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Got my SRG brackets in, the construction seems super solid. The fit with my old bad bilsteins is very tight within the bracket, I’m gonna use a expanding wrench to get a little more clearance out of them then get them mounted sometime this weekend.
Got my SRG brackets in, the construction seems super solid. The fit with my old bad bilsteins is very tight within the bracket, I’m gonna use a expanding wrench to get a little more clearance out of them then get them mounted sometime this weekend.
I've been working on sound deadening and the new to me 30mm front and 25mm rear sway bars so I haven't had a chance to really put them on, I did find that the top 2 bolt holes are off slightly so I'll have to widen them a baby bit, also the bottom bracket the coilover mounts too, I stretched the bracket a little with a bolt so I didn't have to force the bottom mount on
Also I've haven't had any rubbing issues in the last 100+ miles I've driven the car and they have been a hard 100 miles
Last edited by L98Justin; May 25, 2020 at 01:48 PM.
Got my SRG brackets in, the construction seems super solid. The fit with my old bad bilsteins is very tight within the bracket, I’m gonna use a expanding wrench to get a little more clearance out of them then get them mounted sometime this weekend.
Do these add strength to the rear shock mount ear?
Do these add strength to the rear shock mount ear?
The will relocate the mount from the stock ear on the aluminum knuckle to this bracket. This bracket bolts to mutliple points on the knuckle, including (it looks like) the original shock mount. So it yes, it will prevent any risk of breakage at the knuckle itself and should relocated the shock forward so it doesn't hit the coil anymore. This assumes, of course, that this new bracket is properly cut and welded or it will not be strong itself. I don't see any evidence that there's a problem there.
Since this thread has quite a number of views and if anyone was interested in buying the Exotic muscle coilovers for their 84-87 C4, here is basically what your gonna find.
There is no spanner/coilover wrench included in this kit, EM says to just lift the car and turn by hand, this did not work for me on the front or rears. You will have to buy 2 different ones as the front requires a smaller one
Most coilovers I've seen have multiple collars for preload/ride height/etc this has 1 collar only and raising the collar will give preload and ride height
Open up the front shock tower, I used a big wrench and got the space I need, I also used the recommended Heim joint sway bar end link. This was all I needed for the fronts, Most people will recommend beefing up the shock tower, I have not though.
The rear is where the fun begins, the rear knuckle bolts that attach the trailing arms need to be reversed, I've read some people cut them in half so they don't need to remove the knuck and then replace the bolts, I removed the knuckle and flipped them. You will also need to grind the head of the bolts slightly
EM supplies you with a bunch of small washers for the top and bottom, the tops will push the coilover as far forward as they can within the stock bracket, the bottom will consist of 4 larger washers 2 that will go between the shock stud and 2 more that will go in front of the coilover to slightly push it outwards to clear the trailing arm bolts that were reversed
Some people have no issues with driveline rub with EM coilovers, Unfortunately I am not one of those people. If you buy these you should be prepared to encounter this problem with either moving the top bracket forward (by cutting it off and re-welding it) or fabricating a bottom support bracket that will push the bottom of the coil forward. I'm looking into the bottom bracket but I wonder if moving the top bracket would be a faster and easier solution for those of us who cannot make the bottom bracket ourselves
If your into the Static/Stance life these are not for you
Would I buy these again knowing what I know now: No and yes, if Vansteel or ridetech made the fronts for a 84-87 and rears at a comparable price (Rear only vansteels cost the same as my whole kit) I would've gotten those without question based on the threads on this forum alone, And yes because despite my clearance issues in the rear the fronts gave me no problems whatsoever, and there are a few threads where some people have gone years with no issues and in 1 case 10+yrs without a driveline issue that I could find, also the price of the kit is very inexpensive and when my rears are not grinding on the half shaft the car at least "feels" like it handles much better.
I hope this helps someone who is considering these coilovers, while there are many threads on this subject finding all if not most of the info in one place proved hard for me at least. I will continue to update the thread as I either have someone make the lower bracket or before i chop the top bracket off and have a new one welded in its place to get that last baby bit of room so I can give Autox impressions and Daily driving reports
You are finding out what I found out about EM products, one thing you have not had happen yet but most surely will is to snap the top of the shaft off. Bilsteins are great shocks for stock applications but they have a 3/8 shaft, not very big. Then you add to that the fact that they cut a groove in the shaft for the snap ring. So now you are down to about a 5/16 diameter shaft. Guess where it snaps off,,,, right at the groove. I had two snap off on my car. The fabbed mount pictures above are the ones I made, they aren't pretty but they will support a battleship. After the 2nd shaft snapped we were on a road trip when the bottom mount of the knuckle broke off. That was a ride on a roll back. Once I got it home the pos "coilovers" were thrown in the garbage and I started doing some homework, measuring and determining spring rates etc. I replaced the EM junk with QA 1 and I can tell you this, the QA's are so far superior to the junk ones it is not even a comparison. Once I got the rears all made up and fitted I did the same to the front ones.
I want to add that there are other top quality companies like Van Steel that also sell a great product. I was not pushing for anyone to use QA 1, it's just what I picked and am very happy with.
Last edited by Midnight 85; Jul 4, 2020 at 12:37 AM.
Reason: added info
I have to wonder; why not just keep the stock spring, keep the 'upgraded' shock and lower the car with lowering bolts?
To be 100% honest, I wish I had done just that. Now that I have all the bugs worked out I hope it stays that way. For anyone considering coilovers, keep in mind, your spring is gone so when a shock or mount breaks that corner of the car has no support and down it goes, Keep your favorite wrecker service's phone number handy.
The will relocate the mount from the stock ear on the aluminum knuckle to this bracket. This bracket bolts to mutliple points on the knuckle, including (it looks like) the original shock mount. So it yes, it will prevent any risk of breakage at the knuckle itself and should relocated the shock forward so it doesn't hit the coil anymore. This assumes, of course, that this new bracket is properly cut and welded or it will not be strong itself. I don't see any evidence that there's a problem there.
Does the factory aluminum ear need to be removed or does it bolt over it?
Does the factory aluminum ear need to be removed or does it bolt over it?
Bolts over it, I actually haven't installed the SRG bracket yet since I haven't had any rubbing issues after 3 Autox sessions and 1500miles of daily driving. The coilovers have been great for me so far, I'm hoping I continue to have luck
You are finding out what I found out about EM products, one thing you have not had happen yet but most surely will is to snap the top of the shaft off. Bilsteins are great shocks for stock applications but they have a 3/8 shaft, not very big. Then you add to that the fact that they cut a groove in the shaft for the snap ring. So now you are down to about a 5/16 diameter shaft. Guess where it snaps off,,,, right at the groove. I had two snap off on my car. The fabbed mount pictures above are the ones I made, they aren't pretty but they will support a battleship. After the 2nd shaft snapped we were on a road trip when the bottom mount of the knuckle broke off. That was a ride on a roll back. Once I got it home the pos "coilovers" were thrown in the garbage and I started doing some homework, measuring and determining spring rates etc. I replaced the EM junk with QA 1 and I can tell you this, the QA's are so far superior to the junk ones it is not even a comparison. Once I got the rears all made up and fitted I did the same to the front ones.
I want to add that there are other top quality companies like Van Steel that also sell a great product. I was not pushing for anyone to use QA 1, it's just what I picked and am very happy with.
Well hopefully this doesn't happen with mine. The rears if I do have trouble at least I can replace them with the Vansteel kit. the fronts have been everything I expected them to be
Hindsight being 20/20 it's probably best to avoid rear coilovers on 87 and earlier cars. The welded upper shock mount presents some challenges. The 88-96 uses a different style of upper shock mount which allows for an adjustable bracket.
The C4 rear shocks don't have a linear motion, its slightly radial. The bracket should prevent one type of failure at the lower mount while inducing a different one at the top. It's best to have a spherical ends on the shock to eliminate any binding as suspension articulates.
Bolts over it, I actually haven't installed the SRG bracket yet since I haven't had any rubbing issues after 3 Autox sessions and 1500miles of daily driving. The coilovers have been great for me so far, I'm hoping I continue to have luck
I would get it installed before you snap the aluminum ear off.
The C4 rear shocks don't have a linear motion, its slightly radial.
To clarify here, every shock and strut mount I can think of follows some radial path at the control arm end. The C4 rear is a bit unique because it follows arcs both laterally and longitudinally, as defined by the lateral links and the trailing arms. So as you note, the mounts need to allow angle changes in both planes. The stock setup allows for this
Originally Posted by TommyFox
I would get it installed before you snap the aluminum ear off.
The problem I foresaw with the SRM bracket he bought is that it removes compliance for the longitudinal arc at the lower mount because it turns the bushing axis 90-deg so that is longitudinal, and the upper mount is now bushed with noncompliant polyurethane (I think?). This is why I suggested he do a bind test before installing that. If there's enough rubber in the shock mount, it may have enough compliance, but I doubt anyone knows until it's tested.
Is there a kit for [spherical rod ends]?
The Ridetech coilover kit includes them, and I believe the Van Steel kit does too.
The problem I foresaw with the SRM bracket he bought is that it removes compliance for the longitudinal arc at the lower mount because it turns the bushing axis 90-deg so that is longitudinal, and the upper mount is now bushed with noncompliant polyurethane (I think?). This is why I suggested he do a bind test before installing that. If there's enough rubber in the shock mount, it may have enough compliance, but I doubt anyone knows until it's tested.
The Ridetech coilover kit includes them, and I believe the Van Steel kit does too.
The top mount doesn't use poly or rubber, and basically I did it just like he did and just rotated the spring and haven't had any rubbing issues. I'm not sure where the initial horrid rubbing came from, I just chalked it up to the ridiculous alignment after re-doing most of the suspension.
To clarify here, every shock and strut mount I can think of follows some radial path at the control arm end. The C4 rear is a bit unique because it follows arcs both laterally and longitudinally, as defined by the lateral links and the trailing arms. So as you note, the mounts need to allow angle changes in both planes. The stock setup allows for this
The problem I foresaw with the SRM bracket he bought is that it removes compliance for the longitudinal arc at the lower mount because it turns the bushing axis 90-deg so that is longitudinal, and the upper mount is now bushed with noncompliant polyurethane (I think?). This is why I suggested he do a bind test before installing that. If there's enough rubber in the shock mount, it may have enough compliance, but I doubt anyone knows until it's tested.
The Ridetech coilover kit includes them, and I believe the Van Steel kit does too.
So basically stay away from the EM coil overs at least on the rear? I was told by Van Steel that their rear coil over bolts up to an early c4. Taking notes here in case I do decide down the road to go with coil overs.
So basically stay away from the EM coil overs at least on the rear? I was told by Van Steel that their rear coil over bolts up to an early c4. Taking notes here in case I do decide down the road to go with coil overs.
I wouldn't say that, especially when just rotating the spring and/or a proper alignment fixed the issue I and that other gentleman had. I'd just assure to have a bracket made or bought to help the lower knuckle. I would prefer the 3k Ridetech but it doesn't seem like they are gonna make them for 84-87 cars and the Vansteel rears will cost as much as the whole EM kit.
