Ridetech Front suspension question

[drmatera]

ok, I just finished the install of ridetech A arms, drop spindles and coil overs on my '69 442

I noticed that with the suspension at full extension it doesn't hang down very much. Seems the shocks don't let the arms drop very far.



Here is my issue, the car sits VERY low and the nut is cranked up just about all the way up the threads. Did I make a mistake in ordering 2" drop spindles or ?? The springs are 650# ( not what i ordered but i decided to give them a shot ) so i assumed they would hold the car higher.

Any thoughts? The first pic was with the coil nut just high enough to put pressure on the spring up against the top of the shock. Last pic is with the coil nut just about wound up to the top threads

[drmatera]

this is with the suspension unloaded

[rustomatic]

Check for bind at your A-arm mounting points. You may have bolted things up too tightly. You might also have encountered the limit of your sway bar's ability to articulate, depending on how it sits in relation to your LCAs; try unbolting the ends...

[drmatera]

Check for bind at your A-arm mounting points. You may have bolted things up too tightly. You might also have encountered the limit of your sway bar's ability to articulate, depending on how it sits in relation to your LCAs; try unbolting the ends...

Swaybar end links are on but very loose. I will check for tightness and binding. How far above the rubber bump stop should the upper a arm be? Mine seems to be very far away

[marolf101x]

When you figured your spring rates did you use our spring rate calculator?
How much does the car weigh? What's the front/rear percentages?
My bet is that you don't have enough spring rate.

Did you order the parts directly from us, or did you go through a vendor?
Either is fine, I just need to know if we have you in our system or not.

[drmatera]

Britt, I ordered thru Matt's Classic. I did not use your calculator, I just based my decision on what others have done. The car is completely stock (except for the ridetech and Wilwood brakes) and I have a LQ4 / 4L80 going in down the road. I ordered 350# springs knowing they may be too soft for the stock 400 engine but should work for the LQ. When the box arrived it had 650# springs, in my excitement I didn't notice till I had everything assembled and thought maybe they would be better for the stock motor right now then I would buy lighter springs after the conversion.

[Bryce]

What length are the springs? Since you recieved the wrong rate springs maybe you also recieved the incorect length.

BTW, I think it looks good at that ride height.

[drmatera]

ha, yeah it looks very good down low except the header collector flanges are about 1 1/2" off the ground. I can't get it back into my garage.. hahaha

I'll have to check the paper work to see the length.

[drmatera]

ok, the springs are 59080650
8" tall 650#

[drmatera]

[marolf101x]

8" length spring is correct for that coil over.
Just as a reference our 67 Camaro with an "LS3" runs 700# front springs. . .and if we didn't drive it all over the nation (it just took a road trip to Texas) I'd put 800's in it.

[drmatera]

Britt, I spoke with Chase over at your place. To verify my fitment he asked that I measure the height of the shock now vs. where I want the car to sit. He concurred with you that what was sent is correct but did mention some sort of shock extension ? Is it ok to run the adjusting collar all the way up the threads? No coil bind?

[marolf101x]

You can run the adjuster wherever you want. Wouldn't be much of an adjuster if you couldn't adjust it!

In addition to taking a measurement If you can take the coil over out and snap a pic we can tell what it has for a top. We have 3 different length stud mounts. If you have one that's too short that would cause a low ride height condition.

[drmatera]

ok, I'll drop a shock out tomorrow and post up pics. Have any idea what the typical suspension travel distance should be? I'll check that as well to make sure i'm getting full travel. Thanks for all the help

[shmoov69]

Looks good to me!! Fix the driveway instead!!! LOL!!

[drmatera]

hahaha, i hear ya. It looks awesome that low but the exhaust wouldn't survive out on the road. Sadly enough it needs to be about 2" higher. Maybe I should have stuck to stock location spindles.. I haven't pulled the shocks out yet as I want to adjust them to the top of the threads to see where I am.

[drmatera]

oh, a rough measurement shows the shocks to be about 12" long mount to mount at the height the car sits now. With a jack under the frame and sitting where it should be it measures roughly 14" long

[drmatera]

Well, I think the comment about the sway bar has some merrit. It did seem to be in a bind so I might need longer end links. I removed them and the suspension will now go all the way down. I wish I had a spanner wrench to get the coil over nut adjusted up more..

I jacked the suspension up to the ride height I want and got 12.5" mount to mount.

Here is the coil over.

[drmatera]

Ok , I did a couple of things that helped. I removed the sway bar links to unbind the suspension. Then I backed the locknut at the top of the shock up so just 2 threads are showing above it ( I had it tightened down much more before). Using a spanner wrench, which by the way should come with the coil overs, I spun the nut all the way up to the top of the threads. I gained just over an inch in ride height and I'm going to try it out for awhile to see how it works

[Bryce]

Is the shock at the middle of its stroke at the ride height you want?