Suspension Help - Eibach vs Hotchkis

[AR GN]

First off, I am a new GN member. I have always loved these cars and recently purchased a VERY nice addition to my garage. It already has quite a few performance upgrades, and now I would like to match the handling to the power. From what I have read, it seems either Eibach or Hotchkis are the top 2 options for lowering springs (Hotchkis being the only one of the two for sway bars).

-Are there any benefits of one brand over the other for springs?
-Are there any "gotchas" on replacing the springs?
-Are new air bags needed when replacing the rear springs?
-Are the front and rear sway bars both needed (as opposed to just the front maybe)


These are just a few random thoughts. I would like to drop the car maybe 1" - 1.5" and help the handling. The car already has Bilstein shocks all the way around. Any assistance is appreciated.

TIA

A link to some pics (previous owner's site):

Exterior

Interior

 

[Gary Wells]

Fwiw & imho:
I would first find out why that car sits so high. I don't believe that your car is sitting at stock height. And my opinion on lowering turbo Buicks, even only lowering them 1.0"-1.5" is that the sacrafice in overall ride quality is not going to be worth the gain in handling performance. And I don't think that there is a heck of a lot of difference between Eibach and Hotchkis. Both are very quality oriented manufacturers. And I thought that Eibach made/sold sway bars with some of their lowering kits. Try this link:
www.shox.com
Beautiful car, though.
HTH

 

[Underboost]

First off, I am a new GN member. I have always loved these cars and recently purchased a VERY nice addition to my garage. It already has quite a few performance upgrades, and now I would like to match the handling to the power. From what I have read, it seems either Eibach or Hotchkis are the top 2 options for lowering springs (Hotchkis being the only one of the two for sway bars).

-Are there any benefits of one brand over the other for springs?
-Are there any "gotchas" on replacing the springs?
-Are new air bags needed when replacing the rear springs?
-Are the front and rear sway bars both needed (as opposed to just the front maybe)


These are just a few random thoughts. I would like to drop the car maybe 1" - 1.5" and help the handling. The car already has Bilstein shocks all the way around. Any assistance is appreciated.

TIA

A link to some pics (previous owner's site):

Exterior

Interior

What do you wan't to do with this car Street & Strip or just street?

I had the Hotchkis springs.The car sat to high in the front. It looked like I had people in the trunk. I hated the look. The faster my car got the more tire slip. The lowered springs tied the car down and didn't let the weight transfer. I put some new stocks in. With some HR Parts goodies. love it now

 

[Gary Wells]

Brent:
You do have people in the trunk.

 

[Underboost]

Brent:
You do have people in the trunk.

LOL!!!!!!!!!!! :biggrin:

 

[AR GN]

Thanks for the replies. From my understanding, it has the stock springs on it already. It rides good, but sits a little high, IMO. Does it appear to sit a little high in the pics? I plan to mainly drive it on the street, but may take it to the strip on a rare occassion. I just think it would look better with a little drop to it...

Thanks again

 

[Underboost]

Thanks for the replies. From my understanding, it has the stock springs on it already. It rides good, but sits a little high, IMO. Does it appear to sit a little high in the pics? I plan to mainly drive it on the street, but may take it to the strip on a rare occassion. I just think it would look better with a little drop to it...

Thanks again

Get some drop spindles from Belltech & maybe some springs for the rear.

 

[DavzGN]

What size tires are you running? To me it looks like the tire diameter is too small for the wheel opening.

David
87GN

 

[AR GN]

The fronts are 225/50/16 and the rears are 245/50/16 IIRC. If I replace the rear springs, do the air bags have to be replaced as well?

Thanks again guys!