Strano Springs are amazing on my 2000 Trans Am. Handling is great and the stiffness is a good balance of modern drivability and comfort on rough pavement. Only problem, the rear is just a touch too low. On rough roads you can feel the rear suspension hit the bump stops. Strano designed the springs to drop the front and back evenly, which means the factory camber/caster and alignment adjustment options are within range using factory suspension components. Deviate too far and then the desired camber/caster/toe is not achievable with factory components. The fix? Only make a slight adjustment to the height of the springs. I opted for a 1/2″ rise.
Doing some research I found that back in the 80’s and 90’s there were steel spacers you could buy in various thicknesses to adjust spring heights Sadly in recent years those kind of parts have all but disappeared. What exists today are for significant spring spacings of 3″ or more, most likely for truck and jeep use.
The best option I came up with without literally making spacers from scratch was to use thick polyurethane.
I found a polyurethane Energy Suspension 9.6120R Universal Coil Spring Isolators which gave me the extra 1/2″ space I was looking for with exactly the diameter I needed. The only problem, it was designed to replace the rubber isolator, not intended to be added to it. My quick fix was to cut parts of the isolators as seen in the photos below then add them to the bottom of the factory rubber isolators. The end result gave me exactly the ride height I was looking for, and the car no longer hits the rear bump stops over harsh pavement.
I used tape to temporarily hold the polyurethane isolator to the rubber isolators before re-installing.
The end result, perfect ride height in the rear!
I took the car to get aligned and they were able to get everything dialed-in using the factory alignment specs. The technician did mention that some of the adjustability was nearly maxed out. I don’t recall exactly if it was camber, caster or toe, but keep that in mind if you are thinking about adding a more significant rake it will mean you will need to add fully adjustable suspension components.
Handling is absolutely awesome! Along with the other mild modifications, this Trans Am is now ready for another 20 years of fun driving service!