So I have a 2002 firebird and I am putting on some 18's all around. I am looking into springs and have decided to either go with strano (if they are ever in stock) or eibach. I am only looking for the minimum drop which is 1'' I guess. The main reason I want these are because my car has a lot of roll/lean in the corners and I think its due to all the travel the springs have. I also would enjoy a lowered flush look on the new rims.

The problem:
I live in WV around the Morgantown area if any of you know that place. It is all hills/potholes/bumps/steep inclines/etc. I have no experience with a lowered car and was wondering if the 250$ investment in springs would cause me more trouble because I hit everywhere. I already have some trouble with this problem on stock height, but I can easily deal with it now. Soooo are springs worth the investment for me since I'm in a little more rough of an area or should I just stick to stock height.

Like I said I have no experience in how low the car will actually be and that is why I am asking you guys that have lowered cars. Please give me some feedback because I really want them, but also really don't want it to be a very problematic upgrade due to car damage.

Thanks guys

 

I am currently lookin at some hyperco coil springs. They seem to be a pretty serious company. Anyone know anything about them or dealt with them before? I think I may have found a good new set for cheap. Let me knowww

 

Both the springs and swaybars will effect how much roll the car has, and shocks will control the roll rate.

If you already have scraping problems on the stock 4X4 height then lowering would probably be a bad idea. You have other options though. (correctly matched) Swaybars will dramatically help handling and reduce roll and will be less of a compromise on ride quality than lowering springs (especially if you are on stock shocks). And/or getting better valved shocks will also dramatically improve handling, control and feel while also providing a better ride than stock.
Out of the "big three" suspension mods I've done (shocks, springs, swaybars all done one at a time) the konis were by FAR the biggest and best improvement to the car. If you want to improve the handling of the car I would personally do shocks before all else.

edit: Also just noticed you have a V6 car right? A possible cheap solution to springs that are slightly lower but also with a higher rate than what you have is to find some stock LT1-fbody springs. They are supposedly lower than LS1-fbody springs and have a higher rate than your current ones.

 

Hello, we offer a 1.25" drop spring with a 550lb front rate and 160lb rear rate. As other have stated shocks and sway bars are also something to consider. We also have a very well matched set of front and rear sway bars. Here is a link to our site. Give me a call if you have any questions. Also our springs are guaranteed for life against sagging.

http://www.bmrfabrication.com/F4.htm

 

So I put the rims on today. I really want springs and will be ordering them soon. My problem now is how the hell is the car going to sit on these new tires. Do I need to have some work done in the wheel wells or what? I am willing to get the work done to get the car lowered. I just have no idea what the regular method is to lowering cars on larger rims. Help me out please!

 

This is on 18'' 245/45/18 all around. I am a little worried that I should have got a lower profile. Is it possible to drop her 1.2''

 

The drop on our springs is 1.25". We have them in stock. Give me a call if you need a set.

 

you do realize you are running a taller tire, which is probably the reason why you are scraping...

stock tire sizes for our cars are 245/50R16 or 275/40R17 which keep the same overall height of the tire. yours are about 1" taller in diameter...

you need new tires. go with 245/40R18 and that would probably fix your problem, as that would make your tires at stock diameter.

 

+1. And you realize your speedometer is off right?

 

I know.. I already purchased these tires not knowing I need super low profile. The tires and rims LOOK GREAT. NO RUB. Not even on sharp turns. I don't care to purchase new tires! Every turn I have taken it has hugged the road perfectly.

I just found some hyperco coil springs that drop the car 1.2'' all around for $150. Sorry, BMR, I already got some.

Back to my original subject. If I drop the car 1.2'' on a 245/45R18 tire in a 2002 firebird has anyone ever had issues with rubbing. Is it a dumb idea? I have looked into fender rolling and the baseball bat/heat gun method looks to work well. I know just about all of you guys that do suspension work have lowering springs. Someone please chime in with useful information that doesn't require me to buy new tires or springs.

 

Here are some closeups of the rims. I see about 1'' of room, but I know once these springs start settling that I may run into problems.

I am going back to school soon and don't have a lot of time to deal with a car that has insane rubbing problems. I feel like I should be fine, but my tire shops says otherwise. Let me knowww if I should put the springs on!

Once again, I own lowering springs. I just don't want to waste all my money on installation and have regrets of lowering the car due to major rubbing issues. Understand!??!?!


Honestly, I think the front tire is going to have the most issues...

 

I don't think you're going to find that answer as no one would put that size on their car. IMO that looks retarded as well to have such a large profile on a 'performance' car. Just my 2 cents. While buying new wheels why didn't you atleast put 275s on it? Why keep such a narrow tire on the car when we know 275s will easily fit w/o modification.

 

going from a 245/45R18 to a 245/40R18 is about a half inch difference...... i'm running 295/35R18 in the back and stock height i have no problems..... but my old buddy had a 98 SS with with same exact size tire(actually the same set of wheels and tires.... thats where i got them from) while running around and a pro kit from eibach(which is the 1.5 to 2.0" drop..... i think) with no problems at all..... no rubbing or anything

 

The difference between the 245/40/18 and a 245/45/18 is nearly an inch in diameter.

 

i was told that for every 5 in the sidewall of the tire would be a 1/4 inch so on each side(going from a 45 to a 40) would equal out to a 1/2" total.... so how is it that when i got my new wheels and tires that the stock 10 spokes i had(275 50 17's) were the same height as my 295 35 18's????

 

thats a false statement. the 2nd number is based off of the first number... its a percentage of the width of the tire. hence aspect ratio. your tires are not stock height, but around .4" taller than stock, which is not too serious.

in otherwords... 245/50/r17 has a sidewall of ~122.5mm.

 

You were told by who? The "every 5" on the sidewall is not a measure of height, it is a the height of the sidewall when compared to the tread width. A "50" has a sidewall height that's 50% of the tread width, a "30" has a sidewall that's 30% of that the treadwidth.

You are trying to pick springs based on some pretty random tire sizes, and that's just wrong. Now, unlike some others that will blow smoke up your tail-pipe I can't and won't say "run my springs" because frankly you shouldn't be picking springs to compensate for weird tire sizes. If you run a really, really tall tire, you'd need some pretty slammed springs to make the car look at all right but that leaves you with no suspension travel.

I know you found some Hypercoil springs... Good luck with those, they tend to be more than 1.2" drop, and are very, very stiff springs especially in the rear, and need a lot of damping to control them (i.e. better shocks).

 

If anyone is still confused, just use this to check: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

You can pretty much compare tire sizes and figure what profiles you should be using.

The profile number is a ratio of the width. A 245/40/17 will have a shorter sidewall than a 275/40/17

 

i was told that by the local Les Schwab..... well looks like i just got proven wrong...... my bad sorry fellas

 

haha its all good man. Learn something every day