lowering coil springs

[buzz77]

Hey guys,

Since i'll be swapping out the Pontiac 301 for a 400, I need to think about the front suspension. the 400 engines weighs about 180 ponds more than the 301. I was wondering if someone can give me some advice on what strength coil I would need where to get it from etc. I would also like to lower it by 1 inch. I dont think the hotckiss lowering springs are strong enough for the added weight. I also have currently fairly new bilstein hd shocks, was wondering of just a 1inch drop can allow me to keep them or would I need a replacement shock.

Basically any information on coil springs to coilovers to control arms would be greatly appreciated.

 

[autonaut]

Brace yourself for lots of research..

I doubt anyone can truly tell you exactly what springs to use. I myself was about to jump the gun on those hotchkis springs.. Now knowing if they actually would lower the car, and that i refuse to cut coils, i went with Moog springs. They are much cheaper, so if i have to do it over to get my desired drop, i will then have a baseline and not have wasted anymore money than those 50 bucks.

If you are really serious about picking the right springs from the start, you will need to have the car weighed and know how much of the weight is resting on the front axle. Only then will you be able to make the best posdible buy and hit your desired drop. But for that you will need to understand coil springs in terms of free height, pounds per inch and many others. This is the easiest part though.

I went with moog 5658 because ly front end is light and i wanted a 1-2inch drop

 

[buzz77]

Thanks auto,

Are there any benefits to the aftermarket front lower control arms? I here is just for some weight savings.

 

[autonaut]

Depending on the manufacturer yes.

Dont quote me on this. But as far as i know boxing them, and then adding TALL upper and lower ball joints is tve best bang for buck for us. The steering geometry on our cars suffer from poor camber position making our tires not use the enture thread pattern during hard cornering. Adding tall lower and upper balljoints help the camber issue as it positions the spindle differently.
Boxing them just reinforces them making them less prone to flex during cornering.

But im no expert in suspension. So maybe others will chime in?

Anyhow, there are many threads on how to make a gbody handle. Even ones discussed recently. Go search if you want to know more.

For most people, suspension vise, the biggest bang for the buck is new shocks, springs, front and rear sway bar, bracing, solid steering shaft, urethane end link bushings for front sway bar and in general replacing worn bushings througout and better tires.

 

[V8 Rumble]

I have umi front upper control arms with the tall ball joint and speaking with them the differerence in handling from the front control arms will come from the front upper control arms since they have the adjustability while the lowers don't.

For the springs I have the eibach pro kit springs front and rear and the hotchkis/blistering shocks for the g body and my malibu has a 355 sbc. My set up lowers the car an inch.

My entire suspension setup I purchased from umi performance and couldn't be happier. My car handles amazing! They do springs/shocks and coil over setups and do R&D and race what they make.

Try giving umi performance a call, bmr, or hotchkis a call. Your suspension is all dependent on what you want do do with your car.

 

[BMR Suspension]

We will have Lowering Springs Soon! If I remember correctly, the Front Spring Rate is around 630 lbs/in