I have a 95 LS400 and recently lowered the vehicle with Springs (about 1.5" all around). I will be replacing the struts next. Does anyone have ideas about aftermarket struts? I would like to further improve the handling and am wondering if there are struts that would provide a stiffer, sportier ride.

Thanks,

Steveski

 

Hey Steveski,

Can I ask what springs you went with and how you like them? Did you measure before and after to get an accurate number or is that what the springs were said to do. Do you have any pics of your car now? I am looking to drop mine about that much but not sure what springs.

Thanks,
Shawn

 

I went with H & R and it lowered it an average of 1.5" although I did not measure it before. The front dropped a bit more (you can see by the pic) than the rear. I think as far as ride quality goes it improved it. Before it was wishy washy. Now it is more responsive. There's still body roll, etc. which I will address with strut tower braces and other suspension components.

The local speed shop told me that if you lower it too much you may not be able to accurately adjust the alignment without buying/fabricating parts so I decided to shy away from Tanabe, etc.

Although I dropped the vehicle only 1.5" I do have to be careful on speed bump whereas before it was no problem.

Check out the pic.
Steveski

 

Looks hot!

Scott

 

That looks GREAT!

I just got my wheels and tires on yesterday and now I am itching to do the suspension. Thanks for the info.

 

thas hotttt i have the car smae year and color u have black leather

 

I went with an H&R setup with the Tokico HP blue shocks for my 92. I also agree with Steveski about the speed bump situation, however the drop on H&R is only 1" not 1.5". The ride quality is pretty good, however I have some other suspension dilemas that I need to address (namely bushings). Here's my pic. Riding 225/60/16. Rims going on next month.

 

Looks sweet. Mine dropped a bit more than 1.0" because my struts are ready to be replaced. Attach a photo of your ride when you get your rims on.

 

This is a pic of mine after the Eibach and Bilsteins in it.


A better side shot after the wheels were put on.

 

RA40 nics pics. had to put my sunglasses on for sake of the bling off the rims. LOL!!!!

 

RA40 - Looks fantastic. Did your Eibach's drop your car 1"? I went with H&R with a similar drop. I have the stock struts and wonder how the Bill Stein's will feel - Did they substantially improve your handling over stock?

 

Here ya go, still playing around with the rear end. Still need to drop some more inm the rear. Here's where I am at so far.

 

Go with the Bilsteins! I went with the L-Sportline (rebadged Eibachs w/more aggressive drop) combined with the Bilsteins.

The ride definitely got a little more bumpier, combined with the 245/45/20's (TIS 05's 38 offset), but not unbearable. I'de say comfort went from a 10 to a 7.5. To the folks out there w/ more tire on their wheels, it'll be more forgiving.

It took away alot of the body roll and gave it more control when taking turns at faster speeds. Also, it gave the car a very nice rake in the front.

If the road is perfect, you couldn't even tell the car was dropped. With the combo I went with, I have about a 3/4" tire to fender gap in the front w/o me in it and 1/2" tire to fender gap in the rear with 12 gallons of gas in the tank and no passenger. I was going to drop to the lower spring perch in the front to even the gap, but I figured the car will be out of balance since the rear perch will stay the same, plus the car won't look right >>> there is such a thing as too much front rake, specially on a square car like the LS. Cars with more of a point in the front can usually get away with it better.

I know pictures speak a thousand words but I don't have my digital on hand, but I'll make sure to upload some pics as soon as I can.

Forgot to mention I have a 97'

 

The Bilsteins for the 95-00 are pretty far on the soft side, have to be careful which spring you use with them. Eibachs will work ok, but only on the higher spring clip setting. These unfortunately are discontinued BTW.

H&R springs ride pretty crappy, the spring rate is way too high and also doesn't match up well with either the stock shocks or the Bilsteins. If they had some Bilstein sports it might possibly be ok, but they don't exist.

Tokico HPs would be nice too, but they don't have those either.

These cars just lack any useable suspensoin travel, and when you lower them it gets even worse. The weight of these cars doesn't help either.

Tein is supposed to have something soon, hopefully that works out well.

Another Japanese company is also working on something possibly, which would help a lot to give more choices on what to do with these cars!

 

It is a shame there are not more cchoices for the 95 - 2000 - patience is the key. For now I went with Bilsteins and they are working out real well compared to the O***s. Bilstein and my local speed shop said they would give around a 30% better ride and I think they are correct so far. There's considerably more support and much less body roll than before. The car is definitely heavy so it will never handle like a sports car but it is getting much closer to what I have in mind.

I have a Tom's strut tower brace coming in the next day or so and an Addco sway bar on order. So far the old LS is driving much better

Kalbo - post a pic of your ride.