how to lowering my buick riviera 1996 ?

[kai]

Hi ewerybody.
Does anybody know where i find lowering springs to my riviera ? i´ll try to find all most every firm like einbach.but i don´t find it.Cause i want make better handling to my riviera.

[NTX5467]

Welcome!

Better handling will come NOT specifically from lowering the vehicle via the springs (which will ALSO reduce wheel travel and the ability to handle rough roads where wheel travel is necessary to prevent "bottoming out" of the suspension), but from different struts, tires, and sway bars. Struts from KONI or KYB, for example, can enhance ride AND handling (firming things up when they need to be firmed up). Compliment that with some higher performance tires (don't need anything of a shorter aspect ratio that you currently have, just something with more of a handling orientation and specified sidewall stiffeners near the bead in the sidewall construction) and some aftermarket sway bars (or mixing and matching some production sway bars (some of the factory bars are hollow tubing rather than a steel bar) for flatter cornering and better transient response.

Typically, when the factory had an upgrade suspension, they included Goodyear Eagle GT tires back then and used the same struts and maybe stiffe springs, rather than the softer standard tires. My theory on this is that as the softer tires would tend to filter road input before it got to the struts, the valving in the struts stayed in the "smooth" orientation longer times before stiffening up. With the stiffer sidewall Eagle GTs, more of the road input was transferred to the struts which then went into their "stiffer" valving mode much sooner--I know they did ride firmer and this is the only real explanation I can come up with as to "why" it happened that way.

I also know that tires are a key part of that equation as I put a set of Pirelli P77s on a 2nd gen Camaro I have. I already has KONIs on it and liked the way they rode and handled. With the Pirellis and their different rubber compounds, I never could get the KONIs adjusted as firmly as they had been with other tires. They rode well and handled well, but the shock adjustments always bugged me. When they wore out, I put some BFG Radial T/As on it and the gutsy feel returned. I haven't strayed from that combination since then on that car.

Regarding sway bars, during that time frame your vehicle was being designed, GM started to use tubular sway bars (you can tell as they look like a flattened tube where they attach to the lower control arm/strut ont he suspension) rather than the more traditional solid steel bar style of sway bar. There was some dialogue about it being easier to tune, but I suspect it had to do with production costs more than anything else--all things being equal. As always, bigger is better and solid should be better than tubular (in my orientation of things). Adding some polyurethane support bushings where the bars are secured to the body/subframe can help make the bars more responsive too, but not as much as if there were rubber bushings that could be replaced where the bars attach to the suspension at the outer ends of the bar. Still, taking deflection out of that equation can sharpen the handling and make the bar "act" bigger. I'm not sure what is available for that chassis, but you might check with Performance Suspension Technology (PST) on their website (bars and bushings).

Key thing with sway bar sizes is to not get too big of a bar on the rear, in comparison to the front. For example, Corvettes don't need a larger rear bar as the weight distribution is already pretty much 50/50, but a 2nd Gen Camaro or Firebird handled best (from the factory, as in the WS6 Firebird circa 1980), with a 1.25/.875 front/rear sway bar sizing, with the fronts having the polyurethane link bolt grommets rather than the factory rubber ones (which makes the front bar "act" 20% larger, in comparison to if it had the normal rubber grommets).

The other thing to sharpen steering response is to alter the tire pressure bias, front to rear. The front of the car carries more weight, generally, than the rear of the car (unloaded), so the front tires need proportionately more air pressure (ultimate weight carrying capacity) to compensate for the greater part of the vehicle weight they support. From my experiences, this just takes about 2-4 psi more in the front than the rear. This can help take some of the "understeer" out of the chassis, such that the car feels more balanced in handling/turning situations. For example, if the factory recommended pressure is 30psi f/r (ambient "cold" rather than "driven"), then use that base to add the air to the front tires. If total vehicular load results in needing to put the rear tires at their 35psi (typical) max cold inflation pressure, then don't exceed that value in the front tires.

It would also be advisable to get the front and rear end alignment set to factory specs . . . AND maintained if the vehicle is lowered any amount with springs.

Personally, I've seen people "shadetree" lower their vehicles by cutting springs and shortening suspension travel bumpers. It might look cool and such, but with the reduced ride height also comes reduced wheel travel (as mentioned). It's much better to "ride over" bumps and dips and railroad tracks than to be jarred by them as the suspension bottoms out OR you have to creep over them to keep from being jarred as the suspension would bottom out if you drove over them at more normal speeds. In having to slow down so much for these road conditions, you might be protecting your car's body structure (transferring "flex" to places not designed to deal with it), BUT you are also making your vehicle a target for drivers that might not understand that you need to creep across/through those conditions as they don't have to, which could lead to your vehicle (or the vehicle behind theirs) not knowing what was going on ahead and resultantly collide with the vehicle in front of it, which could then be propelled into your vehicle. This is a side issue that many owners of "bouncing" cars don't consider, but as the driver behind one of them at a railroad track crossing on a 4 lane surface street, who looked up to see the BowTie emblem of a '72 Chevy pickup in my rear view mirror (!!!) of the new LaCrosse CXS I was driving that night, THAT IS A BIG ISSUE TO ME! I saw the hoppin' Honda coupe in front of me and hit the brakes a few times as I slowed down, but the vehicle behind me was slower to slow down than I was.

In short, suspensions should be firm but compliant, with wheel "compression" travel in the suspension for the best handling/ride combination. I know that many magazine buildups for handling always lower the ride height for a lower center of gravity, which might be important if you're in a 1940s vehicle more than in a 1990s (and later) vehicle, or a 1/2 ton pickup rather than a passenger car, but dropping it about 1" will not make that much real world difference unless you're going to live on a skid pad and worry about pulling .02G more after your modifications and $$$$$ spent than before.

Wheel size, from the factory, for that platform was either 16x6.5 or 16x7. Unless you got to a larger tire rim diameter, you'll possibly have clearance issues with the strut/spring items in the front. Probably not a whole lot of room for wider tires in the rear either. But some of the newer factory 17s or 18s might work too.

The thing with short sidewall tires, although they might look neat and ride stiffer, is that with no sidewall to absorb impacts from road conditions, when you might hit a chuckhole (or worse) or something of that nature, it makes the wheel rim much more vulnerable. I've seen some of these issues on the Olds Alero/Pontiac Grand Am cars, which had a shorter sidewall tire (of a generally normal size) on them. With a bent wheel/ruined tire issue on a city street, whether or not you can get them to pay for the damage to your vehicle is highly debatable. Much better to not set yourself up for those things than have to contend with it later!

I know, the current Lucerne and Devilles can come with 16", 17", and 18" wheels as factory equipment, which can later be, possibly, a nice upgrade for your vehicle (if they are not too wide). Also notice how tall the sidewall of the tire is compared to some you might see with aftermarket wheels and tires. THAT sidewall height is what protects the wheel from impact damage. The 22s that come on the new Escalades also have sufficient sidewall height to generally protect the wheels too,with the 20s that were optional on the prior models having even taller sidewalls on them.

The other side of the situation is that while you can definitely improve the handling of your vehicle, it's not going to ever be in the class with some of the newer roadsters or autocross-prepped cars. Physical weight, size, and chassis design are things than can work against the Riv, unfortunately, BUT you can improve it to where it's better than stock and not significantly harm the existing "cruise" orientation of the vehicle.

Also remember that when you start to change struts, there are TWO ways to do this. One way, which many repair shops can do, is to cut the strut apart and replace just the inner cartride with the replacement item. If there's any oil inside of the main strut housing, it needs to stay there (it's a heat sink transfer facilitator, just as the silicone grease is under the old HEI module on HEI distributors) or be replenished if any is lost. This way, the initial strut cartridge is less expensive, but the additional labor to do the cut and replace is more. The other way it to replace the entire strut assembly as an assembly. No additional labor time required over the basic remove/replace operation. A front/rear alignment will need to be done in addition to the strut changes too. Also, if you decide to attempt this yourself (or with your associates), you'll need the holding tool so that you can disassemble the strut assembly off of the car--not something to do if you don't have it, period. Plus a spring compressor (!!) so that you can safely handle the spring. Also, when you take the struts off of the vehicle, you might also desire (highly recommended) to replace the upper strut mounts at the same time (you're "there" anyway), as they can deteriorate and make noise as they age (which is usually noticed after any strut changes). By the time you get struts, mounts, alignments, and labor, I suspect it would be on the higher side toward $1000.00. Sway bars, wheels, tires would be even more money. But it's your money to spend as you desire on your car. Proceed at your own risk and enjoy whenever possible.

Just some thoughts (mixed with observations and orientations of mine),
NTX5467