The Car: 2005 chevy cavalier, base.
OK, so I'm going to get a Koni Sport Kit and an Eibach anti-sway here shortly, but I want to know a few things.
1. Is there anything else I need to be aware of fixing when i get this all installed?
Like stuff thats bound to fail because it stock and crap? I like to get it all taken care of and making sure I have enough savings to do it all.
2. Since I can't seem to find this info anywhere, what exactly does my car have? I think I have struts in the front and shocks in the back.
Rolling this into something I saw from another post but it was vague in answering my question. I'm assuming Koni already knows my set up more then i do because in pictures of the kit I've seen shocks and struts but in the definition it says 4 shocks. I just want to make sure this is going to fit. Otherwise tell me I'm an idiot and right me my wrongs. I need to replace all four.
3. Koni sport kit comes with lowering springs, but in the FAQ for suspension the Koni springs weren't listed as some of the springs you want to get. There a reason to this? I also don't want garbage.
I'm no speed racer (But I have a bit of a lead foot), but there is something more I crave then a new car handling feel. I do plan on doing other mods later but its not like this car is hitting up some tracks any time soon!!!!
Im assuming you mean the koni sport kit that is about $950?
if it were me i would just to the koni yellows and the eibach pro kit springs. but i went coil overs. but for the amount you are spending on that sport kit you could also go with the tien basics maybe. and if you have a stock sway bar, you can save money and just get the coilovers or even splurge a little more on them and wait on the sway bar.
final advice... dont clean out your savings modding a car
just an fyi lol.
If youre spending $95 just save a little longer and get Basics.
Hm, not clearing out the savings yet. And I can get the kit for a little over 700, new. The sway bar is just a touch over 100, new. Its a deal to get all 8 parts (shocks/strunts/springs) in a kit like that.
I would have to research how much 2 shocks and 2 struts cost (assuming that's what my car has, right? They look the part but I have no idea if they are just secret ninja shocks and I'm just dumb for not being able to notice xD)
Anyways, does anyone know of things to be aware of when I do all this? Like getting new bearings, etc? I like to get ALL the parts I need to upgrade when I do this to prevent some horrid accident I only think over when I think of D.I.Y. jobs.
I was tossing around the idea behind eipach springs but decided it was pointless if the koni kit came with springs. Maybe its a quality issue?
no matter what, get an alignment afterwards. and i agree on saving up for the tien basics vs the sway bar and stuff. more pieces isnt always better. quality over quantity.
thats just my personal opinion and most of us have been at this a while and are still going. how many miles are on the car?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Wednesday, June 16, 2010 8:18 PM
Alignment, I know. Thats why I liked those Koni's. Adjustable! :3
Do you mean this mega boss of a kit?
http://www.raceinspired.com/p-9564-tein-basic-coilover-damper-kit-chevrolet-cavalier-1995-2004.aspx?affiliateid=10065
It comes with springs in the kit, but would someone recommend I still got eibach springs?
I still need an idea if there are any upgrades I should get done to other stock pieces that might not be able to handle the new parts. I heard of issues cambers and bearings, but maybe that was someones lemon car and I should just whatever it.
Maybe the sway bar can wait. I live in a valley of a mountain and every day when I drive to work the wind blows so bad I fear for my life - but my struts/shocks are total sh*t so maybe this would fix it. And I like to cut corners like a mother.
I'll wait on the bar, it might be best in case there are some issues with the new system....
Sorry, didn't notice last part of the user post.
Rolling in on 55,000 miles on the car. I put 15,000 on it since I got it.
Kira Smith wrote:Sorry, didn't notice last part of the user post.
Rolling in on 55,000 miles on the car. I put 15,000 on it since I got it.
thats the kit. check with some vendors on here and ill see who i can talk to but thats a good kit. and its adjustable. as for the sway bars... they will help some but not a ton. depending on the model you have you may have factory sway bars. id rather get a better coil over kit than do cheaper suspension and sway bars.
they also offer pillow ball mounts which are simply amazing but pricey i believe. but if not then new strut mounts would be a good idea at 55K. its REALLY all up to you but thats what i would do.
also since you are new to it. when you go to do brakes, ones i would recommend are Hawk HPS pads, and powerslot rotors. its about a $190 combo but i love it for my car.
Brakes are the next thing I'm getting (Safety first, you know!) . They just aren't as bad as the handling yet.
I was thinking of just replacing the mounts anyways but if you think pillow ball mounts then I'll roll on that. I don't know much but still more then an average driver around here, so thanks for helping me keep up here!!!
After all my plans get into action, I can't wait to set this car on fire. Serious lulz.
I hear the pillow ball mounts are very ncie but I cant explain much farther than that.
Back to your original post:
1. Strut mounts. Our stockers are utter junk.
2. We have springs and struts on all 4 corners, but the words strut/shock are use loosely and we usually dont correct people over it.
3. The FAQ was written YEARS ago, it could be a newer product and wasnt around when it was written.
The past sunday a friend and i replace my stock front sway bar(2003 base cav) with a 1" Addco(same specs as the Eibach bar). While it didnt make any drastic changes in the handling, i still could feel that the car was flatter threw turns. I would recommend swapping it if you want the most out of your suspension and also having someone who has done it before help you.
What are you looking to get out of your suspension? Just lowering it? Decent handling? Race car? Alittle over 2 years ago i had no direction for my cav and was in love with airride(never owned a bagged vehicle), so i bought an Easystreet kit and bagged the cav. After 1 year the novelty wore off and i longed for the days where i didnt have to re adjust my suspension every time i drove the car. Fast forward to now and all i want to do is set the airride ablaze, i hate it with a passion. Now i have decided on what i want the cav to be and it involves a good handling suspension. I ended up going with the Tein Super Street coil-overs. The main selling point was the pillow ball mounts and adjustable dampers.
I have been running the Hawk HPS pads and Baer rotors for 2 years(~20k miles) without any problems. Im replacing the pads soon with another set of Hawk HPS for piece of mind and preventive maintenance, no plans on replacing the rotors. Some people have had Baer rotors crack and others(myself) havent.
Brembo rotors with hawk pads, also stainless steel brake lines are a nice final touch.
Only reason I would say wait on the sway bar is so you can splurge more on the coil overs. Plus if you do there suspension first then get used to that and then do sway bar.
Had my baer rotors nearly shatter in me since they were cross drilled. Drilled does nothing for us
BuiltNBoosted wrote:Only reason I would say wait on the sway bar is so you can splurge more on the coil overs. Plus if you do there suspension first then get used to that and then do sway bar.
I hunted around and only paid $155 for my Addco(brand new). Honestly, the price i paid was the reason i did it now.
P.S. just ordered brakes.... $183.25 with a $10 off code.
Yea, the cheapest new that I found Tein basics with pillow ball was for 1300-ish. Pretty decent price, and I only heard good about Tein's stuff.
I think I might even try to install it myself, I heard shocks/struts are relatively easy to put in. I'm just terrified I would break something ._.'''
I'm probably going to order brakes/rotors around the same time as my kit since I need to do its regular maintenance around now anyways. Thank heaven's air is still free.
OFF TOPIC:
This might be a totally n00b question and I'm pretty sure I know the answer - In the stock wheels (Until my tire thread wears out I ain't upgrading those wheels/rims/whatevertheyarecalls) there is this, like, rusty and holed metal-thingy behind the hubcap.
Is that nasty crap removable off stock wheels? I've always thought that stuff looked ghetto.
I over looked someones question - I want not good handling, but great handling. Lowering the cav is pretty much a plus and from my understanding helps in that aspect.
Literally all my mechanical buddies have either deployed or PCS'ed to Korea (We're military).
The rest of my friends think -I'M- car savvy. Its a sad situation for me here :C
I get no help for stuff like this, except through forums to make sure the parts are at least great xD
Kira Smith wrote:Yea, the cheapest new that I found Tein basics with pillow ball was for 1300-ish. Pretty decent price, and I only heard good about Tein's stuff.
I think I might even try to install it myself, I heard shocks/struts are relatively easy to put in. I'm just terrified I would break something ._.'''
I'm probably going to order brakes/rotors around the same time as my kit since I need to do its regular maintenance around now anyways. Thank heaven's air is still free.
OFF TOPIC:
This might be a totally n00b question and I'm pretty sure I know the answer - In the stock wheels (Until my tire thread wears out I ain't upgrading those wheels/rims/whatevertheyarecalls) there is this, like, rusty and holed metal-thingy behind the hubcap.
Is that nasty crap removable off stock wheels? I've always thought that stuff looked ghetto.
thats a decent price and I install all my stuff if i can. I can do front suspension in around 20 minutes for both sides...
its a good time to do the brakes too since you will have it all apart. Just got order confirmation on my brakes and the total was about $183 for all of it. Cheaper than last year.
Replace-
control arm bushings
sway bar bushings (especially if you throw a new bar in there)
upper strut mounts
ball joints
tie rod ends
Most of that stuff should be replaced at around 60k anyways, so you're just a touch ahead, which isn't a bad thing.
If you want "great" handling, skip right by the Koni/Eibachs, and go for Ground Controls/Koni or Teins. You can do a pillow ball with either setup, the GCs will probably end up being your better choice in the long run (future spring changes, rebuildable/revalveable on the bench, etc). When you do all the bushings, use poly. Definitely go with a sway bar, both front and rear. Do it now while you have it all apart, since it requires yet another alignment.
Random info-
both shocks and struts fall into the category of dampers. They slow down spring oscillation, that's it. A shock does not locate another piece of the suspension, while a strut does (they locate the spindle in a MacPherson strut design). Technically, 3rd gens have coil-over shocks in the rear (since they do not locate the axle, that's done where it bolts to the unibody), but the term strut gets applied to just about every damper with a spring "around" it, so that's what you have. I saw you mentioned adjustability when you were talking about an alignment. An alignment has nothing to do with compression and rebound adjustability of a damper. Koni Sport dampers are rebound adjustable (meaning- you can fine tune the speed at which the damper rebounds after compressing), and are called "single" adjustable. Koni race dampers (reds) are "double" adjustable, since both compression and rebound speeds are adjustable. But again, none of that has anything to do with alignment angles.
Kira Smith wrote:like, rusty and holed metal-thingy behind the hubcap.
Is that nasty crap removable off stock wheels? I've always thought that stuff looked ghetto.
That's your stock wheel. If you want to make it not rusty, have it sand blasted and powdercoated. But I would consider that a waster of time for a stock steel wheel, and either upgrade to something aftermarket, or go buy another steel wheel at the junk yard for $10-15.
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def throw an addco front sway bar in when you have it apart... I've driven a 3rd gen on a stock front sway (1SV... dunno if the LSS sway bar is thicker.. I think it is) and an addco front sway bar.. Both cars had coilover systems, but I still really felt a difference.
The addco controls body roll a lot more than the stocker.. its going to be one of my next upgrades on my 2004 (my 2002 still has the addco in it).
On the topic of the basics, IIRC, you can not get the pillow ball mounts for them. Which sucks ass.
Save up, get the SS's if you can wait a little longer, the added adjustment is worth it IMO. I wish the Basics had it.
M62, 42's, ZZP 3", ZZP S3 H/E
214whp 190wtq
slvrblit wrote:On the topic of the basics, IIRC, you can not get the pillow ball mounts for them. Which sucks ass.
Save up, get the SS's if you can wait a little longer, the added adjustment is worth it IMO. I wish the Basics had it.
Truth. I just installed my SS's last Tuesday and so far have put ~200 miles on the. I love them.
