im looking at adding some springs to the front and rear of the wifes chevelle. while i get the brake system on the car. would like to update the way the car handles a touch in the process...make it not so sloppy.

any one have pics of a chevelle..a 68-70 model i guess...with the 1.5 inch lowering springs on ?

any recomendations from the experts here on what spring to use to get me the updated feel.

im not sold on a lowered vehicle right now.

springs---- which spring.

shocks----- which shock

sway bar--- which bar


also..the car is a a/c sbc car with a glide. not really a race piece. just a cruiser.

steve-o

Biggest issue in my mind is what are you running for tires? The Chevelle sterring/suspension geometry is screwed up and the tires are seldom verticle, tops tilt out as the suspension compresses, bump steer etc etc. Was marginally OK with tall skinny tires but when you start going low & wide the tire has to stay flat! Mine has 9" wide low profile 18's" and could kill a set of front tires in just a few thousand miles.
The guy that has a handle on both this and springs is Mark Savitsky http://www.scandc.com/

tires and wheels are 15 inch ralleys. no plans to chnage that either. just looking for a improved feel over what we have right now.


steve

Yup, what Dave said. Opinions will vary on this board but Marcus is the right guy to talk with to set you up correctly for your specific needs and intentions for your cars intended usage and you won't pay an arm and a leg doing so either. If you want to do it right the first time and get everything you need from one place, call him.

a different steering box made a world of improvement in the feel of my monte, went with a 14:1 instead of the variable ratio stock unit

got mine here

http://www.corvettesteering.com/

I will second the vote for the steering box making perhaps the biggest single contribution to the overall feel of the car. However it is NOT the ratio at all but the size of the T-bar in the control valve that truly makes the difference. Much has been posted here on the Jeep Grand Cherokee steering box swap. It would be well worth your time to search and read up on this swap. I did a swap from a late model Camaro and reconfigured the steering stops and really really like the result. My swap is more work than the Jeep box though.

Next Mark at SC&C is a great resource, no doubt at all. And their Stage II kit is probably well worth the money. Keeping the front tires vertical is always a good thing and was always a challenge with the A-body cars. This can pay dividends not only in handling but in tire life as you greatly reduce the wear factor on the outside edge of the front tires.

And finally we come to springs. Mark often speaks highly of the Eibach Pro-Kit springs. I have personally just put this kit in my BBC El Camino and had a less than optimal experience with it. Now I have to admit that the kit is recommended by Eibach for Chevelle and not El Camino. And also for SBC rather than BBC. But my BBC is running aluminum heads, water pump, intake, and radiator. I figure it is probably pretty close to a stock SBC with respect to weight. So it should be compatible/comparable, especially in the front end? Well I got almost a 3" front end drop instead of the Eibach advertised 1.3" drop. A bit more than I am able to tolerate with my Hooker headers unfortunately so I need to do some more work.

I will be the first to admit that YMMV and there are many happy Eibach customers.

A lot of people put springs from the circle track vendors under their Chevelles along with spring adjusters. This allows you to choose your spring rate and ride height although the spring rates are on the firmer side of the gene pool.

I would spend your money on some top quality shocks......KYB's or Koni's will help a lot. Your coils springs hold the car at a height, your shocks control the springs.

thanks for the tips. i have purchased some smaller items and will look into the steering box update.


steve-o

can some one post a quick link to the lee's opwer steering cmponets web sight or contact info so i can maybe do these grand cherokee parts swap.

there is a wealth of information on the swap but i cant seem to find the contact info in any of them as of yet


steve-o

found it....thxs

steve