blackbyrd

iTrader: (14)

So I pulled the trigger on their level 2 coilovers and installed them on the car last weekend. Swapped them in place of my qa1 setup. Ill get around to posting some pics later on as I wanted to type all this up while it was still fresh in my mind.

Sadly I have not got to drive the car since I swapped everything due to some tuning issues. I had to get this setup on the car before the tuner came in town and Josh at Ridetech made sure they got here with enough time for me to not kill my self trying to install them. Unfortunatly work kept me from getting under the car so Friday night was a scramble to get all 4 installed. What comes next is no fault of Ridetechs just **** luck on my part. The rear coils would not come out even with a compressor so I had to cut the coil on the driver side. with that one out I was able to drop the passenger side low enough that I could wiggle the rubber isolator out and pull that coil with minimal troubles. The rear coilover install was a breeze after that and I even managed to do it solo. The front passenger side went pretty well, just ran into some difficulty getting the shock to line up on my tubed lower a arms. The driver side however is where things fell apart.....or rather didnt fall apart. The driver side front stripped a lug and than it bit the stud than the stud started spinning in the hub assembly........ cursing ensued......and adult beverages..... I finally decide I have to take the hub out so I can turn the wheel enough to get to the head on the stud and cut it off with a dremel. After working on the car from 4pm till 1am I finally call it a night and get started again around 930. I get the last one in and we begin tuning and im getting giddy cause I want do drive this thing! Of Course that didnt work out for me and my tune was so out of wack we had to start from scratch, since he was just passing through town though he ran out of time and when he comes back through we can start tweaking again. I cant complain cause not only did he help with the tune he bought my old Qa1's.

All in all it was a great experience even though I cant give a testimonial to the performance just yet. My dealings with Josh and ridetech were great. He answered every question I had. I would definitely steer anyone considering using their stuff his direction. The instructions for the kit were detailed and straight forward so no problems there. I ran into a few issues installing them that arent their fault but would like to bring up. All of it being hardware issues though. The supplied bolts for attaching the lower shock mount to the lower A arms were to long since they were intended for stock A arms, I also think I would need to get some longer bolts for the upper mount as well since they do not account for an upper shock tower brace and while it tightened down I think it needs a bit more length to bite down a bit more where im comfortable.

Again none of that is their fault as its issues with aftermarket parts that not everyone has, but I think it would be good knowledge for others to know about.

It did highlight an issue I hadnt noticed before. Since the QA1's upfront required the spring to choke up on the shock body quite a bit, i never noticed it, but the Ridetechs do not require as much adjustment to get the car to the same height. This causes my sway bar to actually rub the coil spring on the driver side. There is a .5 inch difference in ride height from diver side to passenger side and I still need to dial in my ride height and it may clear after that, but I may need to look into some shorter swaybar end links to get it corrected if raising the height up a bit doesnt clear it.

All in all im extremely pleased with thing so far, and Im really excited to drive the car once the tuning issue gets resolved. Once that happens I will report back and Ill attach some pictures later on as well.

Thanks again Josh

RidetechJosh

Great to hear, thanks for the good words! Also, thanks for the information on the hardware, I'll get that forwarded along for guys in the future. I'm looking forward to the pictures as well!

NitrOmm

iTrader: (1)

Did you ever get this on the road again.
Love to hear a review.

RidetechJosh

+1!

NitrOmm

iTrader: (1)

Josh,
I have a 12 bolt Moser, will I need to modify anything to make these work.
I seem to remember a thread where someone had to drill holes in the proper location for rear coil overs.

I plan on reaching out to Sam Strano soon.

RidetechJosh

Hey man! Just to be sure, I wouldn't mind seeing some pictures of your Moser setup and the brackets on the housing. The kit is built to bolt onto the rear through a shock stud (on the stock setup, no drilling is required). Either way, we'll be able to find a way to make it work for you!

blackbyrd

iTrader: (14)

I havnt been able to get the car back up and running since the install, I need to post the damn pics from the install though. Ive been swamped with work and honey dues with a our first kid on the way and about the only thing I have been able to do was look at it when I come home from work and hang my head in shame.

to the above, I have a 9" rear on mine and had no issues installing the setup. Mileage may very here though.

1999nbmZ

Is this on your Firebird, or GTO? Never had any issues removing springs from the f-bodies.

Love to see some pics of your install...

blackbyrd

iTrader: (14)

This is in the bird, I thought it was in unusual too cause I've swapped springs several times on f bodies and the rears have always been really easy.

NitrOmm

iTrader: (1)

Thanks,
I just the pulled the trigger on a set.
Sam Strano has a huge wealth of knowledge and is always willing to share.
I'm looking forward to getting the ride height where I want it & not sacrifice performance to do so.

blackbyrd

iTrader: (14)

finally attached some photos though it seems I didnt get any of the fronts installed.

they looked so pretty out of the box I almost didnt want to install them!