[rdixiemiller]

Found a part number tag on a front spring. It's a factory viper spring.
It also fits a bunch of jeeps, the Dodge Aspen, Avenger, etc.
Surprised it wasn't a Viper only part!

 

[8.0L>1.8T]

Found a part number tag on a front spring. It's a factory viper spring.
It also fits a bunch of jeeps, the Dodge Aspen, Avenger, etc.
Surprised it wasn't a Viper only part!

It's a parts bin car.

 

[MH60M]

Found a part number tag on a front spring. It's a factory viper spring.
It also fits a bunch of jeeps, the Dodge Aspen, Avenger, etc.
Surprised it wasn't a Viper only part!

Go ahead and order those springs for an Avenger. Just like the Viper hood loops/latches are listed as the same as PT Cruiser. And...... the hood latch cables are the same as Jeep Liberty. There is enough disappointment to fill a small country in the Mopar Logistics System.

Don't trust the computer.........H.A.L. will screw you every time.:cursin:

 

[GTS Dean]

Car and wife look fantastic. Car definitely looks to be riding at OEM height. Y'all are just going to have to be very careful traversing bad roads.

 

[AJ02]

Just a suggestion here, but maybe lower the rear a little. That will essentially raise the front a little bit, Plus it will look better. It won't be much, but it might help a tad.

 

[rdixiemiller]

I ordered a set of new springs from Mopar. 16 year old originals may have settled a bit. Springs were less than $100 each, shipped, not too bad.
I hadn't thought about lowering the rear, that's not a bad idea. Drop the rear .5", should raise the front about .25" or so?
I'll see what length difference (if any) there is between the old springs and the new ones, and post it. If nothing else, it will be useful data that someone else may be able to use.
I know Nissan torsion bar vehicles will sag over an inch in 10 years. I had a 15 year old Pathfinder that was 1.5" low before I readjusted the front suspension.

 

[rdixiemiller]

Car and wife look fantastic. Car definitely looks to be riding at OEM height. Y'all are just going to have to be very careful traversing bad roads.

Thanks! I think so too!

We really like driving the Viper, just hate worrying about tearing the front fascia off.
I think I'll fab up some sacrificial stainless steel or aluminum skid bars and use double sided tape to secure them to the underside of the front fascia.

 

[jslimm]

We really like driving the Viper, just hate worrying about tearing the front fascia off.
I think I'll fab up some sacrificial stainless steel or aluminum skid bars and use double sided tape to secure them to the underside of the front fascia.

I'm sure that you could come up with something as good as or better/cheaper than what is on the market: ViperPartsUSA - Dodge Viper Auto Parts - Catalog

 

[BlackSnake99]

It's a parts bin car.

Some with fewer parts than others.

 

[8.0L>1.8T]

Some with fewer parts than others.

JUST because my passenger seat is a milk crate and I use my trusty shop rag as a gas cap does not take away from my GTS. Well, I'm still missing the "S" in the emblem...but I digress.

 

[rdixiemiller]

JUST because my passenger seat is a milk crate and I use my trusty shop rag as a gas cap does not take away from my GTS. Well, I'm still missing the "S" in the emblem...but I digress.

Hey, is that a sturdy metal milk crate?
Or a CPS crate? (CPS, Cheap Plastic S**t, also Cheap Chinese S**t)

Drove an old beach Jeep in Fla. a couple of summers, milk crate seats, plywood floors, what was left of the hood tied down with some rope. Salt water termites had eaten the rest of it away!

 

[8.0L>1.8T]

Hey, is that a sturdy metal milk crate?
!

Its an old wooden moonshine jar crate made out of old tobacco plantation sticks.
#KeepingDaveAlive

 

[dave6666]

I guess I'll have to scout all the routes we might want to drive ahead of time.
What sucks is when you are going somewhere, and you get detoured down some side streets. They are tearing up all the roads in town while they run new water and sewer lines.
Doesn't matter how good a driver you are when you run up on one of our fantastic, N Mississippi road repairs. A 4" drop into a trench that goes across the whole road, halfway filled with loose gravel.
That's an issue. You have to jam on the brakes, try to get turned around without some twit t-boning you while they text and drive.
If everyone thinks the car looks stock height, we will just learn where we can, and cannot, go.
Thanks for all the info I received!

Most of the regular routes I take, like to the office or grocer or beer store or whatever, are routes that I have pre-run in another vehicle first. If going someplace new it's not uncommon that I'll google satellite their parking lot first. But my starting point is living in an area where the roads are generally in great shape.

 

[dave6666]

Some with fewer parts than others.

[ ] too soon

 

[8.0L>1.8T]

... routes that I have pre-run in another vehicle first..

This^^^
I have often refused to take the car ANYWHERE I haven't confirmed road quality and clearances into and out of the gas stations in that immediate area.

[X] too soon

I know, Right!?

 

[White Out]

Just a suggestion here, but maybe lower the rear a little. That will essentially raise the front a little bit, Plus it will look better. It won't be much, but it might help a tad.

I did that with my '97. Lowered the car significantly, yet the front end scraped less.

 

[AJ02]

I lowered the rear of mine about 1 1/2" and front raised about 3/4". Not much, but every bit helps. Easy to see how it works. The front wheels being the pivot point. When you lower on one side of the pivot point, the opposite side automatically raises. Simple geometry.

 

[rdixiemiller]

New springs arrived

Got my new front springs yesterday, big brown truck dropped them off. Factory Dodge replacements.
Now, to see if I can get my stove up old butt down onto the floor of the garage to change them out.
I will take a bunch of measurements, before/after, and of the new/old springs.
This may take me a couple of days, I had my rt knee replaced 12 days ago. I'm ambulatory, but kinda slow!
I cannot get into, or out of the Viper right now, my knee is just too stiff and sore to allow it.
Dammit.
It sucks getting old. However,considering the alternative, I guess it's not too bad.

 

[rdixiemiller]

Got the front coilovers out. According to the manual, the nut is on the swaybar link side. Both my bolts came in from the link side, so I had to pop the links out to remove the bolts. 2 1/2 hrs to get them both out, but I'm still moving really slow on the knee. That's my excuse!
Of course my HD coil spring compressor is too thick to grab the spring without wedging against the shock body. I went by a local shop when I got the first one out, their wall mounted McPherson strut compressor will do the job.
So, that's Saturdays project! Take te units to the shop, swap springs, reassemble the car!

 

[ZZ SRT]

Got the front coilovers out. According to the manual, the nut is on the swaybar link side. Both my bolts came in from the link side, so I had to pop the links out to remove the bolts. 2 1/2 hrs to get them both out, but I'm still moving really slow on the knee. That's my excuse!
Of course my HD coil spring compressor is too thick to grab the spring without wedging against the shock body. I went by a local shop when I got the first one out, their wall mounted McPherson strut compressor will do the job.
So, that's Saturdays project! Take te units to the shop, swap springs, reassemble the car!

I had the same problem and had to take them to a shop.

As for the bolts on the front, make sure to puth them back the other way, then you won't have that problem in the future.... I don't understand why the engineers would have them assembled that way. I was able to "massage" mine out without removing the links, but what a dumb design.