ryan15

ok ive searched.............and searched and im still not sure, but with my christmas money i want to get a set of good quality spring that will lower my car just a little under 2 inches front and rear.When searching everyone says "you need new shocks" well my suspension seems very strong, I dont know if the previous owner got new shocks or what but it is very stiff and sporty, infact it bounces less then my moms 97 camaro with less than 60,000 miles, but seriously my moms cars suspension is very soft compared to mine it seems more for performance and cornering than her car and i like that feel but i want to lower to.The question is that do i absolutly need new shocks, will my suspension suck if I don`t get new ones right away?( I plan to in summer after lowering ).And also do i really need a camber correction kit, my chilton manual says it has adjustible camber?welll that all i wanted to know, hope you guys can help me out.
Thanks
Ryan

-HyJynX-

You dont necessarily NEED it..but the ride will be so much better if you upgrade ur shocks as well. I wouldnt want a bouncy ride..a nice and stiff ride is so much better. Camber correction isnt necessarily again..but will help your tire life so much. Your tires will love you for it, trust me. And handling will be a tad better. If your ganna do it, do it right

drnovascotia

if you're gonna lower it, do so to make the suspension better, not merely for looks. The shocks might work well, but at such a low height they won't be working at their optimal height and will wear out fast, causing a horrible ride until eventually you're suspension consists of those springs, lol.

Dr.

ryan15

well what my question is should i just weight untill summer or sring to get the shocks or just wate and get it all at once?will my ride be that bad if i lower it 1.7" in front and 1.4" in back (i think)?
and also will not getting better shock damage my springs? will it be that bouncy?
Ryan

-HyJynX-

If I were you..I would wait till you got the right amount of money for all the suspension you want (Springs, shocks and allignment.)
Trust me, it will pay off in the end

87camarodan

How low can we go and still have enough adjustment in the camber for an alignment shop to get the camber to keep our tires wearing evenly?

Im actually getting ready to lower and im in the process of researching springs, and shocks to go with them, but now I am wondering how much I can do without getting a camber correction kit,

l2aine

6 months from now huh? Everyone says "you need new shocks" out of experience, but the word "need" is misleading. Your stock suspension may feel strong enough as is, because it was designed by the factory that way. The spring rate (stiffness) and the shock rates are matched up to work together, and (like what the dr. was saying) the stock units are designed to work at their particular length.

Now if you lower the car about 2" (and, 1.7" is close enough) you not only put a stiffer spring on (which doesn't match the factory, softer rate stock shocks) but you also compress the stock shock about 2". Think about it - the stock shock has just lost 2" of travel.

Now if you were to drive over something 2 inches high, the 2" you lost would have let you fly over the bump; instead, you get a bug "BANG" noise and wonder if the front end got messed up. Eventually it will unless you upgrade both spring AND shock.

You can't go too far without getting a camber correction kit. I'd guess 1" would be correctable with stock components; after that, you might need the "camber bolt" thingy, or in extreme cases, pillow mounts. If you don't want to worry so much about camber and shock rates and all that, try the popular combo that will get recommended the most for our cars - KYB AGX shocks matched with Eibach, Whiteline, or (what I have) Tein springs. Short of a fully customizable suspension (Zeal Function, HKS Hyper II, Tein HA, etc.) the AGX/spring combo is the best choice

S13Nissan240SX

I've KYB GR2s and a H&R springs. The drop is probably only about 1.3" and you can definitely see the camber is off in the back. It doesn't bother me much though so I still haven't gotten a camber correction kit. I'm not sure whether it's really worth it to me being that I don't do any racing or anything like that. Either way, I'm really happy with my setup.

Best of luck,
Matt

l2aine

Right now I have GR2's and Tein springs... the back looks just like how you described, but for some reason it's the front's (tires) that are wearing faster. I might have too much toe-in but I haven't checked it yet.

-HyJynX-

Hey raine, rub ur hand across the tire, from side to side. If it skips one way, then you can determine it has toe in or toe out. It shouldnt skip at all if you have good toe

l2aine

Actually it looks more like a camber problem now... there is no skip - I tried it... I'm gonna measure it out later to see if it's toe in/out for sure, but the camber looks a little high just by eyeballing it

-HyJynX-

0k lol. Fix that camber then

chriswgsx

I used to own a 1998 acura integra type r. I put in the H&R race spring with stock shocks. the type r had a stiffer suspention than the gsr and ls/rs/gs/ models stock, but it did help. my shocks survived for the 2 months i had the car (it was stolen!!!) but it was a little bouncy.

drnovascotia

ryan15

Are you planning on installing the springs yourself? If so, then there's nothing too bad about driving with stock shocks for a bit, but I wouldn't suggest more than a couple months because your shocks will die rapidly when they are not working in their optimal range and compressed like that. However, if you add shocks later that means you'll have to go back take it all apart a second time. I did this and as next time i'm just gonna do it all at once, I don't care what anyone else says, installing shocks and springs is not on the top of my list as a fun thing to do.
As my mentor from KC said, do it right, and do it right the first time, heh.

Dr.

l2aine

I agree with doc - changing shocks and/or springs in your garage isn't one of the most exciting experiences. The up side is that you learn how your suspension comes together, and which bolts/screws/etc. you have to attack to pull the suspension out. Springs alone above 2" (like the Teins) won't harm your stock shocks in 6 months (when you plan on getting good shocks) but don't expect the stock shocks to last as long as they normally would when used with stock springs.

If you do decide to change the springs by yourself, please use spring compressors. You can save yourself the danger of the oh-so-familiar "shooting spring" technique invented by Honda owners

Add to that: if you're not to bored with chnging springs on your own car, the second time you pull the suspension out (for your new shocks) you'll know the procedure, and moving the aftermarket springs to the new shocks won't be as difficult or dangerous as the first time when you were dealing with the long, stock springs.