Help!! Just installed Eibach springs & Billstein shocks - NOT HAPPY!

[CombatComProg]

I just had Midas install a brand new set of four Eibach performance lowering springs and four Billstein shocks. The springs were supposed to lower the front 1" and the rear .8". The rear now looks like it was dropped two inches and the front now looks like it was raised an inch!!! I've been told it's not possible to install the springs backwards, so I have no clue as to what is causing this effect. The car looked perfectly normal before I had these installed today. Are Billsteins adjustable? What could have gone wrong? I verified that the part numbers on the boxes of the parts I received are in fact for a '87 Grand National. Anyone ever experience this problem?? Any ideas?? Thanks!

 

[pacecarta]

my 86 has eibach fronts , and it sits about 1in lower than my 87which is on stockers , i like the lower look and will be lowering the 87 as well .

if your originals fronts were worn out than i guess it could be higher , you may need to wait a week and take it for a ride for the spring to take a set .

whats the distance you have from center of cap to the wheel lip? , ill measure mine if you like

couple things to consider , the control arm bushings may be holding the car up , they should have been loosened and then retightened with the car on the ground , also they may have the pigtail in the wrong place on the lower arm , theres a pair of holes about 1/2'" apart in the arm where the spring sits and the spring must be set so the end covers one hole .

for the rear did they forget the insulator on the top

 

[CombatComProg]

Well, what should I say to the guy at Midas? The very top of the rear tires are right at the wheel well -it's been lowered that much, and the front looks even higher than before the springs were installed! It really looks awful. The ride feels great, but just looks bad. I'll post a pic tomorrow. One person suggested pushing up and down on the front of the car to try and get the springs to settle in correctly -that didn't work. I told the guy at Midas as soon as I saw the car that it look f'd up. His response was "I just installed the parts you gave me." How should I approach this? Is it fair for me to be charger more to fix this if it was an installation error?

 

[WeSS]

probs

The problem with bringing your parts to a place like that is just like buying a steak off of one of them little pickup trucks with an inverter & a small freezer on back then taking it to outback having them cook it then it taste funny. It sucks but that is how it is. Unless you know someone at a place like that most of the time they will charge you base labor rate & if your parts are the problem then they will most likely tell you that you have to pay labor to take it back off then you will have to deal with the original purchase vendor. That sucks too. This is why so many places wont put on stuff you bring. I say get a second opinion from another midas. If that doesnt work then maybe have another shop check it. Billsteins are not adjustable. I am not sure if the front billsteins are different from the backs. Maybe they are backwards. Again I am not sure if the back & front springs are different either. So have that checked. Also the rear coils have isolators. Or should. Good luck!

 

[HYBRIDT]

It IS impossible to put the front and rear springs in the wrong locations and the front and rear shocks are COMPLETELY different. I did have to cut like 1/2 a coil off of the fronts on my Eibachs to get my car to sit level and I've heard the same from several guys. I'd wait to see if any one else with more exact info chimes in.

Adam

 

[TKGN1]

Thats strang, just did eibachs on mine and thought the front dropped more than the rear (more than the 1" that is advertised). Could they have installed the front springs upside down? The springs only fit the front and should be installed the same as the stockers. If they installed them upside down it will cause increased ride higth, the coils on the ends are different for top and bottom.

 

[RKHiPerformance]

My only experience with Eibachs was on my '02 Camaro SS, and the car ended up sitting just right in the back and too high in the front.
When we installed Hotchkis springs in Kristi's '86 Monte the back came down a bit but the front was still too high. Ultimately it took a combination of OPG rear springs and Hotchkis front springs & drop spindles to get the height where we wanted it.
I should point out that every set of Bilsteins we've installed resulted in the front end being way high for the first hundred miles or so. Drive the car a bit and see if the shocks settle. If not, hit www.opgi.com for a set of their 2" (or 3") drop front springs.

 

[TURBOV6]

I just did mines about a month ago and I don't see any problems with height. I was told you have to get the correct springs for the GN's. The guys at Eibach said there are 2 sets for G-body's one is for V8's and the other is for V6's, so I guess you might have gotten the V8 springs.

In the past I did have problems on my T that the fronts coils had to be cut.

 

[grocerygetter]

just finished my eibach pro kit and tokico shocks...looks awesome...actually a little raked. So I guess it did drop the front quite a bit. I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[BJM]

It is possible to raise the front by putting the front springs in wrong. When I did my own, the passenger side did not get placed over the metal tangs that form the location knob. At the factory, the frame is cut and tangs are bent down to form a really crude location device. On my passenger side I managed to install the spring with the pigtail on the tops of the tangs which raised that corner at least 1.25 in higher than it was supposed to be. I backed out of the garage and immediately drove back in. I had to recompress the spring and seat it properly, then put it back together. You probably cannot see this problem without pulling out the shock and loking straight up through the lower control arm, up the spring towards the top pigtail. It would be obvious then. I was surprised there was room the mess up the install like this but I managed it.

 

[pacecarta]

on locating the coil end properly , as i stated in above post there are two holes in the lower control arm , to be correct the tail should cover one hole completely but not the second , its ok if the tail is partially is over the second hole and this can be checked without raising the car with any pointed object , even a pen

 

[BJM]

on locating the coil end properly , as i stated in above post there are two holes in the lower control arm , to be correct the tail should cover one hole completely but not the second , its ok if the tail is partially is over the second hole and this can be checked without raising the car with any pointed object , even a pen

Misaligning the coil will change your ride height by maybe as much as 1/4", still its worth checking.

 

[Low Budget]

Well, it's almost March 2006. What happened with this problem? I'm looking for springs and shocks, so this is a concern for me too.