2nd Gen Front Coil-Over Conversion

[TATurbo]

Hello everyone,
 I was wondering if any of you guys have experience with running a coil-over setup on a 2nd Gen F-Body?  I intend to install a 'Coil-over system' on the front end of my LS1 swapped '81 TA.  Keeping budget and intended use in mind, I expect it'll be a coil-over 'conversion' type setup that uses the stock control arms.  The car's a cruiser. I don't require a full-on drag, auto-cross, or corner carver setup.

This is often an ineffectual exercise on the internet, but I'd appreciate any input, recommendation, or suggestions any of you might have regarding what to look for or brands to avoid. 

Thanks in advance for your time! 

-Tom

[ryeguy2006a]

Hey Tom,

This is a great upgrade and should hopefully give you a softer ride. I'm going to be looking for something like that down the road too. I have no first hand experience, but I've heard really good things about Viking shocks. They make a coil over kit with single and double adjustable settings. You can't go wrong with a Ridetech or QA1 either. I'd stay away from the generics that can be found on eBay and Amazon. Also, before you buy from a Summit or Jeg's, contact MCB parts. They always are easy to deal with, great service, usually knock a few bucks off the normal asking price you see online, free shipping and no taxes(at least to me in NY). Hard to beat. You can also try Suspension Geek. Rodney is very knowledgeable too. May want to give him a call.

One big thing to consider is that most, if not all of the coil over conversions recommend not using stock lower control arms. The reason is the shock pocket was never designed to hold the full weight of the car, the way around that is to buy a plate that you can weld inside the LCA that will distribute the weight and make it safe to use.

Good luck man!

[JJ 109]

Curious what the motivation is.

Coil overs will not necessarily improve the ride, given the same A arm supported spring.

The do offer some ride night adjustability.

They are nice and convenient, but I feel like they are being oversold and do not offer much benefit to most.

[ryeguy2006a]

Well the biggest thing that the coilover shocks offer over most shocks is adjustability. Most are single adjustable for the shock rebound, but many also come double adjustable. That way you can dial in the shock valving for how you want the car to feel. Or have settings for the street and separate settings for the track.

One thing that I would also suggest though is checking out the Speedtech Chicane brackets. This requires a little cutting on your frame, but will convert your car to a true coil over shock vs. the tapered coil shock. It's a little more money, and certainly more involved installation as you have to cut out the shock mount and some of the spring pocket. As well as welding the Chicane bracket to your frame, but once you have that installed, you can pick from any coil over manufacturer.

[JJ 109]

Agreed. To be clear though, the rebound and compression adjustment is based on the shock choice and it does not need to be a coil over.

The coil over makes the ride height adjustment easier, within limits.

[TATurbo]

Thanks for the input guys!

Ride height adjustability is one of the biggest reasons for wanting to install coil over's in this car.  I've got the stance pretty close to where I want it, but would like to dial it in just a bit.
Another significant contributing factor is that I think the spring rate on the PTFB 'SB' front springs is a little too high on this LS1 swapped car.  I'm not a suspension expert, but the front end seems to 'hit' bumps pretty hard.  I've dialed it in some with a couple of shock changes.  I'm currently running ACDelco 'stock replacement' shocks.  That was a significant improvement over the adjustable Doeschtech shocks I was running previously.  Although, admittedly some of that might have been 'user error' in adjusting the Doeschtech's.
Finally, I like the idea of being able to finely tune the compression and rebound.  My experience with the Doeschtech's was that when I set them to the softer setting that 'felt' better for my use, they ended up being 'floaty' on the highway.  I think more adjustability will help me get that sweet spot I'm looking for.

All of the 'improvements' I've recognized in playing with things the past couple of years are all just my own personal preference and 'feel'.  This car is a cruiser, and I put a lot of miles on it. 

My intent with coil-over 'conversion' is to:
A) Get the ride height just where I want it.
B) Get the 'feel' dialed in just right...A comfortable ride that will still easily take a set and corner relatively flat and steady.

I'll definitely post back up once I make a decision and get to try them out.

Thanks again everyone!


 



 

[scarebird]

this may help with LS1 front:

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5605723&postcount=134

[TATurbo]

That -is- helpful Scarebird...
I plan to get the front end weighed before ordering, but based on the research I've done thus far I figured on either a 250# or 350# spring.  The description laid out in that post is exactly what I'm experiencing and hoping to accomplish with this investment. So, thanks for sharing your experience!

I still have to weigh the car, but It sounds like the 250's might be the way to go. 

I'm willing to give up a little bit of roll control for an improved ride.  I love a twisty road or catching a good on/off ramp just right, but really 99% of the time I'm just cruising somewhere with Julie in the passenger seat...And she's not as big a fan of a nice off-ramp as I am.
 
I wont be ordering until late this winter, so if anyone wants to share...I'm all ears.

[TATurbo]

ScareBird...
Camaro Central breaks down the available spring rates like this:
Front Spring Rate Options:
250lb- 11” tall springs for drag race only. Serious lightening required.
350lb- Small block cruise or drag race with lightening required.
450lb- Small block cruise, big block drag race.
550lb- Small block handling, all big blocks except drag.

I want to be sure I understood the story outlined in that link...
You learned from someone liking an estimated 230# spring rate on the front of their LS swapped F-body.  You purchased a set of actual 230# springs and liked the feel of those on your LS Swapped TA.  In both cases those were stock style springs and not coil overs (although that probably doesn't make a difference).
I understood your experience correctly....Right?

[scarebird]

Correct.   I actually ran this at Sandia Raceway, a road track.  It performed superbly; roll was not an issue - lack of lower gears, stickier and wider tires were!

That, and 6,800 miles in 5 or so years of various types of driving - from interstate to local flat-hatting.  Like camming an engine - you don't want too much spring here.  Note I lightened the car as much as I could reasonably:  manual windows, brakes, aluminum radiator, TKO600, composite rear leafs, Corvette seats, battery in trunk; it scales in at 3,340 dry.

All told I recommend those Moroso coils as they were to me.

[79T/Aman]

you can always cut the 1LE coils if you want to lower the front, just remember the the amount you want to drop at the tire is half at the spring.
In other words if you want to lower the car 1" you cut 1/2" off the over all length of the coil spring (not number of coils, that is not a unit of measurement)
you can always use a double adjustable shock, PTFB sells Vikings, we also have the hybrid viking coil overs as well as PTFB exclusive hybrid coil overs using Viking shocks but the springs are on the stiffer side for performance and weekend warrior duties.
DO NOT USE 250 or 350 coils you will bottom out, I wrote an article with pictures on this, posted here https://www.facebook.com/gen2racingsuspension/?ref=page_internal

[SP Steve]

I'm doing this with my 74 Trans Am now.  My car has a 455 with aluminum heads and I'm using single adjustable QA1's with 450lb springs.

[skisix38off]

I'm selling the full DSE speed kit 2 right now.  JRi double adjustable shocks, with springs set for an LS swap, sway bar is included but not pictured because I forgot to get it in the pictures.  $2200 + Shipping.



Let me know if you're interested!

Greg