Hey guys - Does anybody know what vehicle has front and rear springs that I could find in a yard that would lower my stock ride 2"? Eaton springs makes an MC-1399-2 (rear) and MC-1418-2 (front) double pigtail spring that would fit my car and lower the stock ride 2" but that is $450. I would love to find the stock application of these springs to go treasure hunting in a yard. Eaton will not tell me the stock application of the springs unfortunately. The owner before me heated up the springs that are on it and now the ride is trashed. Oh yeah, and the wife won't let me have any more money.
If they are used springs from a yard, there is no way to tell their current ride height for a car with a different weight.
Why mess around with the 'unknown' Eric - bite the bullet, and get the Eatons. The application info must be available somewhere, and chances are, your gonna find other suspension components that will need replacing while your at it. So just throw the cat another goldfish !! LOL :laugh:
Springs have been ordered at $400 - ouch! Fronts springs are on their way but the rear springs are on back order and expected in 1 month. I ordered the springs that lower the car by 2 inches. I hope that this isn't too much. I think that it will raise the stance up from where it is now. Hopefully it will improve the ride. I will add photos after the install and report back on the ride. Thanks to all.
Did you order the Eaton springs you mentioned in your initial post? Where did you order them from? I need to replace my front springs at some point. Some years ago, I cut 3/4 of a coil off the fronts of my '70 to lower it. It worked wonderfully. Brought it down almost 2". The car always sat a little lower on one side than the other though, and I thought the rear springs were the culprit because setting side by side, the front springs stood the same height. After swapping in another set of rear springs I had from another Riv, I discovered it was really one front spring that was the cause of the leaning. I installed a couple of those twist in spacers on that spring, and it brought the car up level, but those are only a temporary band-aid. When my friend initially bought this car, it sat real high in the front. I discovered after I bought it that it had what appeared to be dealer installed 5/8" spacers on top of the front springs. (Kent-Moore brand.) I can only assume that an owner early on had a steep driveway that the car wouldn't clear from the street, and they had those installed. Sorry, Didn't mean to get long winded here, but it happens.
I ordered the springs from OPGI. They were on sale for $170 per pair (front or back). The sale ends 9/16 by the way. Eaton springs were $189 per pair. The parts from OPGI were made by another American company and I can't remember their name. I got springs that were supposed to reduce the ride height by two inches. I sure hope it helps the "floaty" ride that I have now. I think that the current springs have lost their strength after being heated. I will let you know how it goes.ray:
Second guessing my decision here guys. I found a guy that lives nearby with a 1968 Riv GS with stock springs, wheels and tires. His overall tire diameter was 27.5". My front tire with the 20s is 26.5. I measured to the outside lip of the wheel opening on his Riv and it was 27". Mine was 26". If I order springs that drop 2" from the stock ride height that means close to 25 inches and leaves me sitting lower than I already am. Is this right? Should I not bother with installing these springs and send them back for the 1" drop springs? ou:
can u not order direct from eaton spring? my '72 gs has gto 400 springs in front (new & the price was right). i cut a half a coil from the spring to get the level of ride that i preferred.
I ordered from OPGI because they were $20 cheaper a pair at the time. Saved me $40 for the car. The parts are made by Jamco for OPGI. Parts look good as I just got the front springs in over the weekend. Waiting on the rears now. I can get stock spring and cut them on the front but not on the rear. Simply because the rear uses a dual pigtail spring that just can't be cut. The guy I bought the car from heated the springs and now they are a mess and bind up every time I go over uneven road. Not a good thing to do either as you weaken the spring rate and harden the metal making it much more brittle and likely to snap under stress.
Stauts update: I installed the 2" drop springs in the rear and it really sat the car down too low for me. I measured around the car and the front wheel well was at 27" from the ground and the rear with the new 2" drop springs was at 25.75". Not cool. I am going to install stock height springs in the back thinking that it will raise me 2" from the 25.75". We will see what it does for the stance of the car. If it is too high, I will try the 1" drop springs next. I left the front springs alone after I replaced the front shocks. Replacing the shocks really took the floatiness away. Going to install the rear springs and new shocks this week. Rear stock springs cost me $83 vs the $220 w/shipping from OPGI or Eaton. So that will save me some bucks.
Glad to hear you restored the vehicle to stock height. The 2nd-generation Rivieras already ride pretty low, the center of gravity is only 20" off the ground. It's always bad news when owners heat up the springs to drop the ride height, you end up ruining the drive line, along with your shocks. The ride is also noticeably worse. The ideal way to lower the vehicle is by installing lowered spindles on the front, then adjusting the rear springs to level it out. I put NOS rear springs in my 67, along with new air-lift bags connected to the on-board compressor. That way, I can adjust the ride-height and spring action to be as tight/loose as desired. The new springs added 1-2 inches to my rear height, and pumping up the bags really helped the handling on this boat. http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?245070-new-rear-springs-shocks-in-the-67
