Suspension guys - probably stupid questions

[jb89coupe]

Well here's the story, when I bought my car it had some suspension work done - kyb gas adjusts in the back and gr2's in front with eibach competition springs. It has aftermarket c/c plates with some type of spacers on them. Anyway, my nose is really slammed to the ground and the car is VERY rigid, feels like driving a gokart. I have horrible traction because the front end won't lift at all and the rear won't squat. I'd like to raise the nose and loosen up the suspension.

So my first question is what are those spacers doing, and will it change anything if I remove them. There are 3 under the plate and 1 on top. And second I have a couple other sets of springs around - the stock springs off a 91 vert (I'm pretty sure these are different than a coupe/hatch, right?), and a set of eibach pro's (I think, the black ones). Would I be better off with either of these, or are the shocks/struts' lack of give/rebound what's keeping my car so tight? I plan on getting some rear control arms this winter too. The shocks and struts look pretty new so I don't want to scrap them if I don't have to.

Thanks.

 

[FiveLtrRiceEatr]

jb89coupe

I went through well close to the same thing, when i put new struts and c/c plates on my 88. And im running eibach pro's like you, I used a MM c/c which came with more then 3 spacers but ended up using only 1 1/2" spacer on each side because what the spacers are doing are making up the distance the car is lowered. And that spacer is what the MM instructions told me to do. I dont have any problems of it bottuming out.

another question what coil insolators are you using, I used MM and they were thicker and only lowered my stang 1/2" and kept it stock in the rear. I love the look and the ride is stiffer, but it I didnt want to lower my stang to the 1-1.5" which the kit is able to do. They are very inexpensive but would take some work, you dont really need them, thats only if you want to raise your car up a little for the street. my stang use to run on CUT springs and I know the ride that you are talking about. I hated it, like the rougher stiffer ride but that was excessive, its very stiff like a race car, but not throw your kidneys around.

View attachment 519679

 

[jb89coupe]

Ok, so the spacers are just taking up the slack in the strut because the springs are so short? I guess removing them wouldn't bring my nose up at all then. And to be honest I don't even know what shock insulators are.

I really just want to get the nose up (it's a good 1-1.5" lower than the rear, springs may be cut I don't know) and loosen the suspension so I can transfer some weight during lauches. My car stays straight as a board when I launch, so my tires just spin. Will I be ok with these shocks/struts and a looser spring, or do I need a set of shocks/struts with more rebound?

 

[66P51GT]

A spring insulator is a piece of rubber or urethane that sits between the top of the spring and the bottom of the shock tower. It insulates shock and vibration transferred from the spring to the chassis from the suspension. Without them, you will have a harser ride and possibly more noise from the front end.

Here's a pic... The large ones are the isolators:

You will have to jack up the car and remove the wheel to determine if you have them installed or not. If not, you may be in luck, but without a thick spacer, it won't have much affect on ride height.

The only way to realy raise the car up is to purchase new springs. I've done a dozen times on new and old. You can rent/borrow a spring compressor from Kragen or other auto supply and swap all four springs in a couple of hours. After installing the new ones, just go get an alignment and your done.

If you are looking for drag springs, Maximum Motorsports has Eibachs for $250 a set. I'm know Autocross and Road Racing best so there are probably better springs specifically for drag racing that others can suggest.

 

[jb89coupe]

Thanks, the car is still up on a lift at work so I'll take a look at/for the insulators tomorrow. I'm not really looking for a drag setup, it's a daily driver, I just want to loosen it up a bit and get the nose off the ground. Since I have 2 sets of springs sitting around I'll try them before buying a new set.

 

[OL' WHITEY]

Take a look at the front sway bar. I made the drunken mistake of jacking my car up by the sway bar one time and it caused the same problems you're experiencing. I thought my struts went bad because it rode like crap all of a sudden. The sway bar was jammed in position and the front suspension had no give at all. I took the end links off and repositioned everything and tightened it all back up and it was fine. That may not be your problem, but if it is, it's a free fix! If I were you, I would take the end links off and drive it down the road to see if it changes. FYI, at the track, taking the end links off will give you a little more weight transfer.

 

[jb89coupe]

I decided to ressurect this thread with a more direct question. Will removing those spacers raise and/or loosen up my front end?

 

[OL' WHITEY]

No. It will lower it, but only by the thickness of the compressed spacer. You don't want to just take these off, without replacing them with new ones.

 

[OL' WHITEY]

Oh! Sorry! You meant the spacers on the CC plates at the struts, didn't you!? (I saw the spring isolators posted and thought that was what you were talking about) Uh, if you take those spacers off, you won't raise the car. You'll just affect the operating range of the strut. I'd say by taking those off, the struts will probably bottom out sooner and your ride quality will suffer. Springs change ride height. Struts only smooth the ride.

 

[jb89coupe]

No. It will lower it, but only by the thickness of the compressed spacer. You don't want to just take these off, without replacing them with new ones.

hmm.. sounds like you're talking about the isolators? I was thinking of the metal spacers on my c/c plates. It seems like removing them would either raise or loosen the front end, but only if the spring has enough headroom. I'm not sure if the front springs are just really pinched down with the spacers or if they're cut and the spacers are just picking up the slack.

 

[jb89coupe]

Oh! Sorry! You meant the spacers on the CC plates at the struts, didn't you!? (I saw the spring isolators posted and thought that was what you were talking about) Uh, if you take those spacers off, you won't raise the car. You'll just affect the operating range of the strut. I'd say by taking those off, the struts will probably bottom out sooner and your ride quality will suffer. Springs change ride height. Struts only smooth the ride.

Alright, thanks. So if I swapped the front springs out, should I keep the spacers there? I have a set of black eibachs and a set of stock springs from a 91 vert sitting in my garage. It seems to me like the spacers would limit the height of the springs, but then I'm pretty suspension-illiterate.

 

[OL' WHITEY]

From what I remember of my CC plate installation, it said that if your struts are stock length (mine are KYB GR2's and are stock length) use the spacers like you've got 'em.

 

[jerry beach]

Those spacers are there too increase bump travel. From the looks of them they may be welded to the other side of the plate. I havent seen that type of CC plate before. If you loosen the three nuts on there you will need an alignment. You will need one anyway when you change the ride hieght. I would leave them alone, the only nut you need to remove up there is the top nut on the strut. Change the springs and that will raise the car.

FWIW, I took an Eibach Pro-kit out from under my car. Too low and far too rough for me, but lots of folks like that. I would go with stockers if you are looking for decent comfort in your DD.

 

[Kerpal]

the spacers on the CC plates don't affect the spring height at all... they adjust the travel of the shocks. the only way to raise your car up would be to add thicker spring isolators if you don't have them already or change the springs.

those competition springs are probably why the car is so low and stiff. i'd try replacing them with the eibach pros and a new set of isolators if yours aren't in good shape. the pros are supposed to be kind of a 'sport' spring, lower and stiffer than stock but still suitable for street use.