My 71 Firebird - untamable

[cpd004]

Originally Posted by chichirone

Here is a pic of the Ridetech 4 link on our car prior to changing to a 3 link. Same mount position as yours. The shock valving you are experiencing is a bit strange as I have had single and triple adjustable and not experienced the issue as you describe. 9 vs 24 clicks.



Regarding the spring rate, I run 450's in the rear on our car. Use to have 225's and the rear was way too "soft" so your 185's need changed. What are you running up front? We have 650's and up front. Our car weighed in at 3300 with driver weight included. The guys at RT will get you sorted. I have had them send me a couple different springs when we were dialing in the car so I am sure you will get great service from them and on the road soon. Check out their comparative weights on their website for spring rates as well. Ron Sutton is the man so if anything I am suggesting is counter to his recommendations, IGNORE ME COMPLETELY! HA!

My fronts are 600. I know how I want it to ride, and am thinking with the way the rates are now, it'll be too soft. They want the shocks back and did say those rates are good with the measurements I sent in.


I did talk to Ron once (what a great guy!) about the issues...he requested a bunch of info including vehicle weight before making any suggestions. It took me almost 2 months to get the car weighed, so now I have everything he has asked for. I'll forward that all to him hopefully later today.

Not sure what the shock issue is. When I first got them and put the front on, the adjustment knob was impossible to turn by hand. I emailed tech support and Britt responded saying to just go ahead and crank the hell out of them as they are very robust. A pair of pliers did the trick, but apparently there was more wrong than just them being initially stuck.

Originally Posted by DBasher

Are the weights taken with you in the car? And help me understand that front left weight....is there really "extras" up in the corner or is it because the suspension isn't dialed in and it's seeing a jacking effect?

Love the car, even at the height its at, it looks great.

Good luck getting it sorted.

Thanks for the compliment!

That was without me in it. The battery is in that corner and I'm running the Corvette accessory drive with no AC yet. That put's the alternator and steering pump there as well. That, along with the gear box, makes for that being the heaviest corner by far.

The car is not sitting perfectly level, so I'm sure the numbers are off.

[Campbellshotrods]

Originally Posted by cpd004

I forgot about Anvil. There hood and nose would surely help. Both of those at minimum would be $2000

Definitely not a cheap part, the single most expensive part I've bought for my car at this point. Didn't go with the nose, since I will drive the car and wanted an actual bumper. I might do a track nose later.

Originally Posted by cpd004

The car is not sitting perfectly level, so I'm sure the numbers are off.

I was wondering about the LF corner myself. It does seem really skewed, but then again I've never had any cars on scales yet so I have no reference. A battery is probably 30 lbs, a/c compressor maybe 20 lbs, steering box maybe 35 lbs... so I think 85 lbs max to the LF. RF would have some a/c box weight too, but that might be balanced by the column and master cylinder on the LH side. It would be interesting to see what the scale weights are on another 2nd gen F-body.

[cpd004]

So Ridetech had me move the rear blocks up like you have pictured MtotheIKEo. Mine was like what Jay posted in his pic and that's also how the instructions show to install them. This definitely will gain move the body up by about an inch.

They have also bumped the front up to 650 lb springs. I've got a few other things going on so I won't be able to tell what kind of difference anything has made for a little while.

I also noticed a 2 of the bolts for the 4 link have loosened. The same two on each side as a matter of fact. They go through the thin sheet metal frame rail. It is not welded, but I may have to look into that if I can't figure another way to keep them tight.

[cpd004]

Despite the crappy weather....I was able to put the car back down and take a very short ride...the car is sitting much better now. The revised rate of the front springs and moving the blocks up have raised the car a bit to where I think will be good for the driving I do. I can't tell what has changed in the ride quality just yet, but will hopefully get to after getting the stance finalized and an alignment.

[WSSix]

Glad to hear the good news!