Bringing this to the top for all of the newbies who lack search capabilities.

 

Getting bumped up again by people huh? This thread has gotten a lot more posts and stuff than I ever figured it would. Every now and then I get an e-mail telling me someone has been asking questions in this or what not. Or some people just send me questions about it over AIM.

Kind of like the "Exhaust questions answered" thread did the same but I don;t know if people really post to that any more.

SuDZ

 

I bumped it, but then I made a new thread when I realized that by the time people sifted through all of the 4 pages of posts, much of the info was lost. I gave you credit in my new thread, though. Take a look at it and see if it meets your approval.

 

I still don't know why this isn't stickied

 

It definitely should be a sticky. This thread is why I went with H&R's.

 

Spring rate info (what was known) was added to the suspension sticky at the top of the forum.

 

It is. The info is in a NEW thread that is updated.

 

Hey folks, noob here. Had a suspension question that couldn't be solved via searching, so I thought I'd ask here. I am admittedly a novice, and I don't have the knowledge or tools to do any work myself.

Brief background:
I have a 98 SE. About 5 years ago I had a shop install Koni Yellows, but kept stock springs due to my (college student) finances at the time. The ride has been stiff and tight, enjoyed the handling characteristics, but I've always wanted a modest drop and better springs.

Recently, I've been hearing some odd sounds coming from the front right suspension. When I had some new tires put on I was told that the strut mount is loose and that's the banging sound I'm hearing. Shop tried to get me to replace both front struts with Monroe quick-struts.

Knowing those are OE replacements and would seriously mess up my handling if I did that and kept the rear Konis, I told them not to do that. I don't think my Koni's are blown, but the mount is loose. Shop told me if I was going to pay the labor I might as well put a new strut in there.

But since I've got Konis in good shape (I think) except for the mount, it seems like a stupid thing to do to downgrade.

What I'm thinking of doing is having the shop replace the mount, and instead of replacing the struts, have them throw some H&R coils on there to give me a drop and maintain the good handling characteristics. Would that make sense to do, or am I missing something here? I also don't know if it would be realistic to shorten the front Konis, since I don't feel comfortable doing it and I'm sure the shop would give me a WTF look if I asked them to do so. Not sure if that fact would make it stupid for me to drop it with H&R.

I'd really appreciate any thoughts you fellas might have, and I apologize for the noobish questions.

 

New strut mounts and H&Rs would be the way to go.

Konis are the best strut so dont settle for their crap. It seems shops are getting lazy and offer quick struts any time they can. To be honest, dissembling the strut just to swap out the mount would take about 5 minutes more than swapping it all as one. A strut mount is cheap and they obviously dont want to just swap it out. Id find another shop.

Konis confuse everyone and unless they are familiar with how they go in you are going to have issues. I dont see a normal shop being able to shorten Konis correctly. Also they dont want to be liable if something went wrong. Id find a local performance shop to help you out. Perhaps there is a local orger who can help you out.

Also the hole in the strut mount needs to be drilled out for Konis. Its D shaped but needs to be O shaped. Just keep that in mind.

 

Thanks a lot for the reply. Yeah, I agree, I think finding a good shop around Austin is my best bet...now the hard part--finding one!

 

Hypothetically, how would it work out putting a RSB on a bone stock suspension with 167k? The rubber tubes on the shocks are gone but they still work. I figure it will fix the body roll problem, but it's a pretty soft setup in the first place. Would there be any adverse effects from the RSB? I've heard it can cause bad oversteer, but I'm not sure if this is when it's on a tight suspension.

For the purposes of this post, assume I drive like an ahole.

 

Lots less body roll with some added harshness on uneven pavement. There is always the chance the rear will come unplanted and you could spin out, rsb or not. Its all about weight transfer, ie off the gas/on the brakes in a hard corner means more chance of oversteer.

 

Ok gents, I got my tax money and im feeling frisky...

I didnt want to start a new suspension thread. Too many of those . Jus seems better to try to consolidate the info in SUDz thread.

So i live in mass and im not looking for an agressive drop. The blues kit will suit me jus fine. But Im not quite sure what to do about the dustboots/bumpstops. DO i have to trim, can i use OEM replacements dust boots, will KYB replacements work? Any tips on install? Can anyone help me out on this.

Now the TEINs. I know they are great coilovers. I found a new kit for $900. But im NOT tryin to slam my car. Right now im on stock 15" tires and that may change in the future but no time soon. I did some research and the TEINs, on the highest setting, will lower the car 1.7". Not really lookin to drop the max that much, but its not too aggressive either.

If im not looking to really slam the car, should i jus go with the blues kit? Why pay the extra for the TEINs? Any tips for install?

O and im not installin myself. Gonna let my mech do it.

Gonna buy new mounts and those subframe collars too, replace the bushings, and whatever else we come up with.

 

The OEM strut boots fit the tokico blues fine. When I installed the TOKHPK245 kit last year I added new OEM boots I got from Dave B. at Southpoint for $88. I got the TOKHPK245 kit for only $387 from performancepeddler.com. I also added in moog strut mounts and bearings I got for $95. I then replaced both LCAs and threw in those subframe collars also.
The front dropped only 1.25" while the rear went down 1".
It's not the highest quality suspension but it was well worth the money to get it riding like new again.

 

I love DaveB and what he provides to the community, so I always recommend him for OEM stuff, but you can also get other strut boots (SB103 and SB108) from any auto parts store and they will work fine. They cross-reference to a 95 miata and a 95 mustang, and Advanced/AutoZone have them. Those part numbers come up in cross-reference.

 

Sup holly man,

I read a bunch of threads and knew u got the blues kit. I think its a pretty smooth ride, very close to stock but drop the wheels a lil bit.

Do the bearings come with the mounts or do i have to buy separate?

Did the drop cause the LCA replacement or were yurs jus shot?

My struts are completely fine, jus looking to lower it a bit one something thats comfy and takes corners a lil better

 

The Moog K9786 kit comes with a mount and bearing. With a few coupons I got them for around $40 each on amazon.

Those OEM LCAs were already gone. Driving over the Berkshire Mountains twice a day for the last decade did a job on them. I had to bang a 50 lb. sledge hammer on the pickle fork to seperate the LCA from the knuckle.