Riv finally back on the road

I do feel like it grabs better because of it! Everything feels a little more solid. Certainly not to the extent of the Eibachs I would imagine but noticable which was nice for a free change!

I love the way a lowered Riv looks. I wanna lower mine

The question is how do we lower ours scott

You may be able to cut a coil off on the newer Riv's also. If the lower coils of the spring run parallel to each other it can be done. Scott, you can do this on a wall mount compressor at work without disassembly of the strut and spring. Just compress and cut a full 360* off at the bottom. No torches but I'm sure you know that already.

Either get coil springs custom made, follow the path of robo, or you wait for the ultra epic rare orange item eibach drop that will never happen.

I'm not cutting the brand new coils. The car handles way too good to risk it.

If your car rides at the height in your sig I wouldn't either. It looks perfect. Dave Jr's car looked like it was popping a wheelie so we went for it. Besides I have a parts car I could have swapped springs out of if it didn't work out. Car lost nothing as far as ride goes and should improve traction and handling.

Also, we are gathering parts for a f-body brake swap, so the front end is getting ripped apart soon anyway.

Very nice. Thanks for trying this and good job succeeding.

Didnt want to take over the shaved trunk lock thread with pictures of some less related material so Ill post this here instead! This is how my sound system sits in my trunk at the moment.



Eventually the plan is to build a hideaway amp rack powered by a power window switch and motor and use the old back piece or build a new back piece for the trunk interior that covers everything. Not planning on doing anything till my winter break and theres a bunch else planned too so Im not sure if thats gonna be completed anytime soon though!

What if you turned the sub around and made it poke through the armrest like mine? And pleeaaasssee clean up that wiring.

The wirings not as much of a mess as it looks just alot of extra so I dont have to add wire when we move it around. Its all zip tied together better on the right and the stuff on the left is now zip tied and tucked behind the Sub. I had it turned around toward the passenger compartment and it seemed to sound no different either way but I like the way this looked better.

Well, now that my Camaro is sold, can finally get back to the Riv. Its been off the road since last May when I swapped the plates to the Camaro. Is running and driving great after sitting so that was a huge relief. Been on the road for about a week now and it feels great to drive it again. Full synthetic change and put the summer wheels on this week. I missed this view more than anything

Oh yes...painted lower moldings are my favorite. Glad to see it back on duty!

Awesome looking Riv, dude!

Thanks guys!

Replaced the control arms in my Riv with new Aluminum arms for the '97-'99 Rivs. The bushings were shot or GONE all the way around.

On the '95 Rivs (and possibly '96), the front Control arm mounts, are vertical as opposed to both being horizontal on the newer models. The factory brackets looked like this:



After the old control arms were out, I had to cut and grind the old brackets off and then I made new brackets from the pieces I cut off, as well as pieces I cut off of an extra cradle I was playing around with. Had my dad weld it all up, painted it quick and the Riv is driving silky smooth

Great work/upgrade!
Jbird

Great

dang. nice work.

Oooo I'm likin' those rims

Why modify and replace with aluminum arms? I thought the idea of the old steel beasts was that you could just press new bushings instead of replacing the whole arm? Just curious as it's getting time for me to do some work in this area on my 95

Thanks guys! I have alot going on with the Riv in the next couple weeks. Ive been driving the car with a Tranny that overheats and starts to lose gears for a couple years now. I have a rebuilt Tranny sitting in my basement hoping to get it in in a week or 2 if I can steal a bay at my dads shop on one of my days off. The rims have grown on me and look much better with the new tires. I just had new Hankook Ventus 245/45ZR18 tires put on a couple weeks ago. Ill post the other stuff as I do it but we'll see if ai can stay focused on the Riv for once.





As far as the reasoning for replacing the control arms, I had a few reasons why I went this route instead of replacing the bushings. The main reason is cosmetic. I love the look of raw aluminum and dont have to worry about them starting to get cruddy like steel would. I could have sandblasted and repainted my originals, but that would have been more work than making these work. These were only $60 a piece and allowed me to replace the ball joints easily as well. Drivers side ball joint was original and that would have been additional labor to remove. Also, if anything ever happens where I need to replace one of these control arms, I can get another brand new one and just swap it in. Lastly, I kind of just like to make a project out of everything! I think its something that alot of Riv junkies suffer from

How did you lower that? Looks nice sitting at that height.

Well my rear has always sat a little lower because the ALC doesnt work but it still rides great so Ive just left it. I removed 2 coils I believe off the front springs to bring down the front. As far as I know, this cant be done on later year rivs because the springs taper at the ends. They are symmetrical all the way through on the '95.