experience with stiffer rear spring?
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,329
Likes: 17
From: woodbury new jersey
experience with stiffer rear spring?
ok guys, finally wrapped up my suspension overhaul/upgrade, and among many other things i added vbandp's sport front and rear springs, sport shocks, lowering wedges for front, and longer bolts for rear. so after getting it all back together and driving a little to let it settle, the car is a bit lower then i want it. looks great, but its very difficult getting out of my driveway. i know the only way to raise the front is going to be to take it apart and put the shims back on top of the wedges, but i should be able to just tighten the threads in the back to raise the back up. problem is, when i tighten them up, i start getting worried that im putting too much stress on the rear spring. its probablly me being over worried, but i dont wanna break this brand new spring. so my question is, how much should i be able to tighten these nuts up on the adjusting bolt. right now theyre maybe an inch from fully extended (10" bolts), so i should have plenty of room for adjustment right? could i go up another inch maybe on them?
o for a final question, would going to 18" rims instead of my current 17" help raise the car, or would that increase just be overrided by a smaller sidewall? getting new rims in a week and was considering 18" to help get me out of this driveway. thanks!
o for a final question, would going to 18" rims instead of my current 17" help raise the car, or would that increase just be overrided by a smaller sidewall? getting new rims in a week and was considering 18" to help get me out of this driveway. thanks!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 2,547
Likes: 46
From: NJ
ok guys, finally wrapped up my suspension overhaul/upgrade, and among many other things i added vbandp's sport front and rear springs, sport shocks, lowering wedges for front, and longer bolts for rear. so after getting it all back together and driving a little to let it settle, the car is a bit lower then i want it. looks great, but its very difficult getting out of my driveway. i know the only way to raise the front is going to be to take it apart and put the shims back on top of the wedges, but i should be able to just tighten the threads in the back to raise the back up. problem is, when i tighten them up, i start getting worried that im putting too much stress on the rear spring. its probablly me being over worried, but i dont wanna break this brand new spring. so my question is, how much should i be able to tighten these nuts up on the adjusting bolt. right now theyre maybe an inch from fully extended (10" bolts), so i should have plenty of room for adjustment right? could i go up another inch maybe on them?
o for a final question, would going to 18" rims instead of my current 17" help raise the car, or would that increase just be overrided by a smaller sidewall? getting new rims in a week and was considering 18" to help get me out of this driveway. thanks!
o for a final question, would going to 18" rims instead of my current 17" help raise the car, or would that increase just be overrided by a smaller sidewall? getting new rims in a week and was considering 18" to help get me out of this driveway. thanks!
18" rims will help. SLIGHTLY but like you said... with a smaller side wall, the goal is to have a similar overall diameter so that your speed and ABS units all read close to stock spec. I have an issue right now because my rear tires are too tall... I get a sevice ABS light when I go over 40 or so MPH...
I say leave it!
It looks gorgeous! Your stance is where I want to be! 
Race Director
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 13,966
Likes: 710
From: WI
You can change your tire height without changing rims, simply use a larger diameter tire. There won't be a whole lot of gain there though.
The rear spring can be adjusted quite a bit. Just watch for the bolts to hit the spring, inside the hole where they pass through. I've got the spring so bent on mine that it can't lower any more because the bolts hit inside the spring like that.
You can raise the front some by making the front spring adjustable at the ends or putting some wedge in under the ends (in between the control arm and spring).
If you hadn't used those silly lowering wedges you could simply cut a shim and put that in without taking it apart too. I've done this on mine. Cut the ends of the stock shim off. Raise the spring bolts up and put the shim ends in, drop the bolts through, place the center shim section in.
The rear spring can be adjusted quite a bit. Just watch for the bolts to hit the spring, inside the hole where they pass through. I've got the spring so bent on mine that it can't lower any more because the bolts hit inside the spring like that.
You can raise the front some by making the front spring adjustable at the ends or putting some wedge in under the ends (in between the control arm and spring).
If you hadn't used those silly lowering wedges you could simply cut a shim and put that in without taking it apart too. I've done this on mine. Cut the ends of the stock shim off. Raise the spring bolts up and put the shim ends in, drop the bolts through, place the center shim section in.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,329
Likes: 17
From: woodbury new jersey
well when i bought the sport front spring, its a stiffer spring so much lower, but it also came preinstalled with lowering wedges. i debated leaving the top shims in or taking them out, but vbandp recommended i leave them out. now im wishing i put them in. right now my rear is maybe 3/4" higher then my front (measuring by top of the fender), so maybe ill try and pull that down some. if i go at a big angle, i can get out of the driveway without scraping, so it may just have to stay this way for a while because i dont wanna take the front apart again! adding something under the sides of the front spring is a good idea too. the stock spring had big square pieces of rubber, the new one doesnt. any suggestions on what i could add there to maybe bump me up a little?
o and joe, dont get me wrong it looks awsome! but im worried driving
o and joe, dont get me wrong it looks awsome! but im worried driving
Safety Car
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 4,659
Likes: 82
From: Toronto ontario
Easiest way i raised the front for a friend was we cut a piece of aluminum plate to the shape of the control arm, used double sided tape on the bottom. We raised the front of the car, used a jack stand with a flat top with rubber (to protect the spring end) and lowered the front of the car until the jack pushed the end of the spring off the control arm. Inserted the aluminum we cut (about 1/3rd of an inch) and repeated for opposite side. Voila car was raised up about 1/3rd to 1/2 inch in the front.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,329
Likes: 17
From: woodbury new jersey
thats a good idea, i may have to look into it. how did you go about cutting the aluminum to fit the spring? a stencil, or did you just take a little at a time and retry? is the double sided tape strong enough to hold it? how long has it been in the car and have you had any problems?
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,329
Likes: 17
From: woodbury new jersey
another idea, i could probablly cut the square rubbers off the ends of my stock spring and glue them onto the ends of my new spring. only question is, is it going to hold up well enough on hard cornering? i plan on autocrossing the car eventually.
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