rithsleeper

Its been bothering me for a while. Since I moved to the stiff spring in the front the car is sitting about an inch higher than it use to and I thought I would get use to it but it just looks lame. I'm also about to start construction on a splitter since I was getting lift at daytona last month. If I design it at this height then find a way to lower it then I have a problem.

I have shaved my rubber insulation down to about 1/8 inch. I can't afford to move to coilovers. I guess I could cut my k member and reweld it. Is there any other option?

WVZR-1

You mention only "STIFF" - what exactly did you put in the front? Another OE C4 or a specialty spring purchased in the aftermarket? What year car?

GKK

If all the rubber spacers on the center and ends of the spring pads have been removed and shaved down, you could also, install the ends of the springs Underneath the lower A arm and use an adjusting bolt that goes through the spring end and lower A arm perch to adjust the height.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ustable-2.html





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rithsleeper

FHB front spring. Here is what the car use to look like, unfortunately I don't have any new pics after the spring change. All pics with hood up but it is about an inch higher than this pic. In this pic, the tire top comes to about even with the lip of the hood. Now there is a gap and it is just too high. I was surprised how big a difference such a tiny change makes on the stance of the car.

rithsleeper

That is interesting. However what is being done in this thread looks to be the exact opposite of what I need. The bolt would only raise the car further off the A arm and make the car higher.

However your idea of mounting the spring under the A arm is intriguing. However, I am pretty sure the spring has to be able to slide in and out from the A arm as it compresses.... By running a bolt it would lock it into place. Creating groves I fear would really get me into a reliability issue with bolts coming apart without serious engineering how the groves are cut and specialty pieces.

Maybe I'm not picturing something right though....

GKK

That thread shows the guy preparing the hole in the spring end to mount Underneath the A arm perch.

A bolt then installs through the top of the A arm perch and down through the threaded spring hole. The spring height is then adjusted by turning the bolt up or down which raises or lowers the spring end.

Sorry, but I can't find the picture of it though?...

rithsleeper

I think I get the picture and I like the idea, but what about my concern that the spring has to be able to slide in and out of the lower control bar as the wheel goes up and down. If not the wheel would need to pivot and would not keep the tire flat while the suspension compressed. Even if I slotted where the bolt goes through the A arm so it could move, I think there would more than likely be binding and although it would be minuscule, might get worse with time which could make the car unpredictable.

I'm also about to make some bigger down-force, possibly around 500 lbs extra force on the spring which would put a lot of force on that one section of the spring where it normally would be spread across the entire spring. Now you have all the force focused on a space as wide as the grommet. I could put another piece of metal to extend the entire width of the spring....

At this point it's almost worth getting an extra set of lower A arms and cutting them up and re welding things lower an inch....

There has to be some ricer who has butchered a C4 and slammed it. I would like to see how they did it and then dial it back a notch.

GKK

I wish I could find that picture from VBandP's website?...

My 91 Vette is lowered with the stock FE1 spring and sits at 26 1/4" in the front with all rubber shaved from the center and spring ends.

rithsleeper

I want this ride height, can't be stock and would make my life way easier on the front splitter. Being a Z, I should be able to duplicate right?

GKK

That's 5abivt's 93 Vette.

He has it lowered with cut spring pads on the stock spring. He also, has a 94 ZR-1 lowered with Vansteel coil overs.

Here's my 91 lowered with cut pads on the stock FE1 spring with 19x10's on all four corners.









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l98tpi

Here is what you need. It is an adjustable spring so you can adjust the ride height. It is however a high rate spring, but you can control it with good shocks.

http://www.vbandp.com/auto-parts.htm...ategory_id=115

rithsleeper

When my car was on the stock fe1 spring it was perfect ride height. However that spring is great for a DD but terrible with a true race tire slick. Just slop all day long.

Even the adjustable spring still looks like it adjusts from the wrong side. If anything it would raise the chassis from the suspension. I'm guessing this spring has less contour to give it that adjustment.

Thank you all for the info. It seems to get a street car lower it would be easier, however a functional track car I'm going to have to either cut the resting surface of the a arm and lower it or slice some out of the k member and reinforce it after allowing the spring to set higher I to it.

I don't trust myself welding aluminum but I'm sure I could find someone who would do it if I did all the cutting.

WVZR-1

Lower might be "attractive" but it's not always a "handling" solution. I believe you could do much better maybe getting a better understanding of the suspension geometry and establish a plan that is maybe complete.

GKK

I found the Links!...

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...he-ground.html

Here is the link showing the rewelded and lowered A arm perch...

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ring-idea.html




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WVZR-1

I don't believe I care for the drill and bolt procedure and I could NOT suggest it BUT the welded on for the Challenge cars if that's actually what was done is interesting.

The '88+ LCA thickness is consistent at the pad where the spring mounts so perhaps if a bolt on plate could be fashioned I could see that working. It might require maybe adding an insulator to the top of the spring on the ends. One thing comes to mind though if it's done this way is rather than reducing the dimension of the pad at the midpoint to the ends a person might need to add to the height to make it effective. Height might be able to be controlled at that point more easily also.

I'm not going to rush out to do this but the OP could measure his established height as it is, place an insulator on the spring end and move the same spring to the "under" position and measure. The first time it would be a considerable effort BUT if it worked well then the spring replacement would certainly become effortless. Once it were confirmed then others that followed wouldn't have to actually go through the tedious spring removal, you would just sacrifice the original maybe and cut.

When the spring end changed to the square mounting cushion this of course couldn't be accomplished using the same style spring. You would need the earlier style spring with the glued on insulator or cut.

The LCA is maybe 15mm thick and the spring 20mm thick including the insulator so if you moved the existing spring on any car to the "under" position the minimum height change at the "spring end" would be something very close to 35mm. What would that result in regarding vehicle "trim height"? I have no idea.

The "bolt through" in the link appears that the spring ends up maybe directly contacting the edge of the spring pocket which I can't imagine being good. Does this change when suspension is loaded? Maybe.

GKK

Since the spring and lower control arm move as a fixed unit, nothing should contact each other. VBandP offers a similar adjustable design so, I'm sure there is no problem.

rithsleeper

Those links offer a lot of info an clear things up. I fear 97% of corvettes never see a track day and never need the geometry designed by gm but I do. I definitely think about it.

Thing is cutting the lower arm like the pic of the challenge car changes the geometry the exact same as shaving the insulators.... The only true way to keep the geometry the same is to raise all the points where the control arms mount to the frame. And even where the spring mounts. It is more of a question will the cut and reweld alter it to the point it would have a negative effect.

I still think mounting the spring under has way more risk than rewelding the LCA. The bold risk breaking, not spreading pressure evenly, I don't think the spring would react the same with all the pressure down the middle....

As for rewelding the control arm mounts I would need to really evaluate the situation. Seeing how its all exposed I doubt it would be too hard...

COPO

If moving suspension points.... Better have a clue as to what your doing!

rithsleeper

At first I thought I didn't want to mess with moving suspension but I look at it like this. The geometry is the mounting points (4) and shape of control arms. Point is to keep the wheel flat when hitting bumps and reacting. About the only thing the chassis effects is the frame flex. Each wheel is separate (hence "independent suspension")

The only thing that would change would be lower center of gravity. I think that would be negligible in how the suspension reacts (we are talking an inch) and also slightly where the spring connects to the k member.

See thing about all this is, the same changes are being made when you shave off the insulators. It is a different way but still has the same result and same change to geometry. I have drawn sketches and asked my dad who has a masters in mechanical engineering and he agrees with me that the effect would just be one step beyond trimming insulators.

If anything lowering the center of gravity would help as long as the geometry (moving the mounting points to keep it the same) stays the same. If it weren't for ground clearance regulations I bet Chevrolet would have lowered the car even more. In fact I could keep the insulators if I do it correctly which would be even better.

But of course I could be way off. . There have been great pics but I would love to see someone who moved the mount points. All I see is people making custom chassis for hotrods.

COPO

I built a new k member. It was easier than modifying the stock one. I sold it to a guy that autox a lot. He is having good results. I didn't do a thread nor take any pics, wish I did now. Being slammed with travel feels good. There is a thread on how I did the rear by moving the mounting points.