SS/CETA

I'm sure this has been answered a hundred times, but I'm gonna ask anyway. lol

I've got my first suspension mod coming soon, and I'm looking into Eibach springs(1.2" drop), and some kind of nice shock. When I hear of coil-overs and front/back shocks, I get confused.

I don't know what to buy, or how to start. I'm not at a Koni/Strano phase yet, it has to be very budget-minded.

I found some QA1's on Jegs (QA1#122-EC1985P) that seem like they're okay. However, I don't understand loads and rates very well.

Any insight what might be my best buy and most comfortable would be greatly appreciated.

Zlow28

iTrader: (11)

the height drop is going to affect comfort while driving the car. If youre willing to sacrifice that, id go with the billstein shocks. Theyve been proven to work and theyre budget friendly.

ssvert99

iTrader: (26)

For what you are doing I would recommend the Viking shocks. They are a high quality, external double adjustable shock that has a wide span of valving to give you street comfort and race performance. A simple turn of the ***** on the bottom of the shock will change you over from one setup to the other in seconds.

As far as "coil-over" goes, that refers to the spring located on the shock itself and sharing the same mounting points. Most of the coil-over type aftermarket shocks are ride height adjustable so you can easily move the stance of the car and get the look you want.

The Viking brand shocks are the best bang for the buck right now and carry a industry best 2 year warranty.

MWC is a proud dealer of Afco, Strange, and the new Viking brand shocks. We offer the guaranteed lowest prices and any help you need with install or tuning as well. Give us a call!

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Welcome to the world of a million opinions and meanings...

Ok, "coil-overs" is a term that is used in a very incorrect way. What it's been morphed to mean is a shock/spring setup with adjustable ride height. What is *really* means is when the coil is over the shock and the car is like that in front stock (just not adjustable for height), and not like that in the rear. Some "coil-over" kits make the rear coil-over shock, but the shock mounts were not designed to carry the load of the springs. KW's, for instance, use an adjustable jacker that sits on the axle and a spring sits on it to give you the ride height adjustment.

Additionally because these kits include shocks, you have to keep an eye on what shocks are appropriate, and personally I think there are a lot of pretty poor ones out there with old tech, not even gas charged and that have coarse damping adjustment, if any at all.

$620 would put you on a set of Strano springs and SLP Bisltein's. Lots of folks do that and if they aren't looking for the most kick *** handling machine, are pretty happy with that combination. No it's not height adjustable, or damping adjustable, but it's also not a lot of money for a known good setup. The other side of the coin are "coil-overs". The only one's I'd bother with are KW's and that's around $2200. *NOTE THERE IS A REBATE OF ABOUT $150 CURRENTLY*. KW's are LIFETIME warranty, stainless steel, and independently double adjustable. And the compression change is on the low piston speed side which is what you want for things like planting power, etc.

Does that help?

SS/CETA

A little bit, Mr. Strano. I appreciate the insight.

I'm afraid even $620 is out of my range.

Okay, so I kind of understand that lowering will reduce ride quality, but anything is better than my deCarbon's that are 95k miles old and bottoming out on everything.

I guess coil-over's is where I'm getting confused. It will help if I get under the car and look at the setup that's stock. Do I have to have a "coil-over" system, or can I choose my own setup?

JD_AMG

Factory is coil over front (unequal length upper and lower control arms), and the rear setup is 3 link solid axle (shock and spring separate).
Honestly you are not going to find much of anything decent for under that price.
The cheaper stuff is unfortunately cheaper for a good reason, they will either have poor build quality, poor dampening or both. And honestly considering the cost of other mods vs what they actually do a good suspension setup like what Sam posted is a STEAL. WAY better bang for the buck than something like headers/full exhaust for similar cost (or less cost more often then not).

camarokid91

Pretty much all lower springs cost $250ish no matter what vendor they are from. Spring rate doesn't affect ride quality as much as one would think. The stiffness of the strut is what makes certain cars ride rough/firm. Depending on your goals for the car there are a ton of routes you can go.

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

In your budget situation, the thing to do is to get a set of Bilsteins, and when you install them, cut 3/4 to 1 full coil off the front springs. Do the heater hose mod in the rear. If you need still more of a drop there, then pull them again and cut 1/2 to 3/4 of a coil off them.