I recently purchased this 05' V. The front end is sitting pretty low. From the ground to the fender is right at 26". I would like to bring it up at least another inch, but the spring perch is already maxed out. I took some measurements, and from the center of the bottom bolt on the strut, to the bottom of the threaded collar is about 8 1/2". Im just wondering if the collar is sitting too low on the strut?
I have never had these apart, so I don't know all that is involved. If anyone has any opinions, that would be great!
If the spring perch is maxed out, that means that the you have shorter springs installed than came with the kit. They're supposed to be 10"--you probably have 8" springs installed.
That's odd. Definitely a standard Eibach spring. They don't sell 9" lengths, so it has to be a 10" spring. But you have weight off the wheels in that picture, meaning that it's still under 400-600 lbs of preload there. Can you clean up the spring enough to read the numbers printed on it? Also, if/when you replace the spring, you should remove the silver cap at the top of the shock body--the original installer should have done that. It can cause damage to the spring and squeaking/clunking that the driver can hear. Personally, I'd recommend replacing it with a Eibach 1000.250.0600 (10", 2.50" inner diameter, 600 in-lbs rate). Keep in mind that whatever you do, your rear springs will need to be at least 50 in-lbs higher than your front springs to match.
I got a pic of that too. The front spring says 1000.250.0500. This car was originally owned by 2003rc51, then sold to a guy around the corner from me. I'm not sure his forum name. But he said he replaced the fronts once. He said he didn't notice the car sitting any lower after the swap. I'll check on that silver cap, when I pull it apart. Thanks!
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front wheels are 19" and tire pressure is at 33-35 atm.
I think I got it.. not positive tho. After staring at my suspension, and staring at the faq. I believe I may be missing an aluminum spacer between the top of the spring and the upper perch. If anyone has a complete part list of the ground control, I would love to see it. If not I guess I'll call them Tuesday, and see if it's something I cant order. I'm just not really sure that one spacer will make that big of a difference?
If anyone has any suggestions lmk.
If you look at the pic, you can see my spring is up against rubber, not metal.
this pic is from the faq that Mackey posted. You can see that the spring is definitely not sitting on the same upper perch as mine. Now I just need to know what parts they are, and how to get them.
Or maybe it is somehow mounted on top... which would make it even lower! I guess I'll have to pull them apart. I would hate to dismantle them, just to find out I don't have the parts I need to put them together correctly.
No. They don't break and there isn't an upgrade path, so your best bet is going to be something from a wrecked V on eBay or one of the plethora of GM parts stores online.
K, now I'm really confused. Just got done pulling one side apart. LMK what if you guys see anything out of place. I'm not missing the upper perch, but maybe missing something else.
I wish I was in front of my laptop instead of on mobile. But, if everything is there, the only explanation is that your threaded perch is too low. If someone mods their shock, the snap ring can be set lower.
I had thought about that big Jim. I'm also on my mobile, but in one of my first pics I have a measurement from center of the bottom mounting to the bottom of the threaded collar. Maybe someone can verify that number? I'm not sure how accurate decal placement is... But it looks very similar to the FAQ?
Barring some kind of installation error (which it seems like this is), the only other possibility is that the springs have skewed massively away from their intended rate. That would be covered by Eibach's warranty, but I'm not sure how to go about proving it.
Yeah, I believe there is something wrong. I would really like to figure that out first. I'm just not sure what it is? I don't really think there is anything wrong with both front springs. Although that spacer would definitely help me out.
I did not measure the overall length, so I don't know if I'm at 60% or not. I've been working on the right side, maybe if I dismantle the left I'll see it from a different perspective? lol
Not really sure what to do next, other than call ground control on Tuesday. I have never contacted them before, so I'm not sure what kind of customer service they have when it comes to this sort of thing.
I'll search the net tonite, and see if I can find anything that might give me what I need.
I'm with fuzzy tho... I do believe something is missing, or installed wrong. I doesn't look like anything is broken. All the joints, and bushings look pretty good.
Again, thanks for everyone's input!
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My goal is to have the front fender about an 1" higher. I believe it will level out the car, and I'll have a better chance staying off the bump stops. And improve the wear on my struts and tires
I'm starting to second guess myself that that spacers will raise my front based on the preload I already have on the front springs. I have a feeling that I will just be compressing the springs another 2" but not raising the car. Am I over thinking this? Or could the overall length of the strut be off?
Yes, you're over thinking this. Unless someone modified OEM struts to reduce their range of travel (highly unlikely), those struts are designed to normally be sitting 1.5-2" higher than where yours are sitting now. Raising the spring perch will raise the car.
Yeah, you guys are right. If the strut itself had been any longer I wouldn't have been able to get it back in place by myself. I stuck a 1/2" breaker bar in the center of the wheel hub and stood on it, while working the strut assembly back in.
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