Now I Gotta DROP IT !?!?

From one Matt to another Matt

1. Yes, common aftermarket springs like Eibach, Tein, or Tanabe work fine with stock struts. I'm using H&R lowering springs with my stock struts - Have been for 10,000 miles and no issues bottoming-out or blown shocks. As long as you don't do hard driving and cornering, your shocks' life should not be any different.

2. Generally, unless you're completely slammed, no. A moderate drop up to 1.5" won't shorten the life of your suspension as long as, again, you drive normally and not like a race car.

3. Yes but the dealership will have to prove it was caused by the aftermarket springs. Keep your old springs so you can switch back in case anything ever does happen.

 

$600?? I was quoted $200. I ordered my Eibach pro kit through tirerack and picked an installer through them. Getting them next week!

I'd find another shop--600 seems outrageously high.

 

$600 is 3x too much. Keep calling around and tell places you've got quotes for around $150-200. They'll bend their backs especially in this economy. This sort of thing is sooo negotiable.

I paid $150 w/out negotiating - that was his price. Of course the guy had a dinky hole-in the-wall garage in a cheap part of town. But hey, that's the way to go IMO. You don't need a guy in a suit with a fancy degree to do this for you. A good average price will be ~$200. Think of it as 2-3 hours of labor. If they know what they're doing, really it shouldn't take them longer than 1.5 hours but a 2-3 hour window is standard I think.

Also one more thing - now might also be a good time to add any strut or sway bars while your car is jacked up and your suspension is apart, if you ever considered it. Maybe they'll throw that in with the labor cost. That's one thing I regret forgetting to do, but who's to say he would've charged me the same price. Just an idea.

 

Yeah, that explains it. Check out guys who specialize in custom suspension. The guy I went to specialized in lifting trucks. I was pretty scared to show up with my Japanese hybrid but he was extremely nice and professional, and I was out in under 2 hours.

 

I do notice that upsizing to 18" or bigger tends to look odd or goofy without some lowering. If someone doesn't want to lower at all, they'd basically have to stick with factory 17" specs (depending on the style of the wheels).

 

Just an FYI...for those that want the Eibachs...I got them from autoeverything for $206 shipped to CA. I used a 15% off code that was floating around out there so that was the price including tax. Was going to go with tirerack but they wanted like $25-35 for shipping depending on which distribution center you picked. I got mine in 2 days because they came out of Ontario, CA.

 

Thanks for the heads up. Just ordered the Eibach springs from AutoAnything. Used coupon code AAOFFERS10 for 10% off + Free Ground Shipping. $200.66 total (before sales tax).

 

Alright!

Hey, do you think the 17'' wheels will sit nice with the eibachs? I wanted 18''s but tirerack ended their closeout of the wheel I wanted. Now they only have the 17''s and I think this might actually be better because there are more lrr tires in that size...

idk.

but PLEASE post pics...I really would like to see.

 

17" is the optimal size for a good balance between practicality, ride quality and looks.

 

I'd say it really depends on the design of the wheels. I've seen some 18" that look no bigger than factory 17" because of the spoke design and/or color (especially black) that makes them look smaller compared to the wide spokes found on stock 17".

 

Enkei Performance T-Fork Machined w/Anthracite Accent

for some reason I feel like these will look smaller than the factory...but they are the ones I want. Im just not sure if the eibachs will be a big enough drop to notice.

 

32k is correct, the design and color makes a big difference. The T-Forks will look large because the machined spokes comes all the way to the very edge of the wheel. Visually this will make it look larger than a wheel of the same size with spokes that don't go all they way to the edge. Some wheels have a thick lip which makes the wheel look smaller than it actually is, if that lip is black then the effect is even more pronounced.

 

Agreed on that aspect, but the 17" version still might look smaller compared to factory 17" because of its thinner spokes. Wide spokes tend to make a wheel look larger. So I'd spend the extra money for a set of 18" to be safe.

 

Still waiting for photos... let's see those wheels!

 

I have 225/40 R-18's with a +35 offset that came from my old 07 Matrix. I have put Eibachs on mine and have issues with rubbing in the front. Be aware that wheel offset may come into play. I love the way my wheels look on the car but the rubbing is bad in hard cornering and unexpected bumps in the road. And of course gets worse with people in the car. I will post pics of my car for comparison. I have some wheels with a +45 on the way and we are going to mount one first to see how the clearance is. I will post back with results once they are in. I may put the stock springs back on and go with swaybars and a STB if I cannot resolve this with offset change.