426Hemi

Hi guys--thought I'd pass this on.

I have a '61 Super 88---but this info should be good up to '63, maybe '64 full size?

Anyhow trying to source out some lower springs. Eibach didn't list the '61.

Checked out the '61 spring specs and long story short they were the same as '91-'96 Caprice/Impala---front and rear.

So I ordered the Eibach set for an Impala SS, PN 3837.140. BTW there is another set from Eibach (PN 3832.140) for the standard Caprice which is won't drop the car as much.

Fronts went good. Lot easier to install than stock because they are shorter. I did add a half inch rubber spacer to the base of each spring. Front end needed to come up just a tad. I'm running pretty tall tires all around (255/70-15) so touching the fender when turning was a concern. I carefully bent up the edge of the fender lip and also made some limits for the steering stops. Works real good!

And for the rear I simply installed them.

Before install ground to frame measurement was 9-1/8". After installation it now measures 7" front and 7-1/8" rear. Handles and rides nice. The rear is less ride height sensitive now---i.e. difference between full or empty tank.

Overall I'm pretty happy. Sits nice. Would really be low with some 235/70-15's or lower yet with 14's.

What she looks like now:

IMG_1763.jpg




Steering stop:

IMG_1758.jpg

Nimrodinder

Hey thanks for the heads-up on this. Wasn't having much luck finding any lowered springs for my 62 Starfire until i came across this. However, looking at the Olds parts catalog is see the 61 Dynamic has a different part number for the springs to the 62 88, S88, 98 and Starfire. Can you give a bit more info on where or how you measured the spring specs of your originals? Or is it just height and diameter that matter?

Also are the lowered Impala springs stiffer than the Olds originals, and is the ride/handling better or similar now they in?

62Starfire63

You can order springs made for your car from places like this that I used www.jamcosuspension.com They have all the specs for almost every north american car and can build lowering springs 1", 2", or 3" drop I think depending what you want. I think the set I bought for my 63 was about $300+ shipping. They have a 20% stiffer spring rate I think I recall them telling me.

426Hemi

I basically compared the specs between the Olds and Caprice----spring end type, inside diameter, installed height, rate, free height, wire diameter, etc. Almost identical---and acutally identical in some cases because some outfits listed the same replacement spring in some cases. And the same for the '61 to '62 comparison.

Since my post and pictures on this I have went down to a 235 front tire. I pulled the steering stops off and now can turn sharp without any rubbing. Keep in mind that I kept the ~ 1/2" rubber spacers on the bottom of the front springs.

Yeah you know the ride with the stock springs was sort of stiff---and it's pretty much the same with the Eibachs. Handles better though.

I'm very happy with the install. And Summit had them in stock ready to ship.

66ninetyeightls

I found the easiest way to find comparable springs was to go to the www.Rockauto.com website. They will list the springs for your specific car. Then you can click on the part number and see what other makes & models use that same part number. You can then lookup aftermarket lowering springs for those cars.

MY0LDS

Thanks for posting this. I need to do the springs on my 61 as well but I don't really have a reference point of how the original springs should look or handle seeing as they've been bad since I got the car. The bottom rear edge of my front inner guard is just 6.5" from the ground. It's made worse by the new crossmember that holds up the 55 hydramatic I've got hooked up. That brings current clearance down to just 4". The Eibach springs sound (and look) great but that might work so well with my clearances. I see the Eibach kit is supposed to lower the Impala front by about 1.2". If you found it lowered yours by 2" (even with a spacer) can I assume that fitting regular 94-96 Impala springs would lower an Olds by 0.8"?

I see the Moog part for the 96 Impala is 5044 Inside Diameter 4.080 End Type 1 Square End Type 2 Tangential Bar Diameter 0.687 Install Height 11.00 Load in Pounds 2360.0 Spring Rate 334.0 Free Height 18.06. and the rear Moog part CC621 Inside Diameter 5.530 End Type 1 Pigtail End Type 2 Pigtail Bar Diameter 0.672 Install Height 12.75 Load in Pounds 640.0 Spring Rate 175.0 Free Height 16.70


Are these the figures you were working on with your comparisons? Could you post the spring details for our Olds and also of the Eibachs for comparison?



I'm thinking standard 96 Impala ss springs might be an alternative for me. From the quick reading I've done the Impala springs were reinforced compared to the Caprice. Given that the Olds are 250lb lighter I'm not sure the implication - maybe a slightly higher ride height to the Impala?



Do you have any pics of your vehicle on standard springs before you fitted the Eibachs?


Thanks
Phillip
'61 Dynamic 88 BBL Top

426Hemi

Hi Phillip,

Can't find my notes from back when I was doing this but I was comparing stock Caprice springs to the '61 springs and things were almost identical. And I never recorded any specs on the Eibachs.

If it does help I did come up with two pictures of my car before the spring install. These pics have the car sitting on 255's all around just like the pictures in my first post. Pretty easy to see how far the car came down.

IMG_1646-1.jpg

IMG_1655.jpg

MY0LDS

Thanks - according to the '61 Owner's Manual the load height for the rear springs is only 5 13/16" to 6 9/16". This seems extremely low. But then someone else suggested the load height is 9". Does any of that sound familiar to you - I'd really like to find out what it's supposed to be. Can you remember where you got your original information?

Thanks for the pics I was going to upload pics of mine but I see they need to be from on online source. Basically mine is maybe sitting half an inch lower when the rear wheel arch is compared to the wheel rim - but mine's only on 205/75/14s so is generally lower. It's harder to compare the front height but doesn't look too different to yours (rim to arch). It looks like my clearance issues could be as much about taller wheels as new springs.

Phillip

426Hemi

For the spring comparison I was dealing out of a TRW chassis book. And for my height measurements I was going off of the front and rear of the rocker panel. Not sure where the '61 shop manual is measuring.

Anyhow to summarize----when running the Eibach PN 3837.140 spring set (with a 1/2 rubber spacer under the front springs) in my '61, I measured 7" front and 7-1/8" rear from the ground up to the rocker panel. And this while running a 28.9" diameter tire. Your 205/75-14 is probably a 26" tire so you would be looking at about 5.5 inches to the rocker panel. Might be too low for you. Hard to say with any certainty where where the standard SS Impala springs would put you----but your logic looks right on.

MY0LDS

Thanks. It looks like new wheels are high on my shopping list. Did you have any clearance issues at all with the 255s on the old springs? Are you on 8.5" rims?

426Hemi

I'm running 7" rims. With the stock springs the 255's didn't have any clearance problems.

Nimrodinder

Hi again. MYOLDs is a good mate here so we're kinda sussing this spring thing out for both our cars... you mention adding that rubber spacer to the front to bring it up "a tad". was that just personal preference for the look or was it to avoid rubbing somewhere? I'm about to order the same impala springs from JEGS but would like the front a little bit lower than yours ... personal preference and i think would look better with the 20" rims i've got coming. so the springs sound ideal if the spacer is not necessary.

426Hemi

Mainly it was done to get some more turning clearance---but it did help to level out the car and take some of the rake out too. Now that I'm down to a 235 in front I've got a little rake back. A half inch at the spring translates to more than that out at the tire. If I recall it was maybe an inch.

Those 20's sound pretty good. Keep us posted!

426Hemi

Just remembered this---however it's more a product of the wide tires and rim offset. I had to put a spring on each emergency brake cable to pull it away from rubbing on the tire. Basically spread a big cotter pin in one of the holes in the lower control arm to act as an anchor for the spring.

Nimrodinder

Thanks, yea good point. I had initially order 255s for the rear with the new rims but it seemed I might have only 5mm clearance either side which got me nervous, especially if my backspace measurement is slightly out. So i reluctantly went down to 245s. Have ordered the same springs so will post a follow up pick when they arrive, including the wheels.

Nimrodinder

hiya... well, the new wheels and tires arrived recently along with a set of the Eibach Impala springs. So heres a few shots of the Starfire pre-installation of the new springs. the rear looks quite good as is, but the front definitely could do with lowering a couple of inches. Will hopefully get around to installing the springs sometime soon and will then repost some pics for comparison.

426Hemi

Hey that's a super nice '62. Looking forward to your results after the spring install.

Nimrodinder

Well.... been 6 months but finally got some photos to upload of the Starfire lowered with the eibach impala springs. only front springs swapped so far as I think it looks quite good as is. I too had to put rubber spacers in to bring the front up to avoid guard rub. 9/16" thick on the passenger side but had to install 1" on the drivers side which i thought was strange until i saw in the parts manual that the original springs were two different part numbers for non AC cars. stood my originals up next to each other and what do ya know? they're different lengths. anyway, it drives great now. much less body roll than previously although I also replaced the sway bar bushes at the same time so its all mint now.

426Hemi

Hey man, that looks good! The stance is nice.

Yeah I noticed the difference in my original front springs too. When I first got my '61 it was lower on one side. Kept playing with spacers and spreaders to level it out-----then the Eibachs took care of it.

Anyhow glad things worked out for you.

gearheads78

hellbents10

I used 3" drop springs for a 91-96 Caprice on my 64' Dynamic and it turned out good. Figured I would post on the thread that sent me in that direction!

426Hemi

Man you got that baby down there----looks good!

lsutigers93

BEAUTIFUL Starfire!!

426Hemi

Little update here.

I was running 235-70/15's front and 255-70/15's rear. The 235 is 28" tall and the 255 is 29.1".

This looked pretty good and gave a little rake with the Eibach's. However the 255 rears had so much more sidewall than the fronts.

So today I put on some 275-60/15's on the rear. They are a 28" tall tire just like the front. I think it really looks better. And it brought the rear down another half inch basically leveling it out.

These 275's are a tight fit but they work. Probably just about as big as one can go on a '61. BTW the rims are 7"-----1990's Caprice.

Anyhow here's a shot:

275s.jpg

copper128

Your car looks terrifc now and before.
I have to admit I liked the little rake

Nimrodinder

426Hemi,

hey quick query, thinking of putting my rear Eibach springs in now from the same kit you used (#3837.140). Did you find the OD of the Eibach pig tail ends (4") are wider than the original springs? And if so did you need to make up new clamping plates to fit them? reading your post from the top again it seems you didn't but thought I should ask. I'm concerned I might run into problems with mine.

426Hemi

Everything worked fine----both top and bottom of the spring. I used the stock plates no problem. If there was any difference it was minor and a non issue.

Good luck on the install and shoot us some pics when finished.

Redlinemtrs

What shocks did you end up using? Where did you find them? My napa cant even go back to 61 anymore on shocks. Same for the rubber spacers.
Thanks

copper128

Gabriel still lists front shocks for '61 Olds. #82079.
I'm told their # 82060 will work for the rear, though they are actually listed for Cadillacs.
Both of these are modern gas charged shocks in Gabriel's "Classic" line.

copper128

Energy suspension makes lots of universal coil spring isolators. I'm sure you could find some that are close enough dimensionally to work on your car.

426Hemi

I bought the Gabriel 82079's at AutoZone for the front---$19.99. Didn't do the rears yet---thanks for the head's up on the Caddy rears. I see AutoZone has those too.

Redlinemtrs

Question on the tire fitment. I am in the middle of putting on the impala ss springs. I'm wanting to go with either a 17 or 18 inch custom wheel. I assume you would suggest no wider than 7 inches, but what tire size do you think would fit? 275/?.... This is all on my 61 dynamic 88 ragtop.
Thanks
W

426Hemi

It could be easier to think in terms of tire diameter, section width and possibly tread width-------regardless of the wheel diameter.

My front tire is 28" tall, 9.5" section width and 7" tread width. About the max as far as the fender lip and turning radius is concerned.

The rear tire is 28" tall, 11" section width and 8.9" tread width. About the max for the wheel well and control arm/emergency brake cable.

It might be worth keeping these measurements in mind when choosing your 17" or 18" tires.

My 7" wide rims worked good------with about neutral backspacing. Anything wider would have spread the section width.

Maybe some others who are running the larger diameter wheels will have some input too.