Newbie-Horror story Wrong Coil Springs

[djaux]

This is my story.
So about a month ago, I ordered all new oem struts/springs/mounts. I went oem due to the road conditions.
Well took them to my guy, hoping to learn from him., but he hires a new guy. Afterwards the back end is sitting so high I can put 22s on em.(wtf to that). Tell my guy, look something isn't right. One thing leads to another, he doesn't want to fix it., ok karma is a b$&@h.
Take it to 3 different mechanics, they tell me the springs are backwards.
I get a shop to redo the job. Ok, job done. Problem is the front end is higher then the back, looks hoorible., so I call Napa n get the part #/manufacter.
Federal mogul.
Give em the # for the front, good 95-99 eclipse. B4 I can give them the ones for the back they tell me, they don't carry rear coilsprings(wtf). Ok, so I ask him what the # is for., it's a 95-2000 Chrysler Sebring. Now I'm furious. After 2 labor charges, n parts, I could have got some nice fully adjustable coilovers!!!
So b4 I go back to Napa n tear the place up(which will get me nowhere). I'm asking the pros on here., how should I handle this. Wish I would have joined b4 I did all of this. Idiot:/
Hope u guys can help me on this, cause it's got my anxiety through the roof.
Thanks.
96 Mitsubishi Eclipse 420a Newbie(understatement).

 

[Fullthrottle7]

Just as you suggest, next time you want to buy anything you should definitely hop on and do some research. This site alone has tens of thousands of posts with information on pretty much every product ever sold for the platform! Just like any big manufacturer, our cars do share parts with others like the Dodge Avenger and Chrysler Sebring. Now I'm not saying the springs you got are the right ones, but if they were able to put a spring on the perch and tighten down the top hat, I don't really see how it couldn't be at least the right size? Maybe the wrong spring rate, but not the wrong size?

With all that said, if its the wrong part, then just take it back. Its their mistake, they need to remedy the situation. If they don't list the part they sold you specifically for your car, then ask for your money back and get the parts elsewhere. If you only want OEM suspension, there are hundreds of guys every year that take them off in favor of aftermarket parts who will sell an entire set of stock struts and springs between $100-250. I'd just get a rear set from a local junkyard or a vendor on here like Miller Import Parts who will give you exactly what you need at a fair price.

Or....Get a big bottom girl to ride shotgun and bring the front end back down. Maybe add a turbo in the mix since that will add more weight yet and offset it all with the added power . GL with the project and come here first next time!

 

[djaux]

Yeah, after reading so many posts on here, trust me. I feel like it's more my fault. This is my first project car, n this site is perfect for everything I WANNA DO. W/these setbacks though it's going slower then expected.
I asked the representative at Federal mogul about the springs, n he said that those springs would cause that., idk. It's frustrating. N I don't make enough money to just throw away like that.
On the engine part, haven't really been able to touch it since I bought it last summer. Since then, changed the alternator, condenser, radiator, PS Pump, n a few small swap outs from the local junkyards(which don't have much). Had it sitting over the winter(no heat, more work).
This was the first thing I had started on, since I brought it back out. Makes me sick!

 

[Fullthrottle7]

I was just kidding with you on the turbo and fat chick bud, you're doing fine and just have to take it in stride. We all have made mistakes to get where we are, I promise that all of the guys that go fast on here have done plenty of stupid stuff along the way. We are all well past our first motor haha. I stand by the idea that if they sold you the wrong part (not listed for YOUR model and year) then they need to take back the parts. Good job being resourceful at the junkyard, they are gold! I have pulled a ton of stuff over the years from different scrap heaps. Best source there is for electrical equipment since you can often pocket the little clips/connectors you need while buying bigger stuff.

Keep on doing things one at a time and now that you're a member on here keep reading! You can always utilize the classifieds section to get items that are hard to find locally, most of the guys will hook you up with little things for dirt cheap and are typically pretty reasonable with larger stuff once you are ready to do some real mods!

 

[djaux]

Cool man, thanks for the advice. I did do a lot of research b4(not many tuners out here). I spent at least 2 weeks, trying to find a decent suspension for my car., but everything I found was pretty pricey., n just learning what I know now., I probably could've found a set at the junkyard.
Idk, I'm thinking if they take back just the springs, maybe I can get a pair of Tein springs(unless u have a better idea of what would work). Finding the right springs though is a bit deceiving, only because most sites, except Rockauto(great site)., they're listed as lowering springs. I have a set of 18s on my dsm. I would like to put a new pair on., looks/feel/longevity. The way the car sits now is . I mean probably 2-3inches/rear, n 4-5 in front. I'm sitting straight up in the seat, n I feel like I'm leaning back. B4 that the front end was probably2-3 inches off the ground. Picture A girl, w/ her ass up face down(not a bad thing)but for the car it looked silly. Now if I'm sitting on a hill, oh man it looks awful!
When the mechanic switched springs, he didn't have to compress the springs on the rear to put them on. It didn't look right. I'm gonna do some more research to figure out whether I should go w/ oem Rockauto / aftermarket. Have to do something soon., feel like I'm driving the shortbus.
If they take the strut/springs back., I'm getting a set of adjustable coilovers. Megan, or Tein. In the meantime, b4 I head over to Napa, I'll probably do some hypnosis/yoga to be calm.

 

[warren]

from my experience only is that oem springs the front are always highter but that's from my experience they might be the right ones

 

[djaux]

Ok, I've calmed down., waited it out. 1 of the mechanics told me 2 give it a few days to sit(maybe it'll drop down. Well I'm putting some pics from b4-after/n after. So some feedback would definitely help.

 

[djaux]

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[djaux]

Sorry for the repeat photos, was just trying to get full image, n somehow managed to make doubles. Dumb ass!
Here's 1 more.

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[djaux]

The b4, complete death trap.
After/side view, where the back is completely jacked up(face down/ass up). Then after it was done 2nd time(gas station). Then today/tonight after putting on my powerstop rotors n brakes. I'm not seeing any change. The front end is still sitting a little to high. Even then there seems to be a lot of clearance(18s).

 

[djaux]

Idk how to send all of this back 2 u, but here are some before/after photos., let me know what u think. Thanks.
Trying 2 stay positive)

 

[Fullthrottle7]

Those are 18s? I was gonna ask if they were 15's or 16's , even though they have like 35 series tires that is still a lot more room in the wheel well then normal for 18s! Not sure what to tell ya at this point, pretty much like I mentioned before you can get springs that will fit but not have the right spring rate/height leaving your ride height close to or even above stock! I know that you said you wanted OEM for the road conditions you are in, but honestly at this point I think you just need to take both the front and rears back since they sold you the wrong ones for your year/make/model and buy some used springs like Eibach Prokit, Tein H-Tech, etc. that don't lower the car that much. The Eibach Sportlines, H&R Race, Tein S-Tech, etc. "sport" springs are the ones you see that are pretty slammed with roughly a 2" drop both F&R. You won't loose ride quality and will only see about a 1.2-1.3" drop from stock height but with that body kit you need to get that thing down a little bit for sure!

Its crazy how different the shots look, the one at the gas station makes it look like a solid 5" of clearance from tire to fender, but the side shot in the parking lot makes the car look perfect. Its gonna be up to you what level is really optimal, but if you buy an aftermarket spring that is actually made for our cars, you'll get spring rates meant for the right weight and it will handle AND look better. Right now I bet that front has WAY more rate than it should and it probably gets bouncy over bumps instead of soaking them up properly. Lowering slightly isn't a bad thing, it drops your center of gravity and as long as you have enough travel and adequate shock/strut control, you're set. You don't want that oversize spring doing all the work!

 

[djaux]

Ok, that's the response I was looking for. Cause, I've done almost everything that I could. I've paid for the oem parts n 2 labor costs., not to mention the hours of research.
The side shot, that was when the springs were supposedly backwards., it's actually a terrible shot(but the only 1 I have)., again dumbass. Idk why I never took the ones after they were done. There was so much clearance that I could've fit 20-24" wheels(so that picture really does no justice). But yeah, I'm gonna see if they'll take pack everyhing struts/springs/mounts n get either Megan racing or Tein adjustable coilovers. They should, it's not what I ordered. Not only that but the 2 labor charges I had 2 eat(oh it tastes awful right now! Thanks for your input.

 

[mitsubishikid]

yeah another alternative is to take the parts back to another location of the auto-parts store in your town... [if possible] that way you will likely not see the same guys that sold you the previous set, it's the best way to avoid ending up strangling any of the guys who sold you the jacked up suspension .

Seriously I'd say, get the autoparts store to return them, your clearly not satisfied with using them, then get a set of adjustable coil overs and springs from ether the above mentioned sources, or you could go with the ground control coil over sleeves setup and use the koni yellows like in this vfaq tech article http://vfaq.com/mods/GCkit-2G.html
or you could buy a bigger name brand coil over setup. from tein or others for like around or under $700.00.

but then again, I also think newer struts will be a little higher then blown shocks and old springs after driving for a while they should level down a little, but maybe only about a 1 to a 1/2 inch or so [at best] I think the shop possibly had installed them wrong, but then again you did have the springs replaced at the same time... cause that will effect ride height noticeably if they are not the same as the old ones... maybe the old springs were cut, or were lowering springs.
If that is the case using the old springs on the new struts should put the car back to the old hight if you do still have the old springs see how tall they are compared to the new ones.

 

[livedsm4g63]

If i drove that car I would have to wear sunglasses, and tanning lotion. Wow.

Anyways, I would take the rears off and return them.

 

[rangerguy]

Parts jockeys messed up, you trusted them to do their jobs and they didn't. Your out so much in labor and time and parts..........get a refund and give them the bill. Worst case they cover some of it.

 

[Fullthrottle7]

They aren't gonna cover any of the installation labor it wasn't their fault that they were actually put on the car without checking against the OEM part. To the guy that said a new shock will be higher than "blown shocks and old springs" that is simply not true, very few OEM setups will sag more than .3-.5" over the course of their life and most drop springs are at least 1.25" lower than stock. The ride height will have to do with the shocks and springs he buys as all aftermarket setups have different specs. Aftermarket shocks like the Konis will withstand the added stress of aggressive lowering springs as well, so if he does decide he wants to go that route, it will perform much better than just putting his old OEM springs or even new aftermarket springs on the new shocks.

Assuming they will let you return everything and start over, I would definitely suggest the stand alone shock/spring combo over any of the cheaper coilover setups. Your ride quality with a Koni Yellow or Tokiko Illumina and a good spring like a Sprint, Hypercoil, H&R, etc. will far surpass a Chinese coilover system with adjustability that has more cross talk than linear damping changes. If the goal is simply to slam the car, then I guess one of the coilover sets with the threaded body and third lock perch would be the best option since it can be lowered nearly 4" without loosing the shock's travel, unlike the Tein setup which sets way more preload/rate on the spring to get that drop.

Talk to the parts store and let us know what they say. They may only take back the springs since they were wrong and make you keep the shocks. If that happens, you need to be careful in the spring selection because the OEMs will quickly wear out with any aggressive drop, they just aren't valved or setup to operate in the lower half of their travel range. If they will take them back, post back on here your overall budget and goal for what you are gonna do with the car and we can make some good suggestions for a matched set that will do everything you want and last. Koni's come with lifetime warranty against defects to the original purchaser and are by far the best stand alone option FYI. They came out with a less expensive, non-adjustable shock for our cars not that long ago called the STR.T so if you're on a tight budget you can still do OK with a top name brand!!!

 

[rangerguy]

They aren't gonna cover any of the installation labor it wasn't their fault that they were actually put on the car without checking against the OEM part.

Thats true, I only said that as a suggestion. Some places might be empathetic...??

 

[djaux]

Okay so I spoke with Napa, and going to give me the money back for the struts/springs., and I was either thinking Megan racing or Tein, now the question will BTU where do I get them from for a reasonable price which models should I get., I don't want to spend over $700. I know that may be a little cheap, but I've seen some Megan racing coilovers for 500, n Tein for 700. Really anything that can I adjust to stock height/longevity/Comfort., I'm open for suggestions.
And thanks to all the dsm members for all of your responses, and future advice., I couldn't have found a better site, to tackle all these issues.

 

[Fullthrottle7]

Thats great news! If you don't want to top out that budget I totally understand, but for right about dead at $700 you can get Koni Yellows and whatever spring you'd like! I think it was Autoplicity.com that had the Konis on sale and after the discount plus free shipping it is only about $450! A set usually costs $675 or so, if thats too much though you can do the STR.T set for roughly $350 through Koni directly. Make sure you have your broken stock setup still though, any new shock you buy doesn't come with the top hats so you'll need to rent a spring compressor and pull them off the OEM set you originally took off and then use it again to compress whatever new springs you get to slide them on the new shocks and put on the top hats! Hopefully your bump stops and bushings are all fine on the old set, there are rubber "pads" that the top of the springs seat onto that keep them oriented correctly.

I would personally look for a used set of springs since they will be much cheaper and will help you save money or maximize how far your total budget can go. Eibach Prokit springs are really popular and I'd guess you could find a set easily. Other mild drop springs are out there as well as the sport styles too so just figure out what kind of stance you'd like your car to have and go from there!

 

[djaux]

Thats great news! If you don't want to top out that budget I totally understand, but for right about dead at $700 you can get Koni Yellows and whatever spring you'd like! I think it was Autoplicity.com that had the Konis on sale and after the discount plus free shipping it is only about $450! A set usually costs $675 or so, if thats too much though you can do the STR.T set for roughly $350 through Koni directly. Make sure you have your broken stock setup still though, any new shock you buy doesn't come with the top hats so you'll need to rent a spring compressor and pull them off the OEM set you originally took off and then use it again to compress whatever new springs you get to slide them on the new shocks and put on the top hats! Hopefully your bump stops and bushings are all fine on the old set, there are rubber "pads" that the top of the springs seat onto that keep them oriented correctly.

I would personally look for a used set of springs since they will be much cheaper and will help you save money or maximize how far your total budget can go. Eibach Prokit springs are really popular and I'd guess you could find a set easily. Other mild drop springs are out there as well as the sport styles too so just figure out what kind of stance you'd like your car to have and go from there!

Do you think these coilovers http://www.meganracingperformance.c...series-megan-racing-mr-cdk-me95-p-448673.html would be better to get instead of getting shocks struts and springs separately? That's more than I'd like to spend but I will be able to install those myself without having to pay a mechanic. I could get the ez street ones but the color would really clash with the color of my car (I know that sounds silly). I'm kinda sold on those over the Tein because of the way they adjust. If you think I'm overdoing it feel free to say I'm a donkey.

 

[Fullthrottle7]

The color thing isn't too silly I can appreciate paying attention to the little details, but you really don't see much of the shock at all so the color is minimal in there. As far as the coilover vs. shock/spring you just need to decide what you want your car to be. If it is going to be slammed to the ground scraping over speed bumps and parking lot entrances, then the coilovers will get you as low as possible. They have some built in adjustment that can make the shock feel more firm or soft to a degree, but these adjustments don't affect the overall damping like you really would want. Also, what is the point of an adjustment past the point of getting it set comfortably? You're not gonna be twisting all four corners knobs each time you go somewhere "cause the roads are different" so in my opinion the adjust-ability doesn't mean much. The goal would be to match all four corners properly and then leave the knobs alone.

A properly matched shock/spring combo is better for most of us. The companies I mentioned, Koni and Tokiko are two of the better manufacturers that make the struts for our 2gs. You can get a Bilstein, Ohlins, Penske, etc. to work but they are WAAAYY more expensive and usually need some modification since our 2g has a unique size and mounting. In that regard, the Koni Yellow sport shock is widely known as the "best" we can do and if you really want a good read, go check this out:
http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets6.html
http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets18.html

And also there is a section where Dennis Grant gives actual blueprints to create top hats and spring isolators that keep the suspension on the proper axis as the car turns and compresses. None of that is too important for general street driving, but my point is that you can buy pretty near what is known as the "best" for our cars for the same price as the cheapest of the Chinese made coilovers plus they have a lifetime warranty for the original purchaser. You can install them yourself if you can install the Megans, trust me it is very simple. AutoZone, O'Reilly, etc. rent the tool you need for free to compress the springs and there are instructions to do so. Then its the same to install them on the car as it would be the coilovers!

 

[Fullthrottle7]

Here is a guy in the classifieds with the exact setup I was mentioning. IDK what shape they're in but just to show you what they look like: http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/koni-yellow-eibach-pro-kit-prothane-mounts.481642/

I think that the yellow would look good with the orange and kind of blend down there. The Koni STR.T shocks actually ARE orange if you really want a cool setup that matches perfectly!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Koni-STR-T-...Rear-Set-/281325106619?_trksid=p2054897.l5658

That ebay add is just for reference DON'T buy them there, make sure you buy from an authorized dealer to ensure you get the lifetime warranty. The STR.Ts aren't adjustable, the Yellow sports are. Both will support a lowering spring and both have excellent valving. I run the Yellows with H&R Race springs which are lower than you want and even lowered they ride great!

 

[djaux]

Ok there's a reason I wanted oem parts. Right now I live in a place where there's potholes, parking lot's that r hard to get into., and there's always construction going on so there's always bumps in the road., if you see my before picture you see how it's dropped so low to the ground., also you'll see the bumper has been replaced because of these bad road conditions., for now I would like to have stock height, when I move I don't know what the roads will be like, but hopefully it'll be better than they are here. At that point I was consider dropping it a little bit but not slammed to the ground., this is my first project car so something I'm going for is definitely longevity, and comfort.(basically I would like it to feel like a new car, with as very little bumps as possible. I could go with the whole idea of putting the SRT's on there., but I've spoke w/ all the parts stores around here, and the rent a tool places., unfortunately I have no help there. Also today I'm getting an oil change at Mitsubishi dealership, pretty much only for the 27 point inspection. I met a guy at Advance who works over at the Mitsubishi dealership(mechanic), who also deals with some tuner cars. I know I'm going to replace some bushings., I'm not sure exactly everything, yet. I'll find out later on this afternoon and it should probably give me an idea of what needs 2 b done as far as the suspension goes. I would definitely say your route is cheaper but, with everything that I've described to u, and knowing that I will be changing things left and right, over the course of 2-3 years, if you believe that would be the best bet for me then that's what I'll do. As far as the struts that are on my car they're OEM spectrum., should I keep those, and bring the Coilpacks back, or bring everything back and get the n possibly get the srt ones that you were speaking of, or maybe the Megan racing. All this has been great information given to me, and I know I have a lot of questions., but like I said, this is my first project car n the first car that I've actually got my hands dirty with and enjoy doing it. I think the biggest problem that I face is the spring compressors. I believe I've missed some stuff that you just posted, I'm trying to do two things at once(idiot). With the job that I have it's really difficult to get everything done in a short amount of time, and make the best decisions possible. Last time I know I looked online for a month, Trying 2 figure out what kind of springs/struts to get. Then my wife suggested for me to find some kind of Mitsubishi Eclipse forum., gotta love her.

 

[djaux]

Crossing my fingers right now, getting oil change., n the 27 point inspection.(only 20 dollars). N the guy at the front desk said he called the law on me cause my vin didn't match w/their computers, well the guy I bought it from, he replaced the dash., n I told him that's not the right vin!, r u serious. I'm freakin out.
He's f***in w/me the whole time.
I've been up here quite a bit, I told em I'm not coming back here(asshole). Nah, seriously though he got me.