When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Hey guys. '97 SS here purchased about 6 months ago. Previous owner did a few suspension mods; Rear LCA, BMR springs all around, (assume that was a 1" or 1.25" inch drop...?) BMR rear sway bar, SLP front STB.
Anyway, the car handles nicely but I want to improve it's look/stance. While doing so, I still want the car to be able to handle very well and carve corners as much as a car of this weight can.
I am going to 11" ZR1's in the rear in the coming months.
Wanting a lower stance AND improving handling, what are my options? Should I just go with a decent spring but with more of a drop? 1.75" or 2" drop? I hear Strano suspension parts are top quality for these cars.
I would love to hear some recommendations as to where to go from here.
Thanks.
P.S. Attached a pic for reference to show it's current stance/ride height.
You will be hard pressed to find a lowering springs that will give you a drop of 1.75" or 2" and handle/drive well. The BMR lowering springs you have know lower the car 1.25" all the way around but there are ways you can go lower. What kind of shocks are you currently running?
You could always take the rear spring isolators out of the rear and do the heater hose mod which will offer you an addition .5"-.75" of drop. For the front you could use a set of Koni yellow shocks and set the spring seat on the lower perch which will drop the car .75" or you can use a set of our BMR 1" lowering a-arms which will offer you an additional 1" drop.
If you want give me a call here at the shop and I would be more than happy to go over options with you and see what we can do.
BMR and Strano springs are competitively similar, both are at the top of the food chain when regarding springs to help handling and corner carving for 4th gens. x2 for the heater hose mod for the rear as it's the cheapest route to lower the rear portion of your car.
As far as the front goes, beyond the lowering springs themselves, keeping BMR's thought going with their 1" lowering control arms vs the Koni SA's, I'd go with the Koni's up front, even though they are pricey, the SA's have that extra lower perch on their shock which may lower the front by a small margin, but those shocks do complement lowering springs quite generously.
Are you sure that's lowered? I mean have you verified the springs? Cause it doesn't look lowered to me, most especially in the first photo.
I have concerns that because you are wanting to change for aesthetic reasons that you might be better off with something that gives *you* the opportunity to play with the look and height.
It seems you don't have shocks anyway which makes this easier. Here is a perfect example of where I'd point you to a Ridetech Stage 1 or 2 coil-over kit. Personally I'd do the stage 2 to get the adjustable rebound on the shocks, like Koni. But there is a cheaper stage 1 with non-adjustable shocks, but still coil-over so you can set your height.
Both have free shipping. And honestly if you think about the cost of Koni Sports (which are great) and the alternate control arms too, you aren't saving squat and left with rear height that still isn't adjustable, and front height that isn't very adjustable (really not at all).
I could tell you a million reasons why my springs would be better. And I think maybe they are. But I don't think they are right, here in this case, for what is seems you want.
And yes, there are cheaper coil-over kits out there. With shocks that aren't nearly as good (sometimes not even gas-charged) and that do not adjust the damping on the piston which makes them kind of stupid to piston velocity (suffice to say that's critical when trying to get the car to work on sharp bumps but without giving away control).
Check your fender height measurments, and look under the car. I'm afraid you may find that the car does not actually have our springs on it. Here is one your body style that does just for reference:
__________________ T.C. Sales Pro BMR Suspension (813) 986-9302 Like us on Facebook!
It appears to be. Quickest way to check is to take a tape measure, and measure from the ground to the center of the wheel well opening on the front and rear. Stock is around 27.5-28" depending on tire size. Our springs normally run around 26.25-26.75.
__________________ T.C. Sales Pro BMR Suspension (813) 986-9302 Like us on Facebook!
It appears to be. Quickest way to check is to take a tape measure, and measure from the ground to the center of the wheel well opening on the front and rear. Stock is around 27.5-28" depending on tire size. Our springs normally run around 26.25-26.75.
Oddly enough, the car is sitting at around 27 1/8" give or take. Springs in the front of the car are black, the rear are red. This weekend I am going to get under there and confirm what is going on.
The other mods that the seller stated all seemed to be true but looks like I will need further investigating. Thanks for the help.
Yeah, that is what I thought. I've looked under the rear and saw the red springs. Since getting the car, I always thought the rear looked a little lower than the front but I hadn't suspected that the seller lied about springs. I don't know if there is a reason he would only replace the rears...? I'll be getting her up on ramps this weekend and snapping some pics and reporting back. Time to identify everything once and for all so I can move forward with goodies.
This is correct, our BMR lowering spring have only ever been available in the red powder coating.
Originally Posted by sloppytot
Yeah, that is what I thought. I've looked under the rear and saw the red springs. Since getting the car, I always thought the rear looked a little lower than the front but I hadn't suspected that the seller lied about springs. I don't know if there is a reason he would only replace the rears...? I'll be getting her up on ramps this weekend and snapping some pics and reporting back. Time to identify everything once and for all so I can move forward with goodies.
Definitely get us some pics and post them up so we can see what you are working with.
Whatever is going on it's clear you don't even have a matched set of springs to start with. Unless someone painted or coated two of them a different color.
Which takes us back to what you want. Same things still apply. If you want complete control over the height you need to think coil-over first, and the better you want the car to drive, think about *which* coil-over setup you want.
Now because I think we all agree it's not lowered anyway maybe it puts normal lowering springs back into play. There's a thread here were customers had posted various pictures of cars on my springs https://ls1tech.com/forums/appearanc...ring-kits.html and a quick search for "strano springs" will get you a lot more of 'em too. If you like, great. If not well you have other options.
Certainly a set of springs and shocks can be less money but of course give you no option on further ride height without spending more money on things like lower a-arms that drop another inch. But those aren't particularly cheap and that money can go to something like a good coil-over that gives you options more than X or Y.
Sorry for the delay. Been a busy few weeks. Anyway, here are a few pics of underneath while I have it up on ramps.
The shocks are De Carbon. Never heard of them. The front springs are black so if BMR never made any springs in black, I would guess they are OEM... combining that with the fact that I am sitting at approx stock ride height in the front. The rears are red but I didn't see any identifying pieces of info on them that say BMR. Will get a closer look later.
Haha those De Carbons you speak of... they are a crazy very rare and sought after shock. I've heard only rumors that they exist for 4th gens because of them being only used in exotic imports...
Nah De Carbons are actually stock shocks and not good by many people's standards, not too bad of a setup you got back there! You're going to have to get closer to the springs to see if they have an item number on them to see if they truly are BMR springs or eBay cheapos
Haha those De Carbons you speak of... they are a crazy very rare and sought after shock. I've heard only rumors that they exist for 4th gens because of them being only used in exotic imports...
Nah De Carbons are actually stock shocks and not good by many people's standards, not too bad of a setup you got back there! You're going to have to get closer to the springs to see if they have an item number on them to see if they truly are BMR springs or eBay cheapos
I will try to get a closer look at the springs this weekend so I can get this all straightened out. Thanks for the help so far!
It looks to me that your car is at stock height. I just converted from stock springs and KYB shocks to Strano springs w/Knoni Str.t's. Lowered the car from what your car looks like and am very happy with the end result. Went from this:
It wouldn't be the first previous owner in history to only mess with the rear suspension being the easier of the 2.
x2 for Strano. I didn't take before or after pics though. Just measured
11-10-2014, 03:42 PM
Have BMR springs but thinking of other options 
