I want to lower my car. Just a few questions before I do. I'm not looking to spend alot of money on it. And I've never just threw lowering springs on a car. Can I just use the stock struts and throw the springs on there? Or is there anything else I would need to do to lower the car? And if anyone knows any good deal on springs I don't want to do some off brand I want to buy something ligit. Any advice would be awesome. Thanks in advance, Luke

Whatever you, don't go cheap on your suspension. You will need aftermarket struts meant for lowering. Our stockers are NOT meant to support a drop and are dangerous under the stress of lowering.
As for springs, you can usually find Eibach sportlines or prokits, or tein s-techs for about $200 or less. You DON'T want to go with some cheap ebay brand like dropzone or something.
As for struts, koni and tokico tend to be the route for god quality and not over spending. Koni yellows will pair nicely with any of the above mentioned springs.
Keep an eye on the regionals and classifieds on here too, always good deals floating around. I think right now in the classifieds someone is selling koni yellows w/ sportlines for like 500 which is a hell of a deal.

I'm running koni reds w/ ground control coilovers which I love...though coilovers will run you a bit more.

Whatever you decide on, don't cheap out and buy inferior parts or run on stock struts. Suspensions are one of the crucial areas where cheap products are not only going to cost you more wear and tear, but put the safety of you and those around you at risk. Expect to spend a few hundred dollars to lower your car correctly.

Never lower it on stock struts, If you read the Suspension FAQ, there is alot of good information there

If you go with Eibach Pro Kit springs (1.4" drop), KYB AGX struts are a great choice. They can be found for a very decent price and are a great quality strut that can easily handle the Pro Kit drop. It's a very common, well liked combination around here.

I have a 04 sunfire with stock struts and koni springs and the car rides nice as for the ride its not bad at all except for hard bumps or dips but if ur careful there is not much u gotta worry about and maybe this summer I will upgrade the struts too.

Lance Detwiler wrote:I have a 04 sunfire with stock struts and koni springs and the car rides nice as for the ride its not bad at all except for hard bumps or dips but if ur careful there is not much u gotta worry about and maybe this summer I will upgrade the struts too.

Can you send me a picture ofthe ride height of the car? I just don't like how the stock ride height looks on cars. I'm not to worried about how smooth the ride is. I rode coilovers on my rx7 so I know how rough the ride can be. And how long have you been riding with the stock struts with the springs on them?

Will the AGX's hold up when the car is lowered? I was told that the seals might blow as they are not designed to be used with lowered cars.

Lance Detwiler wrote:I have a 04 sunfire with stock struts and koni springs and the car rides nice as for the ride its not bad at all except for hard bumps or dips but if ur careful there is not much u gotta worry about and maybe this summer I will upgrade the struts too.

Everyone says that until they upgrade or ride in a properly lower J.

Tealc wrote:Will the AGX's hold up when the car is lowered? I was told that the seals might blow as they are not designed to be used with lowered cars.

GR-2s are not designed for lowering, AGXs are.




its an old concept. time for something new to take the reigns. - Z yaaaa

Tealc wrote:Will the AGX's hold up when the car is lowered? I was told that the seals might blow as they are not designed to be used with lowered cars.

Tinkles wrote:GR-2s are not designed for lowering, AGXs are.

Yep, you must be confusing GR-2s for AGXs. Just as Tinkles said, GR-2s can't handle lowering springs, but AGXs can. Although personally I wouldn't run anything lower than Pro Kit springs with AGXs.

Blown Struts...

I had the same question read this^^ these guys know what thier talking about.


(BlackFire)

If u click on my name u will see what it looks like with the springs I went with on my profile pic of my 04 sunfire

Eibach Sportline springs and Tokico D-spec struts

There's an ad in the classifieds for some sportlines for ~160 bucks... which is a steal.

NEVER EVER EVER lower your car on stock struts... you're just looking for trouble.


________________________________________.
Still not low enough for a signature.

I am currently leaning towards a pro kit and Tokico D-spec's myself but funds are a little tight for me as I am trying to pay off debt and save for a downpayment on a house, so might have to wait until my suspension needs to be replaced.
If funds allow though, I would probably really consider buying coil overs from these guys.... STD coilovers....

Like stated though, don't cheap out or put lowering springs on stock struts and say it is just temp until I can afford lowering struts.
Do it right the first time or dont do it at all.


2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car

Just finished lowering my '03 Cavy with D-Specs/Sportline's today, looks great even with the 16" stocker's
and handles exactly the way it should. Even better after the alignment is done. I don't think it needs the camber kit,
but the shop will let me know if need be.

If you get the Pro kit, you'll wish you went with the Sportline's instead.
The wheel gap with 16"/205/55's isn't that close to worry about.
Almost went for the Pro kit, but glad I didn't. It can still clear speed bumps no problem
and was the same price anyway.

Coil overs??......daily driver??......waste of money and wouldn't last as long as strut/spring combo. I heard they have
a bad rep for the spring isolators/rubber gaskets wearing out quick. Not to mention no variable spring rate.
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong anyone.

Go cheap, but like the sayin goes; "you get what you pay for"

and that's my 2 cents...........

Coilovers wearing out? Not if you get good ones with pillowball upper mounts. Mine are fine for a daily, I think the teins are a tad soft though even though everyone asks me how I can daily it with such a harsh ride. Best part about coilovers is that when the dampers wear out you just send them back to get rebuilt, and theoretically they should last longer than a drop + shock combo because the damper is designed to the springrate and car that is going in.


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer

C L wrote:Just finished lowering my '03 Cavy with D-Specs/Sportline's today, looks great even with the 16" stocker's
and handles exactly the way it should. Even better after the alignment is done. I don't think it needs the camber kit,
but the shop will let me know if need be.

If you get the Pro kit, you'll wish you went with the Sportline's instead.
The wheel gap with 16"/205/55's isn't that close to worry about.
Almost went for the Pro kit, but glad I didn't. It can still clear speed bumps no problem
and was the same price anyway.

Coil overs??......daily driver??......waste of money and wouldn't last as long as strut/spring combo. I heard they have
a bad rep for the spring isolators/rubber gaskets wearing out quick. Not to mention no variable spring rate.
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong anyone.

Go cheap, but like the sayin goes; "you get what you pay for"

and that's my 2 cents...........

Where did you get your D-specs/Sportlines? and what did you pay for it for them?
I am kind of stuck on pro kit vs sportlines.... We get alot of snow here and have pretty rough roads, all summer is 3-6 months of construction, fixing the pot holes so thats why I am thinking pro kit.


2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
2014 Kia Forte Koup SX 6spd - 1.6L Turbo - My new car
2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car

I'm in the GTA......

Got them at Performance Improvements in Brampton, they had one of their midnight madness sales
back in March and saved the tax on both. Paid $1100cad for the D-specs and $280cad for the sportlines.
If i didn't order them that day, it would have been around $1500 before tax for the struts/springs. (ouch)
If your running 35/40 series rubber on these ruff roads than the sportlines may hurt your rims not to
mention your back.
A buddy had a sedan with the Pro kit, KYB's non-adjustable, (which lasted 2 years) 15's, 60 series,
but still looked decent and the ride was comfortable until a front strut farted.

I know the coil overs would have been a lot less, but the D-specs are top quality and
designed for the application, plus I have their original purchaser lifetime warranty on file so if
they fail.....they will replace it, not rebuild it.
Go with your gut on choice, that's my best advice.

But rebuilds are just as good a replaced, they're actually better because at that point you can normally request custom valving a little or no additional cost.


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer

I went around and round with my suspension when I first started tinkering with it. Everything everyone has ever said about getting what you pay for is the truth. My first suspension setup was a set of lowering springs from someone getting rid of their car. He said they were eibachs but after we got them on the rear sat lower than the front. So we had to cut the front springs to even the ride out. A Month later my rear struts were blown and I could bottom the strut out just by hitting the gas in first(with a 2.2 -.-) - Second setup was Eibach sportlines (new) on GR-2's. One of my 2nd gen friends reccomended the strut to me because that was what he used for his drop. The setup lasted a couple months until the rear struts blew again. Finally I bit the bullet and got a full set of Tokicko D-specs. They're fantastic. I've been on them for two years now. My car is driven nearly every day and they've dealt with the extra weight from the V6 swap with no problems.


Do it right the first time or wind up spending more money in the end. 100 bucks for the springs from the part-out car. 250 for the GR-2s = well learned lesson.

I tell you what I just lucked out this past week found a set of koni yellow struts front and rear, including the complete koni springs all put together never used all assembled ready to put on the car from a guy on ebay that was hanging on to,them for 3 years and won em for 300 with 50 dollar shipping not to mentiin these are adjustable. I did research on them and found out they require some cutting and what not to make em work but after putting them on taking it for a drive and really experience the difference between having a good setup and just slaping something together it is deffinently better to save your money and get something worth while spending ur money on I did the same thing rushed into it put springs on stock struts and wow what a mistake.....


The very last thing I can say do some research and maybe you can strike a deal..

If I find anything good and cheap I will let u kno ...