lowering car and on a budget - Suspension and Brake Forum

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lowering car and on a budget
Wednesday, June 06, 2007 1:17 PM
ok, i know most people dont like to hear the words together, but i want to lower my car and i want to save as much money as possible.

first off i dont want to go too low. some where between 1.5 - 1.8 inch drop is good for me.

i plan on replacing the struts that are on the car mainly because they have 200 000 km on them and if im going to lower the car i dont want to do it on shocks and struts that are about to give up the ghost on the stock suspension anyways.

ive seen springs on ebay, aswell as coilovers, but im not to trusting of the coil overs that are on there. used springs will work as well, depending on condition, mileage, etc.

so basically i just want some opinions on what i should get for parts. i dont mind buying things off of ebay, but i would like to know if there are some out there that people have tried that actually arent too bad and what ones i should stay away from.

let me know people.

please keep the flames to a minimum.

goose.



1997 RedR - ZedR

Re: lowering car and on a budget
Wednesday, June 06, 2007 1:23 PM
You basically have two options when it comes to struts: Tokico or Koni. Other struts, such as the KYB GR2s are not intended for lowered applications. I'm a fan of Eibach springs. For your range, the Eibach Pro Kit/Tokico setup would meet your requirements, and should keep you at about the $500 range.

While you're tinkering with suspension, get a rear sway bar as well. A must have for any J-car.




1989 Z24 Convertible - Dust Covered
2006 tC - Dust Covered, but driven more
Re: lowering car and on a budget
Wednesday, June 06, 2007 1:50 PM
ZlineDavid wrote:You basically have two options when it comes to struts: Tokico or Koni. Other struts, such as the KYB GR2s are not intended for lowered applications. I'm a fan of Eibach springs. For your range, the Eibach Pro Kit/Tokico setup would meet your requirements, and should keep you at about the $500 range.




1) tokico hps are oem replacements so thats out of the questions
2) dspecs will work w/ the prokit but they are going to run him about 550 just for the struts
3) kyb makes more than gr2s
4) eibach prokit (1.4" drop) with a set of kyb agx struts (good and capable of a 1.5" drop. adjustable struts and still under warranty). this whole setup would cost about 550 brand new.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Wednesday, June 06, 2007 1:50 PM


Re: lowering car and on a budget
Thursday, June 07, 2007 5:27 AM
"Budget" and "lowering" do not belong in the same sentence.

Save up and buy quality, although I hear a lot of good things about Tokico Dspecs and KYB AGX. AGX for minor lowering duties, Dspecs and Konis as low as you want w/o bottoming the strut.

I had Konis (Koni Sport Kit, came with springs and struts in one box) and was very pleased. I bought it primarily for the performance though, so the ride was quite firm.

To do it and not hate it, you will spend at least $600 new, I had over $1200 in my suspension by the time I was done. (Sport Kit, Addco Swaybars front and rear, Strut tower braces poly bushings everywhere, subframe brace, and stainless brake hoses).


-------------------------------------------------
Sleeper style, they don't see it coming that way.
Re: lowering car and on a budget
Thursday, June 07, 2007 7:52 AM
squisher00z24 wrote:"Budget" and "lowering" do not belong in the same sentence.quote]

didnt i already say that i know they dont belong in the same sentence?



1997 RedR - ZedR
Re: lowering car and on a budget
Thursday, June 07, 2007 7:56 AM
whitegoose( RedR-ZedR) wrote:
squisher00z24 wrote:"Budget" and "lowering" do not belong in the same sentence.


didnt i already say that i know they dont belong in the same sentence?


No, you only admitted that most people don't like to hear them together. On the other hand, you can use them together if you say "I've got a budget of $600-700 to lower my car".



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Re: lowering car and on a budget
Thursday, June 07, 2007 12:20 PM
This guy in the classifieds has AGX adjustables + prokit for $400 ... though its used so you'll have to check on the state they're in: http://www.j-body.org/classifieds/suspension/46365/

If you want to buy new, I have a set of AGX adjustables and prokit that I never used. Brand new in the box with warranty still sitting in my basement. Though I'm still debating tossing them on or not.


Re: lowering car and on a budget
Thursday, June 07, 2007 8:15 PM
StrippedCav98 (Now Quotable) wrote:

4) eibach prokit (1.4" drop) with a set of kyb agx struts (good and capable of a 1.5" drop. adjustable struts and still under warranty). this whole setup would cost about 550 brand new.


where are you finding those prices, closest i can find is around 700 new.

unless your talking about ebay, and im not sure i want to buy struts on ebay- not the kind of thing im willing to leave to chance

if anyone knows where i can find this combo for that kind of a price lemme know please, thanks

luke
Re: lowering car and on a budget
Friday, June 08, 2007 3:34 AM
there are plenty of relible dealers on ebay. you can get the struts for like 350-380 shipped on ebay, you just have to find a dealer for kyb. if not then you arent going to get the warranty. hell i got my gr2s from ebay and it cost me 200 for them shipped



Re: lowering car and on a budget
Friday, June 08, 2007 6:33 AM
ok, everyone just try to keep in mind im in canada and shipping is going to make buying alot of these off of ebay and the classifieds here very unattractive.



1997 RedR - ZedR
Re: lowering car and on a budget
Friday, June 15, 2007 6:28 PM
i got my first set of lowering springs from the classifieds section on this site. $75us shipped for Intrax. i thought it was a good deal at the time.
i paired them with a set of the then-new Koni Specials (reds), which made for a very nice ride, and the car's profile was pretty nice to my eyes.
i greatly preferred the intrax springs over a set of sportlines i used on a newer car. sportlines were more for looks than performance i later found out.

that's my input for ya'. hope it helps a bit.

oh, and as already stated, a new rear sway bar makes a nice change to the handling. when i had a '96 that looked like your '97, i tossed a hellwig rear bar under there...and loved it! used an addco bar on the later car. looked better, easier to install, but for whatever reason (probably the springs), it just seemed more sloppy than the '96...




Have you seen the turbo wagon?

13.90 @ 105.46mph
street tires
rough tune

Re: lowering car and on a budget
Saturday, June 16, 2007 2:06 PM
I had goldlines on Koni Yellows on my 96 fire and i hated the ride. Now im on sportlines on stock struts on my 99Z.. Say what you want...until i save for some dspecs this will be how i roll. I will say something though, sportlines seem real soft/bouncy. They set and look absolutely wondorful though! I like how they ride alot better than the goldlines.



Re: lowering car and on a budget
Sunday, June 17, 2007 1:36 PM
am using eibach pro-kit for more than six months now.haven't had problems with my STOCK shocks yet. i planned on putting kyb-agx(as what they recommend here) but am just waiting for my shocks to give up.i tried those coilovers off ebay, men i wished i found these forum before i bought those. eibach claimed their pro-kit can be installed with stock shocks. you'll have 1.4" drop. i'm sure somebody will say "don't listen to him, you should change your shocks too". yeah right, don't listen to me. i just have a pro-kit with stock shocks that doesn't blew off yet.....(with nice ride comfort!!)
Re: lowering car and on a budget
Sunday, June 17, 2007 2:58 PM
so im looking to also drop my car down. very new to suspension so wondering if anyone new any sites where i could shop it out and if there was good combinations as far a strut and springs goes. thanks guys
Re: lowering car and on a budget
Sunday, June 17, 2007 7:03 PM
whitegoose( RedR-ZedR) wrote:ok, everyone just try to keep in mind im in canada and shipping is going to make buying alot of these off of ebay and the classifieds here very unattractive.

When I had my struts shipped from Jason at A+, he was able to ship them by postal (USPS) mail to make things easier for me in Canada.



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