I had my Hotchkis springs installed a few weeks ago now (3) and immediately noticed the drop in the front but not the rear. I hear talk of allowing time to for the springs to settle on the forum, and also that good springs do not settle.

I was looking through the Factory Service Manual and came across the attached which shows my wheelarch height stock should be 681mm in the front and 700mm in the rear. I measured and I am at 665mm in the front and 700mm in the rear! Hotchkis lowers 15mm front and 19mm rear so the front is consistent but the rear didn't even move?

Any reason this may be? installer error?

 

I looked at your chart and the specs on the left side of the page,... those tire sizes are not Z tires sizes?? 225 and 235's??

I have no idea why your car didn't drop in the rear at all, other than maybe the installer didn't put the springs in at all or maybe he didn't seat them into the upper bushings correctly?

I'm actually going to hack off 1/2" off of my upper rear bushings soon to drop the rear 1/2" more, despite being informed it's not the best thing to do and I noticed that the springs need to fit into the upper bushings a certain way or it would give you a higher ride height.

 

LOL...I see you have a 2006. All base and enthusiast 2003-2004 Zs came with 17" wheels and tires. That is what is currently on my car.

The stock springs are black. The installed are clearly silver like the Hotchkis ones I purchased, however there are no other distinguishing marks.

I had the car jacked up last night to adjust the sways and took a look to see if they were seated correctly...kinda hard to tell on the one side but the other looked right. You could see the end of the upper spring coil sitting in a groove that ended in the same spot. Both sides measure the same height.

Could alignment be a factor here? I still haven't done that.

 

It def drops all around. I went from Z springs to the Hotchkis springs, and there was a noticeable drop all around.

 

I'm not sure how somone is able to install spring incorrectly. That is where I'm confused at.

 

I know right? The rear doesn't seem difficult at all. The only reason I had the shop do it was b/c I didn't want to mess with the spring compressor for the front. Maybe I'll take apart the back myself tomorrow and see what's going on.

Robert, would you mind taking a measurement since your still on stock rims and let me know where you're at? thx

 

Well I have stock 18 inchers not 17s.

 

I know, but the FSM has stock height for the 18s with 245/45 tire you should be at 706mm rear. Hotchkis drops 19mm R for 687mm. If you are even close to that, I'll be taking my springs out tomorrow to take a closer look at what's going on. Not going to waste my time if you are closer to the 706mm.

 

Id like to see pics of the car...

 

My car???
https://my350z.com/forum/south-west/242048-took-some-pictures-today.html
https://my350z.com/forum/brakes-and-suspension/241502-finally-pics-hotchkis-tvs-kit.html

 

Looking at the side pics it looks like you have a normal Hotchkis drop in the rear to me. It's a little hard because your car is black but The gap you have from the bottom of the fender to the top of the tire looks very similar to mine.

In fact with your taller sidewalls, it actually 'looks' lower than my gap possibly.

You have had the springs for like 3 weeks? But how many miles have you driven in that 2 weeks and on what kind of roads?

Try to drive down some crappy bumpy roads for a while and that may help them settle quicker.

All in all your drop looks fine by what I can make out in your pics.

 

Actually the pic in front of the Zoo looks lower than mine. In that pic your car looks totally level, which Is what I'm trying to get mine like. I think the difference I'm seeing is in our tires sizes.

I think your drop in where it's suppose to be.

 

I wrote:

*** I noticed that the springs need to fit into the upper bushings a certain way or it would give you a higher ride height***


I take that back. There is no specific way they go in. When I was looking at my bushings they looked like the springs had to go in a certain way but it's just because the bushings were mushed down.

 

Chad: Those are pictures of my car not the OP. LOL

 

Really? Oh I knew that, I was just testing you guys

No wonder it looked so good

 

Before Hotchkis:

 

After Hotchkis:

 

Hotchkis rear springs in their seats:

 

Took the wheel off to get a better shot. Is the red dot supposed to be on the bottom or top side? Looks like the spring is sitting in the seats properly?

 

more pics: