Front end not sitting properly

[Steve Staze]

My dad and I just put the wheels back on our car today and put it back down on the ground after ~2 years on jackstands. The rear end sits fine, but the front end has about a 4 or 5 inch wheelgap and is noticably higher than the rear. The front end has the following modifications which were all done while it was up on the stands:

- '91 Camaro RS 6 cyl convertible springs
- Bilstein non-adjustable gas shocks
- Hotchkis upper control arms
- large brake spindles from a Chevy Caprice wagon w/12" brakes
- 16" T/A GTA wheels
- new stock bushings, except for the upper control arm bushings which are from Hotchkis

My brother in-law thinks now that it's back on the ground and the suspension has weight on it, the car will drop back down after the new bushings settle in. My dad seems to think he was supposed to torque some parts down while the car was on the ground rather than while it was up on stands, and that he may have over-tightened something.
For now it will have to stay as it is because on Tuesday it's off on a flatbed to the engine shop where it will stay for a while.
Any ideas on what could be keeping that car up like this?

 

[Gary Wells]

My guess would be that all of you guys are correct. Is the motor in it now. Any difference from right to left on the front end. Have you tried bouncing on each front corner. Are the springs about the same rate as stock?

 

[Steve Staze]

Originally posted by Wells
My guess would be that all of you guys are correct. Is the motor in it now. Any difference from right to left on the front end. Have you tried bouncing on each front corner. Are the springs about the same rate as stock?

Okay. The guy who built our new engine has dealed with the Hotckis control arms before and said they were definately supposed to be tightened while the car was on the ground. He said they'll loosen them up, let the car drop down and sit properly and then torque everything back down.

 

[Gary Wells]

fwiw & imho:
ok, my turn. I am sure that there is very good reason for your dad to think what he thinks. Seems to me that you will have to loosen everything when the car has the motor and everything installed back in and torque everything when it is on the ground. I wouldn't think that bushings settleing in are going to have very much effect on anything in relationship to height as high performance bushings have very little play in them to begin with. I can see the springs settleing in after a while, but maybe not enough to please you. I am very doubtful that they will settle much, and it is possible for the springs to not settle any at all depending upon their spring rate.