97 GSX: Looking for a new suspension for a nice ride and litte $$

[mattn]

I wanna upgrade my 97 GSX with a new suspension. I don't wanna go all out and have all the fancy adjustable gizmos either.. I just want a nice smooth ride like the stock suspension with maybe .75 - 1" drop on the car, thats all. Nothing more, nothing less. I know nothing of suspsension so I thought I'd ask you guys, you all seem to be quite knowlegeable here. So, what would you recommend for my shock / springs setup? I wasn't looking to spend more than say $350... any help you guys have would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks,
Matt

 

[c5chris]

I dont know of a spring system that would only give you an inch drop, but the Eibach Prokit (black springs) will give you a 1.3 drop minimum. Add a set of Tokico non-adjustable shocks and it should be adequate.

Buy the shocks new (never buy these used) and look for a set of used springs and it should be within your budget.

Some guys had success cutting the stock springs and getting new shocks. Goodluck

 

[jtmcinder]

I wasn't looking to spend more than say $350

That's a problem. Maybe start with H&R OE Sports on the stock shocks. Then, when you want the car to handle better, get Koni Sports.

- Jtoby

 

[cait sith]

First off, put the lower honeycomb back in your MAS, put a 1G blow off valve and sell that Turbo XS RFL valve, and the useless blinky A/F gauge to someone else.

Now you're working with roughly 430 dollars and a much better running car. Wait a few more months and save your lunch money up for H&R's and then get some Koni's when you can finally afford it.

 

[RWKustoms]

I wanna upgrade my 97 GSX with a new suspension. I don't wanna go all out and have all the fancy adjustable gizmos either.. I just want a nice smooth ride like the stock suspension with maybe .75 - 1" drop on the car, thats all. Nothing more, nothing less. I know nothing of suspsension so I thought I'd ask you guys, you all seem to be quite knowlegeable here. So, what would you recommend for my shock / springs setup? I wasn't looking to spend more than say $350... any help you guys have would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks,
Matt

This was just how I was thinking when I decided to upgrade my suspension. Here's your solution.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/KYB-...ewItemQQcategoryZ33590QQitemZ8011978090QQrdZ1

and

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/EIBA...ewItemQQcategoryZ33582QQitemZ8012867589QQrdZ1

GRAND TOTAL = $430......So what if it's $80 more than you were hoping to spend, just save some more money, make sure you buy everything brand new..I have the same setup and I love it. The drop is only 1.3" for AWD and 1.2" for FWD and the shocks are 10% stiffer than stock...Very nice setup..I installed it by myself and immediately noticed the drastic difference driving around the block...Hope this helps you out..

This guy loved his too: http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=190273&highlight=kyb

 

[mattn]

Thanks RW, I'm gonna go with your suggestions. You've been a great help!!

 

[RWKustoms]

Thanks RW, I'm gonna go with your suggestions. You've been a great help!!

You're welcome. you wont be disappointed.

 

[speedy13]

yup rw beat me to it.Thats what i would do for the cheapest.I'm gonna do the same exept with agx's and teins.good luck with it.

 

[daren_p]

You're welcome. you wont be disappointed.

Unless AGX has changed their shocks they are NO good for a lowered 2g. Last I heard the 2g agx shock is actually longer then the factory unit and will not have proper travel with a lowered car. If you want a good adjustable shock that's not super expensive go with the Tokico Illuminas.

I run the Tokico ILK suspension kit which is a set of their lowering springs and their illumina 5 way adjustable shock. They lower the car about 1.6" though, but I think its the perfect drop height. Pics are in my gallery. The car doesn't have any typical lowered bouce that all the ricer honda guys have. With the shock on the weekest setting the ride is abit firmer then stock, with then on the firmest setting its a pretty tight ride, fine on smooth roads or short trips but probably wouldn't like on long/rough roads. I picked up my set for somewhere around $430-450. I would highly recommend this setup to anyone

Here's a sample link

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TOKI...ewItemQQcategoryZ33590QQitemZ8015202101QQrdZ1

I bought mine from a vendor off ebay, if anyone is interested I can get the sellers name to see if he still offers them as he had the best price at the time.

If your not looking at spending that much they also have a kit with their "Blue" shocks which aren't adjustable and save you ~$100 or so, but for the extra cost I would go with the adjustables.

 

[c5chris]

daren_p:

At 1.6" drop, what did you do to fix your negative camber? Do you still scrape on driveways/humps? The reason Im asking is that I want to go higher on my car (look at my galley) and I might need to go coilovers. Eibach Prokit is up there in my list of replacements.

 

[daren_p]

daren_p:

At 1.6" drop, what did you do to fix your negative camber? Do you still scrape on driveways/humps? The reason Im asking is that I want to go higher on my car (look at my galley) and I might need to go coilovers. Eibach Prokit is up there in my list of replacements.

Well I can't remember my specs exactly as the car was aligned 1.5 years ago, but I believe that I had them leave 1.3 or 1.5 deg neg camber in the front with 0 toe. Negative camber is good for handleing (of course to a point) and doesn't usually cause tire wear. Its the toe with camber that really eats the tires. I have about 15k on my current tires, rotated twice and I can see zero signs of uneven wear (ZR rated). As for what I did, the back had about -3 deg camber, so I bought a longer bolt and washer kit from a local dsm vendor (higher grade then factory bolts) and this was enough to get the camber where I wanted it (can't remember what I asked for now, slightly -ve I think, I have the report at home) For the front I'm not sure what he did. Mine wasn't that much after the drop maybe -2 deg on one side and less on the other. I didn't buy any kit for the front & I didn't ask him how he adjusted it, I just trusted what he did as he has been doing alignments for the past 30 years or so and was highly recommended so I just trusted him

As for scraping its not to bad. Most spots I can get into, just have to take them on an angle. As for speed bumps I don't usually have a problem on the smaller sized ones, the huge ones I don't try.

 

[RWKustoms]

Unless AGX has changed their shocks they are NO good for a lowered 2g. Last I heard the 2g agx shock is actually longer then the factory unit and will not have proper travel with a lowered car. If you want a good adjustable shock that's not super expensive go with the Tokico Illuminas.

I run the Tokico ILK suspension kit which is a set of their lowering springs and their illumina 5 way adjustable shock. They lower the car about 1.6" though, but I think its the perfect drop height. Pics are in my gallery. The car doesn't have any typical lowered bouce that all the ricer honda guys have. With the shock on the weekest setting the ride is abit firmer then stock, with then on the firmest setting its a pretty tight ride, fine on smooth roads or short trips but probably wouldn't like on long/rough roads. I picked up my set for somewhere around $430-450. I would highly recommend this setup to anyone

Here's a sample link

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TOKI...ewItemQQcategoryZ33590QQitemZ8015202101QQrdZ1

I bought mine from a vendor off ebay, if anyone is interested I can get the sellers name to see if he still offers them as he had the best price at the time.

If your not looking at spending that much they also have a kit with their "Blue" shocks which aren't adjustable and save you ~$100 or so, but for the extra cost I would go with the adjustables.

Well, if you read the link you would see that I wasnt recommending KYB AGX shocks/struts but I was simply recommending the KYB GR-2's with the Eibach Prokit. KYB shocks dont do good period with cars that are lowered past 1.5" inches. The Eibach springs that I recommended only drops his car to 1.3" inches which works perfectly with the GR-2's..I recommended this because this is from my experience and plus he was asking for a cheap upgrade. AGX's are really expensive ($300+ for the whole set).

 

[EclipseTrbo420A]

This was just how I was thinking when I decided to upgrade my suspension. Here's your solution.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/KYB-...ewItemQQcategoryZ33590QQitemZ8011978090QQrdZ1

and

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/EIBA...ewItemQQcategoryZ33582QQitemZ8012867589QQrdZ1

GRAND TOTAL = $430......So what if it's $80 more than you were hoping to spend, just save some more money, make sure you buy everything brand new..I have the same setup and I love it. The drop is only 1.3" for AWD and 1.2" for FWD and the shocks are 10% stiffer than stock...Very nice setup..I installed it by myself and immediately noticed the drastic difference driving around the block...Hope this helps you out..

This guy loved his too: http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=190273&highlight=kyb

I dont know for sure, but I have heard that the GR-2's are s*it for lowering our cars. I have GR-2's now, and havnt heard one person till now say its ok to lower a car on them.....am I wrong ? thanks

 

[speedy13]

it's not that their shitty,it's that they weren't designed for them.You can still put em on and they can still last you a long time.But if you got bad driving habits i really doubt they'll last the full 60K miles they were designed to last for.maybe half, maybe less who knows.

 

[RWKustoms]

it's not that their shitty,it's that they weren't designed for them.You can still put em on and they can still last you a long time.But if you got bad driving habits i really doubt they'll last the full 60K miles they were designed to last for.maybe half, maybe less who knows.

24,000 miles and still going strong. I think that people with experience with this setup should comment on this topic because assumptions does nothing. WTF

 

[EclipseTrbo420A]

24,000 miles and still going strong. I think that people with experience with this setup should comment on this topic because assumptions does nothing. WTF

Thats good to know , and I havn't spread missinformation anyway all my knowledge is from what I have searched here. Take a look and you will see 98% of the time people will talk down on lowering with Gr-2's. Anyway thanks for the info and maybe ill give it a try. Im sure I can get a prokit for a nice price.