lowering issues?

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May 17, 2005 | 12:10 PM

dnut24

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Racer

Joined: May 2003

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From: columbia sc

lowering issues?

I just finished lowering it last night, and i know and have read that the srpings should settle up front. my concern is when it got put back on ground it was higher then stock! now i know it was all done right, its not real hard to pull spring and replace the pad witht he wedge. it all fit back together right. i cut the aluminum retainers so that it will not bottom out. but shouldnt i see a much bigger difference? maybe i'm jumping gun but i dont see any drop what so ever. i read on the tech article here that you can trim the pad on the bottom end of spring where it contacts the control arm. no where else did i read this before and its all back together. did you guys have to wait a bit to settle, or do i need to loosen somehting up, let it down and then tighten it back up? maybe i tightened things in place and suspension wont drop?

May 17, 2005 | 12:24 PM

purplemajesty

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Joined: Aug 2003

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From: Loganville Ga

When I did mine, it probably dropped more than an inch just by backing out of the garage. If you haven't moved the car since you took it off the jack, take it around the block, you will see a big difference.

May 17, 2005 | 01:23 PM

dnut24

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From: columbia sc

naw man. i've driven it around bout 5 miles now. i think its back to stock now. this is starting to concern me. it was alot of work, for nothing.

May 17, 2005 | 02:48 PM

vette-rookie

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I had this same problem yesterday but havent had a chance to go back out and try again. I think what I did wrong was tighten the spring before the A arms. On the end of the spring at the drivers side its not going all the way in its pocket. When I look down at the spring pocket on the drivers side, I can see a silver line in the A arm where it used to sit.

May 17, 2005 | 03:58 PM

dnut24

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Racer

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From: columbia sc

hmm well in order for me to even get the aluminum retainers to line up i jacked up one side of control arm then bolted it. repeated same on other side. i do see a bit of clean spot on control arm as you mention it.

reading the instructions from MAD again i see last part it says replace like you took apart but with one expception. it says tighten lower control arm bolt so that it is snug. drive around, and without jackign it up tighten bolt to 96 ft lb. maybe this is my problem. question is what to they mean by lower control arm bolt? i'm sure they're not talking bout the ball joint and castle nut right? can anyone explain, maybe this is my problem since i tightened it all up while in air.

May 17, 2005 | 04:33 PM

purplemajesty

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From: Loganville Ga

Any of the bolts where the control arms mount to the car should be torqued with the car on the ground and after the suspension has settled. Its really going to be a pain, expecially with the car lowered.

May 17, 2005 | 04:38 PM

dnut24

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From: columbia sc

you telling me. the only bolt that was really removed is the ball joint one to control arm. this i believe should be loosened. what other bolts? the leafs spring retainer bolts too? i gues si'm goign to have to drive it up on some ramps or something to be able to get up in there.

May 18, 2005 | 11:22 AM

dnut24

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Racer

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From: columbia sc

well i lowered rear till only a cpl threads show, i can tell the difference now. the front i loosened up the ball joint bolt to where there was slack. i then slammed the car down and POP! so i guess that was it settling down. i drove around then tightened it as good as i could w/ out lifting up. it dropped it down some now. i will have the shop tighten while on alignment lift today.

so i guess that how low i'm getting. the wheel gap has shorten, but there is still gap. i'm not satisfied with the drop and honestly wasnt worth my time. luckily it only cost 40 bucks. i guess i just have to realize it wont be as low as i liek my rides being. maybe one day i'll do the coil over thing, but then if i spend 1.3K on that i'd much rather just spend a bit more and put it on air suspension. who knows, we'll see after i get other stuff done.

thanks for the replies, and pray for me that the springs will settle some more!