Ive been think a lot lately about lowering my car, but only an inch becasue I didnt want to overdue it. I think that an inch would be just right for my preference. Im not sure who all makes 1" drop springs, but I do know that Hotchkis does for sure? Are you or anyone you know running these springs? If so, what do you think of them? Any problems? Do you wish you would of gone with a different spring? How is the ride compared to the stock springs? Does anyone else make 1" and 1" only drop springs? Ive been told that by lowering your car that it affect the weight transfer resulting in loss of 1/4 mile time. Is that due to the springs, if so, could I just buy some adjustable shocks for the front and rear and lower it that way? Is that possible? If so, how do those adjustable shocks work? What I mean by that is how do you raise it up and lower it down? If I was to lower my car that way, would it still affect the weight transfer? Do they have different settings on the shocks or do I have to guess to get it lowered on all 4 corners the same? If I was able to lower my car with shocks, what would be my best bet, shocks or springs? If I were to drop the car with the shocks the same amount as it would with the Hotchkis 1" drop springs, would there be a difference in ride between the two? Do drop springs serve any purpose other than appearance? Thanks

 

I'm not sure how to answer your questions regarding the dropped 1/4 mile times and the adjustable shocks, but have you looked into an adjustable spring set-up like the ones in the spring install instructions on ls1howto.com? These coil-over units are from ground control, and I am in the middle of the install myself this weekend. I too did not want to drop the car that much. I am going for about 1" in the front, and 3/4 of an inch in the rear. I'm leaving in the stock shocks and only changed my panhard to a BMR adjustable one(required when lowering your car to keep the wheels centered in the wheel wells). I can let you know how the ride is when I'm done.

 

I have the DA Koni shocks and they only adjust how much stiffer you want your car to handle. I went with the Eibach prokit (1 1/2 drop) and noticed that its kinda bouncy. I had just the 1LE suspension before and man that thing handled great but it had that 4x4 look. With a 1 in. drop I dont think it will make that much of difference from a 1 1/2. Eibach is supposed to have the best springs, well that what they say. I would just go with them. Now coilovers you can adjust it to lower the car however you like. And I was told that when you lower your car you should get new springs at the same time.

 

When you lower an F-body, a couple things happen.

1. The LCA's sit nearly level. Originally, they sat slightly lower in the rear. This is important because...

When you accelerate, the tires rotate forward, the axle rotates backward. That causes the mounts for the lower control arms on the axle to rotate toward the front of the car. Now....when the control arms are lower in the rear, that causes the axle rotation to try to lift the body, that applies weight to the rear tires, extra weight on the rear tires turns into extra traction (more grip for better launch). When you have the control arms at the same height on both ends, that axle rotation actually lifts the control arm slightly, which may cause the control arm to be lower in the front. If you apply enough force to this arrangement, the control arm will want to pivot in an upward direction on the front mounting bolt.....this will try to lift the rear axle off the ground. This is just the first reason that some lowered cars don't hook as well.

2.Most lowered cars also get a set of shocks with stiffer valving to help keep the new (and stiffer) springs under control (to avoid a bouncy ride). Those stiffer shocks will be stiffer in compression (wheel moves up toward the car) and rebound (wheel moving away from the car). When drag racing, you want the front to come up some to help add weight to the rear and to increase traction. The problem is that the stiffer rebound valving in that shock will make it harder for the springs to extend the wheels toward the ground as the front of the body moves upwards (trying to pull the front wheels)...usually, drag racers try to take advantage of the energy stored in the front springs to "launch" the front of the car upward when the car is launched from the start. The stiffer valving prevents this, or at least reduces the effect. This would be the second reason that some lowered cars will be slower in the 1/4 mile.

3.There is a whole different discussion about terms like "instant center" and such that will explain most of this thoroughly, but will be really long, and likely quite dry and boring to read so I'll skip that for now....

 

Installed my Ground Control Coil over spring set-up today. (Eibachs in the front, blue coil in the rear.) I left the stock shock in, and the ride is really good. No bad changes. I did note that I hooked up pretty good when I got on it. My fronts are lowered 1", and the rears are lowered about 3/4.

Again, no adverse affects on the ride quality.