Cheap and easy way to lower the rear?

[DMan]

Ok I think I already know the answer to this, but wanted to ask the experts.
Is there an easy and cheap way to lower the rear about inch?

I'm thinking of running 18s all around but not crazy about the extra wheel well exposure that'll probably give me. Thoughts welcome.

 

[GTS-R 001]

What is your idea of cheap?

 

[viperDoug]

I installed Eibach springs and spring caps. As far as I know, that is the cheapest way.

 

[GTS-R 001]

You should try these,

Not much more in cost that eibachs and caps ($400 + $160-$190)

This kit comes with real race springs (better ride and handling) for $995. and you can go up and down at will.

 

[ledfoot]

Probably dinner and a movie.

 

[99 R/T 10]

You should try these,

Not much more in cost that eibachs and caps ($400 + $160-$190)

This kit comes with real race springs (better ride and handling) for $995. and you can go up and down at will.

Will these work for the Gen I/IIs also?

 

[DMan]

What is your idea of cheap?

Like springs, a few hundred $'s. Am I dreaming?

I blew my *** ordering that Vipair hood from ya & need to skimp a few other things.

 

[ScrewDrvr]

put a few of these in the trunk

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[ILLSMOQ]

Get the coil overs...that's going to be your best bang for the buck. Save your money untill you can do it right.

 

[ILLSMOQ]

put a few of these in the trunk

You must be registered for see images attach

a 50 pound bag of dog food would make for a cleaner install.

 

[DMan]

Well, I brain farted on the search before I think, used bad terms, searching on the Eibachs, etc. now, I found some good info & checked our Partsrack web site so I see the caps & springs.

If I go 18s all around I read that the rear wheel will drop a bit in profile, I'm thinking if I did the Eibachs I'd get about an inch drop in the rear & maybe improve the wheel hop / ride quality. If I did the springs I think I wouldn't do caps, as I've never had a problem with clearance & don't want to start.

Sorry I started the thread so lame ... I don't kow what I was thinking when I searched ... or maybe I wasn't. Of course a few bricks or some dog food would be a bargin solution.

 

[RobZilla]

Stab the rear tires with something sharp. That'll drop her fast.

 

[FLATOUT]

I would go with the adjustable setup from Steve posted above if your looking for a good setup.

I have Eibachs and I am really wanting to upgrade to Steves setup at some point!

 

[GTS-R 001]

Will these work for the Gen I/IIs also?

They do now, I have a set ready for Gen 1 or 2 , install is a little longer due to teh way the stock shocks are built.

 

[Viper X]

GTS-R 001,

Can you tell us more about these?

Dan

 

[Shank2117]

my buddy just got the H&R coilovers, they go for like $2,500. One of these weeks im going to take a break from partying and use the money for that setup.

 

[GTS-R 001]

Just as an FYI H&R uses much lighter spring rates and they use H&R springs and therefore a bouncier ride

 

[GTS-R 001]

GTS-R 001,

Can you tell us more about these?

Dan

Sure Dan,

A couple of months ago, I decided to lower my Gen 3 coupe and in doing the research on feedback from various individuals about the current options out there I found that there is a big performance / price variance. My findings were as follows

Caps
- $150 - $200 plus shipping depending on vendor,
- No determinate spec on quality of product
- Lowers car .5 inches, some claim more but the facts are the facts
- Unadjustable
- DIY-able - yes
- Install labor $300 to $500

Eibach Street Kit
- $329 - $500 plus shipping depending on vendor
- Lowers car approx 1 inch
- ride quality - Bouncy
- DIY-able - yes
- Unadjustable
- Install labor $300 to $500

Combination of Caps and Eibachs
- $479.00 to $700.00 plus shipping depending on vendor
- Lowers car approx 1.5 inches
- Ride quality bouncy
- Unadjustable
- DIY-able - yes
- Upgradeable ability NONE - sell or throw away and go with complete new high end system
- Install labor $300 to $500

KW Variant 2's, Moton Club Sports, Penskes.
- $3500 - $6000 plus shipping depending on vendor
- Lowers car approx 0 - as low as you can go
- Ride quality Stiff but Good (race car like)
- Adjustable height
- Adjustable dampening
- Adjustable rebound
- DIY-able - not usually
- optimal Spring rates 500lb front - 800 lb rear
- Install labor $300 to $500
- Allows corner weighting

Most people that can afford or justify the $4K - $6K for the high end systems do in fact go that way, but a lot of these people never "adjust" the rebound and dampening after original set up etc. they just drive

Given the above and the fact that I have owned and tried tried all 3 of the high end systems, I set out to "get the best of both worlds, as much as I could put together, with an upgrade path to the "high end" and as much adjustability as one could expect for the price.

What I came up with is a set up that specs as follows

VIPAIR PERFORMANCE KIT
- VCA price $995 plus shipping
- Pro Kit which includes helper springs $1295 plus shipping
- Lowers car approx 0 - as low as you can go
- Ride quality Stiff but Good (race car like)
- Adjustable height
- DIY-able - YES
- Upgradeable - keep the springs for use on High end systems
- optimal Spring rates 500lb front - 800 lb rear
- Install labor $300 to $500
- Allows corner weighting
- Lowers weight per corner
- All components made from T6 6061 Aircraft quality Aluminum and anodized for evtra surface strength

Here is before and after shots of the car with and without the kit. The car can still go down an inch or so but I have a steep driveway and a large splitter on the front so I can only go sooooo low.

Before

After

Here is a pic of the standard adjustable kit

Here are some pics of the kit installed on the shocks

Here is a pic of the "PRO" Kit which includes the helpers to keep everthing in place

Rear prototype installed

Front Prototype installed

Rear new weight

Rear Stock Weight

Front New Weight

Front Stock Weight

 

[GTS-R 001]

With the acme thread on these things, the nut does not like to move at all with any force on it. That is why I:
1) went with higher spring rates so that there is no need to pre-load like the stock suspension
2) The sleeves are super tight slip fit and the fronts are a different ID than the rears as teh shocks are slightly different OD between front and back
3) I placed 2 set screws on the bottom of each sleeve to hold it in place
4) the rear shocks actually have a slot in them that the set screws fit in on one side (slot is for install and remove from the black fork)

Hence they do not slip when loosened or tightened ( I also encountered this on the protypes so I made adjustments to avoid this very thing.

 

[GTS-R 001]

Stock Spring rates as follows:

2003-2006 SRT-10:
Front: 200 lb/in preloaded by 3+inches = 600 lbs preload (approx)
Rear: 500 lb/in preloaded by 1.5 inches = 750 lbs preload (approx)

2008-2009 SRT-10:
Front: 210 lb/in preloaded by 3+inches = 630 lbs preload (approx)
Rear: 525 lb/in preloaded by 1.5 inches = 787.5 lbs preload (approx)

I say approx because the initial compression of teh spring is slightly less that teh rates above.

The rates of the springs that are included in the kit are the SRT10 club sport settings of 500 front and 800 rear, this gives you a stiffer ride than stock (just as on motons etc.) but is well within the operating capacity of the stock shocks due to the pre-loading of the stock springs.

So to effectively answer your real question about will it give you stiffer handling in the twisties - DEFINATELY, is it bouncy - NO, does it feel better - YES, do I have a biased opinion - OF COURSE,

I can only tell you that my 06 coupe now handles better than my 2000 GTS with a full penske race suspension and it "feels" like a race car on the street, and I can raise or lower it in my driveway with a jack and a spanner wrench in a matter of minutes. In fact it takes longer to drive teh car onto the ramps I need in order to get the jack under neath the car than to adjust the suspension for the height

 

[GTS-R 001]

While the stock shocks are most probably "made" to work best at stock ride height this kit is made for those who want to lower their car and do so on a budget.

Both the Moton shocks and KW shock are in fact running out of travel at a point before the stock ones run out of travel and are therefore under the same disadvantage you quote when travel runs out and as you can see from the below pic, all 3 have approx the same travel distance of between 4 and 4.5 inches total uncompressed travel and they all run out of travel at approx the same place. The only way to change this is to change the shock mounting point. The Stock shocks with my set up actually let the shock travel to well within the visible hardware and given that all 3 of these setups have the same spring rates, then the same cornering forces would be required to "eat up the travel " before one hit the bump stops on ANY 3 of the 3 setups in the picture.

The moton pic has 8 inch springs and the KW is sized appropriately in this pic, the gen 3 kit also has an 8 inch spring

As all can see the travel distance between all 3 is pretty much the same, so with all 3 having 800 lb springs the cpmpression will be about the same with the same cornering forces, the only advantage the KW or Motons will have is the rate of dampening and the rate of rebound that are set, but hitting the bumpstops will happen in approx the same spot on all 3 systems.

As I have said before this kit IS NOT AS GOOD AS MOTONS OR KW'S, it is better than eibach streets and caps and is adjustable.

 

[DMan]

Steve, thanks for all the info, you've got me really thinking maybe I should hold off, for just about $500 more I can do a completely adjustable setup & not have to worry about too hi or lo, or whatever. I guess it's like your hood, I kept drooling for it until I couldn't take it any longer & had to order, i should probably do the same with the suspension, save up my duckets and do it right & still at what is obviously a cheap price all things considered.

Another quick question, my car, being an 03, has some older shocks on there, this would replace everything so this is also a refresh to some aging components, yes? I've read of seals leaking over time ... I'm thinking if I did springs only to find a leaking seal soon after, I'd kick myself, or am I off base?

Dave.

 

[GTS-R 001]

Steve, thanks for all the info, you've got me really thinking maybe I should hold off, for just about $500 more I can do a completely adjustable setup & not have to worry about too hi or lo, or whatever. I guess it's like your hood, I kept drooling for it until I couldn't take it any longer & had to order, i should probably do the same with the suspension, save up my duckets and do it right & still at what is obviously a cheap price all things considered.

Another quick question, my car, being an 03, has some older shocks on there, this would replace everything so this is also a refresh to some aging components, yes? I've read of seals leaking over time ... I'm thinking if I did springs only to find a leaking seal soon after, I'd kick myself, or am I off base?

Dave.

Dave,

Luckily there are always new shocks available form when people buy the motons or the KW's . I have bought a few complete sets of brand new 08 shocks for $150 off Ebay. If you are worreid about your seals that would be the best way to go. but if your shocks are not leaking I would not invest the money in replacing them