Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums - Camaro5.com
 
Bigwormgraphix
Go Back   Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums - Camaro5.com > Technical Camaro Topics > Suspension / Brakes / Chassis


Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 05-27-2010, 10:10 PM   #1
maspien
 
Drives: 2010 2SS
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Bellevue, Ne
Posts: 28
Question about lowering springs and coilovers.

What is the difference between the two? Is there any advantages to useing one over the other? What about disadvantages?

I planed on to lower my camaro. I have no plan to go to the drag strip or track on a regular basis. I mainly just want to lower for the looks.
maspien is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-28-2010, 03:09 AM   #2
Info@PeddersUSA.com
 
Info@PeddersUSA.com's Avatar
 
Drives: 5th Gen Rental
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: New England
Posts: 1,901
Pedders coil overs will give you total control in height adjustability to a 2 inch drop, with the same comfort as OE height, and a 30 way adjustable damping levels. The damping levels will give you a range from OE damping, to all out road racing.If you want to drop your Camaro 1.5 inches or greater, then coilovers are the only good way to do it.

doing drop coils is a lot cheaper but does not give you any flexibility other than buying different brands of coils. For a SS, Pedders has determined the optimum, safe range for your existing shocks is about a 1 inch drop. Here is what a Pedders drop coil only will look like:








Here are 1.6 to 2 inch drops with our Pedders Xa coil Overs






thanks
mike
dms
Info@PeddersUSA.com is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-28-2010, 08:32 AM   #3
IPS Brandon
 
IPS Brandon's Avatar
 
Drives: 2010 Camaro SS black
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 907
Send a message via AIM to IPS Brandon
Quote:
Originally Posted by maspien View Post
What is the difference between the two? Is there any advantages to useing one over the other? What about disadvantages?

I planed on to lower my Camaro. I have no plan to go to the drag strip or track on a regular basis. I mainly just want to lower for the looks.
If you want to lower your Camaro for looks then you should just install a lowering spring of your choice. The lowering spring will give you the curb appeal your seeking without a very high cost, and still retain very good ride characteristics (although some springs are a little bouncy).

Coilovers are more intended for the street/racer and have customizable ride height, and dampening on most models.

Here are some examples of clients / members with Pfadt springs for another reference point.











Hopefully these images will help.

Regards
IPS Brandon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-28-2010, 11:38 AM   #4
maspien
 
Drives: 2010 2SS
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Bellevue, Ne
Posts: 28
Thanks for the info guys.
maspien is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-28-2010, 12:50 PM   #5
Info@PeddersUSA.com
 
Info@PeddersUSA.com's Avatar
 
Drives: 5th Gen Rental
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: New England
Posts: 1,901
Quote:
Originally Posted by maspien View Post
Thanks for the info guys.


Did we answer all your questions?

mike
dms

Last edited by Info@PeddersUSA.com; 05-29-2010 at 11:52 AM.
Info@PeddersUSA.com is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-29-2010, 11:51 AM   #6
mikepage0007


 
mikepage0007's Avatar
 
Drives: 2010 camaro
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: port st lucie ,florida
Posts: 4,273
i,ve read in other posts where coil load clearance has sometimes been an issue with noise and i read about insulators and vinyl tubing...this just sounds like trouble down the road...want a lifelong ride with little chance of noise and problems...i,m new to susp parts and looking for 1-11/4 drop...would coilovers be my option? would they have the same clearance issues between 1st and 2nd coils? thanks for any input...spent the last 3 months learning sc,s and bght a kb...my installer likes peddlers, and pfaht, hothkis suspension ...so i,m just trying to learn more...thanks again
mikepage0007 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-29-2010, 12:53 PM   #7
silverfox
 
silverfox's Avatar
 
Drives: 2010 camaro ss
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: portsmouth,va.
Posts: 502
I'm having the PFADT coilovers installed on 6-3-10 and am wondering if i need an alignment if i want to keep the stock ride height. I just want to use the advantage of coilovers for the dragstrip such as adjustments other than height. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
__________________
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Va.Speed built 427 stroker
LS2 Darton sleeved 427 stroker.Callies dragonslayer crankshaft. Callies I beam rods. Wiseco blower pistons. Mast cnc 12 degree big bore ls3 heads-2.2 intake &1.6 ex. 6 bolt 270cc-.750 deck. Lunati link bar lifters.T&D roller rockers.COMP-VA. Speed special cam 605 lift, 238dur. Procharger F1R @15psi. ARH headers with custom 3'' exhaust all the way.Magnaflow mufflers. QTP cutouts.Rossler built 6l80e trans. DSS 1400hp axles.
Pfadt suspension.-Coilovers, sway bars,motor mounts,trailing arms. Aeromotive eliminater pump.
907rwhp.
silverfox is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-29-2010, 04:05 PM   #8
flyby

 
Drives: 2010 Silver SS
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Glen Gardner, NJ
Posts: 1,336
Hey mike... what is a good initial setting for the coilovers for drag racing?????
flyby is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-29-2010, 08:18 PM   #9
Info@PeddersUSA.com
 
Info@PeddersUSA.com's Avatar
 
Drives: 5th Gen Rental
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: New England
Posts: 1,901
Quote:
Originally Posted by flyby View Post
Hey mike... what is a good initial setting for the coilovers for drag racing?????
pm'd you


thanks
mike
dms
Info@PeddersUSA.com is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-29-2010, 10:00 PM   #10
flyby

 
Drives: 2010 Silver SS
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Glen Gardner, NJ
Posts: 1,336
Thanks... let's see how it works. Got complete xa drag pack and alignment .
flyby is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2010, 05:47 AM   #11
BowTieDrifter
selling nissan for a 2SS
 
Drives: 95 Nissan 240sx fully drift prepped
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Temecula, CA
Posts: 19
Quote:
Originally Posted by silverfox View Post
I'm having the PFADT coilovers installed on 6-3-10 and am wondering if i need an alignment if i want to keep the stock ride height. I just want to use the advantage of coilovers for the dragstrip such as adjustments other than height. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

if you just use a spring, it could be recomended to get your car aligned to maintain proper tire wear. other than that its not a big deal. front toe should not be effected very much and you shouldnt notice much of a difference in straight line stability or turn-in characteristics.
(did i lose you yet? raise your hand for a time out and i can help explain anything here)

now if you want to go with coilovers or more than a 1.25" drop, you might start to notice things. for example the front toe might be effected to the point that front line stability feels "twitchy" or "squirrely". this is because increased toe-in has made your straight-line stablity unpredictable and your tires are bassically fighting each other for who gets to point the car straight.
other things you will notice might be bump steer, because the roll center of the suspension geometry has been effected due to the "extreme" lowering that has forced the suspension into a lwer area of operation that it wasnt designed to work in. (i say "extreme" because i drive a 240sx that is lowered about 3.5" with fully threaded coilovers that adjust the hieght at the mount, not the perch effecting spring pre-load, and geometry is corrected with adjustable arms/links so a camaro 2" drop is modest in my biased opinion, but i digress...)
where was i?
oh speaking of full threaded coilovers that adjust at the mount instead of the spring perch, that another thing you can start to experience with coilovers. almost all of the coilovers i see for the camaro are not fully threaded body. this means only the spring perch section is threaded, and it forces you to adjust the actual length of the coilover, effectively shortning the coilover itself and forcing the damper into the range of near limit or "bottoming out". so no moatter the damping levels, the lower you go with coilovers, the closer you are to bottoming them out. that is, unless you have fully threaded coilovers that adjust at the mounting points so you can adjust the length of the coilover without changing the damper rod position and spring pre-load.

*whew* okay i think my keyboard is smoking and your brains have probably had enough by now.

let me know if you have any more questions.


*btw your pfadt coilovers should be plenty good for your needs, not trying to blast either pfadt or pedders for thier coilover designs. they both have done thier homework and seem to turn out awesome products... i just wish to hell they'd use fully threaded coilovers to REALLY slam these rides!!!

**okay double checked and pedders DOES infact make fully threaded coilovers (XA series). i think KW and pfadt are the only ones who dont?

Last edited by BowTieDrifter; 06-07-2010 at 06:41 AM. Reason: pfadt/pedders are both groovy
BowTieDrifter is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-31-2010, 07:56 AM   #12
JusticePete
 
JusticePete's Avatar
 
Drives: Camaro Justice
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Virginia
Posts: 20,174
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikepage0007 View Post
i,ve read in other posts where coil load clearance has sometimes been an issue with noise and i read about insulators and vinyl tubing...this just sounds like trouble down the road...want a lifelong ride with little chance of noise and problems...i,m new to susp parts and looking for 1-11/4 drop...would coilovers be my option? would they have the same clearance issues between 1st and 2nd coils? thanks for any input...spent the last 3 months learning sc,s and bght a kb...my installer likes peddlers, and pfaht, hothkis suspension ...so i,m just trying to learn more...thanks again
FYI, coil wrap has been used by OEMs for years and years. The ZETA based G8 delivers from the factory with coil wrap to prevent noise under certain conditions.

If you are dropping your car much more than an inch I suggest you use coilovers. The reason is jounce travel. Jounce travel is the amount of space, the distance a shock and spring can compress. In a GM car 40mm is a HUGE amount of jounce travel. a 1.5" drop is 32mm. That leaves you 8mm of bound jounce travel. Coilovers that adjust height by screwing into or out of the lower mount maintain the same jounce travel regardless of height. Coilovers that adjust for height through the spring perch change jounce travel when you adjust height. Preserving jounce travel preserves ride quality.

If you are looking for a long term solution with great ride quality a coilover with adjustable damper settings combined with height adjustment via the lower mount is the BEST solution.
JusticePete is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
FS: Vogtland Racing Lowering Springs Michael_Js Suspension / Chassis / Brakes 16 07-29-2010 02:13 PM
Question for anyone in the Tristate area with coilovers/drop springs. Ctrain24 USA - NY / NJ / PA 5 05-24-2010 04:52 PM
Springs Or Coilovers MemphisRaines Suspension / Brakes / Chassis 26 04-12-2010 11:23 PM
Vogtland North America - Lowering Springs Michael_Js Vendor and Seller review / feedback / experiences 8 11-24-2009 07:06 AM
Frontal lowering question... nUcLeArEnVoY Suspension / Brakes / Chassis 4 10-15-2009 10:24 AM


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:09 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.