I installed new coil springs, spring saddles, upper control arms and shocks. The car was 25.5 inches from the floor to the center of the wheel well. I just set it on the floor and the car now sits 28.5" in the front end. I installed stock springs. The springs were identical in height to my old springs while both were sitting on the floor. Its hard to believe that there is that much difference.. I hope it will settle an inch or so after I drive it. One thing I noticed, one spring saddle's bushing moved inside the saddle, while the other did not. Should I replace it or let it ride? Thx..
67 FB, installed coil springs, added 3" lift!
- Thread starter mikec35
- Start date
Have no fear, you will definitely lose at least an inch of ride height just by rolling the car 50' , compared to what you're seeing immediately upon dropping the front wheels to the ground. When you're lowering a jacked up front end, as soon as the tires touch the ground the camber curve is stuck at whatever angle it has at full droop. This causes an abnormal ride height, but it goes away as soon as the tires get some forward motion.
You should also wait to tighten up the lower control arm pivots until you have rolled the car a bit with the weight on the wheels, to avoid binding the bushings. If you tightened them with the wheels off the ground then binding is happening that will give you a higher than normal ride height, and if they'r rubber it might not go away even after some miles on the road.
If you've got rubber spring perch bushings, these are also going to be binding for awhile. Once they settle in, you should lose maybe a quarter inch, maybe a half, of ride height.
If you're still not happy after a couple hundred miles, cut the coils. A half coil will generally give you about a 1" drop. It's better to cut not enough than too much, so go slow. Also, whenever this subject comes up someone will inevitably pipe up with the objection that cutting coils increases spring rate. While this may be true in theory, I've cut coil springs many times and have never felt any difference in ride quality.
You should also wait to tighten up the lower control arm pivots until you have rolled the car a bit with the weight on the wheels, to avoid binding the bushings. If you tightened them with the wheels off the ground then binding is happening that will give you a higher than normal ride height, and if they'r rubber it might not go away even after some miles on the road.
If you've got rubber spring perch bushings, these are also going to be binding for awhile. Once they settle in, you should lose maybe a quarter inch, maybe a half, of ride height.
If you're still not happy after a couple hundred miles, cut the coils. A half coil will generally give you about a 1" drop. It's better to cut not enough than too much, so go slow. Also, whenever this subject comes up someone will inevitably pipe up with the objection that cutting coils increases spring rate. While this may be true in theory, I've cut coil springs many times and have never felt any difference in ride quality.
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