I have 18inch chrome oems on my LS430.. I hear about people buying coils to either upgrade to bigger wheels or just to improve the ride quality.. My question is that I have never modded anything like this and would like to do so.. I know all of my suspension is stock, but leaving on my oem wheels, will an upgrade really do much better than whats currently on there? Also i keep hearing the brand Tien.. Is this a good one to go with, and what would be an average price to get this done... parts+labor.. Just would like to know a little more about this from someone that knows...thanks alot people

 

depends on what your trying to do. if your trying to get a better quality ride, nothing beats oem. whenever you lower your car you sacrifice ride quality. do you want springs or coilovers? theres a big price difference between both.

 

Lowering springs new are ~$300. It is recommended to replace the struts with a higher performance unit at the time. While your originals struts can be re-used if in good condition, the ride height change may not be within the OEM strut's range of nominal operation. Hence some may blow them out if lowering too aggressively. A strut usually can take about 1.5-2" and still be fine IME. Beyond that...best is to go with an adjustable coil system. Performance struts ~$100-$200 per strut X4.

Install at a good price is about $50 corner so $200 at the lowest with $300 at high. You'll also need an alignment after the car settles so there is $75+. Adjustable coils $1k-$3K for the parts itself then there is air.

By the time you install lowering springs with struts, the difference in a lower end adjustable coil system is maybe $300. Not much overall so an adjustable coil system is the better way to go. You can adjust spring rebound, ride height and dampening factors. Where a basic spring strut you have no adjustments. Worth the price. Although that said, mine is on lowering springs with struts. I'm happy with it but if I get a 430 or 460, it will be the adjustable coils.

Lowering typically makes the car stiffer and combined with a big wheel low profile tire, a harsher ride. If you really like OEM, don't mess with it. There are compromises for the look.

 

It really depends on what you want the car to do,as to which path you take.

If you're happy with the ride height,comfort and handling of the stock setup,you're best off leaving it alone and just replacing worn shocks with new oem equivalents.

If you want to go a bit lower (up to 1.5") for aesthetics while maintaining driveability and aren't concerned with altering the handling,some tein S-tech springs or similar on new oem equivalent shocks will do the job.

If you want improved handling,and don't mide the ride being a bit firmer,you should go for good quality coilovers,and some aftermarket sway bars.

If you want to slam the car for best VIP-style stance,you'll have to go for either coilovers and lose most of the car's driveability,or go for an aftermarket air setup to allow large ride height changes on the go.

There are many options,it all depends on what you want to do with the car.


Justin...