SteelBallz

Well first off I want to say that I have tried to search for something related to my question, but I am at a loss of what "keywords" I would need to provide relevant search results.

I would like to know what springs/shock that I could put on my ’02 TA that would be better than stock, but not change my ride height (or as little lowering as possible). My reasoning for this is that I have 3inch true duals over the axel (via phb relocation) and I go over quite a few speed bumps every day and I don’t want to lower my car and start having to worry about ground clearance & exhaust to body/axel clearance.

Thanks in advance for your replies…..Any other suggestion would greatly be appreciated!

FYI => I have just ordered a set of UMI 3 point sfc’s and my other mods are listed below….

DONAIMIAN

iTrader: (18)

Keep your stock springs and get a good set of aftermarket shocks. Bilstiens would be a good choice without breaking the bank compared to some of the other brands. If price is not a problem, then go with koni's

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

Koni SA's not the DA's.

Anyway, just a swap to the Bilsteins will make a huge difference. The car will ride smoother, handle better and won't float around at speed.

SteelBallz

Thanks for the replies...

I have been doing some more "searching" and someone said that the Eibach springs(#70009) would only lower the car like .5 inches. Are they worth it, or should I just leave the shock alone & change the shocks to some Koni SA's

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

I don't know exactly what springs those are. Here is a list that may help you.
http://www.angelfire.com/my/fastcar/suspension.html

If you only want .5" lower (which isn't much at all) you could trim the stocks springs slightly. 1/4 to a 1/2 a coil up front should do the trick. Same for the rear. With good shocks, trimming the stock springs would be fine. It's just the guys that want to slam their cars by cutting the stock springs that cause all the trouble.

A lot of guys get the front Koni SA and use the lower spring perch with the stock springs to lower the front about 3/4" and then you remove the rear spring isolator to lower the rear about the same. That works real good as well. You can use the rear Koni or rear bilstein depending on your budget.

SteelBallz

This is awesome.... Thanks for all the info!!

Does anyone know anything about the Eibach springs(#70009)?

I don't want to lower it, I just want to get a decent ride

YellowToy/A

iTrader: (1)

What do u what to do with the car. Why do what higher spring rate? When u say decent ride what does that mean. Springs keep the car from bottoming out. The more spring rate the lower you can go. That is why lowering springs have more wieght.

SteelBallz

If you read my first post, then you would know that I really don't want to worry about "lowering" the car. However, I know that lowering the car will provide better handling, etc. I would like to get the best ride/handling I could without lowering the vechicle. BUT I would consider .5 inches of lowering if that these spring would make that much of a difference...

I have come to the conclusion that I should just upgrade the shocks, and leave everything else alone..... I just want to make sure that is the best option, and that is why I asked about the Eibach springs....

jimmyblue

iTrader: (11)

SLP Eibachs or 1LE are about the only "little to no drop"
options. SLP Eibachs I think were advertised to be about
a 3/4" drop.

DONAIMIAN

iTrader: (18)

thoes are the optional SS/SLP eibachs, I dont think they would be worth the upgrade over stock.

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

I'd definetely say shocks are all you need. The factory DeCarbons are just total crap. The factory springs rates are fine for a stock height car.

IMO, you could just add the Bilsteins all around which run about $329.

Or, you could add the Ground Control front coilover kit to replace the factory spring. That will make the front ride height fully adjustable and will allow you to run either a 300lb spring like stock, a 350lb or 400lb for improved handling and less nose dive under braking. It adds $225 to the cost, but if you can swing the expense, they are great. You can lower the front 1/2" and see how it looks. If you don't like it, you can raise it back up. Or lower it a little at a time until the exhaust starts to scrape and then raise it back up 1/4". Or raise it higher than stock for the 4x4 look . You really can do what ever you want. Once you settle on a ride height, you will need to get the car aligned.

Rhode Island Red

iTrader: (2)

I've heard good things about the intrax springs Great streeet manners and won't beat you up

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

The Intrax are lowering springs, aren't they?

Cal

iTrader: (1)

I'm with JasonWW; don't be afraid to trim a little off the springs if you want a small drop for minimum cost. I've cut fbody springs varying amounts many times with no problems. For some reason this works better on fbodys than 'Stangs.

I have the Ground Control Coil Overs and love them. Probably the cheapest adjustble springs you can get. They are great if you need to fine tune the ride height. And they use standard racing springs, so it's cheap and easy to change to a different spring rate down the road.

YellowToy/A

iTrader: (1)

Jason is correct as normal. This guy wants no drop why do we keep trying to give him higher rate springs? If he wants better ride and handling I think stock springs will work well for him. He may need a bigger sway bar, but for this guy I think stock springs will work well.

Get THE Koni shocks

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

I don't know, the Koni SA's up front are no doubt good, but jump the price up a lot. That's roughly a $320 increase to go with Koni fronts. Having the adjustable rebound can make a big difference in the feel of the car and you can tweak it until your comfortable, but budgets have to be considered.

I don't think the Koni SA would be needed in the rear. Unless you have the extra money and like the idea of playing with the rear rebound. I honestly don't use mine much. I usually keep it full soft, which is pretty much the same valving as the Bilstein rears. It's interesting to play with and see the effect as well as to helping to diagnose a handling problem, but really, I would suggest the Bilstein in the rear.

Of the 2 Bilsteins available, the 3rd gen controls the cars body movement better and most prefer it over the 4th gens. The 4th gens allow more body roll, but increase the handling of high speed dips and bumps. So cars that spend a lot of time above 100mph or so may benefit from the 4th gens, but most folks would prefer the 3rd gens. I'm simplifying and can get a little more technical, but Sam can get real technical about the differences if you need them.

SteelBallz

I like the idea of the ground control setup, but it cost $419 and I am assuming that that is only the front? Then the price of some Bilsten's are $329. So that is close to $750. I think that may be a little too much money for my taste...

I was wondering where JasonWV got that the Ground Control kit would only add $225 to the price of Bilsten's. Am I missing something??

And after looking at the price of Koni's all around($700), I am not going that route either...

I would consider Koni's up front and Bilsten's in the rear, but I cannot find a sponsor/price or anyone that sells the front and rear's separtly. Help

Okay it would seem to me that new springs are not something I should spend my money on, since I don't really need/want to lower the vechicle. And I am assuming that the Eibach springs that I mentioned are not worth it over stock. Is that correct? The only reason that I considered those springs is becasue it would just barely lower the vechicle, and perhaps a gain in ride quality.

One more question . If I decided to get the Ground Control kit, when is it necessary to start worring about the lca relocation brackets and all that extra stuff comes with having a lowered vechicle. I am assuming that 1/2 to 3/4 inches of lowering would not be enough to have to worry about that stuff. Is this correct??

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

Sam Strano sells the GC kits. Front costs $225, rear kit costs $200. Most folks don't use the adjustment on the rear Koni's so regular bilsteins in the back make good, economical sense. Their valving is about the same as the Koni SA when on full SOFT (I think I wrote the wrong thing here earlier). Sam sells the koni front, bilstein rear as a kit as it's pretty popular. Or he sells them seperatly.

You won't "need" relocation brackets even if you lower it a lot. My rear fender lip is 26 1/4" and I don't use them. Handling is fine, though I may add them in the future, just to see. 1/2 to 3/4 isn't much to worry about. You shouldn't need any extra parts.

SteelBallz

Now it looks like I will go with Bilstein's all the way around and maybe the GC Kit up front.

My final (maybe) qusetion is: Is it worth it to just have the GC kit only up front? I know that if I had it all the way around it would allow me to change the height of my car, but what will only being able to change the front do? Won't it look wierd to have the front lowered without the rear? You see where I am going..

I am new to this so bear with me...

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

The rear stock springs are real nice for modding. They are 115lb linear. What I would do is remove the rear isolators from the top of the springs which should lower the rear about 5/8" or so. Then adjust the fronts to match or just a bit lower to get the raked look. That should give you the look you were talking about.

Another way of lowering the rear would be to cut the big end of the spring. Removing one full coil will raise the rate to 135lb and lower the rear about 5/8"-3/4" or so (I can't remember exactly). I bought an extra set from the salvage yard for about 20 bucks.