Front sits higher...why?

[59ghia]

Hello fellower Zer's

Well, Z's back from painters, and all put together, now time to try ander understand why the front end sits about 1 inch higher than rear. About a year ago I put Eibach progressives in, tokico non-adjustables, and poly bushings. According to searches on this site, the .001 went in the front, .002 in the rear. (by .001 and .002, they are the last 3 digits on the part #'s) Do I need to cut the front springs :mad: Any ideas?

Thanks

Dave

[Zedrally]

Take it out on the road and see if it settles down first...

MOM

[59ghia]

Set-ups got about 5k miles on it, was hoping for the same thing.....about 6 months ago!

Dave

[Brett240]

unbolt your swaybar and take it for a spin. the standard sway bar mounts will hold up a car with shorter springs. if this is the problem you will need adjustable sway bar mounts (they bolt onto the suspension arms)

[59ghia]

Brett,

You may be onto something there... I'm running a 1 inch or so MSA front bar. When you talk adjustable bar, are you refering to adjusting front and back on the frame rails?

Who makes an adjustable one? anybody else running an "adjustable" one they can describe or shoot a pic for me?

Dave

[TomoHawk]

My 78 280Z has the same problem. It sits at LEAST an inch higher in the front, and been that way since I got it. Has all origonal everything, except for new shocks in the front.

Rear springs pooped out maybe?

thx

[240ZX]

59ghia, This is pretty typical when the springs have been replaced with aftermarket units. Why? Probably because the front springs have a higher rating. Regarding the sway bar, it very unlikely they are causing the front to sit higher than the back, unless they are binding somewhere. As far as adjustable sway bars....the adjustment is at the point where they attach to the control arm. Adjustable sway bars have a number of attachment holes in the end of the bar so you can increase or decrease the amount of force the bar will have....The attachment holes at the end of the bar will be the softest setting and the attachment hole farthest inboard will be the hardest setting. Basically, a sway bar only comes into play when the car starts to roll from cornering forces....they do nothing when going straight! Cutting the springs down is not a prefered method for properly lowering, but has been done. Lets face it, to address the ride hieght problem you will have to take the springs out anyway so you may as well see if you can get a shorter spring...they are relatively cheap. If you decide to cut the springs down, be careful how much you remove. Remember, that by shortening the spring it will increase the spring rate and if you remove too much you have the potential of coil-bind under full compression. There is always the possibility of putting a coilover setup in the front and then you have the freedom to adjust the ride hieght. Hope this helps a little. Good luck and keep us posted on your results.

[59ghia]

The one thing I don't like, or am concerned about, with these Eibach's is that at least the top three coils are stacked, literaly sitting on top of each other doing no good at all. Whats up with that?

[240ZX]

59ghia, send Eibach an email and ask them.....I'm sure they will enlighten you. This spring manufacture is one of the most respected in the industry! I don't think you should dislike or get concerned about the design...there is a reason for what they do.

[Ed]

Here is a solution:

http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=10657&size=big&sort=1&cat=500

(just kidding) :classic:

[240ZX]

Hey Ed, those look pretty high tech!!! I hear you can really vary your spring rates with those guys. "Just add a little more wedge there Dale...that'll do! Yehaaaaw."

[CoastGuardZ]

Not a Z but...

When I first met my wife she had an 87 dodge shelby charger turbo w IC. At first it seemed as though the front end was sitting higher but after a bit I decided the rear end was squatting... $80 for a set of Mopar springs and about an hour later the shelby was back to normal.

For what it's worth

Nate