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C4 suspension help

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studevette

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hi everyone,

im a newby here on this forum and am looking for some help.
heres the project, i have a 1956 studebaker and i have installed C4 suspension from a '94 vette. The rear end worked just fine but when i installed the engine and tranny the front uni-leaf was too strong i geuss, and the car is obviously lighter than a vette and i really want it to sit lower in the front. im looking for about a 3 inch drop from what i got. so i have two questions:

Whats the best solution, an adjustable coil over shock system, air ride front end, or does anyone or ecklers or someone make a drop uni-leaf for the front end that would give me the 3inch drop but still utilize the leaf set-up?

Would changing the suspension on the front compromise the superior handling that corvette suspension would bring to my studebaker or would this still be an upgrade? I really want the corvette handling and was just wondering if this would compromise that.

I would really appreciate all the help i can get, plus i will have some other questions because we are messing with the steering too and when i figure out what i wanna ask i will. thank you everyone, i really appreciate the help.



ps--- just so everyone knows im not just a corvette poser my dad and i have a '72 stingray that we drive/work on, just so yall know that i am actually a corvette partial owner,, thanks again.
 
There are lowering kits available but I do not think that you can get 3¨ drop with one.

The Coil Over would give you total adjustment but it will add some weight to the front of your car. I had Coil Over's on the ZR-1 and they worked great.

...Or you could drop in a BigBlock 503 to add some extra weight to the front end.;)
 
in a nutshell, the lower a-frames should be roughly parallel to the ground (see the FSM for correct ''Z'' height) for this suspension to operate (handle) well, and spring rates are critical for handling/ control/ ride comfort...'bout the only way to get your project ''sanitary'', will be to use the same trial-and-error method used on home-built race cars -- ''coil- overs''....i hate c/o springs, we use em, again--i hate em, c/o's have many probs -- but unless you have the resources of GM, getting the ''right'' transverse leaf is a daunting task, c/o's are the easy way out by far (if constant maintenance is acceptable for your usage)

find a local/ friendly circle-track parts vendor who will allow you to ''try'' different spring rates (some do, after you buy the first ones), or drive a bunch of nails in your garage roof rafter to hang all the ''wrong'' ones.

always loved those Lowey Studes...too bad all of em here are rust-buckets...still lookin. :D
 
in a nutshell, the lower a-frames should be roughly parallel to the ground (see the FSM for correct ''Z'' height) for this suspension to operate (handle) well, and spring rates are critical for handling/ control/ ride comfort...'bout the only way to get your project ''sanitary'', will be to use the same trial-and-error method used on home-built race cars -- ''coil- overs''....i hate c/o springs, we use em, again--i hate em, c/o's have many probs -- but unless you have the resources of GM, getting the ''right'' transverse leaf is a daunting task, c/o's are the easy way out by far (if constant maintenance is acceptable for your usage)

find a local/ friendly circle-track parts vendor who will allow you to ''try'' different spring rates (some do, after you buy the first ones), or drive a bunch of nails in your garage roof rafter to hang all the ''wrong'' ones.

always loved those Lowey Studes...too bad all of em here are rust-buckets...still lookin. :D



cool, so overall all the options are possible, and using the coil overs would not damage the performance of the suspension? also do you know anything about the air ride suspension? because with the bigger and fatter corvette rims and tires the wheelbase is actually a hair wide especially wider than the studebaker wheelbase, so i kind of would like to have a setting (stance) for parked at shows with a nice rake to the front but that rake would not be possible for driving, so to achieve that i know i need the air bags, but will that also be an insult to corvette suspension? would it improve it?

by the way i appreciate the help thanks guys.:beer
 
cool, so overall all the options are possible, and using the coil overs would not damage the performance of the suspension? also do you know anything about the air ride suspension? because with the bigger and fatter corvette rims and tires the wheelbase is actually a hair wide especially wider than the studebaker wheelbase, so i kind of would like to have a setting (stance) for parked at shows with a nice rake to the front but that rake would not be possible for driving, so to achieve that i know i need the air bags, but will that also be an insult to corvette suspension? would it improve it?

by the way i appreciate the help thanks guys.:beer

the transverse leaf spring provides ''cross talk'' from one side of the car/spring to the other ( a suspension designer's dream come true), which will be lost in the c/o spring installation...but you will retain most of the vette characteristics...the wheel bearing assy's are not happy if you mess with ''overhung loading'' --use a wheel with offset that is close to the vette wheel, if you ''drive'' the car vs ''show only'' where ''anything goes''.

i owned a string of cadillacs (daily drivers), many years ago, that had air ride...nice soft ride, loads of problems, can't really see air for a performance car due to ez compressibilty of air...used firestone ''air cushions'' in industrial material handling systems, also eons ago, again lots of little headhurts...improve the vette suspension ?--possible with huge development time/money, otherwise prolly not.

monroe made, prolly still available, ''air adjust ride height'' shocks , normally used in the rear of many type cars...might work for show+limited driver, if you are in deep.

i personally am tired of ''guts dragging'' show cars that look like an ole' caddy with sick bags (common problem)...your stude is low and swoopy already, just a little ''attitude'' rake would rock, just my $o.02.
 
sounds good

the transverse leaf spring provides ''cross talk'' from one side of the car/spring to the other ( a suspension designer's dream come true), which will be lost in the c/o spring installation...but you will retain most of the vette characteristics...the wheel bearing assy's are not happy if you mess with ''overhung loading'' --use a wheel with offset that is close to the vette wheel, if you ''drive'' the car vs ''show only'' where ''anything goes''.

i owned a string of cadillacs (daily drivers), many years ago, that had air ride...nice soft ride, loads of problems, can't really see air for a performance car due to ez compressibilty of air...used firestone ''air cushions'' in industrial material handling systems, also eons ago, again lots of little headhurts...improve the vette suspension ?--possible with huge development time/money, otherwise prolly not.

monroe made, prolly still available, ''air adjust ride height'' shocks , normally used in the rear of many type cars...might work for show+limited driver, if you are in deep.

i personally am tired of ''guts dragging'' show cars that look like an ole' caddy with sick bags (common problem)...your stude is low and swoopy already, just a little ''attitude'' rake would rock, just my $o.02.



awsome, that answers all my questions, yea i was a little skeptical of the air ride becuase i really really want that corvette performance i mean after all i did go thru the trouble of installing it! which wasnt too bad, but i think i will do the tranverse leafe search, because like i said i really want the tried and true technology that came on the vette.

now what were you saying about the wheels? were you talking about a wheel thal has a larger offset than corvette rims that would bring the rims and tires closer in to the center of the car?

thanks again for the help i dont think i could get these answers anywhere else, i appreciate it.
 
Coilovers are the way to go. The cost of QA1's with coils would be close to the cost of a replacment leaf and you wouldn't have the adjustability. The only issue that comes up is the width of the shock tower. On early c4's the shock tower isn't wide enough. I ended up cutting the tower off of my 85 and making up a new one. Shouldn't be a big problem considering what you've already done. check out Wayne's site. He lists all the parts. If the weight of your car is similar to a C4 I settled on 425lb springs for the front. The spings are faily inexpensive at $37 each so getting a couple different spring rates is not a big money investment,
 

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