lowering the SHO

[DavidT]

After seeing Porkchop's sho, I really want to lower mine now.
I am probably asking some basic questions here, so please bear with me.
Anything done to my suspension will have to be done professionally, unfortunately.
Currently, my sho is at 100K and evrything is original AFAIK. The rear suspension is pretty dead.
My main concern is lowering it.
1. How much am I looking at for buying springs (lowering) and installation?
2. The rear is about a 1/4" lower than the front, as it is NOW. Do I want to lower the rear too?
3.How much for springs (lowering) AND struts all the way around, with installation?
I am not even sure of the brand names I would want. Mostly, I see, Eibach and KYB. Are these the best bang for the buck?
4. What are the cheapest, dollar wise, yet will still give a good or DECENT result?
I know I am leaving out some other things, so please dump any advice this way

 

[Sho Fear]

Here is a link to a write up I did for v8sho.com a while back. The car can be safely lowered using the stock suspension. It is very easy and free. It will take about 2-3 hrs though. http://www.v8sho.com/SHO/LoweringInstructions.htm

J Barker
99 White/Tan
110,000
Tig Welded
4" Ram Air
Custom Induction Box, K and N Cone
Ported Intake
TB Coolant Bypass
EGR Bypass
Borla Mufflers, Flowmaster Y pipe, Ractive Tips
Gutted Third Cat, No Resonator
Lowered 5/8 front, 3/4 rear.

 

[Jonny Cash]

I have the tockico/intrax setup coming in the mail as we speak. The springs are a 1.5" drop. A good friend of mine has the same set up and it sits and rides beutifully! We did it last year and it wasnt hard at all. I payed 350 for the struts and 100 for the springs on ebay. And thats pretty close to normal price. intrax = 179$ That dosent include shipping. Thats 91-95 idk about gen3.

 

[SHOZ123]

You can also get the Eibachs for the SLO. They will drop the car about 1.5"

 

[DavidT]

1. Are there any drawbacks/downfalls to lowering the car 1.5 inches? (treadwear, rough ride, etc...)
2. How much for Eibachs (SLO) and installation?
3. Doing the strut tab method would require an alignment afterwards, right?
Thanks for the info. thus far

 

[99V8SHO]

You will get a rougher ride by lowering it. No getting around that. You will have slightly more negative camber on all four corners, most noticable up front. As my car sits I have -1.5 degrees on both fronts (and that is with the towers moved out) and about -.75 in the rear. So the tires will wear down more on the insides, more on the front. Just rotate your tires regularly. Most any suspension work you do will require an alignment afterwards, strut tab-hacking not excluded.

I don't know how much it would cost to have a shop do it...I would guess in the neighborhood of $250. Mine was free, with the exception of feeding Porkchop and keeping him warm (only on some nights ).

 

[Glue Maker]

*Now accepting any SARC strut donations*

 

[cellar]

be prepared to scrape the **** outta your underside every now and then, and back out of driveways with curbs sideways. but while your doing so you'll look badass haha.

what size tires you have?

 

[DavidT]

225/55/16... possibly going to a lower profile next time ???
If scraping is an issue, then maybe the strut tab method is the way to go???
Is 5/8"-3/4" even noticeable enough to have to pay for another alignment?

 

[99V8SHO]

David, I would not worry about scraping. I have been sitting about 2" lower than stock for over a year now. I can count on both hand how many times I have scraped. Most of the time it is entering/exiting a steep driveway/entrance, and it is your front airdam. That piece is plastic, flexible and replaceable for a reason.
I have only scraped the subframe on the tallest of speed bumps with a few people in the car. Oh, and I also have the rear strut tabs hacked.
Go for it, you won't regret it.


Oh, the tires...going to a smaller aspect ratio you are putting the car that much closer to earth. So if ground clearance is a major issue, keep the stock size.

 

[mcgilles]

anyone have instructions (with pictures maybe?) of how to install springs on the front end? with the tabs hacked and subs in the back my rear suspension is pretty low already, but I picked up the Eibach springs from tirerack which I will use on the front only (since the Eibach rear springs are as soft or softer than stock anyway) but I'd much rather do it myself, more fun that way!

 

[SHOZ123]

Changing springs at home can be a dangerous business. The OEM springs are compressed about three inches on the strut. You can remove them carefully but will mess up the strut bearing doing so.

The Eibach's are shorter so it may not be a big problem getting the strut mount on and the nut tightened.

Getting the strut out of the car is pretty easy if you lower the subframe on that side.

 

[mcgilles]

well I have someone that can hopefully help me, he's had a few SHOs and is restoring a 91 now. so hopefully we can find time and he can help me get it done. or I might have to see if I can get someone to do it. will most repair shops do something like that? hopefully they will. I wanted to do it myself because of the adjustment to the front struts, i'm worried that after installing the springs the front end will be too low, and I may have to raise it up a bit to prevent anything from rubbing. then the alignment has to come after all that.

 

[Sho Fear]

225/55/16... possibly going to a lower profile next time ???
If scraping is an issue, then maybe the strut tab method is the way to go???
Is 5/8"-3/4" even noticeable enough to have to pay for another alignment?

It is very noticeable. Two notes about doing it this way. An alighnment is not needed afterwards as no strut bolts have been loosened. There is no harsh ride. You are not changing spring rates nor the distance the strut and spring have to travel. Stock ride is mantained while better apperance and a lower center of gravity are achived. To put it simply the car is supported by the struts, the base of the struts are held in a clamp, lossen the clamp and the strut/car come down, resecure the clamp. Go to the link below it has all the info and pics. If you would like to see pics of one lowered this way email me at [email protected] Hope this helps. http://www.v8sho.com/SHO/LoweringInstructions.htm

 

[SHOZ123]

The GEN 3s come from the factory with too much negative camber. Lowering the body will add even more negative camber no matter how it is done. In the end you will need to hog out the strut tower mounting holes as far as you can in a 45 degree angle back and out.

 

[SHO Dude]

If you change the ride height in any way, you'll still need to have another alignment done as your toe measurements will change.

-1.5 degrees is fine, provided the toe is adjusted to compensate for the camber. Also, make sure the camber is even or slightly split to the passengers' side. Same goes for caster. If any alignment issues come up in the back, our original adjustable control arrms will solve them.

The directions on the V-8 site are pretty good and outline our original FPS proceedures (blah, blah, blah, we did it first and everyone else copied it), but make sure you check things over very well after your roadtest. If the strut slips in the pinch bolt, it'll **** a C/V joint in a hurry.

 

[mcgilles]

I was wondering about that, how much torque to you recommend putting on the pinch bolts for the struts? I had to fix one of mine because the body shop replaced a strut without telling me about it, and they put it back to the stock location of course, when I fixed it I didn't hack the tab, I just moved it to the same position as the other one and drilled a hole, so when I torqued the bolt I put it at the stock setting according to my service manual. but with the tab still there, that strut can't slip down at all anyway, if the tab is not there at all, do I need to torque the bolt more? I don't want to damage the strut of course, but I can easily see how that thing slipping will cause major damage really quickly.

 

[Sagabu]

I just drilled new holes in the tab for the pinch bolt . I got 5/8th" drop w/no worries about it dropping at all . It did require a realighnment for neg camber that I had to walk the allighnment guy through .
I just bought a set of ebachs and am only going to use the front that are 1.8" drop combined w/the 5/8" drop . I also bought a camber kit that will add a tad to compinsate and alow me to camber the car .
I`m concidering just dropping the rear into the struts enough to even out the SHO and add GM adjustable lower control arms .
Personaly , ilike a tad bit of neg camber on all 4s for cornering stabilities . It makes a huge difference allowing a flat track on the weight bearing side .
I`ll keep all posted on the results .

 

[DavidT]

I would do the strut tab hack, but I'd probably destroy something in the process would a garage do this????

If I have new lowering springs installed, is the labor far enough into it to replace the struts too?
(I was quoted $120 labor replacing the front springs, and $180 labor for replacing the rears... $300 total PLUS alignment :hpoop: )... would this shop charge any extra labor to replace the struts?

 

[SHOZ123]

An honest shop would not charge anymore labor for new struts if you are installing new springs.

The strut hack job will probably void any warranty on them.