Coil Overs On Driver

[narlee]

I have searched the forum and found a lot of information on coil overs. I have a 69 Camaro that will be a driver, not a cruise downtown driver but a jump in and go anywhere no matter how far driver. I want to set it up to ride well and handle very well and research seems to show to get the handling with a leaf spring set-up the ride suffers. This brought me to coil overs, is there any problems with running them (all 4 corners) on a everyday car? Interested in knowing about reliability, noise, or quirks that would show up that would need to be taken into account. Thanks.

[GregWeld]

The one thing with coil overs is that they can have a lack of travel. So in a daily driver - where you might tend to want to have a full tank of gas -- load up the trunk with luggage and then 4 people and off you go.... you can be bottoming out. I stayed with leaf springs on my new chassis in my '37 Ford for this very reason.

Coil overs are "tunable" for height (like plus or minus about 1/2" or so up and down) and most use them for ride height over the ride "quality". On cars that are going to be used to "handle" -- this is the system to go with. But Mary Pozzi was a National Champion auto crosser and her car used leaf springs!

My brother in laws '69 Camaro -- pro street -- is on leaf springs and I'm trying to get him to switch to coil overs -- it "cleans up" the rear end area and makes the car appear a little more 'modern' and we can then adjust ride height and get it really dialed in... but his car works just fine with leafs.

If your going to make your car a really nice handler - bring it up to 'date' - improve the resale - etc -- then coil overs would help in all of those areas... but I'm just saying that they aren't "required" to give you a good ride or handling. SPRINGS really just hold the car up... and leaf springs hold the rear end into position (side to side loads). It's really more important to get these springs "right" for the weight and use regardless of whether or not they're coils or leafs. It's just easier with coils.

Look at SpeedTech - or DSE - or BMR - or other manufacturers - they all have kits for conversions etc. Then it's a matter of budget and what you want to do.

[narlee]

Thanks for the response. From what I understand to get the same handling out of leaf springs the ride begins to suffer. There are several interesting coil over packages but I haven't found how they hold up. I don't want to find out too late there long term issues.

[GregWeld]

In all my years - I've never heard a single complaint about coil overs. They're a marvelously simple shock and spring... I would however - stay away from QA 1's --- Strange makes a far superior unit. Amazing really how much my Nomads ride improved when I changed over to Strange from QA 1's.

[ccracin]

Good info Greg. You can get around bottoming with longer free length springs and longer stroke shocks. The problem with retro-fits is packaging. Most don't want to make the compromises and do the fabrication it takes to put the longer package in. You can do it on a first gen, but the top coil over mounts would have to be in the trunk without making the lower mount too low. I believe Steve Rupp and the Pozzi's did this to Bad Penny. Just food for thought. Also as Greg said, leafs are nothing to turn your nose up at. Especially if you use purpose built performance leaves and properly tuned shocks. Great ride and handling with very little fabrication. I don't want to confuse you narlee, but there are several ways to get where you want to be. Oh, and durability is not an issue with either setup. Don't sweat it! Good luck!

[narlee]

This is the type information I was looking for. I hadn't seen anything about bottoming out previously. It makes sense it could be a problem if there isn't enough travel. Thanks.

[ssick chevelle]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

In all my years - I've never heard a single complaint about coil overs. They're a marvelously simple shock and spring... I would however - stay away from QA 1's --- Strange makes a far superior unit. Amazing really how much my Nomads ride improved when I changed over to Strange from QA 1's.

Hey i have a 56 being reassembled now with a c4 front and rear suspension
I went with the promastar single adjustable. my car happens to be being buil solely for a daily driver. can you please go more into depth on your strange vs qai experience. Please and thank ya

[GregWeld]

I don't really know anything about shocks etc.... so I can't possibly tell you why one rode so much better than the other -- but the very first drive with the Strange on was OMG noticeably better. Smoother... yet subtly firmer but without any harshness. Think - Euro high end ride.

I got mine from my buddies at Art Morrison's --- and they know their stuff -- and if they're good enough for them to use on their chassis.... I'm going along with that.

[Vegas69]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

The one thing with coil overs is that they can have a lack of travel. So in a daily driver - where you might tend to want to have a full tank of gas -- load up the trunk with luggage and then 4 people and off you go.... you can be bottoming out. I stayed with leaf springs on my new chassis in my '37 Ford for this very reason.

Coil overs are "tunable" for height (like plus or minus about 1/2" or so up and down) and most use them for ride height over the ride "quality". On cars that are going to be used to "handle" -- this is the system to go with. But Mary Pozzi was a National Champion auto crosser and her car used leaf springs!

My brother in laws '69 Camaro -- pro street -- is on leaf springs and I'm trying to get him to switch to coil overs -- it "cleans up" the rear end area and makes the car appear a little more 'modern' and we can then adjust ride height and get it really dialed in... but his car works just fine with leafs.

If your going to make your car a really nice handler - bring it up to 'date' - improve the resale - etc -- then coil overs would help in all of those areas... but I'm just saying that they aren't "required" to give you a good ride or handling. SPRINGS really just hold the car up... and leaf springs hold the rear end into position (side to side loads). It's really more important to get these springs "right" for the weight and use regardless of whether or not they're coils or leafs. It's just easier with coils.

Look at SpeedTech - or DSE - or BMR - or other manufacturers - they all have kits for conversions etc. Then it's a matter of budget and what you want to do.

The only reason they bottom out is due to folks getting greedy with the adjuster wrench. Keep a shock in it's sweet spot with the correct spring rate and you won't have any problems. 50/50 shock travel available for compression and extension. If you want to go lower, modify your shock mount and you can still keep it in the sweet spot.

Personally, bottoming out a coil over with a jounce bumper is not any worse than hitting a bad bump with leaf springs.

[jamesinark]

Right now I'm in the setup and configuring suspension geometry (changing pickup points for control arms and such) on my second gen Camaro RS.I have finally settled on the rear suspension setup (a Torque arm that I am currently fabbing up).My question is directed to Greg as in what did you find to be some of the upsides to the Strange c/o's as opposed to the QA1's?I am currently going to be using the Strange 12 bolt rear housing and most of the internals will be strange.Anyway I was really thinking about using the Strange coilovers and couldn't find a comparison between the two.It seems as if most of the guys on here are using the QA1 c/o's and then I read something that Frank Savitske(I hope I spelled it right) wrote concerning them and touting Afco shocks instead.I think that the Strange c/o's seem to be of high quality and not to shabby a price.That is very important when something like Penskes are a little out of reach if I want anything else done to the car.Any info about the reasons you found them to be a better choice would be greatly appreciated.Thanks!