I've rebuild my front suspension with the Fiero Store poly bushing kit (sway bar bushings and end links, controls arms) and put in KYB Gas-a-just shocks part no. KG4513. Before I put the shocks on the car I did notice that they looked to be a bit longer and definitely stiffer than the stock ones. I've got the car back on the ground and the front looks to be riding pretty high. Its been a while since I've had the car together but I'm pretty sure this isn't the stock look.
Is it possible the car just needs to settle?
I've seen people talking about cutting a ring off of the springs but I would like to explore some other options before I go there.
The front.
Rear for reference.
How it looked in the air.
Any advise is greatly appreciated.
[This message has been edited by lightning_slow (edited 06-10-2025).]
I've rebuild my front suspension with the Fiero Store poly bushing kit (sway bar bushings and end links, controls arms) and put in KYB Gas-a-just shocks part no. KG4513. Before I put the shocks on the car I did notice that they looked to be a bit longer and definitely stiffer than the stock ones. I've got the car back on the ground and the front looks to be riding pretty high. Its been a while since I've had the car together but I'm pretty sure this isn't the stock look.
Is it possible the car just needs to settle?
I've seen people talking about cutting a ring off of the springs but I would like to explore some other options before I go there.
The front.
Rear for reference.
How it looked in the air.
Any advise is greatly appreciated.
check the springs first and then take it on a bumpy road to settle it in. i do hope you also did the bushings final torque with the suspension loaded since ive noticed the poly bushings on 88s dont like to rotate very well until they get some mileage on them and they need a few hundred to feel good most of the time. might have just been my set but it looked similar until we retorqued with the suspension loaded and spring correctly in the pocket
I've rebuild my front suspension with the Fiero Store poly bushing kit (sway bar bushings and end links, controls arms)...
I don't think it makes a difference with poly bushings, but with rubber control arm bushings, the weight of the car needs to be on the wheels before the the control arm bolts are tightened up (as opposed to having the wheels just hanging there).
I have yet to torque the control arm bushings, I'll be doing that tomorrow. I'm still a few days away from getting the car on the road but when it is I'll drive some bumpy roads.
I'll be taking the car to the alignment shop on Friday. If I were to get the car aligned and then fixed the ride height after (by the car settling, cutting the springs, or something else) would that effect the wheel alignment?
Also, after installing poly bushing in the rear (sway bar mounts and end links, control arms) it looks like the rear wheels have a lot of toe in. I'm not sure if these pictures convey it very well.
I could be wrong but this looks like more than it should have. How much would I need to adjust it to get to the alignment shop without damaging my tyres?
I have the same issue with my 1984 that i just rebuilt the entire front suspension on and my ride height looks similar to yours. I used rubber bushings and did get the springs clocked correctly. Part of my problem could be i added the 84 to 87 front upper spring pads from the Fiero store before I figured out the pads were not used on the 84 model and that the 85 to 87 cars have different lower control arms. I figured the pads may add a 1/4 of an inch but currently the front looks just like yours. I have not driven the car yet to see if it will settle because i need to pull the engine and fix a slight oil leak. I plan on replacing the upper and lower spring pads on the rear struts with replacements from the Fiero store as well, however they are currently out of the lower pads. I am hoping this will raise the rear of the car some to match the front.
I hate to have to pull the springs to remove the front spring pads but i do want the car to set level.
Does anyone have another suggestion for raising the rear suspension around 1/2 inch on the 1984?
Originally posted by lightning_slow: I'll be taking the car to the alignment shop on Friday. If I were to get the car aligned and then fixed the ride height after (by the car settling, cutting the springs, or something else) would that effect the wheel alignment?
In general with independent suspensions, toe and camber change with suspension movement, so the alignment needs to be set with the car at its normal ride height.
If you change the ride height after the alignment, then the alignment becomes no good.
[This message has been edited by pmbrunelle (edited 06-10-2025).]
I have the same issue with my 1984 that i just rebuilt the entire front suspension on and my ride height looks similar to yours.
Does anyone have another suggestion for raising the rear suspension around 1/2 inch on the 1984?
Raising the rear to better match the too-high front is not the way I'd go about this.
This is my '84 (with swapped aero trim) that I was autocrossing years ago (from This thread on cutting springs). That's the stance that looks best IMO.
When I got my '88 Formula, I lowered it in similar manner as I did with the '84 to achieve basically the same stance.
[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 06-10-2025).]
To set the rear toe use a tape measure and as high up as you can get on the front of the tires measure from one tread to the other then do the same on the back side of the tires. Make sure you are measuring from the same tread grooves for both the front and back measurements. Get these measurements equal and you will be good to drive to the alignment shop. I think the 1988 has what they call a "Rear Toe Link" that goes from the knuckle to the rear cradle that you losen the clamps and turn the middle to adjust the toe.
Two possibilities for ride-height change; A) The KYB Gas-A-just shocks have very high gas pressure, so that will definitely increase ride height a bit. B) The A-arm has a spiral cavity that the end of the spring fits into....If you do not have the spring properly seated in that spiral indentation, that will raise the car up substantially. I actually did this once- I learn-ed from mi Me-stake.....
[This message has been edited by cvxjet (edited 06-10-2025).]
I have the same issue with my 1984 that i just rebuilt the entire front suspension on and my ride height looks similar to yours. I used rubber bushings and did get the springs clocked correctly. Part of my problem could be i added the 84 to 87 front upper spring pads from the Fiero store before I figured out the pads were not used on the 84 model and that the 85 to 87 cars have different lower control arms. I figured the pads may add a 1/4 of an inch but currently the front looks just like yours. I have not driven the car yet to see if it will settle because i need to pull the engine and fix a slight oil leak. I plan on replacing the upper and lower spring pads on the rear struts with replacements from the Fiero store as well, however they are currently out of the lower pads. I am hoping this will raise the rear of the car some to match the front.
I hate to have to pull the springs to remove the front spring pads but i do want the car to set level.
Does anyone have another suggestion for raising the rear suspension around 1/2 inch on the 1984?
the 87s do sit slightly higher in the front than the rear. and 84s are the oddballs and settle massively. when we saved ours from the forest and redid the bushings the front sat a full 1.5 higher than before and it took a few bumpy roads to have it settle out to normal. never cut springs until you know for sure its settled first
Yes, i did use KYB shocks so that could be part of the issue. I did clock the springs correctly to get them and the rubber spacers set correctly, I re-did one side twice because it was a 1/4" off and i wanted it as close to perfect as possible. I did leave the components loose, put the weight of the car on them, bounced the care up and down multiple times, before I torqued everything down.
I do not intend to cut springs but thought that new upper and lower rear rubber spring pads may help getting things closer to level. The rear struts only have a few thousand miles on them, I think they are Monroe, so I do not intend to replace the strut, it was just when they were changed the old rubber pads were reused.
Thanks for this
"84s are the oddballs and settle massively. when we saved ours from the forest and redid the bushings the front sat a full 1.5 higher than before and it took a few bumpy roads to have it settle out to normal. never cut springs until you know for sure its settled first"
I will get the alignment as close as i can, put on a set of "junk tires" and run it a few miles to see if the front will settle. If it still looks bad then i will go to the effort of removing the front upper rubber isolator that was installed before going to the alignment shop.
Originally posted by Riney: I will get the alignment as close as i can, put on a set of "junk tires" and run it a few miles to see if the front will settle. If it still looks bad then i will go to the effort of removing the front upper rubber isolator that was installed before going to the alignment shop.
a race alignment / jackstand and string method works very well on these. just make sure to drive it around before checking again
quote
Originally posted by Patrick:
I suspect that's a typo as it's the 88's that sit higher in the front (from the factory).
From what I can tell the bottoms of the springs are properly seated in the LCA's. I think I'll live with the squatted look for a while and drive it around to see if it'll settle.
Verifying the end of the spring is in the lower control arm is just 1 spot. The upper part of the spring can also hang up on the lip inside the front crossmember spring pocket, which will cause it to ride high as well.
You can raise the front and use a pry bar (not your hands/fingers) to try and slide the top of the spring side to side and front to back. If you hear a loud slam, that is the spring being properly seated.
