450/5/550 spring rate. Chevelle/LS?

[1sikride]

Ok so I have a 71 With a
LSA.
currently it has umi 2” drop springs. Can’t
remember the rate. They are old.
And qa1 adj shocks.

Car sits way too low, floats. Mushy.
Scrubs fenders. 18” wheels.

I got summit to take back the
shocks.

Not thrilled w/ qa1.

Leaning to Vikings.
what spring rate tho?
Their tech said 450/550.
Well thx tips.

I find It odd my car sits lower
and drives like a 82’ caddy
after the 383 came out
and I have a LS in now.

Its a street car. I want no float or
mush. No scrub. I’d like
to raise it an inch from where it sits now.
Here is a pic.

Help me choose the right coilover pls.

[dhutton]

Fender scrub is likely due to front end alignment. What specs did you alignit to?

Coilovers are not the miracle cure most think they are. Far from it imho....

An A body car will ride much better with good springs and shocks imho....

Don

[1sikride]

Front wheels are tucked pretty good.

And with my current set up
I can’t even access my qa1 dials...

So I figured a coilover would let
Me adjust. Access dials.
And raise it up so I don’t scrub.

And car had been aligned
4x in past year with all
Swaps n mods etc.

I don’t want to keep buying. Swaping
Not being happy n repeating.

Just want a firm ride. N scrubs

[dhutton]

Front wheels are tucked pretty good.

And with my current set up
I can’t even access my qa1 dials...

So I figured a coilover would let
Me adjust. Access dials.
And raise it up so I don’t scrub.

And car had been aligned
4x in past year with all
Swaps n mods etc.

I don’t want to keep buying. Swaping
Not being happy n repeating.

Just want a firm ride. N scrubs

Aligned four times but to what Specs? Factory specs? If that is the case it is likely the cause of the rubbing.

Coilovers do not allow infinite adjustment of ride height because the shock needs to be roughly centered in its travel.

Don

[stab6902]

I agree with Don's advice. I have 520 lb/in BMR springs on the front of my A-body and I like them. Really you should do the math (ride frequencies) to match your front suspension setup to the rear, but it sounds like you don't know your current spring rates. If I had to guess at a spring rate you'd like with the little information I have, I'd recommend 550 lb/in.

Alternatively, you could put a spring spacer under your existing front coils to gain ride height, and firm up your adjustable shocks. UMI's website says their 2" lowering springs are 530 lb/in
http://umiperformance.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_375_349&products_id=767

[1sikride]

Well it’s a start...

If I keep this set up style I’d
Need to replace my lowers
As they block me from getting at my
Qa1 dial.

[Josh@Ridetech]

If you're running stock arms, my first recommendation would be to change those out to an arm that is designed to accept the load that a coilover is going to put on the arm. With the way we set up our front coilover kit, we kill two birds with one stone. If you look into our Strongarms for example, the shock mount is a double shear bracket that has been lowered down about an inch. The bracket is much stronger and can take the added stress. From the factory, the stamped arms utilized a much bigger diameter spring that spread the load across the arm, whereas a coilover is going to put all of the load right on the center of the factory shock mount (the weakest point). The factory arms have been known to bend/break there, allowing the coilover to push through the arm which ends up bad to say the least... The other problem with using a factory arm/coilover setup is the amount of shock travel you can run with a lowered car. Because you're running such a short stroke shock, the ride quality is fairly harsh, due to having to run a stiff spring to keep the shock from bottoming out. Because we want to keep a long stroke shock in our setup, we use a drop spindle that is also taller overall than a factory spindle. It is where the drop in our suspension kit comes from (we don't have to run a short shock/spring setup) and improves the negative camber gain, creating a more modern driving/handling car.

Also, the correct spring rate depends on the motion ratio of the arm, what you're doing with the car, what engine is in it, etc. All of this info paired up with the correct stroke shock/spring rate will help achieve your goal for the car whether you're wanting a daily driver or a full on track car. Getting everything pieced together properly is key.

Picture of the lower Strongarm for example:

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