Ridetech coil over suspension. Anyone using this?

[old66tiger]

Looks interesting. Is anyone gone down the road yet of using the Ridetech coil over deal?

[eric1967]

You may want to be a little more specific with your question. What type of car? Front, rear or both? I have a 1st Camaro that I just installed Ridetech coilovers, Strong arms, Muscle bar & TrueTurn on. I have been able to drive it a couple of times over the past week since I got it installed. I am very happy with the install. Great instructions. It is nice to be able to adjust the ride height with the coilovers. You can also change the ride quality with a quick turn of a knob on the shocks. I think you would be happy with the Ridetech products. Thanks Eric

[Rod]

yes what ^ Eric said

[bishir]

Subscribed, I'm thinking of this setup for my GN. . .

[old66tiger]

My car is a 66 GTO Conv. Right now, I have Speedtech front suspension with QA1's / coil on shocks. It is a little harsh of a ride, but it works OK. I want to move to the back and setup the rear and I am thinking about selling my Speedtech stuff and going with either an SPC or a Ridetech setup to get a fully matched setup. The SPC stuff looks cool, but I am not sure about the turnbuckle stuff. While I know it is not cheaply built, the engineer in me tells me that there are more points of failure with the number of bolts and jamb nuts that are used in this construction. The Ridetech is more money, but there is no doubt that it is beefy and well built.

Here is my question...the coil over front suspension that Ridetech sells for the GM A-Body locates the upper part of the coil over shock to the same location where the factory shock mounts and not in the spring pocket. Is that area strong enough to handle the stress of the weight of the car?

[marolf101x]

A valid question, though it has been asked and answered on this forum a million times.
We have been using the factory upper shock mount for a number of years and literally have thousands of cars set up this way.

We beat on our company cars (hovering around 30 right now) more than anyone I know of, and we've had virtually no failures.
Now, common sense does apply. . .if your OE subframe looks like it was welded on Friday morning when the auto union boys had a meeting at "Betty's Classy Chassis" the night before, you may want re-weld the mount.

[Bryce]

My car is a 66 GTO Conv. Right now, I have Speedtech front suspension with QA1's / coil on shocks. It is a little harsh of a ride, but it works OK. I want to move to the back and setup the rear and I am thinking about selling my Speedtech stuff and going with either an SPC or a Ridetech setup to get a fully matched setup. The SPC stuff looks cool, but I am not sure about the turnbuckle stuff. While I know it is not cheaply built, the engineer in me tells me that there are more points of failure with the number of bolts and jamb nuts that are used in this construction. The Ridetech is more money, but there is no doubt that it is beefy and well built.

Here is my question...the coil over front suspension that Ridetech sells for the GM A-Body locates the upper part of the coil over shock to the same location where the factory shock mounts and not in the spring pocket. Is that area strong enough to handle the stress of the weight of the car?


The shock will see very high impulse loads the same that the spring would see. Those impulse loads will be much higher the F=kx even if you had a 100 pound spring.

Like Britt said as long as that area is structural sound with no damage or flaws you should be just fine!

I kinda like the turn buckle aproach to the UCA and LCA. I deisgned mine that way. It gives the end user final adjustment on the suspension control arm lengths to account for any chassis differences. One reason I chose to go that route was to reduce my manufacturing costs and increase the build tolereances. I also believe once you get the suspension set up the way you like it all future camber adjustments should be done with shims.

Ridetech makes a quality control arm, if you want to bolt on fast just buy their setup.

[Bad94]

I just did a 66 chevelle convertable with the complete ridetech kit with single adjustable coil overs. I have put about five miles on it. The ride is very nice. I have played with the setting some and the ride was getting better.

I will be doing another A body install in a few months.

[old66tiger]

I have PMT adjustable uppet and lower rear control arms to fix the geometry due to the TKO install. I cant tell if the Ridetech system control arms are adjustable. Anyone know if these arms are able to correct rear end pitch and squareness?

[makoshark]

Ridetech's control arms are not adjustable. Most manufacturers arms aren't adjustable either. I'm curious how a transmission install changed your suspension geometry? I've never heard of this before

Ridetech's components are tried and true. My 67 Camaro suspension utilized everything Ridetech makes for my car. I am also using their Truturn setup which is very innovative and quite simple. You will not go wrong with their stuff. However, fix your car first. Sounds like someone didn't do something right along the way.

[old66tiger]

No, its a function of the Tko being longer than the muncie and sitting 1/2" lower in the car which messed up the driveline angle. The adjustable arms squared the rear end ( which was almost negligible) and repitched the rear to correct the DL angle.

[makoshark]

I gotcha. I was thought you were talking about front control arms. Ridetech does make adjustable rear control arms

[Rod]

if you want to bolt on fast just buy their setup.

thats a cool way to put it, and you know me Bryce, If I can bolt in on I like it!

[Bryce]

thats a cool way to put it, and you know me Bryce, If I can bolt in on I like it!

Rod, figure out a way to work that into your new column! HAHA.

The hotchkis and ridetech camaros are rediculously surprising when compared to full framed and sub-framed cars.