Thread: Ifs

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My 1930 Chevy has an IFS under it that is said to be a Kugel. It rides very stiff so I began looking at the coilovers and determined that they were bottoming out. They were almost collapsed when the car sits on the ground. I removed the coilover and spring and it was labled 11 "s with a 200 lb. spring rate. This spring compressed to 6 3/4 when on the ground. I'm in the process of trying to determine the proper spring for the front as I suspect these have been messed with. Is your experience is that spring to soft?

Also when the coilover is removed, should I be able to move the A-arms up or down any?

Originally Posted by itsmeb

My 1930 Chevy has an IFS under it that is said to be a Kugel. It rides very stiff so I began looking at the coilovers and determined that they were bottoming out. They were almost collapsed when the car sits on the ground. I removed the coilover and spring and it was labled 11 "s with a 200 lb. spring rate. This spring compressed to 6 3/4 when on the ground. I'm in the process of trying to determine the proper spring for the front as I suspect these have been messed with. Is your experience is that spring to soft?

Also when the coilover is removed, should I be able to move the A-arms up or down any?

Have you tried any adjustment of the spring? Without knowing the car and it's weight it'll be impossible to guess which spring to use. I've got a Kugel ifs in mine and recently played with springs front and rear.

Do you have a picture of the front suspension and last, yes with the coilovers removed you should be able to move the a-arms.
If needed, I have the installation instructions and front end alignment instructions, but you can also get them from Kugal dot com....

Thanks, I have an e-mail in to Kugel but I am not even sure it is their ifs. Don't see any badging or part number. It has Aldan American coilovers though if that means anything.

I can't move the a-arms at all, something is locked down to tight or binding.

I probably need to start over to determine what shock and spring is needed and I tried the spring sizing chart at RideTeck, but it is also confusing.

Try looking here, Kugel Komponents — Quality Parts since 1969 ! Does your IFS look similar? You can call Jeff at Kugal, he has provided me with some help. But first you must get your suspension parts to move!

If yours looks like a Kugal piece, download the installation manual and it'll guide you step by step on what's needed. If this is for the 30 chevy... with a small v8 and a Kugal IFS, I'll take a (somewhat educated guess) that you're springs need to be in the 350 / 400 lb range as the shock angle in the setup isn't great.

My 34 now uses 400 lb springs, a lot of folks say it's to much but the ride is very nice! But it's because of the angle that they don't take into consideration.

If your A-Arms won't move up and down throughout their range of travel with the coilovers removed, you have other problems to fix!!!!

Thanks for the info, I am going to work on the suspension tonight. As for the shock angle, it appears to be 75 degrees. From what I got from some research, it appears to be 325 to 350.

Originally Posted by itsmeb

Thanks for the info, I am going to work on the suspension tonight. As for the shock angle, it appears to be 75 degrees. From what I got from some research, it appears to be 325 to 350.

I'd pretty much agree with your figures.. Tha angle becomes more severe under compression... I calculated my spring rate for this angle which brought me closer to the 400 lb range. FWIW.. :-)

I got the a-arms traveling, looks good. This is the information on why I think it bottomed out:

Shock and coilover removed mounting holes are 14"
Ride height with shock and coilover mounted on ground 12 3/4
Shock full extension 13 1/2
200 lb 11 inch springs adjusted to the fullest they could be left only 3/4 inch to bottom out.

Now to decide what to do.

So you have 3/4" travel UP and 3/4" travel DOWN? That seems a bit short......

Yes exactly.

If I put in a heavier spring and adjust it some I may get a little height but a better ride?

You need a longer shock unit to fit the application, then heavier springs to fit the load.

What RSpears said! Theres you're next move!

As I said earlier I got the a-arms moving, they were just too tight. But when I hook up the sway bar, I can't get it thr a-arms to move. The bar should pivot on its mounts and the ends should move with the a-arms. Could the allen screws at the mounting locations be to tight?

Never mind, I had a brain lapse. I still had not loosened the other side

OK but the a arms won't move free with the stabilizer tied to them