FAQ: Aftermarket Lowering Springs

98riviera98 wrote:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/98-99-00-CADILLAC-SEVILLE-Lowering-Drop-Springs-Kit_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ65Q3a12Q7c66Q3a2Q7c39Q3a1Q7c72Q3a1205Q7c240Q3a1318Q7c301Q3a1Q7c293Q3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem5ad1523314QQitemZ390058881812QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

Might buy these

i told the guy i'd buy them pending pictures

now to find some cheap KYB G2's and some strut mount bearings.. and some tie rod ends and a front sway bar for cheap

hope they fit.
again though, the cars they list dont make much sense since some are w-body's and some are k-bodys. one spring cant fit all right?
if the same spring fits both the regal and the seville, then why cant the riv's use suspension setups from zzp or intense?

jack the r wrote ; You're happy with the ride? How much did they set you back? they work great! very controled ride cornering is allmost flat,after a sway bar on the rear will corner flatter. the main drawback that i see is the too sofr body mounts. the front and rear cradles move quite a bit. that disrupts the performance of any good setup. to remedy this ill be instaling harder rubber in place of the stock b.ms soon. i wanted a lower ride but the miscalculation on c.c.s. part prevented that. but will soon be resolved. i found a super deal on bilsteins for the rear with only a minor fabrication mod to make before i can hook them up. will post pics when i make this mod..................

the springs set me back around $312 with delivery..........

robotennis61 wrote:

jack the r wrote ; You're happy with the ride? How much did they set you back? they work great! very controled ride cornering is allmost flat,after a sway bar on the rear will corner flatter. the main drawback that i see is the too sofr body mounts. the front and rear cradles move quite a bit. that disrupts the performance of any good setup. to remedy this ill be instaling harder rubber in place of the stock b.ms soon. i wanted a lower ride but the miscalculation on c.c.s. part prevented that. but will soon be resolved. i found a super deal on bilsteins for the rear with only a minor fabrication mod to make before i can hook them up. will post pics when i make this mod..................

For $312 it sounds like you got an awesome deal. When you get your new springs and c.c.s. knows what they're doing I may have to get a set

Looking forward to seeing the Bilstein mod! Have you done the rear STB? You will need to tighten up the rear structure to take full advantage of the new shocks. If they perform like my Ranchos do when set to 6 (they should be better, right?) you'll be amazed by the change in the car's handling. I actually dialed my Ranchos down because I was worried the rear end might come around in an emergency manuever. I think we're pushing into territory with the handling upgrades where we need to get on a track with someone who knows what they're doing and make sure it's all balanced right.

here is the eibach kit that works on 97+ riviera's

Jack the R wrote:

For $312 it sounds like you got an awesome deal. When you get your new springs and c.c.s. knows what they're doing I may have to get a set

Looking forward to seeing the Bilstein mod! Have you done the rear STB? You will need to tighten up the rear structure to take full advantage of the new shocks. If they perform like my Ranchos do when set to 6 (they should be better, right?) you'll be amazed by the change in the car's handling. I actually dialed my Ranchos down because I was worried the rear end might come around in an emergency manuever. I think we're pushing into territory with the handling upgrades where we need to get on a track with someone who knows what they're doing and make sure it's all balanced right.

I'm interested to hear the outcome as well. Would like to do some more suspension work along with wider tires and rims in the near future.

robotennis61 wrote:

the springs set me back around $312 with delivery..........

How did the return / exchange go for you?
And have you installed them yet? If so, how do you like them. Road report please.
Thanks

road report is very good. a rear sway bar is in order though. the rear i can make myself with straight 4130 chrome moly. thats for the near future. first i have to dial in the body mount mod then, ill do the bilstein mod. i have the shocks,they are 5125 series in a really cool silver finish. eyelet mount ,top and bottom. it requires only a bracket. my friend is going to weld it up for me. just have to find steel locally. and get around to it. the return is going out after the 4th.it should be ok since the guys at c.c.s. are really cool. the custom springs make a difference the ride is tight without being harsh at all! depending on how the swap is taken care of i might even go for 300lb in the back.

Have you already posted contact info for C.C.S. i.e, contact name, phone numbers, address, etc.????
If so, could you point me in the right direction - If not, could you post it here.
Thanks

sure. info@coilsprings.com the reps name is, kevin #785) 437-2025

robotennis61 wrote:

........then, ill do the bilstein mod. i have the shocks,they are 5125 series in a really cool silver finish. eyelet mount ,top and bottom.

What vehicle / application were the 5125's made to fit?

search results show they are an offroad shock with different options for length and valve operation. looks to be similar to the F250 rancho shock upgrade.
~$80 online.

right mr.riv! thats what they are. i had bilsteins on my legend and they work!

having the brackets fabbed up by a local shop tomorow. should have them installed same day. the bilsteins should drop right in. also going to enquire if they can also come up with an idea to isolate the rear r.s.s.a. will post pics of before and after. i hope.......

Most interesting . . .

Come to think of it, if these are compareable in performance to the Ranchos then it's a better mod, since it's not easy to modify the shock mount for the ranchos.

You'll just have to go into business making the brackets

haha! when anyone interested in this mod..see's how simple it is...ill be out of business! ...... of course, please wait for road test

it slipped my mind but i feel its only right to confess that the deal i got was for a group buy that i tried to get off the ground on this forum a ways back. when i called kevin at c.s.s ,when i was ready to order,he brought up the quote that i started, and mentioned that the better price was established on the grounds that at least 7 or so sets were sold. but i got the better price somehow. im not sure why he gave me the better price but he did. probably because i spoke to him many times since i began my enquires on a custom set up. so if anyone is interested in future dealings with c.s.s they should bring up the forum and attempt to establish a discounted price. ahhh! i feel so much better now. clarification feels soo...good! but the car handles much better now with the c.s.s springs. but as we all know..we allways want more. i shoulda gone stiffer..i shoulda gone lower...and on and on...but im happy with my purchase and when ive done all i can to the riv..then ill consider other spring rates depending on the kind of driving im doing at the time......

OK here is the final word on my CSS experience.
my order really got screwed up. the first set of springs that i ordered,and if anyone followed my posts , was wrong. the rates were good but CCS somehow managed to send the fronts at stock height. so they asked me to send them the OE fronts so they could figure how they messed up. i did that. later Kevin from CSS suggested that he would start fresh and send me an entire set and all i had to do was send back the mistaken order. no prob. i asked, since he was starting fresh,if he could up the spring rates to 350 rear 300 front. no prob. turns out that they made the fronts only @ 250 and left the rears out of the new order. somebody made a mistake and no one is fessing up. so he tells me that he will send the new fronts but i would have to send them a deposit of $189 or so as a good faith sign and they would reimburse me when i send them back the first mistaken fronts. ok..but..thats not what i ordered! i ordered the stiffer fronts with the 1" drop on the agreement that he would up the rates for the rears,with the 250 fronts not only would i have equal rates front and back , i would have a ride that I'm avoiding at all costs! i don't want a balanced car i want a car that just oversteers.and all the while I'm spending money on alignments every time i swap out springs. and why should i have to pay for their mistake ?so today after months of arguing and pointing out their mistake,Ive had enough. I'm keeping what i have,the 1" higher front is noticeable and not what i wanted but ill live with it. at least the rates front and back work in unison. i can always trim an 1" down the road....so there it is. apparently they did not have the formula,nor do i think they ever made springs for a riv,but they did not tell me this. and while the spring quality is good ,not entirely what i wanted. hope im making sense. i dont know anymore.

Wow, sorry to hear you had such a bad experience with them. I know where I won't be ordering custom springs from!!

yeah...but they have the formula now! no doubt about that.

That sucks balls! And I just did a shitload of road work specifically so I could drop the Riv with a set of their custom springs.

don't worry jack,they now have the correct formula for the 95's
with me it boils down to...i just am tired of arguing over a inch.
buy with confidence but make sure to strongly specify exactly what you want done. it seems that kevin over at CCS failed to make notes of our conversations and got caught up in rates and whatnot. all he had to do was listen to what I wanted and not be the measurement cruncher and just get my springs done! personally i would deal with someone else over there. give em a call and let us know what transpires? should be interesting.

I've got a bunch of maintenance I want to do first - antifreeze, hoses, water pump, fuel pump, fuel level sensor, driver's side window motor Somebody was looking into better strut mounts - haven't seen anything about that lately. Would like to see if anything comes of it first too.

In doing the rear brakes on the '96 last week, I noticed one of the rear springs is broken. The bottom loop that rests on the insulator is missing.
I guess the air shocks have been keeping the cars stance level.

Anyway, I see that Morad has listed in his eBay store both a set of rear springs from a 2000 Bonneville for $20.00, and a set from a 2005 Bonneville GXP for $45.00. (FE5)
The best I can tell from my research, both of these will fit our cars. Rock Auto shows the same Moog #80659 for the Riv and Bonnies.

What's your opinion? Will either work?
Should I spend the extra 25.00 for the GXP springs? Are they lower than my stock spring? Stiffer?
If those GXP springs are desirable, I am calling dibs on them until further notice!