70GS Ride Height

Discussion in 'The whoa and the sway.' started by josehf34, Dec 4, 2018.

  1. josehf34

    josehf34 Well-Known Member

    Guys I've some kind of issue with my 70GS. I installed brand new coil springs in the rear and front (Moog 5398), new ball joints, new control arms bushings, new shock absorbers (KYB Gas-a-adjust), basically a complete front end rebuild. Then today changed my front tires for a pair of 26" but I'm not sure why but the front of the car seems to be inclined to the passenger side so the right hand tire some times hits the inner fender.

    I've not went to the alignment shop yet so I'm not sure if it has something to do with this, but when I look to the car is pretty obvious that front height is lower than rear height

    Front tire diameter: 26.1" (235/60R15)
    Rear tire diameter: 26.6" (295/50R15)
     
  2. hugger

    hugger Well-Known Member

    Is the spring seated and orientated correctly? They sit in certain location
     
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  3. CJay

    CJay Supercar owner Staff Member

    A common issue is the spring isn't seated in the upper perch correctly. if one of them is in wrong, one side will be higher than the other
     
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  4. josehf34

    josehf34 Well-Known Member

    I think both springs are in the right position, but anyway I feel like both front sides are lower than it should. I'm going to take the car to the align shop to see if it helps and I'm going to take some pictures of the springs
     
  5. CJay

    CJay Supercar owner Staff Member

    Not sure Im understanding you. If I read your initial post correctly, it said that one side was higher than the other. That's typically caused by one spring not being seated correctly. Then in your last post, you said that both sides are just lower. Lower than they were originally? If that's the case, maybe you just put the wrong springs in it?

    Either way, an alignment isn't going to adjust ride height for you.
     
  6. josehf34

    josehf34 Well-Known Member

    Sorry maybe I confuse you

    The entire front end seems to be lower than it should but the passenger side is seating even lower than the driver side.

    For the front I used MOOG #5398 which If I'm right are the right springs for my 70GS
     
  7. CJay

    CJay Supercar owner Staff Member

    Is this a small block? Big block? Ac or non AC?
     
  8. josehf34

    josehf34 Well-Known Member

    Is a 70GS 455, non-ac car, manual 4speed
     
  9. CJay

    CJay Supercar owner Staff Member

    Did one of the springs have a spray painted stripe?
     
  10. josehf34

    josehf34 Well-Known Member

    The old spring didn't have any stripe and the new ones I'm not sure, I'll have to check but I think not. What does the stripe means?

    Now that I remember, I think my rear axle has some kind of "support" for the rear springs, I'm not sure if that's stock of the car or the previous owner put it, I'm going to take a picture later today and post it
     
  11. josehf34

    josehf34 Well-Known Member

    So this are the things that looks like a support and the coil are installed on them, the old coils were installed this way so I did the same with the new ones.

    Are these originals or maybe this is the culprit of the height difference between rear and front?
    Also, checked the front coils and didn't see any stripe

    IMG_20181205_221459758.jpg
     
  12. CJay

    CJay Supercar owner Staff Member

    Those are aftermarket spacers to raise the ride height. The car must sit high in the rear
     
  13. CJay

    CJay Supercar owner Staff Member

    Just getting back to the stripe on the spring I mentioned- The factory had different front springs depending on what engine it had and if the car had AC or not. Sometimes the springs were also different from left to right so in order for Moog to identify them to the customer, they would paint a stripe on one.
     
  14. josehf34

    josehf34 Well-Known Member

    so is "normal" that rear of the car sits higher than the front? I thought the car should have the same height at front and back.

    I'm going to check better the front springs to see if I found the stripes, does the stripes are put on a specific place of the coil or on a random place?
     
  15. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    It's pretty common for a GS to sit higher in the rear. They way they were build, for whatever reason the rear appears like the rear is sagging. But when you measure from the ground to the rocker panel, the car is perfectly level. Alot of people (me included) dont like the look, so they jack up the rear any number of ways. The proper ride height is somewhere around 1 ft to the TOP of the rocker trim, front and rear. It just looks weird.
     
  16. hugger

    hugger Well-Known Member

    Them spacers need to go, that's your problem
     
  17. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    All you need to do is look in the Chassis manual. They have a trim height chart for all models. I have posted it before.
     
  18. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

  19. CJay

    CJay Supercar owner Staff Member

    X2- get under there and remove the spacers.
     
  20. 12lives

    12lives Control the controllable, let the rest go

    Can you post a pic of the car from the side? The only thing you should have in the rear is the insulator at the top. I always put new ones in. Add-ons like your spacers will throw off your suspension and make the car ride/handle funny. If the front to rear height is not to your liking you can change the springs to adjust the height. The spacers may be causing the left to right issue - see what happens when you take them out.
     

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