[sterho]

I just installed Hotchkis 2" lowering springs on the front of my 71 and it still sits about as high as my old springs did. Is acceptable to go with 2" drop spindles as well, or am I just asking for troubles?
I also installed the 2" lowering leaf springs, and it brought the rear of the car down very nicely, but now the front sits a little higher than the rear. Ideas?

 

[74Novasteve]

Before you go cutting anything, give the springs some time. They usually settle a little bit in a few weeks to a month. If you cut now it may end up too low after it settles. Another thing to take into consideration is that the springs are 2 inch dropped from stock height, and if your prior springs were old enough, they might've been sagging to begin with. You still might need to cut a bit off, but better to be safe than sorry. If you do cut em, do it in 1/4 coil increments until you reach the desired ride height.

 

[1qwikss]

not to be too nosy but could you give the measurement of the rear from the bottom of the taillights to the ground? i need new rear springs and was wondering where that type of spring would put me.

 

[NvrDun71]

If you look around the site, find some posts from strtlegal. That is what he is running and his sits perfect IMO. He might even chime in here. You should be ok w/ the drop spindle as well, but it will def be low. Maybe too low as each car varies considerably.

 

[strtlegal]

i have the hotckis springs and superior spindles 2" dropped spindle and i love it..vry nice riding car i had alittle rub in hard turns only on the left side. my grinding wheel took care of that pics in my sig line

 

[sterho]

strtlegal.....your car sits exactly the way that I want mine to sit. Since you have the Hotchkis sport springs in the front AND superior drop spindles, how much backspace are you running front and back? I have been in contact with Superior Spindles and they claim the maximum bs in front is 4 3/8 in which case I have 4.5". Do you hit the bumpstops much? How is the ride over rougher roads? Thanks guys for the feedback.

 

[SuperNova69]

Strtlegal, awesome car!

How much ground clearance do you have, because it doesn't look like a lot!

Matt

 

[strtlegal]

i dont rub it all on the roads, i have long tube headers and they dont scrap at all!!! my frame is low, if i jack it up i need to either lift it from the fron of the frame rail of back towards the end of the frame rail..no biggy for me

the car feals real connected on the road, absolutely smooth, i dont carve corners but if i hit a bump i dont get taken for a spin..

my back spacing now is 4" with ( from the tire) atleast another 1/2 to go before it would hit the outer tie rod..i can take pics if you guys like..

the superior kit is the way to go, im not sure of any spindle man. that allows more back spacing then superior, ive had cpp, mc caughys. these are the best, for the 3 rd gen..ive been helping nvrdun71 he had some questions..since he wasnt sure about his tire size ( front) he ordered the qa1 system for the front, which gives a little more fine tunning and just in case a little more room for hieght adjusment

every car is different, like i said i had small amount of rubbing in the front only on the left outer sideonly at full turn but not on the right side..now someone else it maybe different it seams ever car is different..did some tweaking and i dont have any more problems

the rear is hotchkis 1.5" lowered spring. i run a 275/40 and i ( with the old grinded lips trick) have more room for a bigger tire atleast a 295

 

[SuperNova69]

That's awesome.

If you ever run into speedbumps do you try to avoid them or can you go over them with no worries? It just looks THAT low!!

Got me thinking of drop spindles and drop springs....

Matt

 

[strtlegal]

well here in tucson we have speed humps which are worse..i take them slow, but no problems..its not like there is anything hanging down to scrap..the wheel base is so short that buy the time you clear your front the back is already going over it

i had a 73 in high school that was stock hieght and just bolted some thrush mufflers to a long piece of exhaust pipe coming straight off my collector and man i would ripe that thing off all the time..lol

the things i did to my car in high school

 

[SuperNova69]

Hmm. Maybe it's just my springs, then. I cut a coil off some new oem springs and I have to go over speedbumps soooo slow or my car will slam down on them.

Good to hear, though.

Matt

 

[strtlegal]

the problem with cutting springs is you end up changing spring rate, it can make them stiffer or softer..some people dont care and just want a look

i had a friend that had a tubbed nova and he tried to get it as low as mine just with stock springs..he took out so much that he couldnt even hook up his front swaybar anymore..lol