Best Strut/Spring Package?

[keny_kimmel]

Requirements

Every time I come back to this forum I cant help but scratch my head. Maybe this will help with further input from the owners of the, oh-so-good-looking-lowered SHOs.

Some requirements.

1. Must be compatible with 225/60/16 tires
2. Stiff enough to reduce bottoming out. At school there are the driveways to parking lots and speedbumps. Parking lots are horrible for lowered cars.
3. Can not be so stiff that it is extreamly noticeable. I mean it cant ruin my drive to Aberdeen, Seattle, or Entiat. You get the point
4. It's gotta get rid of most to all the wheel gap, it's all about the image, and in this case functionality too.
5. Must last at least another 80-100,000 miles of good worry free use.

Give me some input on these springs and your experiences.

Koni w/ Eibach
Koni w/ Intrax
Koni w/ Moog with 1.5 coils removed front and 1 coil removed in the back?

 

[Sh03d]

depends. On the front springs, you cut the top. On the rear, you cut the bottom.

Exactly what I need to know.

I just ordered a set of tokicos and I'm going with Moogs with 1.5-1.75 in front and 1-1.25 cut in back.

 

[jedhead]

Stock

Intrax/Tokicos about 1.5" drop

SHO Shop Linears/Koni 2.5" drop

Bob

 

[keny_kimmel]

That middle one looks about right. now how do you get a 1.5" drop with Moogs? 1.5 cut in front and 1 cut in back?

 

[SolidState]

yeah, that'll about do it.

FWIW, those 225-60-16s must look like mud tyres on that car...

 

[Cal93sho]

Since everyone is talking and giving adwice about konis, I have a question that I cant seem to find anywhere. I was installing koni inserts yesterday and after I took the inside of my old strut out and inserted the koni in, it would'nt sit tight in there (at the top) it would move a bit, is the normal? the koni kit had some inserts rings that looked like they should go inside the old strut first then the koni inside them, but when I tried to do that the ring wouldnt fit inside old strut, so i jammed it inside with the hammer, but after that the shock insert wouldnt want to fit thru the ring that i jammed inside my old strut housing, so i tried carefully forcing the shock inside it would go in but very very slow and you have to hit hard in order for it to move, after it went inside an inch or two i stoped and took the shock out, almost all around the koni the yellow paint was gone (scratched off), is that the way it should be?
many people here have installed konis and i would like to know what they say.
sorry for such a long and hard to undestand question.

 

[Shoaz]

You have "fat" struts. Not all struts are the same diameter, and it sounds like you have the larger diameter struts. My coilovers with Konis were built in fat struts, so I had the same issue.

However, I only used the metal rings in the rear struts. I didn't have quite as much trouble as you, and I used the bottom mounting bolt to pull the insert into the strut with the space ring in place.

For the front struts I cut a ring about an inch wide from the rubber cover for the top and put that around the top portion of the insert so that the rubber provided a seal around the top of the strut. This will be a lot easier to remove and still prevents any rattle issues with the insert. I wish I'd done that in the rear struts instead of using the metal ring.

 

[NJSHO]

Why do you want to run 60 profile tires? That is alot of sidewall.

 

[K-Dawg]

Keny, I wanted about the same results that you desire. I'm going to use the Intrax/Koni combo. Probably going to cut a coil in the front.

Eric, isn't the availability two different rear Koni inserts because of the difference in diameter of the rear struts?

 

[SolidState]

I believe so...there is a short tube and long tube design. The different is in the taper of the strut.

Josh Tiexiera goes a little further into detail in this thread:

http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=30207&page=4&pp=30

about mid way down the page.

 

[keny_kimmel]

Car as it sits now

Here is the car as it sits now. Stock springs and struts. The tires are 225/60/16 Goodyear Assurance. I just bought them and they cost me $800 so I have no intention of buying new tires just for the sake of dropping the car.

Maybe with these pics of my car you can recomend what kind of drop it should be. I'm thinking Intrax/Koni because I called a shop and they wont cut the Moog coils.

Here's the pictures I promised. All nice and clean.





The picture of the side of my car looks like there are paint blemishes, there arn't. The car was parked next to a puddle so it got the reflection.

As you can see it has the ugly gap. I'm looking for a setup that will get rid of that.

 

[shomesomesho]

Damn, that is one beautiful SHO!

 

[keny_kimmel]

Thanks, I'm thinkin Intrax should do the trick. Moogs are stiff like everyone says but, I don't want to and won't be cutting the coils. It is a pretty vital part and its not something I want to alter.

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

And this is why I'm such a big fan of Moog CC's.

Left is Eibach, middle is Intrax, right is Moog CC. Each had been cut enough to achieve about a 2.25" drop.

The Moog has more coils and the coils are BEEFIER (by ~ 1mm). Makes for a stiffer ride and more resistant to bottoming out.

My "objective" test:
5" speed bumps at the grocery parking lot. Driving over them at ~5mph, the Intrax would always bottom out, the Eibachs would 3/4 the time. The Moogs have not bottomed out yet.

Not to mention the Moogs go for less than 1/2 the price of either Eibach or Intrax.

Cutting the coils is not big deal.. 30 seconds with a grinder + cutting disc. 5 minutes with a dremel.

Great comparrison pic, and great review.

I have been 100% satisified with the MOOGs since day one.
I now have over 35k on my set.

FYI, In addition to the MOOG CC info website I have linked in my sig,
I will soon have a "how-to modify the MOOG CCs" page. Pics included.

 

[keny_kimmel]

I'm all about quality products and I've ruled Eibachs out. I will go with Moogs but I just don't want to do any work. It's not that I don't have the abilities it is just I don't have the space or correct tools to perform this sort of operation on the car. There is a shop downtown I will stop in at that does all sorts of trick things with cars. You can send them the parts and they will do anything that you tell them to. So now the question is....


Dispite what any of you may think I am going to run 225/60/16 Goodyears. I payed for em with my money so I intend to run those tires till they are at the wear-marks. So, with that said, please tell me honestly with a set of Moog coils and 60 size tires, would cutting 1.5 coils on the front and 1 in the back be sufficiant. How would cutting 1.75 or 2 coils for the fronts work? I would like to have the thing has neet and clean as possible. I'd rather have it slant down a little than have that nose-up look. Think about YamahaSHO's car.

 

[NJSHO]

I dont want to hijack this thread, but if the moog cc appear to be a higher spring rate than intrax or eibachs, why arent more people using them in track cars ect...(not being nasty just wondering)

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

some people are.

 

[shoebilly]

I dont want to hijack this thread, but if the moog cc appear to be a higher spring rate than intrax or eibachs, why arent more people using them in track cars ect...(not being nasty just wondering)

To track a car you want it as low as you can get it to be quick. If you want a good street ride you want stock replacements. I found the tokiko/eibach combo to be a very good street/track combo, of course bottoming out is going to be a problem if you drive over dips & bumps too fast. It's all about what you are willing to trade off for better grip.

 

[NJSHO]

but if you can cut the cargo coils to lower the car as much if not more than eibachs then what...

 

[bobreimer]

I have the Eibach/Tokiko combination and it works very well. The ride height actually came up because the stock suspension was tired out, but, this combo gives a nice firm street ride and it can handle the odd track day and regular autocross events.