Lowering

[Guest Daniel N Sharman]

Hi all

 

My sierra based S7 looks a little too high and I would like to lower down a little, the front is no problem as there are inboard adjustable coil overs in the nose, but the rear, the springs just sit in the rear trailing arm and clamp in the chassis at the top, is there a clever way of doing this apart from chopping the springs?!

 

Thanks

 

Dan

[Guest MarkB]

You could use Dan E's tried and tested way, it involves eating a lot of pies

[Guest peter2b2002]

my 2b looks high at the rear as well, I think most hoods are the same

peter2b

[cb750]

The old (and crude) way of doing this was to use special clamps to close up adjacent coils on the spring! You could always fit softer rate springs if you can find them

[Guest Daniel N Sharman]

Cheers for the comments so far, I have looked at the spring clamps, not the best practice I can see but at least it's reversible!

 

The rear wheels would look so much better if they were tucked in the arches a little more, I might get some clamps and have a fettle.

 

If anyone has done it or used a different method let me know!

 

Thanks again chaps

 

[theduck]

Use normal clamps to get an use of spring length you want first. Then order a set of custom springs to the length and poundage to suit.

[speedtripledan]

You could use Dan E's tried and tested way, it involves eating a lot of pies

it sat lower once you bought it, got slower for some reason as well

[Jez Morton]

Let's not forget lowering the rear suspension will alter the geometry, when the sierra backbend is lowered the camber and toe will increase. If it's not corrected tyre wear and handling can suffer, if needed camber wedges can be fitted. If the geometry is good I would leave alone, chances are there may be wedges fitted already as the S7 had to much camber.

[Guest mower man]

Have run mine on std springs and gaz dampers since god was at nursery added camber plates to get sensible angles ,was 2,5+ neg plates from Big Jim back when ? camber 0 ish wears tyre flat no clearance or hot rod looks ,can not under stand the probs photo's might help ! or refit rear arches ? mower man

[Guest Daniel N Sharman]

Jez, thanks I had not really thought of the knock on effect on geometry, (this is a constant learning curve for me!) I think I'll leave the setup well alone as the chap who built the car knew what he was doing.

Mowerman, refitting the rear arches is an option I had not considered and will now look into, I will try and post a pic for those who are interested as soon as I have worked out how!

Thanks all!

[Guest Daniel N Sharman]

Here is a pic, it's hard to see what I'm going on about as it actually looks ok in all photos!

I'm starting to think if it ain't broke...

Plenty of other jobs to do on it!

The only other idea wood be to put some kind of lip on the nose and across the back to leer the clearance just a little

 

[Guest chris brown]

That looks spot on to me, as you say leave well alone.

From the photo it looks like a nice car.

[maccavvy]

I thought my 2b looked like too much clearance ,so I lowered it ,it has coilovers. it handled like a pig and skipped everwhere.

 

Your rear ride height looks ok, plus remember once your sat it it will go down a little. the front arches look too close from that pic.

[biksz]

agree with maccavvy i have a s7 and it looks high on back but then you got to think once you lower what will catch on speed bumps/potholes etc.mine handles pretty well just a bit soft if im honest as the drive shafts rub on the coil springs when cornerong fast.

[Peter Bell]

You willl also see that the gap between the rear tyres and the arches are different from side to side, the offside (I think?) is a good inch or so higher, differences in the mouldings.