Lowering 68 Camaro Small Block 327
 

I've been shopping for a lowering kit for my car (68 SB), but not sure how low to go. I'm running 18" wheels with 40 series tires (225/40/18 front 245/40/18 rear), so the tire/fender gap is pretty noticeable. I want to minimize the gap without compromising the clearance beneath the car too much. I'm also going for a semi leveled look.....slightly higher in the rear would still be ok.
From what I've read, Hotchkis is probably one of the more popular and better brands out there.
I'm unsure if I should go with the 3" lowering springs for the front and 1.5" lowering leafs with 1" lowering blocks for the rear? Or should I go with 2" spring in front with 3" leafs in the rear?
The car currently sits with about 3.5" tire/fender gap up front and about 3" tire/fender gap in the rear.
Also, I'm only using the car for street driving, no track or strip......just hot roddig around town.

i went with the kotchkis kit on my 67, and couldn't be happier. it's 2'' up front, and 1.5'' in the rear.

i'm running 18s all around, with 245/40 and 275/40 (i'll confirm 100% but 90% sure of that). great clearance, and stance.

Do you have a current picture as it sits with the Hotchkis setup? I want to see if the 1.5" lower rear leafs still give it a slight higher rear than the front.

I actually just ordered Hotchkis 2" front and 3" rear lowering kit. Crossing my fingers and hoping the car doesn't end up with the rear sitting lower than the front.

Thanks for your input

here are two. sorry that they aren't direct side shots, but, i didn't have any great ones available.

Attachment 11127

Attachment 11128

and here is one with the same wheels and tires before i redid the suspension. it was stock that was "adjusted" before i bought the car, so i don't know exactly how much it's dropped. the front springs were torched to lower it, and i'd say were closer to the 3" mark, than 2". the rears probably dropped 1"+ and had 2" lowering blocks.

imo, for my tire size, the 2" and 1.5" was definitely the way to go. if you have smaller tires, the 3" may be best for you. i would maybe prefer the rear a tiny bit lower, but not another 1.5" anyway, here is the stock, modified suspension, same wheels:

Attachment 11904

the last picture with the more substantial drop was not very good for driving. i didn't plan on keeping it, but could barely get home from 5 blocks away from my house. bouncy suspension meant lots of rubbing. the rear does look great, but if you aren't rolling fender lips, don't bother.

That's beautiful machine...the Blue really pops.
The stance on the last picture is exactly what I'm trying to accomplish...leveled and not too low to where I have to worry about the headers scraping on the ground.
I went ahead a bought the Hotchkis lowering kit 2" up front and 3" in the rear. Hopefully sits just right after I get everything installed.

Thanks for the info.

thanks for the compliment! can't wait to see pictures of yours done. good luck!

here's what i have done to mine for my stance, if anybody else is wondering or has a question regarding certain parts. Hotchkis kit 80015 (80014 if you run a big block). and QA1 upper and lower control arms. running the springs, not a coil-over setup. rides fantastic - especially over old, squishy stock

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hss-80014

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/qa1-52417

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/qa1-52419

I had lowering kit installed over the weekend and to be honest, I'm pretty disappointed. The front sits perfect (2"drop). However the rear is way too low (3"drop). The rear of the car sits about an 1.5" lower than the front and is bottoming out at every slight bump in the road. I really don't understand why the rear is so much lower than the front. At stock height the rear sat about 1.5" higher than the front, so a 3" drop should have left the rear 1/2" higher or leveled out the car.
Really don't know what my options are at this point.

Any my ideas on how to bring the car back up 1-2"??

my suggestion would be to see if you can exchange the springs for the 1 1/2" lowering springs. from there, you can put lowering blocks to customize the height. i found that with my original set up that 3" drop was too much. i couldn't even drive the car.

other than that, i don't see any way to raise the car up, and if anything, it wouldn't be a better solution than just sucking it up, and doing it the right way. you could always sell the 3" lowering springs.... that setup might work perfectly for somebody else's wheel/tire combo.

best of luck.

I was wondering if there's any advantages in going with the Hotchkis Lowering Leaf spring kit over buying just lowering leaf spring from other brands?

Thanks