When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Coilover shocks have been done a lot on this forum, so one of you may have an answer. The problem is weight...I don’t have any. The whole car is so light as an electric buggy and no fiberglass that the original 1984 front leaf spring feels like a go kart(no suspension). 84s were stout but I’m missing 800lbs up front. If I delete the spring, are there coilovers that will be light enough to make it driveable? Or just an adjustable shock that is strong enough without a coil?
Coilover shocks have been done a lot on this forum, so one of you may have an answer. The problem is weight...I don’t have any. The whole car is so light as an electric buggy and no fiberglass that the original 1984 front leaf spring feels like a go kart(no suspension). 84s were stout but I’m missing 800lbs up front. If I delete the spring, are there coilovers that will be light enough to make it driveable? Or just an adjustable shock that is strong enough without a coil?
A Shock is just a dampener...making sure your nomenclature is correct. A coilover Shock includes a spring and would do what you want so long as you can set the spring pre-load low enough...Four of them go on a vehicle they expect to weigh 3400 lbs or so....or 850 lbs per corner. If your buggy weighs 1200, can you adjust the coilover to handle 300 lbs a corner? Dunno...that's a call to the spring manufacturer. What I would NOT do is just blindly by 'coilover shocks for a C4 Corvette' as there's a better than average chance you'll have a bad time.
Further, you currently have fiberglass springs that are expecting 3000+ lbs, and a chassis that doesn't have a Roof or doors...that's gonna mess up all kinds of handling. Will it kill ya? Probably not. Mess up your back? Hard to say. Make you competitive in Solo 2? Absolutely not!
These are good suggestions,I’ll see if I can find a ride height that will work with those.
The issue is two fold: 1)most coilovers are meant for double or triple the spring rate I need. 2) the shock cradle in 1984 was crazy small.
These are good suggestions,I’ll see if I can find a ride height that will work with those.
The issue is two fold: 1)most coilovers are meant for double or triple the spring rate I need. 2) the shock cradle in 1984 was crazy small.
Coilovers are available with an almost infinite number of spring rates. I have coilovers on my C4 (rear). I have changed springs 3 times to get the spring that works well which happens to be a 170 lb spring. A rough rule is to figure out how much the spring is compressed when in use. For instance, a 14" spring rated at 170 if compressed 4" will support a weight of 680lbs. The spring height is easily adjustable with a coilover. In my case, a spring with a lower rating ended up working the best. I tried a 190 and a 210 spring and the rear of the car was too stiff and the tires wouldn't plant on launch. You are right, the front shock cradle in an 84 is small. A few member here have worked around that problem. Do a search.
From: I tend to be leery of any guy who doesn't own a chainsaw or a handgun.
Originally Posted by jeff katzman
These are good suggestions,I’ll see if I can find a ride height that will work with those.
The issue is two fold: 1)most coilovers are meant for double or triple the spring rate I need. 2) the shock cradle in 1984 was crazy small.
Cut it and reweld it. I suspect the resale value impact due to that mod will be small.
(Just FYI: I'm not being a smartass. I just redid the coilover mounts on my '69 w/C4 suspension.)
From: Las Vegas - Just stop perpetuating myths please.
Yes I'm curious also. Why a corvette? I would expect a small pickup truck would be a better platform. What motor? How does it bolt up? Is it a car for transportation or just a buggy/cart for a local shuttle?
C4s have everything I wanted in a chassis but this one was a basket case. I rolled with it because I got it for almost nothing, parted it out to break even, and it came with a WC T5 which I knew would work for a moderate build. I made an electric because I had never done it before and eventually we are all going to see electric hot rods. The C4 kart look is also an accident, I wanted to find a devin body but couldn’t get one in TX. I think this will eventually be more rat rod and less kart but I’m no judge, just a tinkering addict. Cheers!
From: Las Vegas - Just stop perpetuating myths please.
Wow! Inverter science too. Had to look it up and it reads like the Hyper 9 HV does its own inverting to keep it simple. I can see lots of applications for that. But for me I would need something with a double size battery pack (parallel) to give me enough range.
Using c4 chassis for electric buggy
