84-87 vs 88 front suspension (Page 10/10) pmbrunelle FEB 11, 10:50 AM quote Originally posted by zkhennings: I look forward to seeing how it turns out. I have been debating whether a coilover setup up front is a benefit or not. If you could get a standard 2.5" ID spring to work up front without being installed on a shock, then it might be better to just make new mounts for an aftermarket shock to bolt into the stock location. Better as in less limiting with shock choice, and easier to swap/adjust shocks. Could fab an easy ride height adjustment with a big bolt to adjust height and some slotted holes to allow the upper spring mount to move up and down with some bolts to secure it once height is set. Do you think an appropriately sized seat at the bottom and a smaller OD cone up top (or another outer seat) could locate a spring this small in a similar fashion to stock? https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-72-07-350 7" may be kind of short but there are many different lengths offered. I prefer divorced shocks+springs for ease of shock replacement, and because I prefer the spring+shock load to be spread out, versus concentrated in one spot. Everyone has their own tastes though. I also don't like too much adjustability, because then it looks like a prototype and not a production car (final solution selected, and implemented with fixed parts). Personally, the stiffer springs I have are meant to drop into the stock spring seats, and I will cut the spring to fine-tune ride height. I suppose that a smaller diameter spring could work like stock (directly acting on the LCA), but I would have a concern about the spring buckling because the angled LCA is pushing the spring outwards? To be studied I guess. I think that once you have a candidate spring on hand, and you can measure its bending stiffness, you can check Euler-style buckling: https://en.wikipedia.org/wi...er%27s_critical_load At full droop, the LCA has a lot of angle, but there is low spring force. As the suspension compresses, the LCA is straighter compared to the upper seat, but the spring force is higher. For different positions in the suspension travel, you can solve the beam differential equation using the LCA angle as one of the boundary conditions. quote Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]: I know this is an old thread that someone else already revived... but if we're being honest, a well-sorted 84-87 suspension with the WS6 springs and shocks... is it really going to be that much worse than a stock (good condition) 88 suspension? The second half of this thread is about trying to sort out the 84-87 suspension, so apparently some people think it's worth trying to modify the early suspension rather than throw out the entire car and buying an 88. ZaraSpOOk FEB 13, 05:59 PM quote Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]: I know this is an old thread that someone else already revived... but if we're being honest, a well-sorted 84-87 suspension with the WS6 springs and shocks... is it really going to be that much worse than a stock (good condition) 88 suspension? I've never driven an 88... and at mid-40s, I'm definitely not going to drive my 87 like I did when I was 19. But there were many times where I was doing 100+ miles an hour in a curve, with all four wheels squealing as I edged out someone else, and it felt relatively stable. Granted... I was a total idiot, and I should probably be dead, but would the 88 in that situation really be all that much better? It was one of the better handling cars in the day, but keep in mind the discussion is about a 35 year old car, so if somebody wants to get the 87 to work better than the 88, its his time and money, but I wonder why the goal was set so low, IMO, the suspension, like that "highly desirable" Getrag is more easily improved by buying just about any car made in the last 20 years, certainly the last 10 (I've owned my 88 33 years and have been debating selling it for about 23 years)