eibach or intrax decision....HELP please!

[sho4rob]

I have new tokicos on the way and am having a difficult time deciding whether to get eibachs or intrax lowering springs. My main objective is to get rid of the ugly gap between the tires and wheel wells. It seems that the eibachs are most commonly used, but there are many who claim the drop is (at best) minimal, and generally does not lower the car the "claimed" one inch in front and 1/2" in back (with a few exceptions like Prophet78). I have also heard the same about intrax not lowering the front by the "claimed" 1.5" front and 1" rear. For those of you with the intrax/tokico set up, what was the "actual" drop you got? I am running Pirelli P7000 235/45/ZR17's, and will also be adding some "shaved" (3/8") alum SFB's at the time of strut/springs istallation; will this efect the amount of drop I get?
I am leaning towards the intrax because of the increased drop, but would like some actual numbers from those who have this set up. ANY info or insight GREATLY appreciated. ALSO, are there ever any instances where the drop was actually "more" than what the mfgr's claim? I Do NOT want to drop it more than 1.5' in front, NOR more than 1 inch in back as I am concerned about any tire clearance problems...should I be? If anyone with the intrax/tokico setup could post a pic, that would be very helpful. Sorry for the long post. Please help me out guys (and gals). Thanks.

<small>[ June 27, 2002, 05:07 AM: Message edited by: sho4rob ]</small>

 

[FAST4DR]

Ditto the question above. I am wondering the same thing. Intrax or eibach. I would like to go with the coilovers but I don't if I want to spend that much.

 

[twr]

I got the Intrax springs. The Eibachs lower the car more. However - the Intrax are stiffer - if you like that kind of thing. BTW - I cut a coil out of the Intrax to drop the front of the car more - It now sits lower than it would with Eibachs. I wouldn't cut a coil out of the Eibachs, because they are supposed to be a lower rate spring when compressed and could cause a clearance issue.

<small>[ June 26, 2002, 12:40 PM: Message edited by: twrsho ]</small>

 

[RI-SHO]

sho4rob:
I Do NOT want to drop it more than 1.5' in front, NOR more than 1 inch in back as I am concerned about any tire clearance problems...should I be? If anyone with the intrax/tokico setup could post a pic, that would be very helpful. Sorry for the long post. Please help me out guys (and gals). Thanks.

This is a "Taurus" we are talking about it would take at least a 3" drop to cause tire clearance problems with 235/45/17(unless its a Gen I ) tires, they have almost(if not exact) the same total wheel diameter as my Pirelli P7000SS 235/40/18 tires, and my drop is closer to 2.5" upfront(less than two funger gap) and 1.25" in the rear with no rubbing problems even ******* dips/etc on hwy or streets. But I do have to bitch about the ride. I see it this way if you want a certain "look" you have to pay the price by having a close to ****** ride with barly any comfort even on newly paved roads, it could also be my 2yr old GR2's(finally giving out) not being good enuff, so I hope you have betta luck with your Tockio's.

<small>[ June 26, 2002, 12:16 PM: Message edited by: RI-SHO ]</small>

 

[luigisho]

As to the drop issue don't forget that the factory springs are generally crappy and are sagging on many cars. So the drop you might get when the car/springs were fresher may be considerably different than the drop you experience when installed today. Some people have reported the rear actually coming up after installing "lowering" springs due to our (GenI) sagging bottoms.

 

[twr]

That was the case with my 95' equipped with SLO springs - the back came up 3/4 to1".

<small>[ June 26, 2002, 02:42 PM: Message edited by: twrsho ]</small>

 

[SHOTYM2]

Ok let me ask this. What are the opinions on cutting the OEM springs? I have a 93 and there is about 3" gap in the front. I am not going to spend the $$$ for new springs and struts. I already did that on my 90. I have cut plenty of Mustang springs with pretty good results. My question is how much to cut on the SHO? Both for front and back. I know the ride will siffer a little but maybe not as much as with the aftermarket springs, plus I will be able to keep my stock struts. Or another option is heating the springs to lower.

Thanks for the info (if I get any)
Jon....

 

[twr]

Cutting the stock springs will not stiffen the ride up at all. The only problem that I can see is that the stockers do not have enough spring rate to keep the car from bottoming out on the strut bump stops. Ofcourse you could remove the bump stops and just use the fenders thumbs_u

Honestly I don't know what could happen if they were cut.

 

[sho4rob]

Thanks for the replys guys; (keep em' coming....) but, is there anybody out there that has the intrax/tokico setup that could post a pic???

 

[twr]

Struts have no effect on ride height. I'm trying to post pics.

Terry

<small>[ June 26, 2002, 06:21 PM: Message edited by: twrsho ]</small>

 

[RI-SHO]

I dont know if Eibach or Intrax springs have "dead" coils(i'm pretty sure every spring does), then you can get away with cutting those coils off with little or no affect on the spring itself. I was considering this for my SHO but I wont push my luck for now, since i am so damn close to the bump stop(i think i am riding on them last time i checked) and my subframe is only inches from the ground and i dont need anymore of hassle with my bumper scraping.

 

[luigisho]

I would not recommend to anyone cutting the stock springs. These have proven themselves to be relatively weak already and I would not have any confidence in ones that were monkeyed with. **** the '93's? have the recall on them to put a plate between the spring and the tire to prevent puncture in case the spring breaks! Ford won't even replace the spring just eliminate the legal hazard of causing injury.

 

[Jibberish18]

Is there any way to get a 1.5" drop front and back? After I put on the Monroes the car definitely sits a bit higher and no I'm not imagining things.

 

[Hubes]

my stuff still isn't installed yet. it will be on july 19 though. does anyone have any pics of eibachs with kyb gr2's because that is the setup i will have. currently everything is in boxes in my basement awaiting installation.

 

[cRaZySHO.]

Yo Hubes, where did you get the Eibachs from? Wanna sell me yours?

 

[Milo]

A good buddy of mine had the Eibachs with GR2s. Eibachs spring rate is too high for the GR2s so it bounced like a ****. He switched to Konis right away and has been very satisfied with it.

 

[PROPHET]

The Intrax springs will lower car more and are at a safe level any lower youll damage front end plastics .They are really stiff I have them with KyBs very happy with so far. burn_out

 

[NorthernSHO]

Funny you should mention it, both of the front springs on my 94 are broken and I only have 115,000 miles on her. I talked with Ford and they said they would not replace them but they would install the bracket so I don't puncture my tire and die. They're so generous aren't they! I don't want a stinkin bracket, I want springs! I would get Eibachs but they only come in sets of four and I don't have the money to be messing with it all. Anyway, rant over.

luigisho:
I would not recommend to anyone cutting the stock springs. These have proven themselves to be relatively weak already and I would not have any confidence in ones that were monkeyed with. **** the '93's? have the recall on them to put a plate between the spring and the tire to prevent puncture in case the spring breaks! Ford won't even replace the spring just eliminate the legal hazard of causing injury.