Ride height too high in front

[redvett]

You can unhook the upper ball joint after removing the stablizer link and slowly lowering the lower a-frame enough to turn the spring. Be aware that the oposite side wheel has to be on the ground at the time.
BTW remove the shock too.

 

[dshanks]

Be aware that the oposite side wheel has to be on the ground at the time.

Why is this?

 

[redvett]

When you jack up one side of the car the other will come down from the load.

 

[dshanks]

I spoke to my dad today, who asked a local "front end guy" friend of his. He mentioned that the control arm cross shaft end bolts have to be torqued down while the car is sitting on the ground, which we have covered in this thread.
The thing that I forgot to clarify here earlier, that he said could make a difference is that I torqued the upper control arm cross shaft end bolts while the car was off the ground, but the lowers were torqued while on the floor.
I was under the impression that it was just the lower bolts that needed weight on them when torqued. After further thought, I could see how they both might need to settle while the bolts are loose...

Do the uppers need to be torqued on the ground after settling as well?
Would the uppers being tightened prematurely keep the rest of the suspension from settling?

 

[redvett]

Yessss with out question.

 

[dshanks]

Yessss with out question.

Oh man, Im so pumped now. I had almost lost interest in working on the damn thing, considering i thought I was going to have to take the springs back out...

Been too long since Ive actually had fun in the car, 10 months all work no play!

 

[dshanks]

Oh man, Im so pumped now. I had almost lost interest in working on the damn thing, considering i thought I was going to have to take the springs back out...

Been too long since Ive actually had fun in the car, 10 months all work no play!

Hi Everybody,
through the past week I tried to narrow my issues down here. I loosened all the control arm cross shaft end bolts, and this didnt allow the suspension to settle.
After not finding anything that could cause this, I finally inspected the springs to make sure they were installed correctly.
They were not in correctly and needed to be removed and reinstalled.
I did this saturday, and the car only came down another 1/2" which puts it still 2" higher than it was before the suspension rebuild.
Any suggestions? thinks theres something to this weight loss idea? Ive lost about 200lbs from the front end...

 

[dshanks]

After all this time. I still cant find a reason that the car is sitting higher now than it was before the resto.
I finally decided to just measure from the fender lip to the ground to compare it to other peoples vettes.
It measures 28"
What does everybody else get?

 

[redvett]

The proper way to measure ride height is from the fram. Check your service manual for spec's.

 

[dshanks]

The proper way to measure ride height is from the fram. Check your service manual for spec's.

I have an assembly manual, no service manual. Know where I can get one for cheap?

 

[zachh]

Im way off subject, but an easy way to fix the ride hieght.... put a bunch of bricks under the hood... you'll be all set. Nice vette!
zachh

 

[WONKABOY]

I have an assembly manual, no service manual. Know where I can get one for cheap?[



Does your car have A/C ? There are 2 sets of springs one for A/C and no A/C
the ones for the A/C would be taller to make up the weight from the A/C

 

[dshanks]

I have an assembly manual, no service manual. Know where I can get one for cheap?[



Does your car have A/C ? There are 2 sets of springs one for A/C and no A/C
the ones for the A/C would be taller to make up the weight from the A/C

Yes, the car had a/c, and I removed it in the build-up. I cut 3/4 of a coil from the bottoms of the springs, and now it sits right as rain.

 

[LVMYVT76]

didn't know that a/c weighed enough to have differeent springs. The compressor would be the only part with much weight to it.

 

[redvett]

didn't know that a/c weighed enough to have differeent springs. The compressor would be the only part with much weight to it.

You have the compresser, brackets, condenser, evaporator, hoses & pipes, freon 3lbs, larger housing for heater & evaporator, wireing, vacuum hoses & controls along with relays & belt. I would say 200lbs.

 

[JohnZ]

The Chevrolet Engineering specifications show that A/C adds 98 pounds over a heater-only car.

 

[LVMYVT76]

most of this with the exception of the compressor and vir is alum.

 

[redvett]

Just weighed my 72 compresser that is rebuilt and waiting to go on my ground up LT-1 air coupe and it weighs 42 lbs and thats just the compresser.

 

[LVMYVT76]

when I look up front springs for replacement in parts catalogs, they just show stock replacements, or for performace uses, nothing about a/c or not.