FAQ: Aftermarket Lowering Springs

I am getting excited about this project. Springs are the cornerstone of a good suspension set up. Once I get the right specs on the stock springs and have the new ones being manufactured, I'lll order in the adco sway bars, stb, motor mounts, calipers and rotors.

Maybe I can have this thing out of paint rehab and boogyin' by March.

Does anyone have a stock set of springs off the car? The tech at the custom spring shop said that were tags on the springs. Niether I nor the alignment guy could see them when it was on the lift.

I don't know what they are going to do with the tag because GM no longer publishes spring rates like they used to, but here are the p/n for 1998-99.
rear: 25655478
front: 22197212

They are shared with the other cars with the soft FE1 suspension.

If you have a lot of time on your hands, you can check for a replacement in here.
http://bbb-carb.com/moog_Coil_Springs.htm

With some digging, there were some really nifty spring setups available for the roadmaster sedan and wagon...

im looking to buy a set of springs from ,coil spring specialities, and maybe run,front and back 1"1.5 ,lower. also looking to order stiffer springs for better handling. but, does anybody know what the stock spring rates are? .

none of the gm publications listed the rates

wow! bummer... ill ask ,coil suspension, for his recomendation. after ridindg on eibachs for a couple of years, i know that stifer springs really make the world of difference, especially on a heavy car....the KYBs are going in next week or so, ill try to find an in town outfit that can measure the spring stiffness of the stock ones, and ill up it a few pounds based on that knowledge...ill keep u guys posted. the rancho swap for the rear is also in the works,but will have to wait a few more months..........

That would be great! Thanks for your help, robotennis.

robotennis61 wrote:

wow! bummer... ill ask ,coil suspension, for his recomendation. after ridindg on eibachs for a couple of years,

Are you saying the eibachs are not enough, or were much better?

let us know the stock stiffness.

eibachs were much better,JR, but they were on my acura legend that i no longer have. but with custom cromoly rear control arms with spherical bearings,poly rear bushings on the sway bar,and nylon bushings for the front control arms,the car really cornered like a race car. at the expens of some squeking!...btw, front wheel drive cars ,imo, really benefit from stiffening up the rear more so than the front. i got that from good sources,put it to the test ,and was blown away with the results of stiffer suspension at the rear. and the 1.5 " drop with the eibachs,and bilsteins all around,cornering on a dime was worth $5.00 a corner! i have noticed that the rebound characteristics of the stock rivi air shocks are very good! but the hastle of future repairs and the complexity of the air system,kinda put me off....so i love the rancho idea...coming soon i pray.....

I can testify the Eibachs are much better than stock springs. I had to do a little midification to make them sit properly so if anyone can find the stock spring rate I would buy from these guys. I am a little surpised that they would not have a catalog or something considering they specialize in springs. Maybe an aftermarket spring shop would know?

jax95riv wrote:

Quote :

Jack, are you still waiting for yours?

Yep. I called Intrax a couple week ago, because I wasn't sure if the problem was on Never Enough's end. Intrax assured me that they are waiting for the springs to come in from Europe and that it WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. So I've decided to hang on another 30 days or so. I could go with Eibach, but I don't think the one inch drop is what I'm looking for.

Quote :

I thought regular STS springs were a 1" drop, so
if these are a 1" drop over regular STS springs, wouldn't that make
them a 2" drop?

Why would that be the case????

Did you ever get the springs? just curious

ewolfe0050, what did you have to do to the springs or seats to make them work?

I machined a 1/2" tall spacer out of aluminum to put on the lower perch so it sat a little higher in the rear. It was a 5" outside diameter but I can't remember what the diameter of the center hole was...maybe 2 1/2"? It's easy enough to check. There is still plenty of the mounting cone sticking through the spring so don't worry about hitting a bump and un seating the spring. I wouldn't go more than a 1/2" tho.

FYI, the eibach springs won't work in a 1996


As you can see the spring seat is different. You would have to get custom springs.

http://www.coilsprings.com/custom/index.html

oops. my bad. What year will the Eibach's fit BTW?

jax95riv wrote:

oops. my bad. What year will the Eibach's fit BTW?

97-99 should work.

Ewolf and I are the only ones running it.( as far as I know) He has a 97 Riv and I converted my suspension to the 97 riv suspension.

I'm going to try and resurrect this thread, because I'm doing front suspension soon and I'd like to do rear springs.

I'd like to get stiffer rear springs, and do the job myself, which should be pretty simple.

Maybe Morad would have some of these "other model" rear springs for me to run over and buy for the rear of the Riviera. I'm not looking for a drop in height, but I'd like to have a more firm back end, for more stable highway cruising, and, god forbid, better acceleration.

In another thread, it was mentioned that the Eibach lowering springs aren't that great for us, because the rear is too soft - ewolf had to fabricate a spacer to put on there to make it work.

I'm going to contact this website:

Custom Coilsprings

I'll let everyone know what they say.

I am running eibach sts springs as well. But I have stock air shocks in the back to keep it level.

Ewolf did the F-250 rancho shocks which could not hold the level in the rear with the Eibach springs.

Oldsman:

I have the max-air Monroe air shocks (stock replacement) in the back, and my compressor is working just fine.

So you think that if I went with the Eibach springs, things would be just fine?

You don't find that your back shocks are "sagging" at all? And what about the overall drop of the car - would you describe it as more of a 2" drop, or a 1" drop as claimed by Eibach?

Did the ride stiffen up quite a bit? If I went with these springs, I'd have to go with KYB GR2's for the front.

I just want to make sure that I'm even all the way around, and my ride is stiffer so I don't bounce all over the place. The Eibachs are not what I'd consider "cheap" so I want to make sure I make a good decision.

What about "stock" replacement springs from an STS. Not the eibach kit, but the actual stock springs from the STS.

Apparently there's an "FE3" suspension, and I think it's supposed to be better than the "FE1," which is what I think we have on the '98 Riviera.

Well, here I go replying to myself again.

I contacted the Custom Coils website. They want $200 per PAIR of coils for the Riviera. $400 for springs alone? Not the worst ever, but I certainly ain't going that route.

did they ever get a hold of the factory spring rates?

I'm not sure, they didn't mention in the e-mail.

I've been thinking about springs lately - but I checked today and discovered I use all my ground clearance just getting out of the garage.

There's been times for me where the current ground clearance is just barely enough. I'd love to do the lowering springs, but I don't think I want to sacrifice the drivability.