New struts....new springs too?

[chris01i30]

Last year I put 17 wheels and 50 series tires on my 2001 i30. Its ridden pretty rough since then, which I attributed mostly to the lower profile (although I was running 55 series before and it wasnt that bad)

My dad drove the car and suggested that the struts might be on their way out. The car only has 60K miles on it, but its about 10 yrs old. I figure they are going out because of age and not mileage, although the mileage seems close.

In the interest of hopefully taming some of the roughness, I was actually looking at Illuminas, so I could adjust the ride quality (hopefully back to, or at least close to, what it used to be). Since they are pretty expensive, springing (ha!) for springs on top of that is kind of busting the budget.

So, would Illuminas with stock springs just be a complete waste? Or is it not a bad combo? Any other suggestions on a budget-minded setup? The KYBs dont look too bad but Ive read that they are a little harsher than OEM, which is kind of the issue Im trying to fix. Same goes for the Tokico HPs, per some chart on max forums (Tokico HP = Illuminas set to "3" whcih is about 5% harsher than stock)

Thanks in advance.

-Chris

[MTZI30]

Hmm, I figured struts going out would make the ride softer and give you body roll. I had a blown rear strut and my car had a lot of body roll. I replaced them with tokico blues and kept the stock springs. Very happy but ya you go over bumps and it is harsher. Your tires also dont sound too low profile.

[Chris92SE]

Usually there is a distinct trade off when it comes to suspension. I guess this could include tires, too.

Either soft with decreased handling ability

or

stiff/harsh with increased handling ability

For example, my Maxima used to have a bone stock suspension and the handling was so-so at best. I installed Eibach springs, Tokico blue struts, a thicker rear sway bar, alont with front and rear strut tower braces. The difference is like night and day. I actually drove a stock Maxima a while back and I almost crashed it. It makes that much difference. The stock one also seemed very soft and not harsh at all. In mine, I can definitely feel bumps in the road. I am used to it now.

You might be able to compromise with just better struts and maintain a ride fairly near stock with increased handling. It isn't going to be extremely different, but it should handle better and keep your car on the road better. One thing you could do is install the adjustables, then decide later if you want to go for springs.