So I was on the Eibach Pro-Kit Springs (1.4" drop front and rear) and I wanted to drop a little lower and even out the drop some. So I got a set of Hotchkis (1.7" front, 1.97" rear) installed 5 weeks ago. Well, my front springs look nice and low and I'm very happy with them but the rear springs still look really high to me.

I could definitely tell a difference in the drop in the front (even though it only dropped .3"). But I couldn't tell a difference at all in the rear (and that should have given me another 1/2" drop). Do my rear springs look high to you guys? All of the other Hotchkis pics I've seen the rear looks a lot lower than mine.

I still have a 2-finger gap in the rear (1 in the front). I have the 18" Enkei rims and tires are 225/40/18. There's no way I should have a 2-finger gap right? I thought it would be closer to 1.

The first thing my eyes are drawn to when I look at my car is the gap in the rear. I kinda hate it. I was a little desperate so I drove around the past 2 weeks with about 200 lbs. of clay tile in my trunk to make sure the springs would fully settle. With the tile in my trunk my rear fender was down well below my tire. But when I took it out 2 weeks later it went right back to where it was. So the springs are definitely fully settled. I ordered the springs from TRD Sparks and the springs said Hotckis on them along with the correct part no.

I've contacted Hotchkis several times but they are not being very helpful. They asked me to take some measurements from the ground to the top of the wheel well and here is what I sent them. They did not respond to my email either.

Let me know if you guys need any other pics of anything. I'll take the wheel off and get some pics of the springs on if you want. I will post them up for you very quickly.

Measurements from the ground to the top of the highest point of the fender:

Driver Front: 24 7/8" (2 ft. 7/8" )
Passenger Front: 25 1/8" (2 ft. 1 1/8")

Driver Rear: 25 7/8" (2 ft 1 7/8")
Passenger Rear: 25 7/8" (2 ft 1 7/8")

The BEFORE pics are my Eibach Pro's after 1 Month. The AFTER pics are my Hotchkis after 5 weeks.

BEFORE
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s244/havlykke/DSCN0520-1.jpg
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s244/havlykke/DSCN0506.jpg
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s244/havlykke/DSCN0512.jpg

AFTER
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s244/havlykke/SUC50010-1.jpg
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s244/havlykke/kis.jpg
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s244/havlykke/SUC50008-2.jpg
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s244/havlykke/SUC50003.jpg
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s244/havlykke/SUC50002.jpg

Funny, the Hotchkis actually looks low in the front, not high in the back, but I would just simply double check the install and make sure that everything is savy.

i would check make sure the springs are sitting right...if its really bothering u pull the rear struts off and reinstall it maybe you catch an error..

wrong spring on the front n back?

number one...it takes a few weeks before they settle and they will get lower trust me. Also, are u sure they were the hotchkis springs and not H-Techs?

my hotchkis is about a 1.5 finger gap in the front and 1 in the back. and i'm on the stock 17's.

mine is at
fr r 25 1/4
fr l 25 1/8
rr r 24 3/4
rr l 24 1/2

this is how hothckis says it should sit on the stock 17's.
FR R 25
FR L 24 3/4
RR R 24 7/8
RR L 24 11/16

your front looks nice but the back looks high for sure. from what i have seen in pictures with hotchkis on 18's they should looks almost flush. virtually no gap.

number one...it takes a few weeks before they settle and they will get lower trust me. Also, are u sure they were the hotchkis springs and not H-Techs?

I've had the springs in for 5 weeks now. Plus I drove around with a lot of weight in the back for the last 2 weeks+. I don't think they're going to settle anymore but only time will tell. The springs definitely said Hotchkis on them and had the right part no. on them. Definitely not the Tein H-techs.

i would check make sure the springs are sitting right...if its really bothering u pull the rear struts off and reinstall it maybe you catch an error..

I had a reputable shop, Speed Zone, here in Orlando install the springs. I actually was recommended them by other SL members. Anyways, they told me they had a heck of a time getting the rear springs compressed enough to get it on the strut but they finally got it. Maybe it's not on their right. I don't have a whole lot of mechanical skills to take everything back apart and check it myself. I may try to take it by there this weekend and let them know my predicament and see if they can check it out for me.

my hotchkis is about a 1.5 finger gap in the front and 1 in the back. and i'm on the stock 17's.

mine is at
fr r 25 1/4
fr l 25 1/8
rr r 24 3/4
rr l 24 1/2

this is how hothckis says it should sit on the stock 17's.
FR R 25
FR L 24 3/4
RR R 24 7/8
RR L 24 11/16

your front looks nice but the back looks high for sure. from what i have seen in pictures with hotchkis on 18's they should looks almost flush. virtually no gap.

I agree completely. All the pics I've seen the rear looks much lower and barely any wheel gap.

i just took these pictures about 5 minutes ago... this is how mine sits now after about 2-3 months.
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n159/cavalier94sq/IMG_1180.jpg

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n159/cavalier94sq/IMG_1193.jpg

the first pic i took with the camera on my knees and the 2nd one the camera was on the ground.

i have the same setup as you and mine dont look like that. I would notify Hotchkis and see what they can do? Maybe a bad set?...

BACK
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/Yanki01/headlightrubber1003.jpg
FRONT
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/Yanki01/headlightrubber1005.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/Yanki01/headlightrubber1006.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/Yanki01/headlightrubber1008.jpg

keep in mind i do have about 60lbs of audio in the back. Im in the process is decreasing that to about 30lbs with my new ED system comming soon.

i have the same setup as you and mine dont look like that. I would notify Hotchkis and see what they can do? Maybe a bad set?...

FRONT
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/Yanki01/headlightrubber1005.jpg


this picture just reassured me that my front is where it should be. i always thought my front looked a little high but it looks similar to that. that looks like about a 1 finger gap in the front, right yanki?

yes about 1 finger gap up front.

I'll keep calling Hotchkis and see if I can talk them into sending me a new pair of rears and I'll try to see if the shop can maybe take another look at the set-up in the rear. We've definitely got a problem somewhere. My Hotchkis springs were powder-coated blue too. Anybody else's springs like that?

I'll keep calling Hotchkis and see if I can talk them into sending me a new pair of rears and I'll try to see if the shop can maybe take another look at the set-up in the rear. We've definitely got a problem somewhere. My Hotchkis springs were powder-coated blue too. Anybody else's springs like that?
did they come like that? Mine were dark silver.

Yep, straight out of the box like that. Maybe the've recently changed the color?

i had a gray set, then they sent me new fronts and they were a real light silver. never heard of blue.

from HotchkisTuning.com and this is what mine look like
http://www.hotchkis.net/images/19400.jpg

from HotchkisTuning.com and this is what mine look like
http://www.hotchkis.net/images/19400.jpg

my fronts are that color and my backs are a darker gray.

Just went and flashed a light on them and they're actually a lot closer to gray then powder blue. Probably the same set that you had, Tcguy. What did you have to do to get them to send you a new set of fronts?

I got the same springs, dark silver. Your rears are higher than mine. I would definitely bring it back to the shop and have it redone once you get the new springs. Let me go down and measure my car's ride height.

i told them the measurements which you already took and they said they would set me a new set of fronts to try, nothing changed though really. it might be maybe an 1/8 of an inch lower now, but thats after having them in for another 2-3 months.

Okay, so I measured mine and here are the results:

Driver Front : 24 1/2"
Passenger Front : 24 5/8"
Driver Rear : 24 7/8"
Passenger Rear : 25 1/8"

I have one month old 18" wheels on 225/40/18 tires. Tire pressure set on 35psi cold. Measured on a flat surface driveway.

I have no power mods in my engine compartment and I took out my subs and only have a windbreaker and an emergency tire pump in my hatch. Basically stock weights.

My front measures close to what yours is but my rear is an entire inch higher in on the driver's side rear and 6/8" higher on the passenger side rear!!!! WTF!!! This sucks. I really hope that Hotchkis sends me a new pair of rears.

Annoy them with phone calls and spam their inbox. They would send it out to you right away.

Hey, got your PM.
Yours don't look right.
I got one finger in the front and 1.5 in the back.
Mine were deffinatley NOT blue. They were dark gray.
Was the "Hothchkis" on the springs painted or a sticker?

Also, if the shop said they had a hell of a time compressing the rears, they did a bad job. I would take it somewhere else to have it redone. When you do the rears, you have to get them lined up just perfect, or they won't sit right, and that's with any springs on the tC.
But the Hothksi rears are so tightly wound that you can't get a normal spring compressor on them. If you took it to a bigger shop, like sear auto or something, they should have a wall mount spring compressor, and then it woudl be easy.
I actually put mine into the car uncompressed, lined them up, and used a jack under the wishbone to push it up into the trunk, and then put the top nut on. That way I made SURE everything was lined up.

Hope this helps, and good luck.

Thanks for the reply Meaty. Those are really good tips on how you got your rear springs on. I'm going to suggest that to the shop tomorrow. After further review, my springs are actually a light gray and not light blue....not sure where I got that from. I'm going to try and stop by Sears or somewhere else tomorrow to see if they can redo the rear springs for me. Hopefully it won't be too expensive.

You should call around and see what kind of spring compressors they use. I think the good ones are wall mount, but I'm not sure. I only used the crappy auto zone ones for the front and didn't use any in the back!

u might have a set of all front springs

Only 5 weeks ago?? You need to let them settle some more! Mine dropped significantly at about 5,000 miles after I put them on.....mine were Tein's though, but still, no matter what springs you get, you have to give them settling time!! haha...good luck though!! I know how you feel, I always want her lower and lower.....looks better that way....who cares about the ride? Haha!!

~Stephanie

Mine took a while to fully settle as well, but I think 5 weeks should be enough, especially driving around with the rear weighted.

And I don't think there is any way anyone could fit the fronts on the back. They are completly different sizes.

If they're dropping significantly after 5,000 miles I think that is called sagging which is not good. But I'm with you, I just want to keep going lower and lower....

So...it's been another couple weeks.
have they settled any more?

Sorry, its taken me so long to reply. I've been out of town for vacation for the past 2 weeks and I was disconnected.

Nope. The springs haven't settled anymore. Yesterday, I finally took it to another shop and had them take off the rear springs and re-install them. The guy at the shop said everything looked good with the previous install but I had him reinstall them anyways. The shop had a wall mount spring compressor and had no trouble compressing them and putting them back on the strut. Still the same gap in the back.

I'm actually on the phone with Drew at Hotchkis right now. He's checking out the pics that I posted here and I'm trying to see if he'll send me out another set. He said that he could understand if 1 of the springs wasn't compressing properly but he thinks its unlikely that 2 springs in the same batch would have the same compression problem.

Well, Drew at Hotchkis is sending me out a new pair of rear springs today. I'm going to have them installed ASAP. I will post with more pics as soon as they're installed. Keep your fingers crossed guys.

that sux. Didn't they arleady send you a new set or rears?

No, this is the first set of rears that they are sending out to me. Somebody else on here had Hotchkis send them out a new set of fronts before....maybe it was tcguy.

Oh, I see. When do they come in?
And are they going to reimburse you any of the numerouse install costs you have incurred due to this?
I feel so bad cause I know my car was one of the ones you were looking at that helped you decide to get those springs.

They should be here on Saturday. There are no plans right now to have Hotchkis reimburse me. The shop that I had perform the second install was actually really cool about it and did not charge me since I had them install my original Eibach Pro-kit springs.

So the replacement rear springs arrived from Hotchkis arrived last week. Drew at Hotchkis said that he does NOT think that these replacement springs will help my drop at all. He said that he was happy to send them to me but that he did NOT think that 2 springs back to back would have a problem with their compression rate. He said that he could see if maybe 1 spring out of the 2 had a problem and was higher than the rest but seriously doubts that both of them would have a problem.

He checked the measurements that I gave him and agreed that I was definitely higher in the back vs. other measurements that they have gotten from Tc's with similar setups. But he cannot explain why my rear is sitting so high.

If it's not the springs then what else could it be? Is it possible that my car is lighter in the rear than other Tc's and is not compressing the springs as much as it should? I have everything stock in the rear and nothing has been removed so?????

What do you guys think? Should I spend more $$$$ on yet another install to get these new replacement Hotchkis springs put in or should I just start looking at other springs all together? This giant gap in the rear definitely has to go...I can't stand it. I'm not that mechanically inclined so would definitely need an experienced hand if I was to put the replacement springs in by myself.

Well, what did you car look like stock? Was it the same height in the back as other stock cars?
I would spend the money and take it to a different place to get them installed, or find someone that can help you on the boards.
I would suggest a tuner shop, not something like Ted Weins Firestone .

My car stock had the same stance as everybody else's stock ride.....the same height in the back as other stock cars.

Then the only thing I can think of is a bad install.
I was thinking maybe they didnt' use the new bumpstops, but that would not make it higher. It would make them hit on smaller dips instead of larger ones.

my rear springs dont look like those in that pic

Sadly, my rear springs are higher than my front. Not to the extreme of Havlac's, but a good inch higher in the rear. I used the same technique for installing the rear as Mr. Meaty, and I have racked my brain thinking if I was sitting on the rear of the trunk in order to torque the strut tight. I'm pretty sure I was and I have come to my own conclusion that if I disassembled/re-installed without sitting on the trunk it would be the proper drop in the rear. I just haven't had the time to tackle the task, and see if my theory is correct.

Doubt that helps, but the shop may have done something similar.

i would honestly reinstall..or take pics of the way ur car is sitting with a tape measure to the wheel well and email hotchkis about it

just get stechs and save yourself the time and trouble

I don't want to go any lower in the front so Tein s-techs is not an option. I just need to lower my rear.

I don't want to go any lower in the front so Tein s-techs is not an option. I just need to lower my rear.

i would say get coilovers then...it seems that you got a bad batch of hotchkis springs and if they are going to make you pay for a new set...then forget it...

If they still look high, get some visene.

LOL, yeah, my rear springs have the munchies!

i have the hotchkis springs too, and i noticed immediately that my front is about a half a finger lower than my back, but I figured it'll straighten out once it settles, but nope. i'm glad i'm not the only tC that looks like its leaning forward all the time.

Naw, all the hotchkis have a bit of a rake (unless you got a mad system in your trunk!) but this dudes rears are abnormally high.

so next Sunday the 16th my buddy and I are going to install the new springs that Hotchkis sent me. We are going to use my car jack to jack the spring up into the housing based on Mr meatys recommendation. Keep your fingers crossed guys. Hopefully this will finally get them straightened out!

But just curious how can the hotchkis springs give a raked look when the drop is lower in the rear (1.97) vs the front (1.7)?

cause what they advertise must be a little off. i have a one finger gap on all 4 corners now after having them in since January. i have about 50 pounds in the back at all times(10" sub that weighs just over 20lbs itself in a pretty big box).

Yeah, those measurments are off.
I think teir test tC was higher in the back or something.
I have a pair of 10" subs in the trunk, and my rears have about a 1.5 finger gap, and my fronts are about a .5 finger gap. Yeah, I gotta angle my finger to get it in there.
But I have issues! :lol:

Yeah, those measurments are off.
I think teir test tC was higher in the back or something.
I have a pair of 10" subs in the trunk, and my rears have about a 1.5 finger gap, and my fronts are about a .5 finger gap. Yeah, I gotta angle my finger to get it in there.
But I have issues! :lol:

thats odd, my rear is quite a bit lower than that. technically my rears are a tight one finger gap and the fronts are a loose 1 finger gap. i kinda have small hands as well.

your back on the stock 17's?

Yeah, I'm on the stockers again.
So your saying that your rears are a little lower then your fronts?
I just went and tried to take some pics put they turned out all crappy cause it's dark out, and my flash just washes everything out.

Yeah, I'm on the stockers again.
So your saying that your rears are a little lower then your fronts?
I just went and tried to take some pics put they turned out all crappy cause it's dark out, and my flash just washes everything out.

yea my rears are still a bit lower than the front. i know talking about finger gap isn't the most accurate way to measure it. but i'd say i have about a quarter inch less gap in the rears than the fronts. i kinda like the "raked" look but thats the way it is on my tc for some reason.

Well, this is about the best I could get tonight in my garage.
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/PJLikins/Rims/BlackRims.jpg

interesting. i've seen your pics before in the "hotchkis springs" thread and it has always looked good. really low. i wish my front was about a half inch lower but i already scrape my front lip sometimes, actually put a small crack in it already so there is no point in going lower.

Yeah, those pics in that thread are a little older, and my driver side seems lower.
I gotta get new pics up with the stance the way it is now and my black rims on.
That right there is the first pic i have with my rims painted!

Yeah, those pics in that thread are a little older, and my driver side seems lower.
I gotta get new pics up with the stance the way it is now and my black rims on.
That right there is the first pic i have with my rims painted!

cool you'll have to take more but i'm sure it looks cool with the black wheels.

here is a pic i took a couple days ago showing the way the car sits now.
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n159/cavalier94sq/IMG_1592.jpg

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n159/cavalier94sq/IMG_1552.jpg

That looks real nice.
I can't tell if the rear is lower.
I really wanted the lip kit, but I'm sure I'd crack it!

That looks real nice.
I can't tell if the rear is lower.
I really wanted the lip kit, but I'm sure I'd crack it!

yea my car looks even. but there is slightly less gap in the rear fenders than the front. thats just the way it is i guess, or maybe it will still settle more. idk.