Thoughts on Coilovers

Was waiting on Fed Ex to drop off my new BMR 1inch front and rear lowering springs.

Of course, the delivery was canceled and moved till tomorrow, no biggie. The car is sitting there on the jack stands ready for the parts.

It got me thinking, for $350 or so more, I can just get front coil overs and later swap the rear springs or maybe add some coil overs.

The price difference isn't too bad.

What are your guys thoughts?

I currently have tubular upper and lower control arms with the pro-forged taller Ball joints. I think it gave me half an inch drop.

I do have a thicker sway bar and boxed rear control arms with a rear sway bar as well.

Would the coil overs up front compliment the set up?

Or just install the 1 inch lowering springs and call a day?

I definitely want a cruiser. I opted for a 3.42 posi I'm getting installed tomorrow. Just finished the m20 4 speed swap as well and with the Sniper EFI it's been great driving it to work every other day.

Just not sure if the coil overs will be that much added benefit to my current set up.

I do run 235 70 in the front and 275 60 in the rear, maybe the coil overs will make the 28 inch tires tuck in better?



Red car is my original stance inspiration

 

Looks good as is in my opinion

 

With coil overs you can fine tune the stance, they also have a firm ride!

Bob H.

 

I have been considering coil overs for my car, I had springs that came in my kit and took them out the car was to low and to soft, I replaced with factory coils, still low and to soft. Getting frustrated and think for adjustability it’s worth it. It’s no easy task changing out front coils at home never mind that I will have several sets of springs I can’t use. I have global west suspension and drop spindles. It’s cool looking to have a low car but sucks when you bottom out on speed bumps or dips in the road. Just my 2 bits, good luck.

 

Thanks! Stance isn't too bad. I'm guessing the front tires is what makes it feel like it's higher off the ground. I do rub a bit when turning especially bin reverse @ parking lot speeds.

One main reason I was looking into new springs is that it still was a bit bouncy when I get on it at highway speeds and I go over some bumps or irregularities. I want to tighten it up a bit.

 

Great looking car!

Your car is also one of the reasons I had been looking into a different wheel set up as well! Originally I was going for a pro-touring build so I can take it down HWY 1 and handle some curves a bit better.

I do have headers and wouldn't want to ding them too much or be bottoming out. With the original 14 inch rallies, it would bottom out as is. Figured it would be springs. I currently have 15x7 in the front and 15x8 in the rear

 

Great looking car...

 

Personally I think coil overs are great. I have them on the front and rear along with Hotchkis sway bars. To me it feels like it’s a more solid ride with better control in turns. I also have tubular upper/lower control arms and boxed rear control arms. I have single adjustments to dial in the rebound.

 

I've always found normal coils to be sufficient. I never figured out what the supposed to be over..

 

No miles on mine yet, but the adjustability has been fun to play with. I agree with most here, probably not the best bang for your buck in terms of suspension upgrade as they don't correct the geometry, but since you have taller ball joints and tublar arms, they will compliment your setup well. I’m still tuning the ride height on mine.

 

I have 245 on front and 295 on 18” rims with custom offset. No rubbing and did not modify the fender openings. I used shorty headers due to ground clearance as well. I recently broke a lower ball joint while driving (of course) so I would recommend replacing the ones that come with the global west arms and replace with the best money can buy. I had 5000 miles one my car and only drove in Phoenix...not sure why it broke, luckily I was slowing for a stop sign, could have been a disaster otherwise.

 

Thanks guys, I might just go for the front coil overs for the time being. They have a single adjustable and a non adjustable that just dislsnik the ride height.

The car is currently getting the read swapped in, I will tackle the suspension this weekend

 

From what I've read coil overs transmit more noise to the cabin. Any truth to that?

Mikey

 

I have Viking adjustable coilovers on my car and love them. I haven't noticed any additional road noise in my car, however I did just replace the body mount bushings (kept OEM style rubber), so it may have cancelled out any increase in NVH from the suspension components.

I'd honestly say the ride is better now than it was with factory style components. Firm enough to handle like it's on rails, but compliant enough to still be a comfortable cruiser. Granted all of this is part of a full component set (tubular arms, quick-ratio box, etc.), however it's all made a world of difference.

 

Thanks for the input.

Mikey

 

68Rivi are you doing this stuff to the 68 Riv in your avatar or to that white GS? Reason I ask is I want to tighten up the steering/handling of my 69 Riv. I'm going to get a quick ratio 808 big car box from Tom (teleriv) and rebuild my power steering pump for starters. Any other tips to help with this?? Any rear components I could upgrade?? These Rivs have a pan hard bar already so??

 

I ended up selling my Riviera a while back, but it was before I got into making major upgrades. I did purchase new shocks and springs for it a while back and rebuilt the whole suspension using stiffer bushings.

Not too sure if there is a thicker sway bar available for the rivis but I would start there as well. There's a gentleman that autocrosses a Riviera and he might have a few tips. John Lyons is his name, ripnriv on Instagram

 

Awesome thanks for the info, I'll see if I can contact him and pick his brain on some stuff.

 

WOT member /GSX Reunion attendee, I wish I saw your post prior to my attempting two separate spring replacements. I ended up purchasing two sets of springs to correct a ride height issue after an engine swap and front disc conversion; FAILED. The previous owner must have installed lift springs so what I thought was a 2" drop was much less. The car still bottoms slightly when you find a dip in the road. And with sharp turns; forget about it. I'm reconsidering my original thought of replacing the shock/spring setup with front coil-overs. I can adjust the height to suit the ride and also correct any side-to-side right height differences (about 0.5" difference). Here's the standing question to anyone who can answer.

Must the lower control arms be replaced when converting to coil-overs?

I have a 66 Buick Skylark with the original control arms (and bushings). I've heard that you don't need to replace the control arms since the T-bar is attached to the upper-side of the control arm, unlike the shocks which are mounted on the underside. I want to ensure that the car suspension doesn't punch through the control arm if I happen to hit a pothole or dip in the road.

I'm $700 in after to spring replacements. I'm hoping this conversion is the final in a series that's extended well beyond my original thought.

Theo

 

I think people re-enforce the mouting points since all of the weight is now going to be supported by those spots. I am not sure if there is something similar for stock lower A arms but I used these with the stock replacement tubular arms from summit racing. I wanted the piece of mind.

I am going to be looking into doing a coil over set up on my 67 now.

To my understanding, if the kit you are looking at is meant to be bolted to the stock control arm, then you are set to go unless the mounting points are damaged or super rusty/ integrity is compromised.