Please help me make a decision guys.


I have a set of Tanabe spring sitting in my garage but I'm having second thoughts about lowering the ride. Why? because I'm concerned about driving the car in the winter. I got a new job that requires me to do a lot of driving on crap rural roads. I also can't afford new struts, which means I’ll be using the old oem struts.

On the other side it will look so much better and handle better.

What to do?

 

i'd just save up for struts and do it all at once. trust me you don't want to run lowering springs with blown out oem struts. you'll be bouncing like a pogo stick. i wouldnt worry about the winter too much though i drive fine here in the colorado snow the front is still pretty high with intrax springs.

 

I'd say don't do it IF your gonna drive on Crappy roads all the time. AND depending on what size and profile tires your driving though. Crappy roads are no fun on lowered suspension. And IF you decide you do, definitely do the struts at the same time. Dont bother riding out the OEM stuff lowered. Just do it right the first time and don't bother with the OEM. Not worth the hassle doing it halfa$$. Do it right the First Time. Its worth it.

 

ya I think you guys are right about the struts.

ES BL155- how much clearence does your front bumper have? Do you have pics?


Thanks,

 

its a whopping 8.5 inches in the front 7.5in on the side of the bumper.

 

I was on Tanabe/Tokicos this past winter in northern Ontario.......no problems what so ever. With that in mind, what kinda mileage is on your OEM suspension? I'm looking to put my car back to stock in order to sell, and my tokicos only have about 25,000 kilometres on them.

 

• Installing poorly matched struts and springs = bad (Check this post for more information about how bad)
• I love my lowered suspension, but I cannot imagine having it in an area with poor road conditions such as frost heaves
• If you decide to move forward, make sure you replace both struts and springs (at that time, inspect and replace all other suspension components as necessary such as boots, bushings, etc.)

Tangent topic warning: W. David, your car is so nicely finished and customized, it's sad to see you let it go. Do you have a thread up about what you're considering in lieu of your precious ES?

 

Any pics of your car David?

My car has 120,000km the struts are still fine. With lower suspensoin they won't last long I'm sure.

I had H&R springs on my talon with KYB shocks. The KYB's are oem and only lasted a couple of years.

How much you want for 4 shocks?

 

Did you guys have any problems with alignment after you lowered? I remember when I lowered my talon they couldn't get it in complete spec.

 

I love my ES, but it's simply time for change.....wheels are already gone, as are the OEM HID's I never even installed......I'm looking to go into something small, sporty, and terribly impractical for a couple of years...

97 Lexy: Forget about my offer entirely....I was just out in the car, and something is wrong with my two passenger side struts...leaking or something. Either way, I would buy some KYB's over tokicos any day if I was doing it all over again....I just don't like the ride it gives me at all (which is why I'm going to put the car back to stock before selling).

As for pics of my car, check out my gallery in the members gallery section....it was low enough, although not as low as I wanted (which is another reason I'm selling...as opposed to putting big money into some coil-overs).

 

Avoid that unhappiness! I'm loving my KYBs! I was SO nervous about the post-lowering ride quality that I almost pulled out of that project a couple of times.

I think the KYBs are what saved it. As further evidence, my wife is 6.5 months pregnant right now and EXTREMELY sensitive to bounces and jounces in the road. She's been driving the ES a majority of the time since I completed the suspension with no complaints.

 

Get the struts and do it all at the same time. If your going to be driving on crappy roads then go with th KYB's. I got Tokico's on mine but I like the stiffer ride.

 

thanks for the help guys. If anyone is interested in my Tanabe spring let me know. They're new still in the box. If I do lower the car it won't be till next spring when I can afford new shocks.