Classic Industries/Hotchkins Multi leaf 1 1/2" dropped springs

I took the 72 out for a spin after completely rebuilding the front and rear suspension. I have CPP 2" dropped spindles with stock springs and KYB shocks up front. In the rear I have the Classic Industries/Hotchkins 1 1/2" dropped leafs with KYB's as well. Are the rear springs supposed to make you feel like you are driving a tank? I swear, it feels like there is little give at all......is this normal?

i dunno man. i have the same rear leafs and my car handles nice as hell. even my mechanic drove it and complimented on how nice it drives.

I wish Hotchkis would make stuff for the first genners.
I had their coil springs on my 69 442, and it was the best that car ever rode! Flat handled, and rode pretty smooth. I love their stuff.

Yeah, I've got the Hotchkis springs on the front of my 69 and I was pretty surprised that for about double the spring rate it rode almost exactly as smooth as the stock springs. I can't comment on the rears, though, because I like how my car sits right now and I don't want to drop it 2" in the rear. That's about the only reason I haven't gotten better rear springs.

Matt

I thought maybe I tightened the nut too tight on the rear shackles and the front so I backed them off 1/2 turn but that didn't help. Maybe It just needs to settle? The car originally had the stock monoleaf and it was a smooth ride, maybe I am just not used to it yet. I guess it does not help going from an 06 Toyota Avalon (Wifes car) to the Nova :rolleyes:

Mike

Mike,

I have 2" lowered multi leafs (Eaton) that I installed earlier this spring, along with 2" Hotchkis lowering coils in the front and my car is much tighter than with the mono leafs but definitely not harsh.

Hey Mike, I am planning on replacing my stock sagging mono with the 1 1/2 Hotchkins soon and was wondering how much it actually dropped it. I was thinking that since my ride appears to sag so much now over the past 30 years that the 1 1/2 would not change it too much which is what I want. I am thinking a new multi-leaf set up would raise the rear and I don;t want that. So how much you gigure?

Later

Hey Mike, I am planning on replacing my stock sagging mono with the 1 1/2 Hotchkins soon and was wondering how much it actually dropped it. I was thinking that since my ride appears to sag so much now over the past 30 years that the 1 1/2 would not change it too much which is what I want. I am thinking a new multi-leaf set up would raise the rear and I don;t want that. So how much you gigure?

Later

I'd say it made it about the same. I too had the 34 year old sagging spring syndrome. I'll take it out of the garage tomorrow and snap off a few shots of it so you can see. I bout the CPP 2" dropped spindle/disc brake setup for the front (TOP quality stuff and outstanding customer service) as well as stock springs. I had to get small block springs for 2 reasons 1 - We are eventually going to build a small block and drop it in and 2 - Nobody had 6 cyl springs (go figure) therefore the front is actually about 1" lower (or so) up front.

Anyways, check back tomorrow and I should have the recent pictures up.

Mike

Did you replace the shocks with 2" shorter ones????

I like the way these springs handle but I dont like how low the wheel well sits around the tire. To me it should be higher. I tried adding air shocks to raise it up a bit, but it didnt help. I think I'm going to change over to multileafs / stock height.

-Phil

The car originally had the stock monoleaf and it was a smooth ride, maybe I am just not used to it yet.


Going from the old, sagging mono's to a set of stiffer performance multi's is going to make a huge difference. You'll get used to it :D

Going with a lower pressure shock might help, too. I know buying a performance spring then using cheap-shocks is kind of a no-no...but you could try a set of cheap "napa" brand shocks ($13.88 each) to see if that helps. Or, if your KYB's are adjustable..........

Did you replace the shocks with 2" shorter ones????

Nope, stock height shocks since I did not use lowered springs. Dropped spindles allows
you to retain the use of stock shocks. The rears I used the stock height shocks as well since it was only a 1 1/2" drop.

Mike

Well, here are the pics of the way the car sits with the new springs.

Mike

http://bigmikeskustoms.com/Mikeys%2072%20Nova/Nova%20-%20After%20New%20Springs%20-%20Left.jpg

http://bigmikeskustoms.com/Mikeys%2072%20Nova/Nova%20-%20After%20New%20Springs%20-%20Left%20Low%202.jpg

I had to add this one, my Son loves the way the front looks :D
http://bigmikeskustoms.com/Mikeys%2072%20Nova/Nova%20-%20After%20New%20Springs%20-%20Front.jpg

I have a new/old problem that I thought the new springs would fix. Seems the drivers side was 3/4" lower than the passenger side. That was the whole reason I went with all new suspension all the way around. It is still 3/4" lower on the drivers side.....***? The body mounts do not look different in height from right to left, what gives?
http://bigmikeskustoms.com/Mikeys%2072%20Nova/Nova%20-%20After%20New%20Springs%20-%20Right%20Front%202.jpg

http://bigmikeskustoms.com/Mikeys%2072%20Nova/Nova%20-%20After%20New%20Springs%20-%20Right%20Rear.jpg

Hey Mike, looks like you guys have a solid car to start with. Yours boy is supper lucky to be doing a project with his dad. I got my love of cars from my dad but we never spent any time together doing stuff like what you are doing and I regret it everyday. Now that I have 2 boys of my own (22 months and 3 months) I will make sure things will be different. My 22 month old already knows every tool in the garage and alot of parts on the Nova. bla bla bla...sorry

By the way did happen to measure the actuall height before and after.

Hey Mike, one thing to think about is your ride might be due to the KYB's in back. That's what I have in my 67 Camaro with stock leafs. The car used to ride nice. Now with the KYB's, it rides like a tank. I'm talking just the back here. The front is a little stiffer, and that's OK because it's lowered. But the back... another story. I'm going to try some cheaper gas shocks to see if it helps.

In talking with some other guy's about the same problem, I hear the knock on the KYB's is how stiff they are. I don't need a corner burner. I just want a nice riding car. FYI

Tim

Chevy Kid,

Thanks for the input, I will give that a try.

Mike

are you running lowered hotckis springs upfront and dropped spindles?? to me the car doesnt sit low enough..i ran this setup for ahwile its actually in my sig line before switching to the qa1's and my car sat alot lower than your pics..i do have hotckis dropped springs in the back and they are great springs..my car ran way smoother than stock stuff..

are you running lowered hotckis springs upfront and dropped spindles?? to me the car doesnt sit low enough..i ran this setup for ahwile its actually in my sig line before switching to the qa1's and my car sat alot lower than your pics..i do have hotckis dropped springs in the back and they are great springs..my car ran way smoother than stock stuff..

I am running stock springs, unfortunately they are small block springs and I have a 250-6cyl in it at this time. I figure once I convert it to a small block, it will come down an inch or so up front. No one seems to carry much 6cyl stuff, I've had all kinds of issues finding stuff for it.

This is my Son's first car so I wanted the 6cyl to start with, then do a 350 swap around his senior year in High School. I am almost wishing I should have gone ahead and bought one with a small block in it already...oh well.

Mike

even with stock springs i thought it would come down more..oh well..kids got a cool car and especially a cool father to help...my dad never had time to help me, would have been cool to have had him seen my finished car

Have you driven it much to get the springs to settle? That really isn't as low as I was expecting it. It looks almost identical to mine. Can you do me a favor and measure fromm the center of one of the rear wheel wells to the ground? I may end up getting a set of those springs because I like the way the rear sits.

For what it's worth, my car was a bit lower on the driver's side, too. I took it to a suspension shop and had them check out the frame. They told me it was twisted and that was the cause, so what they did was put these weird little bushing type things (solid steel/aluminum) in between the coils on the driver's side spring and it brought it up enough to level it out. I didn't think that was a good idea though, so a week or two later I took them out. I put the Hotchkis springs in up front and it looks level now. Maybe your new springs aren't seated in the pockets correctly? I know you said that the body bushings looked about the same on each side, but maybe measure them or if they look dry and cracked replace them anyway. I changed out the rubber ones for solid aluminum ones and now I have to realign the driver's side quarter panel. I guess the driver's side ones were squished to hell and now with the thickness of the aluminum ones it's all out of whack.

Anyway sorry for the long post, just some food for thought. :)

Matt

Funny thing, it only appears to be lower on the drivers side rear....the front is the same :confused: ??? I will try to check it out in more detail here soon, I need to put it on level ground where I can walk around it easily. I have it in the garage with my 69 Chevy Truck and there is not a lot of room to check out all four corners at once. One side or the other depending on how I have it positioned :D :rolleyes:

Mike

the frames arent bent its just old school gm..most of our cars have the left side wheel closer to the fender than the right..its just the way its was..with my dropped spindles and qa1's when i measure from the ground its 22-23" depending on whats in the car