Hey guys,
Just wanted to let you guys know I just got ST lowering springs thru JC Whitney for 139.90 shipped. THey are doing free shipping for all orders over 125 until the end of this month....you have to order them seperately (fronts, and rears)....anyway just wanted to let you guys know....I thought it was a good deal anyway...here is a link if you are feeling lazy (remember to get the promotional code for free shipping before you order)

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/P...odelId-1001569

 

Woot, that's a great deal. I spent way more than that when I bought my ST's over a year and some odd months ago.

S

 

so are these good quality springs?

what is the deal with not saying how much of a drop you get?

 

look at sarin's pics when he had four lugs....those were the springs he was running. IMO it really levels the car out, rather than sitting like a caddy. I believe the advertised drop is 1.5" on all four corners

 

just thought I would add that I just checked on my order and the expected ship date is 11/15/04....my order date was 10/15/04....so it looks like it will take a month, I am in no hurry(well I kinda am) but I just thought I would let you guys know.

 

hey man if you dont mind can you tell me where did you get those headlights and how much??

 

*update* I just got notice that the springs shipped out today!! I guess they just say 11/15 to not get your hopes up....oh well just thought I would pass it along. And by the way if anyone was going to do this deal the free shipping runs out at the end of this month.

---and sosa, I am guessing you are not asking about my lights. But the other guy in this thread looks like he had projectors in his fourth gen.

 

I just checked into getting a set for my wagon...

I just need to find out if they'll work on my wagon or not.

The wagon takes a different front strut than the sedan,
so I hope they'll work!

Scott

 

ok, my last post was wrong. I got an email from JC whitney saying that my springs have shipped, when if fact they are on back order. Well the good news is that I got another email today saying that the springs have shipped and they have a tracking number....can't wait to drop it.
*oh and I have no clue if they will work on the wagon....I guess its a wagon thang

 

Right you are!

 

I have the springs now. I want to replace the bump stops and dust boots when I do this....Do you guys have a place you get these two items other than the dealer? I do get a hook up at the dealer but sometimes after market is cheaper. Let me know. I am taking the car to have the timing belt changed in the next few weeks....after that I'm gettin' low.

 

KYB should make a bumpstop integrated with a dustboot. I believe www.sparkplugs.com might have them, or www.shox.com will. They are fairly reasonable price.

S

 

Sosa: Slightly OT, but, I think you are refering to 007Max's lights. I believe that would be a DIY retrofit with some OEM bi-xenon projectors.( hi-beam and low beam in a single projector )

 

yes

 

I ended up just getting them from the dealer...I had to order a timing belt and a few other things so I just went ahead and put them on the order.

QUOTE=maximase86]KYB should make a bumpstop integrated with a dustboot. I believe www.sparkplugs.com might have them, or www.shox.com will. They are fairly reasonable price.

S[/QUOTE]

 

got the fronts on....def. lower....only got to drive it to work, everything feels fine...I need smaller tires though, I bottomed out when coming over the lip into work. For the guys running 16's and are lowered (I am guessing that is no one) what size tires are you running. My tires are pretty much brand new and I do not want to replace them right now, but I am just thinking that maybe next time I will have to step down on the side wall. My wheels are 16x7 and I am running 205/55/16s

 

quick question....can you put the springs on upside down? Or is it the same either way? Just wondering because I noticed there was an ST tag on a coil of each spring...hopefully they can go on either way because I did not pay much attention as to where the tag was when I put the spring/strut back together...thanks.

-Carson

 

bump for the question

 

ST's are non-progressive, so you can put them on either way.

S

 

Just curious, but would it make a difference if they were indeed progressive as long as they still seated properly?

 

Well the difference on a progressive spring is if you don't seat it right, you don't get the proper spring rates, and that can drastically change how the car handles. On non-progressive springs, they have a fixed spring rate. So it doesn't really matter on the direction you put them. On progressive springs they have a variable spring rate.

It's pretty easy to tell a progressive spring to a non progressive spring. Non-progressive springs have the same distance between each coil, where progressive springs have much tighter winds towards the top. How they work is the larger winds provide a nice comfortable ride during normal driving, so your not jarring your teeth over the smaller bumps. But when you start getting more aggressive, and corner harder, the larger winds compress untill they are as tight as the tighter winds, then the spring becomes much more stiffer. If you did a little experiment with a loosely wound spring and a tightly wound spring, you'll find it's easier to compress a loose spring then a tight one. But the whole point of the progressive spring is to have nice ride during normal driving, and awesome handling and performance during aggressive driving in a nutshell.

Now one thing to throw in is when a spring compresses, the bottom is what moves up and down, and the bottom coils always compresses first, there the top is fixed. If you install your springs upside down with the tigher winds at the bottom, the first thing you notice is the ride is unusally stiff. That because now it takes more force to compress the tighter winds. Also the car becomes more sloppy in cornering because once the tighter winds compress, all you have left is the loose winds which makes the spring rate softer. So basically your car start tilt all over the place when cornering.

So that's my spiel on the whole thing.....some may have stuff to add....but I think that sums it up in a nutshell.

S

 

lastnight I pulled the front driver side strut out and pushed the spring purch (top one) around to where it should have been sitting on the spring...and I took it back out and it still had the poping. Also something I may add is when I took the assembly out last night I noticed that the top spring purch was scored on the side as if it had been hitting something. Any ideas guys? The only other thing I am thinking is that I put something together wrong. And the poping is really not noticible while I turn sharp while driving. But while sitting still I can make it pop buy cutting the wheel.

 

You said you didn't have the top hat piece? If you don't, as that is what is causing the poping noise. The scoring is probably from the spring sliding and bouncing around.

S

 

ok I am confused...can you see the top had piece from the engine bay? If so can you take a pic? I think I bought all the conversion peices last time I put my struts in, plus it was not doing this before....remember this is not the first time I have pulled my suspension. I think I have all the parts buy I would appreciate a picture or a link to where I can see a picture of it. Also if it is shown in the FSM or Haynes could someone tell me where. Thanks.

 

Aiight, thanx for the explanation. I'm not trying to turn this into a physics class, but shouldn't the spring compress the same way whether if it's upside down or not? I mean the spring sees the same forces no matter what. For example, it's kinda like how you can't have different tensions in a cable; it doesn't matter which side your pulling from. I dunno, just curious.

 

Quick question. Are the 'top hats' on non adjustable suspension the same on the sedans as the wagons? I ask because there is only a wagon left in my junk yard so I will go pull those if they will work. Thanks.

-Carson

 

Not sure... I do know that front struts won't cross over...

Not sure why.

Scott

 

I am hoping they are the same, because I want to get it alligned tomorrow, before going on a trip for thanksgiving

 

I see where you going with this, and that makes a lot of sense. The thing is that is affects how the springs performs and it's spring rate. My buddy Ian put in a set of B&G springs upside down, and the car's handling and ride was pretty bad. We took it apart and flipped the springs, and there was a dramatic improvement. Remember the acting force is coming from below the spring...and pushing up. So I would assume the bottom part of the spring will move first before the the upper part.....but that's an assumption.

S

 

The tophat is the same. I don't know why the wagon front end would be different from the sedan since the mounting points are in the same place. I say just go for it.

S

 

I tried but the wagon was already smashed and the sedan was an SE

 

I do know that the wagon and the sedan take different front
struts, don't know what's different about them, I just know
that they're different.

I think that they're different due to the extra weight of the
wagon, I think that the wagon struts are a little stiffer.

Scott

 

ok, I went to a junkyard in NC over Thanksgiving and they had several second gens one of which was a GXE....so I took a look at the "top hats". My question is what all do I need? Just the goldish piece that is covering the opening on the strut tower? Also it looks like I need to pull the whole strut to get whatever I need. Is this the case?

 

Yup the gold piece is what you need. All you need to do is unbolt the 3 nuts for the strut mount, let the strut assembly down and take it off.

S

 

hahahahahahha....kinda hard to do when the front end is sitting on it roters and did not have a jack....but that is nice to know that the gold piece is the only other piece I need.....guess I will keep searching. Do you know where I could buy those online? I am tried or going to junkyards for now.