I was installing Hotchkis springs on my car tonight. Well I did both rear springs set it down, and man did it fill the wheel gap up nicely. Well I did the driverside front spring and set the car back down, and noticed that it didn't drop it at all. So after walking around it 500 times wondering if it was my imagination, I got the tape measure out. 24 1/4 right side, 24 1/4 left side...WTF... I'm 100% sure I have the spring seated in the correct position. Is it just because the other side is not done yet or what? I'm totally stumped on this, supposed to be a 15mm drop.

 

try installing the 4th and final spring and then check

 

im surprised you noticed the back right away, i didnt notice my drop at all until a week or 2 later, they need to settle.. I wouldnt worry about it, put the 4th in and just be patient.. my rear still isnt low enough for me(hotchkis)

 

My car was little lowered when compared to right after the Hotckis spring install to 2 weeks later...I agree that the springs will take some time to settle in - that's why many ppl say to wait a few weeks before getting an alingment done.

-Peter

 

Bingo. It dropped the front 1/4" from stock as of right now. I bought the springs used so that may account for why I saw a drop right away.

 

The reason people notice the rear drop so much more than the front isn't because it's that much more of a drop than the front, but rather because of the camber in the rear is pushing the top-outside edge of the tire in......creating the illusion of a lot of drop.

How much did you buy the springs for?

 

So when people say "settle" are the springs actually compressing or is the rubber spring seat?

 

The springs.

 

The spring will rotate a bit allong it's axis untill it sits against the "step" on its mount.

 

Then why wouldn't the installer just rotate it fully during the install?

Also, is it possible to install the rear upside down or otherwise wrong? I ask because the front is sitting noticeably lower but the rear looks to be at the stock height. Wish I had measured mine before so I could track progress.

VQLOVER, where are you measuring your ride height from? Center of the wheel arch, my front is at 26 1/4", rear is at 27 5/8" sitting on the stock 17in wheels and tires. Can someone measure stock heights for me and post?

 

I miss typed my measurements in my first post. I think it might have been 26 1/4" in the front (I'll have to re-measure and find out for sure). I have developed a new problem with my car. Everytime I hit a rough spot in the road, something sounds like it's popping under my driver's front tire. My question is this: The stock springs have a plastic/rubber piece that fits on around the bottom of the spring, did you guys pull this off and put this on your new springs? I thought that might have been the cause of the popping noise b/c where the spring sits on the strut....metal to metal....??????? It is really pissing me off. 350Zenophile it is difficult to put the rear spring in upside down because of the way the spring seat is designed. Anybody with common sense could see how the spring goes in. Not saying it's impossible to do, just hard to screw up.

 

I've only driven a few miles on the new suspension and I got the sways installed at the same time, but I did notice increased noise when going over large bumps, especially when one wheel hits it and the other does not. I attributed this to the sway bar tying the two wheels together, but cannot say if this is normal.

I've also read a thread about someone experiencing a rattle after install and he had to re-torque the top of the strut to get rid of it.

 

Also, have you noticed anymore drop since install...what is your final ride height?

 

We're talking of 1 to 2 weeks of daily driving to settle the springs. That's many thousands cycles with an average of 800lb of force applied each corner. Imagine the costs... I'm not paying for that!

I guess you could accelerate the process if you drove over cobble stones

 

I guess I didn't understand what you meant then...thought you just meant the springs position relative to the seat not the aforementioned compression.

 

Ah ok. Well, the spring is bound to move some during the install.

It should go down eventually.

Oh, and if the car was just jacked, it will stand higher untill you roll it. The wheels move on an arc and tend to "tuck under" the car on full droop. You can notice the side wall stretching under the wheel when you put it down.

 

There should be a rubber pillow above the spring in the front.

Also, if the aftermarket spring is shorter, it might come a bit loose on full droop and snap in place when you reload the suspension.

A car should be dropped by moving the spring perch, not with a shorter spring.

 

Yes, I put this piece back on. I noticed this before I reinstalled. Never had any noise. Not to say that this is the exact problem your having, but could be it.

 

how hard is it to install springs? is it a decent diy? can i jack up one wheel at a time?

 

-It's average.
-Yup.
-Yes, but be sure to unhook the sway-bar.

Get an impact driver.