Help me Understand suspension.

[Deathmore]

Hi

As many of you know(and hate) I am trying to build a tougher Camaro. In doing so I am also trying to raise my Camaro 1-2". I asked people here how to do so, and got very little support. I have since found a company called Coil Spring Specialist who will custom make me a bigger set of coil springs in order to raise the ride height. However I was under my car today and noticed the springs on this car fit tightly in between what looks like a top hat screwed onto the strut, and the bottom of the strut.(note I have no machanical background so excuse me if my terms are off) So my main question here is how would a longer spring help out at all? It seems to me that a longer spring simply wouldn't fit in a car like the Camaro.

I was also looking at the Granatelli Suspension Bracing package for extra support. Does anyone have any experience with this company or their stuff. It looks solid, however I'm always caution when it comes to adding 90lbs of weight under the suspension.

Any help is appreciated.

[xjer22x]

A tallerr spring will work to a curtain extent. But the shock absorber can only expand so much. If you really want to "lift" the car. You will need all new suspension. Not just springs. It will change the dynamics of everything too which will lead to further issues..like drive shaft angle, axle angle, steering. Everything.

The reason you probably didn't get much help or negative feeback is because this isn't normal or common practice. The camaro is a sports car and not a truck so there is very little if any support out there to lift it up.

sent from my galaxy s3. that would explain the errors.

[Monte Mac]

I can appreciate what you are trying to do, but I still feel you are better off either avoiding potholes or getting a different vehicle. Camaro's are meant to be low, handle well and go fast.

I'm not trying to knock on you but you really picked an odd subject/task to tackle. If you can put smaller wheels with the same OD tire that will give you larger sidewalls and that makes a huge difference as the tires themselves act like a shock absorber.

I would not recommend adding redicouls springs etc to raise the ride height of the vehicle. Just my $0.02

[biggerisbetter]

Originally Posted by Monte Mac

I can appreciate what you are trying to do, but I still feel you are better off either avoiding potholes or getting a different vehicle. Camaro's are meant to be low, handle well and go fast.

I'm not trying to knock on you but you really picked an odd subject/task to tackle. If you can put smaller wheels with the same OD tire that will give you larger sidewalls and that makes a huge difference as the tires themselves act like a shock absorber.

I would not recommend adding redicouls springs etc to raise the ride height of the vehicle. Just my $0.02

i agree and no matter how many threads you start about the topic my opinion will saty the same. obviously there arent to many people on this forum that have lfted their camaro's. you buy the right vehicle for the job. to lift the car the whole suspension would have to be altered. i just dont understand why you wouldnt just avoid the potholes. its not rocket science

[Warpaint69]

I'd strongly consider buying a secondary vehicle or you could contact the custom shops that lift cars to fit massive rims under cars? They have to lift the car somehow.

[dwinva]

Originally Posted by Monte Mac

I can appreciate what you are trying to do, but I still feel you are better off either avoiding potholes or getting a different vehicle. Camaro's are meant to be low, handle well and go fast.

I'm not trying to knock on you but you really picked an odd subject/task to tackle. If you can put smaller wheels with the same OD tire that will give you larger sidewalls and that makes a huge difference as the tires themselves act like a shock absorber.

I would not recommend adding redicouls springs etc to raise the ride height of the vehicle. Just my $0.02

[Deathmore]

Right off the top I want to say thank you everyone for your genuin responses.

I must admit I didnt fully understand the complexity of the camaros suspension until today when I got under the car and actually looked at it. I just figured if you want to raise a car you just throw some longer springs in it or a block of some sort. I didn't realize just how resiculous what I was asking was.

I also understand that lifting a Camaro is a sin to most of you, and don't get me wrong I love the lower look to. I just fear the damage theses pothole will do because the last car I drove I bottomed out and cracked the oil pan(which ended up blowing the motor) on a pothole that I still have to drive over every day. I also know most of you can't comprehend the idea of a unavoidable pothole, and it's something you have to see to understand.

I think I'm going to give up on the lift alltogeather. However I do still want to reinforce the bottom somehow. How do you guys feel about the Grannatelli kit?

[Deathmore]

Right off the top I want to say thank you everyone for your genuin responses.

I must admit I didnt fully understand the complexity of the camaros suspension until today when I got under the car and actually looked at it. I just figured if you want to raise a car you just throw some longer springs in it or a block of some sort. I didn't realize just how resiculous what I was asking was.

I also understand that lifting a Camaro is a sin to most of you, and don't get me wrong I love the lower look to. I just fear the damage theses pothole will do because the last car I drove I bottomed out and cracked the oil pan(which ended up blowing the motor) on a pothole that I still have to drive over every day. I also know most of you can't comprehend the idea of a unavoidable pothole, and it's something you have to see to understand.

I think I'm going to give up on the lift alltogeather. However I do still want to reinforce the bottom somehow. How do you guys feel about the Grannatelli kit?

[biggerisbetter]

Originally Posted by Deathmore

Right off the top I want to say thank you everyone for your genuin responses.

I must admit I didnt fully understand the complexity of the camaros suspension until today when I got under the car and actually looked at it. I just figured if you want to raise a car you just throw some longer springs in it or a block of some sort. I didn't realize just how resiculous what I was asking was.

I also understand that lifting a Camaro is a sin to most of you, and don't get me wrong I love the lower look to. I just fear the damage theses pothole will do because the last car I drove I bottomed out and cracked the oil pan(which ended up blowing the motor) on a pothole that I still have to drive over every day. I also know most of you can't comprehend the idea of a unavoidable pothole, and it's something you have to see to understand.

I think I'm going to give up on the lift alltogeather. However I do still want to reinforce the bottom somehow. How do you guys feel about the Grannatelli kit?

i hope you dont do it simply because it will cost you thousands to do right. when you lift the car you change driveline angles to where they are oporating out of their designed limits. wich means thing are going to break faster and easier. not to mention you would truely kill any resale value and would be spending quit a bit to do it. i see no real solution other than hopefully finding a different route, buying a different car, slow down when going over it, buying a back of quickcrete and fill the hole yourself haha. i dont know man it sucks the position your in but i dont think a belly apn will help at all.

[Deathmore]

Originally Posted by biggerisbetter

i hope you dont do it simply because it will cost you thousands to do right. when you lift the car you change driveline angles to where they are oporating out of their designed limits. wich means thing are going to break faster and easier. not to mention you would truely kill any resale value and would be spending quit a bit to do it. i see no real solution other than hopefully finding a different route, buying a different car, slow down when going over it, buying a back of quickcrete and fill the hole yourself haha. i dont know man it sucks the position your in but i dont think a belly apn will help at all.

Yea I'm just now starting to realize I simply wouldn't be able to lift it correctly. Honestly the more I look at this suspension I don't know that it can be lifted correctly on any budget by anyone. The car is simply to complex, every piece seems to have been perfectly made together. I am putting 18" tiresome as oppose to the 21" I have on now. They should help my situation out a good bit. I also really like the idea I the subframe connectors. However even though they will give the bottom more protection from a good blow, they will also add about a 1" of steel to get caught on a rock or something. The only difference is instead of cracking a oil pan or something it could rip out half my suspension.

Honestly the quickcrete idea is probably the best one out there. Unfortunately there probably some law out there for that will put me in jail for it.

[purkel]

Originally Posted by Deathmore

Yea I'm just now starting to realize I simply wouldn't be able to lift it correctly. Honestly the more I look at this suspension I don't know that it can be lifted correctly on any budget by anyone. The car is simply to complex, every piece seems to have been perfectly made together. I am putting 18" tiresome as oppose to the 21" I have on now. They should help my situation out a good bit. I also really like the idea I the subframe connectors. However even though they will give the bottom more protection from a good blow, they will also add about a 1" of steel to get caught on a rock or something. The only difference is instead of cracking a oil pan or something it could rip out half my suspension.

Honestly the quickcrete idea is probably the best one out there. Unfortunately there probably some law out there for that will put me in jail for it.

are the roads really that bad out there in Philly?

[Deathmore]

Originally Posted by purkel

are the roads really that bad out there in Philly?

No not generally, but in some parts yea. I actually live in manayunk which is outside of the city but still technically part of Philadelphia. It's actually a really nice area, way nicer then the rest of city. Unfortunately though being outside the actual city, everything around here gets very very little government funding. So in my immediate area every street looks like a war zone. It's so bad my entire street was taken up by the city to change the water lines, and they left it like that for 8 months before doing anything. Now we're talking an entire 18' by 200' street with $300,000 houses on both sides. It was literally a dirt road for almost a year.

[quualudes]

Getting good adjustable coilovers and 18" (maybe even 17") wheels might help. With the 18" wheels, you can get more sidewall to absorb some of the load, and with good adjustable coilovers, you can keep the ride height, but still be able to dial in the suspension load so it protects the car from bottoming out? Maybe?

[quualudes]

Or this