Suspension Kit Upgrades

First, you need to figure out all the parts you currently have on your car. Are they all factory or some are aftermarket parts? Next, what drop are you looking for? What’s your wheel & tire setup? What engine do you have? (engine weight affects drop). Are you looking to keep rear leaf springs, or convert to a 4 link?

My goal was to have a reliable Pro Touring street driven Camaro, and keeping rear leafs. I also wanted to lower the car by 2 inches, as I have not rolled my fenders & had 235/45/17 & 245/45/17s on. I narrowed my options down between Ridetech StreetGrip and Hotchkis TVS kit.

I ended up with Ridetech, since it was the most recommended by other owners. I felt a huge difference in handling and comfort compared to my previous setup. The most noticeable difference is that I no longer have the wobbly “body roll” when taking corners, thanks to the MuscleBar (Sway bar). The HQ series shocks have 24 adjustable settings from firm (24 to 15) to stiff (14 to 1), and I currently have mine set at 8 towards more stiff. Ride quality is excellent, not harsh at all.

Height Issues with the Suspension Kit & DROP SPINDLES

The issues below are completely my fault. I purchased the car as a Restomod, with some upgraded parts installed by the previous owner that I was not able to identify before getting the new suspension kit.

First major problem, the front dropped more than 2 inches, which caused the tires to rub the inner fenders. Also, the outer rods were almost hitting the inside of my wheels. It took me weeks to figure out the issue behind this. Later, I found out that I had 2″ drop McGaughy spindles, which were causing the excess drop.

Numerous first gen members advised to replace the drop spindles with stock ones. However, to convert back to stock spindles, your disc brakes need to be compatible. (Brake Conversion Guide HERE). Mine were not, and I was not ready to order a new brake kit yet.

The best TEMPORARY option was to get coil spacers to life the front end to stop the tires from rubbing. I ended up with 3/8″ Coil Spacers from Global West. The spacers worked, and the tire rubbing stopped. This solution worked for the next 6 months, until one day I hit an uneven surface, which caused one of the Sway bar end links to come off. Thus, back to square one! (I’m currently in process to find a Front disc conversion kit that includes stock spindles.)

The second problem, post StreetGrip install, was the rear height. There was too much gap between the rear tires & fenders. The TEMPORARY solution was to order an additional 1″ lowering leaf blocks from Ridetech, which solved that problem.

Replacing drop spindles with stock height

Due to previously having 2″ drop spindles with the Ridetech StreetGrip suspension, the front was bottoming out and causing overload on the springs & sway bar end links (which broke off later)

I had to replace the drop spindles with stock height ones. To do that, I had to replace my 10.5″ rotors with at least 11″ to fit the Stock Spindles (#DBSA02), which means I had to do a whole front disc conversion, including Steering kit & Arms. This new setup finally fixed the issues, the right way!

Massive improvement in handling and ride comfort. I was worried the front end would sit higher than the rears, due to keeping the 1″ Lowering Leaf blocks. However, the height alignment ended up being perfect.

-Front Height: 25.50″ (vs 23.62″ previous)
-Rear Height: 27.40″ (vs 27.95″ previous)