Does anybody have any experience or feedback with these? I am ordering the Rippie etxra-grip kit and wanted to look at these first. With my car being lowered 3.5", I thought that maybe the HALS would have a shorter shock body whcich would eleviate all of the suspension travel problems compared to the Bilsteins, this is per Rippie and Exotic Muscle. The Bilsteins have a longer shock body which causes problems on very low cars. I will have the bumpstops in the rear modified to get some of the travel back. On my C5 the rear tires were tucked and travel WAS NOT a problem, the car dam near rode like stock, no bounce at all. The c4 rear suspension is obviously different. The measurements from the ground to the top of the fender will be 25" in the front and 25.25" in the rear. Dont ask me why I have my cars this low I just do. I am looking for comments from people WHO HAVE EXPERIENCE with this sort of appliction. It can and has been done easily on a C5 so I know I can find a way to to it to my 96.

Thanks for the help. :cheers: :chevy :thumbs:

 

Anyone? :crazy:

 

Am I the only one on this board that has slammed his car with coil overs? :skep:

 

54 views and not one response?

Cmon fellas :U :crazy:

 

Okay okay... I'm in the middle of the Rippie install, rears are in & on the ground (sorta). I was hoping for a bit lower than stock but I'm not seeing it... better idea when the engine, trans & interior are replace.

 

How low do you plan on goingin inches? :cheers:

 

I currently use Carerra Coil overs on my '95 400#springs in front
and 350# in the rear. Like yours these are designed for street and track
use so the rates are going to be moderate.
Based on where I live (RTP area North Carolina) and the road conditions here
that are good to excellent (except in construction areas). I say you are going
to be about .75 to low because even with the bump stops cut in half you will only have about 1 inch of bump travel at 25 inches measured at the lower
lip of the wheel arch. (based on my measurements)
You are going to run out of bump travel and the car
will puch like a dumptruck. If you go up in spring rates to prevent bottoming
it will still push like a dumptruck (but for a different reason)
For example: My car is currenty set to 25.75 front and 16.25 in rear
with the bump stops cut in half I just barly have 2 inches of bump travel in
the front. I think this is about a marginal as you can get. Even at
26 inches, it would still be very low with the top of the tire tucked into the
wheel arch. I'm ok over dips and small bumps but any sort of construction zone where they are re-paving , a 2 or 3 inch
step will bottom the front and this can blow shocks and well as over stress
the shock mount brackets. This woud NEVER work anywhere in the snow belt.
26.00 to 26.25 is probably a better place to start from depending on what sort of drive way you need to get up and still give you the C5 look and low
center of gravity.
The Rear is not a problem unless you are running very soft springs.
Good News:
========
1) C4 has no bump steer from 0 to 3 inches bump/rebound (at least none
that I could meausre with a dial indicator and Lonacre B/S gague). You
have a lot of lattitude to work with and will not be limited by gemotery
even down to the 25 inch height you are considering so from that perspective
you are right in that it could be done.
2) You should be able to get -2.8 to -3.0 camber no problem.
3) You can experiment at will, find a ride height that works,then dial in the
alignment and corner weights, but you already know that.
Bad News:
=======
1) Buy about 3 sets of the plastic lower valance or chin spoilers. That should
last you at least a year, don't remove them because you need them to
get air into the rads and out from under the car (its a small price to pay
for the benefit).
Miisc Tips:
=======
1)Don't get stupid with spring rates but remember you are not married to
their rates either, this is the beauty of coil over's-the abilty to test & tune!
2) IF you have understeer don't hesitate to go down in front sway bar size,
not everyone can use the 30mm front bar and the 24 and 26's can be had
used cheep and used to balance the car.
3) Set a little rake, it drops the front spoler and add down force when empty
or allows for passaanger and small package loads-again you know this.
====
I'm sure some will say this is too low and I would not argue that point at all.
Where I live I have been able to get away with it and the tracks I drive
on are pretty smooth as we don't get frost damage in this part of the country
your resuts may vary but you gotta start somewhere.
I do have to be carfull and with the current rate of road construction, will most likely come up another .25 inch when I'm due for next aligment.
I had rules out 25 inches because of the stated rasons, went to 25.5, then 25.75 where I am now.
When the springs are out of the car you can make
all these measurements yourself and reach your own conslusion.
Hope this helps- feel free to discuss offline as there are so many variables
involved but Ride Height is one of the most critical setting you can make.
:thumbs:

 

one more thing: (as if my reply was not long enough) if you suspect you
will be limited by shock travel, you can verify this by
installing the shocks without the springs. Be sure to use some sort
of bump stop on the shock (it should come with one). This should get
you started and I'll shut up now. :seeya

 

First of all thank you for tsking the time out to write that. The thing I dont understand is you can SLAM the c5 and not have a problem, but the c4 is a nightmare! In order for my tires to be tucked/on top of the wheel well those are the measurements I need. Since in the future I will be putting a sub enclosure in the back and the tires being on the wheel well, I was thinking of going 450lb front and 425 rear. Again the cg is a totally different animal but I had 500lb front and 600lb rear and that car rode like a champion. Do you have any pictures of your car you can send me. I am at 800-942-3683 ext. 7980 if you can give me a call at your convienence and explain this better.

Thanks again,

Mike :cheers: :flag :thumbs:

 

I dont' have the coilovers, but I have QA1's on all 4.
You love the adjustability.
I wish QA1 had the coil over kit available when I got mine.

 

I called HAL and they told me they do not make coil overs for the vette. :U

 

no but a member 'thetorch' had gone through this and found all the parts needed to make the HAL coil overs work for a vette.

 

I Instant messaged him and never got a reply. :crazy:

 

ive done alot of switching around... but i use Bilsteins. I ordered them custom from Bilstein with 1.5 inch shorter shafts. no more 'jump' and its flat as hell. :cheers:

 

Thats the information I've been looking for. Was it the shock body that they made 1.5" shorter or the shaft inside the shock body? Is there anything special I need to ask for when I call rippie? Your car is perfect, the exact ride height I'm going for.

Thanks :cheers: :thumbs:

 

Dont leave me hanging die l.

:crazy: :lurk:

 

I have a coilover kit on my car that was made from 12 way QA1 shocks and it works amazing.

You can purchace the same kit at High-TechRacing.com :cheers:

 

How are they on slammed applications? Die l seems to have the exact set up I'm looking for. How do the shock bodies compare to the bilsteins. I looked on the site and there was no infor for the suspension. :cheers:

 

Where is that info on there site? :cheers:

 

You have to phone and ask for Pete for details. He'll set you up with whatever you need.

:cheers: