Brian S

Edit: Whoops, I meant to say they are the Sportline springs, which are stiffer than the Eibach Prokit. Corrected in the post below.

Okey dokey, I've got a bit of a dilemma. A few months ago, I installed the L-Sportline suspension kit. They are Bilsteins with apparently Eibach Sportline springs. Mistake #1 was adjusting the c-clip on the adjustable Bilsteins to be one spot lower than default. The problem I am having is that the ride is harsh -- damn harsh. My girlfriend's father hurt his back after a bumpy ride on a road with construction.

First, I am curious how the ride is for the few of you who have this setup and were wise enough to leave it at default? Do you jostle up and down on anything but the smallest bump? Does the car seem stiff to the point that you can feel most things in the road? Does it frequently bottom out? My latest excitement is actually hearing the car complain as the dash emits a "beep" when I seem to hit a harsh bump.

I found out the L-Sportline are Eibach Sportline springs, and thus are the harsher riding and sportier version Eibach manufactured. I plan to have the car raised back to the default setting, but I am afraid these springs are contributing to the rough ride. I am wondering, if I replaced the springs with H&R's sport model, might the ride improve? I am will to give up a little ride quality to reduce the gap, but I'm going to go insane with this ride, and it is ruining my car's supension components.

Thank you for any advice. Really.

Brian

SC400DAVE

Go back to stock components that were enginered for your car and a luxury ride.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

The Eibach/Bistein combo is very nice riding on the stock 16" tire wheels. You wouldn't really notice it unless you come across a relatively harsh road variation. I had discussed the differences of the H&R and Eibach Pro Kit with Mario at Toysport back in 11/2002. His recommendation was that the Eibach was the nicer riding of the two.

The problem is that with the lower clip setting, you have what I figure to be about .50" max of suspension travel if even that. From your description the strut is bottomed out and thus zero suspension travel. Hopefully you haven't ridden on it too long to cause any damage to the strut.

Get that adjusted ASAP. Once you get some suspension travel back, the car will be nice.

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

Move the setting back up to default, or even the top level and the ride will get much better. You upgraded your wheels, so that didnt help much.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

I haven't seen many pics of the mass buy of LSportline suspension stuff. ??? Post some pics up guys!

Brian S

Whoops, I meant to say these springs are based on the Eibach Sportline, which is Eibach's stiffer spring. I'm not sure why they used that spring in this setup, unless they meant to allow for more aggressive lowering.

Does anyone have height measurements of their L-Sportline before and after, with the default height setting? Is the ride really that alright? I would hate to spend $300, again, to have the height adjusted when I find the supension is still very stiff.

Thanks,

Brian

Stefwilli

No it isn't the springs giving the harsh ride at all. My car rides great and it's pretty low, just do the adjustment and enjoy the ride.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Before any mods are done to the suspension measure the car so you know what happens. By doing this, if you have problems you know what has occured. If the manufacturer says the springs are good for 2" and it comes down 3"...that's not right.... If you didn't take measurments and "don't know" why a tire rubs or a some such...

Stock height with 16" wheels and Michelin MX4V 225/60-16 inflated to 34 PSI cold 1/2 tank gas
Measured from ground to top of fender well arch. (You can also measure from lowest portion of the wheel rim to fender well arch.)

LF 28.25" RF 28.50
LR 28.25 RR 28.625

Eibach Pro Kit and Bilsetin HD front set on lower snap ring setting, rear on high/default setting. half tank gas after initial install.

LF 26.50 RF 26.58
LR 27 RR 27.25

After 10K miles I took anoher measurment and I've also taken measurments with the new wheels. The sheet is at my workplace and I'll be gone for the next 2 days approx....you'll have to wait.

It's not the springs...the strut is bottomed out or the rubber bump stops are preventing proper travel. When they installed the suspension, they did cut the rubber bump stops? Normal suspension travel is almost 4". I have about 1.50" travel before it reaches the stops.

Brian S

I'm pretty sure the guy didn't cut the bump stops. The people I'm having do the re-work are more experienced with this stuff, and I will make sure that they will cut the bump stops.

Thanks for the info RA40. Too bad Eibach no longer makes the Eibach prokit for the LS. I wonder what the difference is between your springs and mine. Makes me wonder though. Mike at Dazz said Eibach specifically designed the springs for L-Sportline, and Eibach later sold them based spec design they did for L-Sportline Why would Eibach then design and sell Prokit springs after already having had designed the Sportline type ones. I wonder if our springs are the same.

I think what everyone is telling me about the telling me about height is probably the problem. But I am curious though, even small bumps (think the tar they insert between road cracks) seems pronounced in the cabin. Wouldn't this particular instance more be an issue of stiff springs?

Thanks,

Brian

Brian S

Did some more research. It seems the H&R Sport springs have a 25-35% stiffer spring rate, and are practically the same as my springs, even if they Eibach Sportline. So changing springs probably isn't going to help much.

I guess my thing now is, if I raise the vehicle to the default setting, or even one higher, will the ride over small bumps improve at all? The Bilstein guy seemed to indicate if it seems taught even on the small stuff, it's probably a spring issue. I don't expect a stock ride, but every little bump shoudln't be jarring.

Thanks,

Brian

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Let us try this. When someone sits in the car, the ride height will be lower. Have someone sit in the car and observe if the ride height changes when they sit and exit the vehicle. If the car does not move...something is bottomed out.

The longer we ponder this issue, the risk by driving on the strut increases the likelyhood of damage. This adds additional stress on the frame which may lead to creaking and rattles in the future.

If you have a digital...snap us a pic so we can see where the wheels are.

Brian S

It is not bottomed out. In my uneducated guess, I would would say it has maybe 1" of travel. I hope the car hasn't been harmed. I drove on a 1,000 mile trip and have been driving a ton over the summer around New York on some of the crappiest roads in the world (no joke).

I had posted pics of the install in this forum after everything was finished:
http://gallery.brianandfabi.com/myls400

It doesn't look dramatically lower than Steffwilli's. Maybe .5", which should be correct considering it's just one notch lower on the Bilstein adjustment. That's why I keep asking if just raising is really going to make a difference.

Brian

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

We wouldnt really know if it made a difference since we dont know how yours rides. Mine doesnt ride as well as stock, but its not THAT bad. Nothing an average person would complain about. Still rides better then a lot of cars on the road.

What ever happend with DAZZ? have they refuneded you anything because of the issue we talked about?

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Ah...now I recall your ride.

Here are some of my measurments...perhaps we'll get this figured out.

LF 25.75" RF 26.00"
LR 26.25" RR 26.75"

Tires are 245/40-18 BFG KDW-2 at 37 psi front and 38.5 rear. Gas is about 3/8 tank with this measurment.

Like Grand said...there is a change in ride and the 18's do most of it. Mine is pretty smooth considering and these summer tires aren't the nicest examples. Also the heavier the wheel, the ride will degrade due to the rotational mass-unsprung weight. Each wheel of mine weighs 52#'s some odd and that is a 5# change from stock.

Brian S

Welp, I am replacing the Eibach's with H&Rs tomorrow. My mechanic was adamant that it would make a difference, and I trust him. He was right on a brake issue I had, plus he does a lot of custom mods, so I'm going with his advice. Even with the spring rate being similar, he noted the 1" listed drop on the H&Rs will make for a smoother ride. I just wanted to get rid of some of the wheel gap, so I'd be willing to get rid of the aggressive drop to get back most of the ride. FWIW, he's not making any money off the shocks. In fact, he had to use a connection at TireRack to get H&R to drop ship them 2nd day directly from the factory. They are currently on national backorder and I am moving on Monday, so I needed this done ASAP.

I'll keep everyone updated.

Thanks,

Brian