Gorilla

its a stripped down drag car with extensive weight reduction. there is no front sway bar. it has a solid rear sway bar though. but the adjustment is neutral atm.
the car sat pretty damn level with the iron block in it.
id imagine if one of the upper mounts was collapsing, then the height difference would change from one side to the other when i switched them around. i didnt just switch the coil, but the entire tophat/upper arm assy. from one side to the other to see if the height difference would change

i might initially cut them evenly to see if the car straightens itself out when the front end settles down. but id still like to hear opinions from the pros, in case there is still a discrepency in front ride height afterwards.

thanks.

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

Yeah, the front sway bar issues are more likely cause, IF you were running one.
Are you running stock or light weight front lower A-arms..?
How's the rear ride height is it even from side to side..?

Magilla Gorilla

the front suspension is all stock from a 2000ss. just has lightweight k member, manual rack w/ bumpsteer kit and aerospace drag brakes.

the rear is minimally higher on the right side as well. but when i jack the car up from the front left corner to make the front level, the rear levels out.

im pretty sure its just the stock ss springs jacking up the front end because its so light. ill cut them evenly first and see what happens, then report back.

however, i am still open to any advice.

-mag

Magilla Gorilla

well, i have good and bad news.
the good news is, i cut the springs and the car sits a lot better in the front.
the bad,after cutting the springs equally, the difference in height from left to right is still there. if anything, it actually seems more pronounced. i didnt have a chance to measure the wheel gaps, but from what i can tell its still about an inch higher on the right than the left still.

the alignment is definitely off. but i dont know how much of a height difference correcting it would make.

so now, im wondering if the problem is in the front left or front right.
not exactly sure where or what to start measuring to see where the problem lies.

any help would be apreciated

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

With the car sitting at ride height do both the DR & PS tires both appear to be straight up/down or does one side appear at a noticeably different angle (other that 90*) like / or \ ?


If so, what I would do is mark all the A-arm bolt locations in the K-member slots with a sharpie of a contrasting color, then measure the difference between the bolt locations in the K-member slots of the driver side and passenger side, especially the front k-member camber adjusting slots which will have the greatest effect on ride height. If the measurements from L to R are off 1/2" or less I doubt the camber setting would effect the ride height enough to cause the 1" difference. If it's a lot more than 1/2" then consider moving the A-arm location until the mount bolt is in the same position in the K-member slot as the other side. If it doesn't solve the ride height issue then you can easily set it back to it previous position with the sharpie marks you made. At this point if you haven't fond and other possible for the ride height issue I'd say go a head and cut the passenger side a little more to even out the ride height.

Magilla Gorilla

well it would have probably helped to confirm that the rear sway bar was disconnected before stating that it was.
ends up the adjusters for the solid bar were still under tension.
disconnected them and the car sits level now.

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

It's still good to hear you found the issue!
So did you find it before cutting the passenger side spring any more..?

Magilla Gorilla

yeah, tell me about it dude. i was trippin out trying to figure out what was going on.
i guess my bro removed the nuts for the adjusters but left the threaded rod sitting through the bracket hole. so when i lowered the car down, it put the rear end back under tension.

luckily i cut the springs the same amount initially. so, i didnt shoot myself in the foot just yet!