Good lowering spring for stock suspension?

[Jarnutt]

I know the obvious choice is to go with a good spring rate on a good aftermarket damper setup, but my issue I'm having is that I bought my gsx from some kid that hammered the shit out of it with some rediculous drop on stock dampers, or struts, whatever you want to call it. It rides like piss, its rough as hell, and I'm hitting bump stops on almost everything, not to mention bottoming out on small things, like my driveway. I don't want to replace the stock struts, I don't have that kind of money or need currently, I just want a decent spring that might have a bit of a drop, maybe 1.5 to 2 inches, slightly lower than stock, and still not ride so brutal. I've ran goldline 1.5" drop springs before on my track EG3 and those handled great, so do my skunk2 springs in my current EP3 on tokico struts, but that was money I spent for handling, this is just a daily driver. I don't know what brand these srpings are, I just know they are red and most likely Ebay special, and the exhaust sits about 3 inches off the ground because of them. Any input is appreciated, but keep in mind id rather ride on shit suspension than drop $1000 on new stuff

 

[davidaham]

i got the tokico set up on mine and i love them 1.25 in the front 1.50.in the back. thay work great

 

[MJBean420]

I got Tokicos now and not too happy with them. Go with the Eibach Pro-kits. You should be happy with those.

 

[907gs-t]

That's the way i'll be going with the Eibach Prokit.

 

[Jarnutt]

Just ordered up the valve body today from IPT, so the cars going up on the lift and not coming down until the valve body gets here, then I will snap the photos of my springs on stock struts and let you know how it feels.

 

[gofer]

get the prokit, i thought going lower with the eibach sportlines was the way to go... FALSE. i scrape soda cans laying on their side and its not just the front bumper, its the driveshaft carrier bearings and the exhaust as well. i can't get my car onto car wash racks and if im feeling lazy i can't take it down to jiffylube to get the oil changed because it won't driveup on their rack.

here are the two examples RRE uses of the two eibach springs.

stock ride height

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eibach prokit springs

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eibach sportline springs

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heres my car on tokico illumina shocks and eibach sportline springs...

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in my personal experience of running this suspension setup since 2003 i suggest running the tokico illumina shocks with a eibach prokit spring. its definitly the better setup for a street car...

 

[xloki77x]

I have the tokico illumina's on my DD and I love every second of it. I have ground control coilovers on them, but the damping is great. Compared to AGX's or the like they are better in a thousand and one ways. The Tokicos would be a good alternative to the Koni's.

Pete

 

[Jarnutt]

Well if its just for looks, Id say sportlines are probably the ideal budget suspension choice, Although your car does look sick, Id sacrifice looks for comfort, but since my car is hammered like yours is with those sportlines, I'm hoping to raise the car back up a bit and stop having to use touch up paint on my bumper everytime there is a stray soda can or piece of tire rubber on the freeway Either way, ANYTHING is better than what I've got now, even stockers are sounding pretty damn good.

 

[Jarnutt]

So the valvebody isn't here yet, the struts are waiting to go in with the eibach prokit springs already installed, and since I've torn into the transmission this far already, I'm installing the end clutches as well. Everything should be here this week according to UPS, so after halloween I should have pics of the suspension setup, and a good idea of how it rides. My fingers are crossed that all goes according to plan. Hahaha I just screwed myself

 

[gofer]

So the valvebody isn't here yet, the struts are waiting to go in with the eibach prokit springs already installed, and since I've torn into the transmission this far already, I'm installing the end clutches as well. Everything should be here this week according to UPS, so after halloween I should have pics of the suspension setup, and a good idea of how it rides. My fingers are crossed that all goes according to plan. Hahaha I just screwed myself

HAHAHAHAHA
we all know how that works.

im glad you went with the prokit vise the sportlines because its not a good DD when its that low. scraping a low front bumper cover is one thing but denting and scraping on the bottom of your fmic is another...
im looking forward to the finished pictures sunday or monday...

 

[ian_maham]

Koni Yellows if you got the moolah

 

[turbodsm007]

the best set up for a 2g
-tokico allumina's with 1.5" Progress springs SMOOTHNESS

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[eazy2g]

I know the obvious choice is to go with a good spring rate on a good aftermarket damper setup, but my issue I'm having is that I bought my gsx from some kid that hammered the shit out of it with some rediculous drop on stock dampers, or struts, whatever you want to call it. It rides like piss, its rough as hell, and I'm hitting bump stops on almost everything, not to mention bottoming out on small things, like my driveway. I don't want to replace the stock struts, I don't have that kind of money or need currently, I just want a decent spring that might have a bit of a drop, maybe 1.5 to 2 inches, slightly lower than stock, and still not ride so brutal. I've ran goldline 1.5" drop springs before on my track EG3 and those handled great, so do my skunk2 springs in my current EP3 on tokico struts, but that was money I spent for handling, this is just a daily driver. I don't know what brand these srpings are, I just know they are red and most likely Ebay special, and the exhaust sits about 3 inches off the ground because of them. Any input is appreciated, but keep in mind id rather ride on shit suspension than drop $1000 on new stuff

I spent about $300 on my set up. GR-2s with some CM springs 2" all around. The ride is very nice. feels like stock maybe better. No bobble head at all. You can see the pic in my avatar. its just the pot holes and really bad roads that suck

 

[jjrock5]

I thought GR2s were basically STOCK replacement and were NOT recommended to be used with lowering springs?

 

[eazy2g]

I thought GR2s were basically STOCK replacement and were NOT recommended to be used with lowering springs?

Some springs are okay to use with stock shocks. I believe the s-techs say that. I saw it some where else too as long as you don't go over 2". GR2 are stock replacements but are also better. I've put over 5k miles on my setup already and its fine. To me, any shock/strut out there is really a stock replacement anyway unless you use AGX or other adjustables or koni.

 

[Jarnutt]

Some springs are okay to use with stock shocks. I believe the s-techs say that. I saw it some where else too as long as you don't go over 2". GR2 are stock replacements but are also better. I've put over 5k miles on my setup already and its fine. To me, any shock/strut out there is really a stock replacement anyway unless you use AGX or other adjustables or koni.

All the searching I did before I setlled on the Pro kit and stock struts, I found mixed results, a lot of people on both sides of the fence disagree, one would claim to have X many miles on stockers or GR2s and no leaks or problems, and others claim it blows out after 500 miles or the first pothole you hit. Food for thought, the valving in most, MOST struts is just diverting fluid or gas through specific restrictive passages per the level of the piston, higher up the piston is pushed (big bump or lowering spring) the more restriction the fluid or gas sees to prevent the car from bottoming out. So in theory, you raise that piston up you're just diverting the fluid, you're not building up any excessive pressure that would cause it to blow the seals, other than the excessive pressure caused by the valving in your normal position, pressure it normally only sees on a very rough road at stock ride height. This may not be true for mitsu suspension, but some of my other cars I've run, if equipped with sports handling from the factory, the struts can take a hell of a lot of abuse. Another thing to keep in mind is the exposed area of the piston rod, if your car rides stock height for 80k miles, the surface of the piston has seen dirt, salt, snow, rain, rocks, sand, mud, and has MOST LIKELY lost its perfectly polished surface, so now if you drop that piston into the chamber a little more from lowering it, that surface could be working that seal like micro sandpaper, and shortening its life. That is something I have experienced with my bike, once the forks lose their seals, if you don't micro polish the piston surface, replacing the seals is just a bandaid, and I learned the hard way, Yamaha fork oil is almost $30 a can, and those forkss hold 2 of those bastards. Anyways, its all trial and error, and luck, I'm not a CAR mechanic, but I AM a commercial truck mechanic, and from working on cars as a hobby outside, I've found that you really can't compare one vehicle to another once age becomes a factor, parts wear differently. If GR2s last you, then you are ahead of most in saving money on a DD suspension, I still won't drop heavy cash just yet on suspension for a daily driver, its out of my budget, and there's no tight curves or turns on my way to work, but as far as I'm concerned, its best it doesn't or id get myself into a lot of trouble.

 

[Jarnutt]

So when UPS showed up Friday I wasn't there to sign appearantly, so I didn't get the valve body until yesterday, so tonight I'm puting it in, along with the end clutches and struts. I didn't get my T shirt either, that would have been the most expensive shirt I owned.

 

[phantom_19]

Megan racing lowering springs.Got them on my ride,no complaints what so ever!

 

[Jarnutt]

turns out the car won't have the new suspension in until probably Tuesday night. I pulled the wheels off of it to do the valve body and end clutches Tuesday night, and I couldn't break the fork loose from the stock strut. I tried my impact and a cheater bar, to no avail, and as soon as I went to hit it with the torch, I noticed that I left the bottle on and barely had enough left to warm it up to room tmperature. So this Tuesday coming I should have time to drop them in and break everything loose properly, so Wednesday should have pictures of the finished product. Sorry for you guys waiting for pics and feedback, its been frustrating getting this car back on the road. (Story of a DSM owners life I'm finding out)

 

[Jarnutt]

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PROKIT springs and stock struts

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Sportline (possibly knock offs) springs and stock struts

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Mine (left) next to Steves with D2 coilovers

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New wheel gap

Happy to say it rides like a dream now, handles good enough for me, looks good, doesn't scrape shit anymore, especially my driveway backing out. The springs that I pulled out were red and said sportline on them in white letters, from what I understand, eibach springs say "eibach" right on them, so would one assume that these are generic? Anyways, I highly recommend the prokit springs, if the stock struts hold up, this is the perfect ride for a DD in my opinion.

 

[08talon08]

I have megan 2'' drop springs, and I love em...especially for $100 new

 

[Jarnutt]

I have a tendancy to not trust Megan stuff, it seems to all be a little low on the quality side, at least IMO. I purchased the sub frame H brace for my 02 civic Si, which is a hard car to find stuff for, so I got ecited when I saw they made one, after I got it, I noticed that the holes came CLOSE to matching up, but I had to take the unibit and make two of them a little bigger to make it bolt up, plus I had to bend it in one spot to keep it from touching my oil pan. I also bought the camber kit that the holes for my upper control arm in the rear was drilled too small for, so again, I had to modify their parts to fit right. Proper fitment is part of higher quality products, not to say its cheap, but, it is, I couldn't expect the springs to be that high of quality, especially for $100, I just junked some cheap springs that someone else obviously saw no problem driving on, even though you almost need a kidney belt to tolerate it. But, to each is his own, I'm glad I chose the prokit, $200 well spent.

 

[Ricky Ingraham]

I'm curious to see how they hold up. i was thinking about doing megan springs for my 96 gsx but after reading youre tread and doing some research, it seems i have changed my mind, thanks.

 

[Jarnutt]

Well as far as a DD goes, it rides beautifully, and the pictures don't lie, it sits only about an index finger higher than the sportlines did, maybe less, the car handles and rides exactly as I hoped it would, and the clearance is adequate enough for speed bumps, at an angle of course. Now I don't know what to do with these sportlines though, probably craigslist

 

[Ricky Ingraham]

, ya, just say youre friend gave them to you before they moved away, and you dont know anything about them. that seems to be the best way out..

 

[Jarnutt]

Well they would work perfectly for a ricer that just wants that hammered look at the expence of ride comfort. It would go well with his aftermarket wing, body kit, Ebay muffler, and LED windhsield squirters