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Need help choosing shocks/struts

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jinscho

Proven Member
636
321
Jun 16, 2017
Bangor, Pennsylvania
I noticed a while back that the previous owner of my 99 Spyder GS slapped some cheap ebay lowering springs on the car and never bothered to install a camber kit. Since I had 'more important' issues to deal with on the car at the time, I went ahead and ignored the elephant in the room. Fast forward 9 months, and the camber issue took a massive toll on my rear tires :ohdamn:(I finally ordered that $30 camber kit...).

So, since tax season is upon us, and I already convinced my wife that my car needs a GS-T conversion.. I decided to add fixing the suspension into my budget for this conversion :thumb:.

First thing out of the way, I already know the eBay springs need to go. One, they're not made for a Spyder, the rear sags like crazy. Two, the handling on them is laughable at best. I've already decided on Eibach Pro Kit springs since they seem to be the only thing I can find to go on a Spyder other than stock.

What I can't decided on, however, is what to pair them with.

If you read through my profile, you'll see that this is supposed to be a "beater".. I'm still amazed I convinced my wife to let me drop a 4G63 in it, so I don't want to push things and go overboard on the budget.

I've already read through the shocks and struts buying guide, and while I understand completely why Koni's are the best option for this platform, quite frankly they're just not in the budget right now.

Can anyone suggest an alternative that won't fail prematurely with a lowered ride height?
 
Kyb gr2s (aka excel g) can be found for about $20-40 each if you hunt on eBay or wait for wholesaler closeout or rebate from rock auto. They're the OEM replacement but they will prematurely fail if paired with lowering springs. I had one start leaking about a year in on my ST springs 1.5" drop. The other three are still holding up after 3 years and PA potholes. Spyder and AWD shocks/struts have a higher spring perch for the extra weight, so you have to keep that in mind if you're lowered. I actually wound up switching to fwd struts for the rears on my awd because the awd gr2s weren't low enough.
 
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Does anyone have experience with these budget Koni's??

Koni 8050-1078 8050 Series Shock Absorber https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008PD8DFI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_oGSIAbC83GJAK

**Edit.. there was 1 left in stock at the $22 price point they had advertised. I went ahead and added two to my cart and bought them. Delayed shipping, but for a savings of $80.. it's worth it. Now I'm just hoping to get confirmation from someone here on the forums that they don't suck :pray:
 
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I'm curious as well as I considered buying them awhile back. Please update and let us know after install.

Will do, It might be a few weeks since I have to wait for Amazon to get them back in stock (worth the wait considering the cost savings in my opinion). Not to mention I still have to order the Eibach springs and find a rear set of shocks to match (Amazon didn't have any stupid cheap deals on the rear set...).
 
My car is lowered on Eibach's coupled w/ Tokico blues. It's been a really solid setup for me for a long time. Low, but not too low, plenty driveable. Anyway, I'm going to be removing my GST rears and replacing them during my GSX swap this spring/summer. According to PlanZero the Spyder should have the GSX version with the higher perches, but it sounds like he got away with using them anyway. When the time comes I could give you a real good deal on them.

I don't seem to have too many picture of the rear tires, but this picture below gives you some idea of my ride height with that setup.

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In all honesty I didn't like the rears with the awd struts. It gave my car a slightly raked stance. Now this was with the KYBs so I can't speak for tokico.
I have the same AWD ST springs on both cars and on the FWD they're perfect paired with the FWD struts. The only reason I didn't keep FWD struts on my AWD is my low hanging apexi ws2 exhaust would scrape on speed bumps, plus winter driving could be a nightmare. I wound up putting those rubber donut spacers in the front springs to bring up the height a bit. Otherwise I would've kept the FWD struts on the AWD because they definitely looked better.
Regardless the AWD KYB GR2s have a higher spring perch at stock height. My setup is good now and I don't want to mess with it but I would like some reviews of the STRT series for when my GR2s take a shit. I would like just a bit more stiffness but I'm wary of KYB AGX adjustable. One of my main concerns is longevity.
 
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Koni doesn't make junk, so the ones you ordered should be fine for most lowering springs. I would say spring rate affects shock life more than lowering, but if they're constantly bottoming out, then obviously that shortens their life also. Most lowering springs are actually softer or not much stiffer than the stock spring rate. Although you already ordered them, for an off the shelf adjustable, I would say best to worst would be Koni Sport, Tokico Illumina, then KYB AGX, and same brand order for non-adjustable: Koni Str.T., Tokico HP (ie blues), then KYB Excel-G (aka GR-2).
 
Rule out the kyb agx struts, they offer no advantage over oem replacements

So oem:
Gabriel ultra
Monroe
Kyb gr2
Kyb agx

Increased dampening
Tokico blue (HARD to find these days)
Koni str

Tits :i
Koni yellow



I had koni yellows on ground control coilovers, handled on rails. However extremely harsh on a low profile tire

Tokico blue were my favorite but pricey, the koni orange are very similar. Its a firm ride with good smooth characteristics on bumps
 
I love amazon warehouse deals. I got shocks for my jeep for $20 each. Also found Hawk quiet slot rotors for $70/pr which is insane considering extreme psi sells them for $150 each. Always always scroll down and check for deals.
 
Finally got everything installed and so far I'm very pleased with the Koni STRt's. I ended up scoring a great deal on a set of open box Eibach Pro-Kit springs to pair them with.

I know.. car needs a bath... bad ROFL

Front ride height:
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Rear ride height:
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Shadows are messing with my eyes. It looks like you have no lug nuts. :hmm:

Lol, I was missing a few lugs, so I ordered a set of black lug nuts. Plan on eventually cleaning up the curb rash on the wheels and spraying them either gunmetal or another dark grey variant. Black lugs will look good with it
 
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