best way to go about lowering my car?

[2GEEZEY]

Okay so I want to lower my car about a 1.5 to 2 inch drop. To give it a more sporty appearance and better handling.

I was wondering what would be the best way without spending TOO much money.

I was thinking Megan racing springs and what should i do for shocks/stuts.

Also is it shocks in the front and struts in the back?


thanks

 

[NeMiZiS]

The best way is coil overs, but not the cheapest.
If you are looking for a way to save a little then I would probably get some eibach's and some kind of shock that isn't a direct OEM replacement.
Like a KYB AGX or something similar, otherwise dropping it will blow out the shocks fast.

 

[Dark DSM]

And no, its all around struts.... Bang for your buck, like NeMiZiS said, i suggest, KYB's with Eibach springs.

 

[gofer]

i ran tokico illuminas and eibach sportline springs for 7 years and went through god only knows how many front bumpers. besides that the look on pedestrians faces or your girl in the front seat every time you scrap sucks.
if i were to do it again on a budget id go to autozone and get the LIFETIME WARRANTY shocks and use eibach prokit springs. unless your autocrossing or road racing your dsm a coilover setup is somewhat over kill. you'll get the lowered stance your looking for while still keeping it at a driveable ride height for everyday use. you might blow a shock from running lowering springs on them but guess what, i blew $125 a piece tokico illumina and they aren't lifetime. at least when you blow your $60 a piece autozone specials you can replace them for free.

 

[m0nk3estylez]

I'm riding kyb gr2 all around with skunk2 coilover fronts and ground control rears.
Fronts is 1 finger and rears 2 finger and no signs of my struts blowing, still on my stock 16in rims.
If u go Megan drop springs let me know how they work out because I'm planning on getting them asap!

 

[pgarland]

KYB's with Eibach springs.

This +1

A Buddy is running this same setup on his 97 GS, he's had it lowered for over 6 years now with no problems yet (other than his own idiotic driving...the learning curve can be real sharp if you've never driven a lowered car before). This is the same setup I was looking at for mine (Although I got to admit, Gofer was making some serious sense in his post above...got me thinking...)

 

[ttetzner]

don't, i can't even drive over speedbumps, at any speed

 

[psycho]

I suggest you read the suspension forum until your eye's bleed. There is A LOT of good information in there.

Search topics/posts by ACM, jtmcinder, Scott McIntyre, Dallas J. They are very knowledgeable in our suspension.

Don't half-ass, you'll end up spending more in the long run. (e.g. breaking stuff, wearing out tires, etc)

 

[1gDSM4g63]

You really don't need struts. You can just go with just springs.

By the way, AGX sucks on 2g DSMs.

 

[dsm9]

please whatever you do dont buy cheap suspension. you will end up spending more money than if you bought coilovers the first time. i had the megan racing springs with kyb gr2s and the ride was awful. car looked great tho. now i have wisely invested in D2 full coilovers. saved me from selling my car

 

[jacobevan611]

These posts may help.


http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/420a-bolt-tech/332832-suspension-question-please-help.html

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/420a-bolt-tech/337573-mixed-opinions-eibach-springs-i-cant-deal.html

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/420a-bolt-tech/336810-camber-question-please-help.html

- Jacob

 

[2GEEZEY]

mhmm. Im thinking about doing what gofer said. But how long does it usually take to have a shock blow out?

I want the appearance and something that doesnt ride to hard. I already have a bad strut in the rear right...so? If i just throw on some springs and a new strut how good of a ride am i going to have?

right now everytime i go over a bump i get a hard bang! like it wont even cushion it very well.

 

[NeMiZiS]

I've heard of some lasting years and other only weeks.
Running a lowering spring with stock shocks that is.
When you are hearing this bang is it in the front or back?

 

[Venum]

i ran tokico illuminas and eibach sportline springs for 7 years and went through god only knows how many front bumpers. besides that the look on pedestrians faces or your girl in the front seat every time you scrap sucks.

I have the Prokit and Illuminas on my car. I've had them for a few years now and they are great. I scrape rarely but it still gives that lower stance and better handling.

I recommend the set up I have, not saying that it's better/worse than other setups but I am satisfied.

 

[Locke]

And no, its all around struts.... Bang for your buck, like NeMiZiS said, i suggest, KYB's with Eibach springs.

Struts define the kingpin inclination, and dampen vertical compression and rebound, while resisting severe lateral loads. Struts negate the need for, and are incompatible with, upper ball joint.

Shock absorbers do only as their name implies. The kingpin inclination must be set up with an upper ball joint, which also bears lateral load.

2g DSM's use shock absorbers with multi-link suspension at all four corners.

 

[2GEEZEY]

NeMiZiS, it bangs in the back. I think back right.

 

[untouchablecc]

I did a lot of research before i lowerd my car and it still didnt work out well. I was like you i though i could go with a 1.5 to 2.0 drop and get away with it. It didnt work out so well. I had the tokico illuminas with tockico springs they are about 1.75 drop. I bought the camber kits for the front and did the camber spacing on the rear. I could never get the back to stop wearing tires. The car looked good but you couldnt take it anywhere without having to drive diagonal across bumps and scrape the front bumper. It got really old really fast so now i have stock springs on the illuminas. Also another thing i ran into was my rear toe adjustments were seized and after lowering it i blew a lot of my bushings out in the rear so after a prothane bushing kit and new toe adjustments and arms im finally getting this thing back together. I often thought about the eibach prokit of the HR oe sport springs which are about a 1in drop but i am not sure if i wanna spend the money if its going to just go through tires again cause i cant afford a set of tires lasting 2-3 months. Anyone else have tire wear issues on the DD with the prokit or oe sports?

 

[jazzfoxx123]

EXTREME PSI : Your #1 Source for In Stock Performance Parts - Tein Super Street Coilover Kit: Mitsubishi Eclipse 95-99 2WD Turbo, tein i believe is the best suspension out there, just shop around at that site im sure you find a good answer for what your looking for.

 

[Locke]

I have no problems with my Tokico shocks and springs. After 2 years on the same set of summer tires, it is about time for me to replace them. DIY rear shim kit, no camber correction in the front; No abnormal wear.

 

[2GEEZEY]

I only want to spend about 500 or less.

 

[tegster1]

Tokico blue combo as Locke said sits the car perfectly and not much is needed to correct the rear. I think I got mine for less than $300 off a member on here brand new. The ride is great as well...to me anyway.

 

[mhDSM09]

Get yourself some tein or eibach lowering springs and kyb gr2's all around. It will give you a nice stance but not as low as the megans. I had them on for a few weeks and hated them. The car was just too low for my liking (plus the ex sucked at driving so it scraped everywhere). I'm back on stock suspension now but thinking of throwing some teins and gr2's on with my new 18"s. That knocking your hearing is probably your blown strut bottoming out on bumps.

 

[dairyman69]

i am an ASE parts specialist , If you want better handling without problems use larger diameter sway bars front and rear and use polyurethane sway bar bushings, this will make your DSM handle better you will not get the scraping

 

[Locke]

Sway-bars, like most things, are not a "bigger-is-always-better" piece. Sway-bars will bring in the cars roll centre, but will also change your cars bias towards over-steer or under-steer by reducing the ability of your suspension to act independently. Furthermore, they should not be used to band-aid a poor suspension set-up, rather to tweak a good one.

Wait until you're happy with the rest of your suspension set-up before messing with sway-bars, and even then be smart about it. Too large of a bar can ruin your cars road-holding ability.

 

[MJBean420]

I just took off my Tokicos. They only gave me a 4 in ground clearance on my 2gb in the front. I replaced them with a Prokit. I only took it around the block so far, but the Prokit seems much more street applicable than the Tokico springs. And now I got like an extra inch or so for gound clearance; plus a stiffer spring.

My avatar pic to the left is a good example of Tokico springs in action with the Blue struts.