help... with lowered leaf springs

[firebirddady69]

so I installed the 2'' lowered leaf springs from hotchkis on 68 camaro and the car only dropped 1/4 inch. should it drop significanty? or does it have to settle in? or did they send me the wrong ones? can someone give me some advice.

thaks
tony

[Bryce]

They will probably settle a little. Are you sure there is not bind in the swivel points, front spring eye and shackles? Are you sure the springs you replaced were stock? If they were stock they might have been sagging after 40 years.

[jay72nova]

I'll second Bryce.....Those springs as well as all other "drop" springs are 2 inches lower than ORIGINAL ride height...which was way up in the air!!! as much as it may pain you, put in a couple lowering blocks in there to dial it in, they shouldnt be big enough to hurt anything , and you might find that after some bumpy roads and spirited driving this sumer you may not need them anymore.
I think your probably in a better position then if you ordered the 3in drop and they were too low and you had no way to fix it other than longer shackles.
also keep in mind if you ever want to dial in your pinion angle, or if you swap trans etc... you have some play room for the pinion shims.

[Jay Hilliard]

When you installed did you tighten everything in the air without weight of car/suspension loaded? If you did, loosen rear shackles and put car on ground, bounce it up and down a few times and then tighten bolts.

[Sieg]

Most likely the old springs were sagging and a softer spring rate so there isn't as much static sag. I replaced my stock de-arched springs with -2" Global West stiff springs and the car was taller, I added 1" blocks and 2* wedges and it's about right. Rear fender lip is 24.75" with 275/40/18's (26.5" dia)

I wouldn't plan on the springs settling in very much, the one's I have are ten years old and I waited 8 years with little change. Too bad boobies aren't that stable.........at least the OEM versions

[chr2002ca]

I agree with the previous posts, especially the part about the boobies. I have 1.5" Hotchkis lowering leafs for my 69 and after 3500 miles and some minor road course and AutoX work, the rear height has not changed much. As the others mentioned, be sure all the bolts are slightly loose while it's up in the air and then set it on the ground and bounce it up and down a bit before tightening, and also take into consideration the condition of your previous springs. I actually added 1/4" lowering blocks to improve the stance a little. Any more than that and then I run into problems with the the leafs sticking out of their perches too much and also possible tire rub issues on large bumps.

[firebirddady69]

Originally Posted by Bryce

They will probably settle a little. Are you sure there is not bind in the swivel points, front spring eye and shackles? Are you sure the springs you replaced were stock? If they were stock they might have been sagging after 40 years.

yes the where stock, never really thought about that.lol
but I will make those adjustments

thanks,

[firebirddady69]

thanks for the help guys