Suspension FAQ (05/22/2005) - Page 5 - Suspension and Brake Forum

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Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Friday, February 27, 2004 1:50 PM
Yeah, I decided that the "insulator" is probably the d bushing...I just went to Pep Boys and picked up some Energy Suspension endlinks, and the local dealership for the clamps and bolts --- total cost: 25 bucks ^_^

I bought the smallest endlinks they had, 1 inch between the bushings, and I think it'll work perfectly... <br>

<br>
-- Josh

Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Friday, March 05, 2004 11:50 AM
heres something for people to read up on...

i know alot of people add alot of things at one time. this isnt always the most efficient deal to do.

Quote:

Suspension Adjustments for Handling
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Near neutral handling characteristics are usually required to provide high performance cars with the ability to win in competition. While most event sanctioning organizations and clubs limit the degree of modification allowed to your suspension, it is still possible to adjust the basic handling characteristics of your vehicle and still be legal for your class of competition.

Usually the tire and road wheel's modifications offer the greatest improvement and are the easiest to perform. Your tires are the most important performance components on your car. The traction which they provide allow your engine's horsepower to be turned into acceleration, your suspension's springs, shock absorbers and anti-sway bars to be turned into cornering force, and your brake system's calipers, pads and rotors to be turned into stopping power. Therefore, any modifications that allow the vehicle to exceed the abilities of your tires will not necessarily provide the faster lap times you desire.

Any changes made to the vehicle's suspension and braking systems must be done with care and understanding. Some of the recommended adjustments will affect the vehicle's cornering capability, while others will primarily affect the vehicle as it transitions from straight-line acceleration to braking and cornering; and others, such as spoilers and ground-effects, will only affect its high speed handling.

Change only one component at a time. If more than one component is changed at a time, you won't be able to determine which change caused the resulting effect. Plan to follow a series of deliberate planned changes. Measure the test results as accurately as possible. Keep records of each modification's test results.

Take your time to test-drive the modifications made to your car and evaluate its new handling characteristics. Begin with test speeds well below your vehicle's known safety levels - work up to its new limits carefully!

Any time you make additional modifications you should retest your car.



<br>


Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Friday, March 05, 2004 12:46 PM
Ya hi, would lowering my'02 with the Pro-kit and stock struts mess anything up?
I mean it's a mild drop right?
Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Saturday, March 06, 2004 12:02 AM
its not made for it... wait, get the parts you need, not stock struts.... do it once do it right...

read the first page of this post, it explains it call...

your ride and control of the car will only be as good as the parts you install em with, and since stock struts are NOT made for lowering its not smart to use em on lowering springs...

read through and you will learn... <br>


Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Wednesday, March 10, 2004 12:06 PM
well this has been a big question as of late.... but just to reclear up the rumors

95-04 suspension components ARE interchangeable.

yes they are

meaning what you use for something on a 96, you can use on a 2003 or a 99 or a 97or 98 <br>


Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Monday, March 15, 2004 3:27 PM
Here's my question.

My girlfriend has an 01 Z24 and wants to lower the car. I was looking into Eibachs and Koni Reds. But, for about 50-60.00 more she can get the Yellows [which I also have on my Focus] and it leads me to wonder. Why on earth wouldn't you spend the extra 50.00 top get externally adjustable [rebound only] dampers?

The Yellows on full soft should be pretty close to the Reds.... Right? I never drove a car with Red's so I don't know for 100%. <br>


Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Monday, March 15, 2004 5:10 PM
i have the reds. and i am happy with them <br>


Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!
Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Monday, March 15, 2004 5:35 PM
Focus Boy wrote:Here's my question.

My girlfriend has an 01 Z24 and wants to lower the car. I was looking into Eibachs and Koni Reds. But, for about 50-60.00 more she can get the Yellows [which I also have on my Focus] and it leads me to wonder. Why on earth wouldn't you spend the extra 50.00 top get externally adjustable [rebound only] dampers?

The Yellows on full soft should be pretty close to the Reds.... Right? I never drove a car with Red's so I don't know for 100%.


they are comparible.... for years people have done fine with the koni reds, the yellows give you a bit more stiffness, but main thing is the external damping....

if you got the cash, and will prob change often, it might be a good idea to spend the extra. <br>


Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Monday, March 15, 2004 6:23 PM
ok, ill post here.. instead of making an @!#$ of myself and making a new thread

when u say struts... so u mean a strut tower brace... or the shocks / struts?

can i get a link somewhere? thanks <br>


Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Monday, March 15, 2004 9:06 PM
???

struts mean what they are....struts, dampers, shocks...

a brace is a brace....

might wanna read throuhg ALL the links as well on the first two pages...

i know for a fact the one at the bottom of the first page explains this already...

these are the little small details where i know that new people dont read the FAQ, they just glance <br>


Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Monday, March 15, 2004 10:06 PM
dirty elf wrote:ok, ill post here.. instead of making an @!#$ of myself and making a new thread

when u say struts... so u mean a strut tower brace... or the shocks / struts?

can i get a link somewhere? thanks



Struts are like shocks except they have an attachment point for the springs. Generally up front of car.

Shocks are independant of the springs... more or less. My focus has the springs outside the shocks. The Integra has a coil over shock system that kicks butt. I don't know what the J has.

A strut tower brace keeps the strut towers from flexing towards each other under compression. <br>



Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Monday, March 15, 2004 10:15 PM
like said this is already covered, but some dont read... <br>


Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Tuesday, March 16, 2004 10:07 AM
HI everyone...

much easier just to post this here...

Is there anyone that has instructions for installing coilovers? I recently aquired r1's for free (never installed on a car...can't beat the price :-) ). It sounds like they are not the best but I think they will work fine and I want the flexibility to lower more then 2" once I get new struts...but for now...stock struts.

Anyways......anyone have instructions for these?...I looked and read the FAQ but I would appreciate any other info on installation.

Thanks alot
Angie
Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Tuesday, March 16, 2004 10:36 AM
http://www.j-body.org/forums/search.php?f=3&search=coilover+install&globalsearch=0&match=1&date=0&fldsubject=1

#16..

it would probably be best for you to wait...

r1's are crap and dont come with all necessary parts.... in my thoughts not really worth wasting money on an alignment on, blowing struts and damaging other parts...

but to each their own... <br>


Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Wednesday, March 17, 2004 5:31 PM
hey, when it says watch for uneven on 2.2 wuts that mean?
2.2L cars? 2.2 inches? wut? uneven where? <br>


Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Wednesday, March 17, 2004 7:03 PM
there is no uneven anymore...

personally i think some people just measured wrong, cause the car is NATURALLY uneven....

everyone knows that the rear is higher than the front...

the car naturally has positive rake...

and those springs drop the car evenly on both sides... <br>


Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Wednesday, March 17, 2004 10:18 PM
i recently purchased some Koni reds and sportsline springs, and i was wondering if someone can give me some tips, and i'm aware that i have instructions, but i know a @!#$-ton of ppl have done this, and i could maybe get a little info on what to expect and some tips to make it go a lil smoother....

thanx guys
Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Wednesday, March 17, 2004 10:30 PM
bradiscool.com, check the garage section....

basically have spring compressors to get the old springs off, follow directions and use the right tools...

alot yourself time to do so, and take your time... maybe use loctite on the koni lower bolt that holds it in the strut shaft...


if you read the forums, and do searches you will find a multitude of info.... <br>


Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Friday, March 19, 2004 7:07 AM
I think we need to break this FAQ into different titles

FAQ for Coil overs and Spring
FAQ for Struts/Mounts/braces/bushing etc..

I think if it was more plain people may not ask the same question over and over example today. Another what is the best coilover question <br>

2004 Grand Prix GTP (Competition Group)
SOLD-->1999 Z24 5M-#30 to register on JBO
"You can please some of the people some of the time but you can't please all the people'
all the time


Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Friday, March 19, 2004 8:35 AM
i can work on that soon.

i have 17 pages of word perfect to add as well... <br>


Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Friday, March 19, 2004 10:32 AM
you just have to spell things out to some people. they don't take the initiative to read the top <br>

2004 Grand Prix GTP (Competition Group)
SOLD-->1999 Z24 5M-#30 to register on JBO
"You can please some of the people some of the time but you can't please all the people'
all the time



Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Wednesday, March 24, 2004 10:39 AM
^^^ def true...

try to make it easier on them,they make it harder on themselves. <br>


Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Sunday, March 28, 2004 7:07 PM
bah <br>


Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Monday, March 29, 2004 5:44 PM
OK people. I just want to throw in my 2 cents to this post.

Yes you could always run just springs/coilovers on stock struts. I went 3 years on Coilovers on stock BLOWN struts.
BUT!!!!!!!
Like mentioned before its not smartest thing to do. Because of the fact that I didnt have a properly mached set of struts to go with my coilovers there were many times when I almost lost control of my car. Only thing saving me being my ability to stear out of it before hitting something.

One time I was going around a decently sharp high speed turn on a major highway in Houston TX and I hit a bump and totlay lost control. My car slid sideways across 2 lanes and I was luckaly able to stear into YET ANOTHER lane to save it. I thank GOD for giving me just enough room to not hit anyone or wall because this happined during a very busy time of day.

Now that wasnt only time that I had lost control. BUt it was worst. Others were minnor but would have been totaly avoided if I had installed proper struts.

When I look back I realize that I was dumb for driving car in that condition and had things not gone my way I could have easily killed someone. <br>

I am all that is man


Re: HOW TO LOWER A CAR-THE RIGHT WAY (FAQ)
Tuesday, March 30, 2004 10:09 PM
damn that really sucks. maybe some newb will be smart and read....

maybe not... <br>


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