Pedders Springs installed on 1LE (Pictures)

[Dropspeed]

Update: 3/11: I emailed Pedders AU and they provided the spring rates:

Front coil 220032, Linear Rate, 130Lb/inch or 2.3Kg/mm
Rear Coil 220033, Linear Rate, 433Lb/inch or 7.8Kg/mm

Prelude: I worked in the aftermarket performance industry for many years before the OE side so I am very opinionated when it comes to aftermarket parts in regards to quality and fitment. I witnessed the good, bad & ugly from the aftermarket side so claims are not always true and good enough often is the norm. I have never worked with Pedders or their components before but I decided to use them after my research and based on their reputation

I picked up my Pedders 220032 FR / 220033 RR springs from Rodgers Performance last week and installed them and timed the bushings this weekend. After a quick shade tree alignment (strings and camber gauges) I was off for a weekend of short trips totaling about 200+ miles, many cruising the famed Woodward here in Detroit looking for trouble One trip on Sunday was 50+ miles with a full load: Full tank of gas, 2 adult male and 2 children so I was able to get a feel both loaded and unloaded. I did also take before measurements to provide before/after ride height numbers, but I will wait until my alignment is complete at Rodgers tonight to measure the after numbers

A track review will occur at the end of this month when I hit Grattan again over Labor day weekend.

Notes:

• Pedders Springs: Fit, finish look great, red looks bad arse IMO
• Install: pretty straight forward on this car, no issues. I looked online and saw that many people do not use the provided coil wrap on the rear springs (see picture) I would recommend using this to prevent potential noise issues in the rear springs when they compress.
• Stance: It was a little high in the front with the stock FR / Pedders RR combo, I think it looks/sits great with the 32/33 springs installed.
• Ride: as mentioned I am very opinionated....With that said I have been pleasantly surprised with the ride. The Pedders springs/stock strut combo work well together. There is an increased ride firmness as expected when the spring rates are increased but nothing uncomfortable. On the street the car does everything I would expect better than stock: brake dive is reduced/eliminated and the car feels planted.
• Noise: None, nada, nothing...There are no clunks, clicks, squeaks, creeks or banging. If you hit a large bump you defiantly know it.....but other than the car moving up and settling back down firmly there is no drama.
• Overall: I am very happy with the set-up and if you want to street/track you car this seems to be a very good compromise

Track times and review to come later this month!


Matt


EDIT: After alignment.

I went to Rodgers this afternoon Gerry (service manager) set me up with Dave (tech) that did my alignment last time. I still want an aggressive street/track combo alignment as this is not a daily driver (but seems to be lately as my daily just sits )

I went with -1.6 degree of camber in the front and I wanted about -1.0 in the rear. We ran into a slight issue as the driver side wouldnt go any further positive than -1.4ish.....so I settled on -1.4/-1.3 in the rear. My only concern is tire wear and traction on the street when driving aggressively in a straight line....

One of a couple things may happen back there. I may end up with some Pedders camber bolts to correct this OR I may try the Pedders 220035 springs to raise the back about 15mm just to see what happens. At this point I am going to leave everything along until the end of the month when I track it.

Ride heights: Measured in mm from the bottom wheel lip (not the ground) to the fender....If you want inches divide the number by 25.4 (25.4mm = 1")

Front Stock
LF: 672 RF: 668
Front Pedders
LF: 657 RF: 654
Front Diff:
LF: 15mm RF: 14mm

Rear Stock
LR: 690 RR:690
Rear Pedders:
LR: 660 RR:655
Rear Diff:
LR: 30mm RR:35mm

I double checked the right rear twice ???


Final pic: Rodgers got a brand new trailer that is pretty badass....

[Eric59]

I've been debating about drop springs myself. Does make it look better and if it handles better. I'm getting then too.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

[Big C CamaroSS]

Very nice....I have the 1" lowering springs to be installed whenever I get around to making an appointment. I'm glad they are OK on our 1LE's but Pete did they would be OK. Any amount of drop helps fill in the gap and make our camaro's look that much better!

[Orange Crush 1LE]

Just awesome. My car will be getting longtubes, a cam and a CAI installed about the time you track this. Can't wait to to see your before/after times at Grattan. I could be persuaded to drop mine as well, and the timing couldn't be better since the car will be at the shop then. For me, track performance outweighs all else, so the fact that you're an experienced track rat will make this review meaningful. Subscribed!

[jcieutat]

Dropspeed, several of us who have lowered our cars recently have noticed how the front wheel sticks outside of the fender. Could you please put a straight edge along the sidewall of your tire and run it up past the fender and see if you are in the same boat. Car looks awesome!

[1leNPP]

Look nice when you get a chance can you post ride hide ( fender lip to the ground full tank of gas ) thank you.

[NinoSS]

looks awesome!

[Orange Crush 1LE]

Originally Posted by jcieutat

Dropspeed, several of us who have lowered our cars recently have noticed how the front wheel sticks outside of the fender. Could you please put a straight edge along the sidewall of your tire and run it up past the fender and see if you are in the same boat. Car looks awesome!

That sounds like an issue for me. I'm considering running Z/28 sized wheels and tires, which are 305/30-19s front and rear, on 19x11" front and 19x11.5" rear. So if I were to lower mine, sounds like they would stick out and perhaps rub. These are track wheels only, I'll keep my stock 1LE wheels and tires for the street.

[Dropspeed]

Originally Posted by jcieutat

Dropspeed, several of us who have lowered our cars recently have noticed how the front wheel sticks outside of the fender. Could you please put a straight edge along the sidewall of your tire and run it up past the fender and see if you are in the same boat. Car looks awesome!

I can almost guarantee it is because of your camber settings (or lack of negative camber.).....I aligned mine at home before I took it to Rodgers today and I could easily see how the top of the tire would stick out more at -1. or less - camber.

Pictures below are from tonight with -1.6 degrees of front camber...looking from the drivers front back. I tried to get a couple different angles.

[Dropspeed]

Originally Posted by 1leNPP

Look nice when you get a chance can you post ride hide ( fender lip to the ground full tank of gas ) thank you.

Updated first post with ride height before and after....all measurements are from the bottom lip of the wheel so the fender lip in mm

-Matt

[Nick S]

I saw the new Rodger's trailer in person at the C5Fest. It was definitely awesome. Especially at night when they turned the lights on inside the trailer in the parking lot with a Silver Zl1 still inside it!

[Oliv59]

Originally Posted by Orange Crush 1LE

That sounds like an issue for me. I'm considering running Z/28 sized wheels and tires, which are 305/30-19s front and rear, on 19x11" front and 19x11.5" rear. So if I were to lower mine, sounds like they would stick out and perhaps rub.

Beware, Z28 have fenders extensions.

[Oliv59]

Originally Posted by Dropspeed

I can almost guarantee it is because of your camber settings (or lack of negative camber.).....I aligned mine at home before I took it to Rodgers today and I could easily see how the top of the tire would stick out more at -1. or less - camber.

Pictures below are from tonight with -1.6 degrees of front camber...looking from the drivers front back. I tried to get a couple different angles.

jcieutat> Dropspeed made 1 point. We have less camber than him, it made all the difference.
Changing tires will help too, the Goodyear have big lips lol.

[JusticePete]

Thank you for the kind words Matt. We are all looking forward to your track evaluation.

Originally Posted by Orange Crush 1LE

That sounds like an issue for me. I'm considering running Z/28 sized wheels and tires, which are 305/30-19s front and rear, on 19x11" front and 19x11.5" rear. So if I were to lower mine, sounds like they would stick out and perhaps rub. These are track wheels only, I'll keep my stock 1LE wheels and tires for the street.

We have been running 305/30/19s on our Pedders Camaros since 2009. They are the ideal fitment for the 5th Gen and it only took GM 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 to get with the program

They should not rub with 1 degree or more of camber when lowered. The side skirts on the Z/28 are to close the fender to wheel gap for aero and aesthetic reasons. Most of the lowering for the Z/28 comes in the wheel and tire package being 2 inches shorter than stock wheel resulting in a 1" drop.



They tuck in nicely with -2.2.