what do yall think, springs or coilovers

[halfassracing]

do you beleave that springs are better or coilovers explaine

[240sxjeff]

It depends what you want it for. If you just want to get your car to look low and don't care about performance that much just get some lowering springs. Now if your looking for real performance I would go ahead and get the coilovers even though they are more expensive. I bought a spring/shock kit and had to change them for coilovers because they were too soft and I preferred the stiffer ride, adjustability, and added performance of the coilovers. Just do some research before you buy anything it will pay off in the long run

[ddgsxr504]

Well it depends on what you want out of your car. If you want to get springs I would suggest replacing your struts for ones that are meant to have lowering springs on them. If you put lowering springs on your stock struts (which most people do) it lowers your strut piston which will cause your struts to blow in about 6 months from the reduced travel caused by springs. For the same price as springs and decent struts you can get a non-adjustable coil over set up like the Tanabe Sustec SOC-type 2 or some Nex coilovers. Both of these are just street performance set ups and are ride height adjustable for around $700-800.

[aesic]

If your going with coils, you can get Megan Racing coils for $900. The word going around (and I'm almost sure its true) is that they are made at the same factory as Apexi coils (Megan doesn't make their own stuff). As a matter of fact, the Megan instructions even show Apexi coils in their pictures.

I actually just installed my AGX/H&R combo (finished at midnight last night) and at the same time we installed my friends Megan's. I only got one ride on the Megans but they felt really good. I've driven about 40 miles on my suspension so far and mine feel 100x better than stock. Don't have enough seat time to compare Megans vs. AGX/H&R.

I'd say it depends on budget and how "hardcore" you are. If you want cheaper but still VERY noticably better, find some used spring/shock combo. If you want more expensive and "hardcore", go with coils (I'd recommend Megans since they are a lot cheaper).

-aesic

[naed240sx]

Another thing to look at is gonna be the road in your area. If there are alot of really bad, bumpy roads that you will have to drive on often, coilovers might become a pain. I just recently got some kts, and damn, driving around downtown austin sucks ***. I almost got airborne a couple times. But when I hit the smooth stuff, it handles like a dream.

[HashiriyaS14]

The bottom line is, if you daily-drive a car with coilovers over *really* bad roads, every day, you're going to blow your coilovers.....and it'll be a big waste.

Tune for what you're going to have to do.

[Riley2.4L]

Even if you just want the lowered look I suggest you go with coilovers. The products that are on the markets today have so many adjustable features you could not only change your ride height but also give yourself a smoother ride ( a point scorer with the females).

[e_c]

you also want to look at how often you will utilize the full adjustability of the coilovers... ie: are you going to go to the track 2x or mor a month... if not, then you probably dont need that amount of adjustability...i have the agx adjustable struts and eibach sportlines... these lower the car, make the ride stiffer, and since i have the adjustable struts, if i take it to a track i can adjust them to be the stiffest, while on normal roads i can have them on medium stiffness...

in short... i got the spring/strut cause i knew that now, being in college, i dont have the time or money to go to the track all the time, and i wouldnt get the full use out of my coilovers, so i will get them in the future when i have more money/time to utilize them to their fullest...

[dfw240_EE]

OK, idiot question: What is the difference between coilovers and a spring and strut setup? Best I can come up with is that coilovers are spring and strut in one single package.

[naed240sx]

OK, idiot question: What is the difference between coilovers and a spring and strut setup? Best I can come up with is that coilovers are spring and strut in one single package.

Umm. sort of, but more complicated than that. Alot of the features available on coilovers do not exist for spring/strut setups.

http://www.splparts.com/Parts/...s.jpg

http://www.splparts.com/Parts/...3.JPG

http://www.splparts.com/Parts/...2.jpg

Those are kts coilovers. Note how the shock body is threaded, and how close the spring wraps around it. this allows the spring mount to be threaded upwards, to preload the spring, and increase spring rate, and for the whole shock body to be threaded in and out of the lower mount, affecting ride height. The upper mounts are allso ball joints, instead of a flexible rubber piece, allowing for much tighter handling, less flex and less noise.

[naed240sx]

btw, the upper camber adjust on the front coilovers is a very nice feature.

[dfw240_EE]

thanx for the clarification.

[Bigvinnie]

Like people have said depends on what you want out of your car. If you want the biggest bang for your buck set up you can get Tokico Blues "HD" struts, and tein springs with a 1.6" drop for a pretty good price. A moderate upgrade would be to get KYB AGX's, with the Tein spring. I have the AGX's, and for a strut and spring combo it works out very well.If I had a little more money at the time I would of rather gone with the Eibach springs over the TEINS. Struts and springs are what you call the budget combo, just make shure you deal with a reputable strut company that makes a great dampener, such as Tokico, or KYB.Obviously the next step up is coil overs you can get a tokico or megan racing coil over kit for around $600. But honestly if you are going to get coil overs that really work you are going to atleast be spending $1200 for a set of coil overs that have a good dampener.Alot of people I know that have the cheaper coil overs even thought that my car suspension rode better then theres from there opinion. So I would say that cheap coil overs and great struts and springs could be a toss up.But if you have big dollars just get a great coil over set for $1200 or more....
Modified by Bigvinnie at 7:59 AM 8/25/2005

[dfw240_EE]

OK, say I want a subtle drop (not more than 1" to 1.5") and I wish for extra handling and don't mind sacrificing comfort to obtain it. I don't want to alter the suspension geometery much from stock. If I have to I would want to take some measurements and figure out what I am doing to the car.

Sorry to thread jack, but I think this is enough in line with the original post.

[naed240sx]

Well if you have read the suspension tuning articles from scc, there is some really good stuff in there about geometry, but im sure that getting the measurements right is very tricky. I dont think that anyone has actually gone through that for a 240sx. 1" to 1.5" sounds perfect. Geometry should be fine, and you will not have problems with camber or toe. I recently lowered my car with the kts coilovers, and planned on only doing a 1" drop, but I could not get the car that high in the rear without preloading the spring, because I am getting close to running out of threads on the bottom mount. I forgot what the measurement was, but I think its around 1.25" drop in rear, and about 1.5-1.75 up front. Front and rear are now at a 3 finger gap, and I was able to get it aligned to the specs that I wanted.

To sum it up, 1" to 1.5" should be a good amount to lower it, without compromising geometry much. Just make sure to get it aligned. If you wanna see some pics of such a drop, check out my cardomain>

http://www.cardomain.com/id/naed240sx

[lrb_2000]

just get tein s.techs (1.2" front, 1.5" back) and kyb agx's... that should cost around $500... put em on, and get it aligned.. you'll be good.

[dfw240_EE]

OK, so keeping in mind I would be more interested in performance than comfort, S Techs are the way to go? What about Eibach?

[Bigvinnie]

Well this is what the drop looks like with the tein stechs and the KYB AGX's on 17" rims......I believe the eibachs are a 1.5" drop in the front and a 1.2" drop in the rear, the eibachs are a little stronger. My teins work fine though I have stripped down my ride... My teins are a 1.6" drop in the front and a 1.2" drop in the rear. The dampeners on the AGX's are adjustable, and it rides really stiff on the s13 chassis, compared to the heavier s14 chassis. If you do have the s14 chassis you will wan't to get the eibach springs. Teins do the job just fine on the s13 chassis. Just my opinion from a peformance stand point.

Modified by Bigvinnie at 7:50 AM 8/25/2005
Modified by Bigvinnie at 8:02 AM 8/25/2005

[dfw240_EE]

It's an S13 hatch.

[DRIFTEADOR]

dont mean to steal your thread but this is kinda related to the discussion. Have any of you guys with coilovers tried helper springs to minimize the rough ride? I just got this set of 250lb/in springs that i'll be installing over the weekend

[Bigvinnie]

It's an S13 hatch.

Then I would go with the KYB AGX's and the Eibach sportlines. It will probably look better than mine anyways. My springs are green, and the KYB's are red. Atleast yours will be all red......

[naed240sx]

dont mean to steal your thread but this is kinda related to the discussion. Have any of you guys with coilovers tried helper springs to minimize the rough ride? I just got this set of 250lb/in springs that i'll be installing over the weekend

I didnt know that you could use those on coilovers that dont come with them. my guess: you would install them under the other spring, directly in contact with the one above? Effect being sort of like a non-linear spring? So that you get a good ride, and then during cornering, you get a bit more roll, but once the helper compresses, you get the stiffness of the co spring? Explain please. thanks

[240sxjeff]

DRIFTEADOR, are you using these helper springs with another lowering spring or are you adding them to a coilover assembly?

I have them on my Tein's but they came with them already on when I purchased them. I don't know anyone that has added them to their lowering springs that's why I'm asking; I'm kind of curoius now to how these will affect ride quality and performance

I just noticed this is in the wrong forum someone might want to move it to Suspension; probally get more help there

[naed240sx]

you can only use helpers with coilovers. I did some reasearch: this site pretty much sums up the point of using them.

http://e30m3performance.com/te...rings/

Essentially, they keep the spring tight against the perch even when the coilover is at full droop. so it seems like they would only be useful if you do not have any preload on your springs. I think they would also increase travel, and provide an initially softer ride for that first bit of travel, then the rate would ramp up very fast as the helper becomes fully compressed, and the stiffer co spring is engaged. Here is another pic of a coilover with a helper spring.

http://www.subiegal.com/images...1.jpg

I think that you would need an extra perch to put between the helper and the other spring to keep them from sliding around on each other.

[lrb_2000]

if you get sportlines, which are like 1.8" in back, 2" in front, you're probably going to need some sort of camber adjustment to the front and rear, so you'll have to buy upper pillowball mounts for the front, or camber bolts, and RUCAS for the rear.. mine is dropped on s.techs and they barely got it back into factory specs when it was aligned.. drop is 1.5" in front, 1.2" in front.

[naed240sx]

if you get sportlines, which are like 1.8" in back, 2" in front, you're probably going to need some sort of camber adjustment to the front and rear, so you'll have to buy upper pillowball mounts for the front, or camber bolts, and RUCAS for the rear.. mine is dropped on s.techs and they barely got it back into factory specs when it was aligned.. drop is 1.5" in front, 1.2" in front.

well what do you have on your car as far as camber adjustment? my car is dropped like 1.25-1.5 in the rear, and I dont have rucas or camber bolts or anything, and it is in spec after getting it aligned

[DRIFTEADOR]

sorry, wrong terminology on my part. What I have is tender springs. you're right, helper springs only help keep the spring tight when at full decompress, and would not make much of a difference in ride quality, since they're at full compression when the weight of the car is on them. tenders convert the spring to function sort of as a progressive rate spring. the tenders i plan on using are 250lb and my coilovers use a 6k (rear) or ~340lb/in springs

[lrb_2000]

well what do you have on your car as far as camber adjustment? my car is dropped like 1.25-1.5 in the rear, and I dont have rucas or camber bolts or anything, and it is in spec after getting it aligned

I was saying if he got sportlines.. they have a 1.8" rear drop, right? so the camber might be hard to get back.. but I dunno, I just know on my 89 coupe, I had sportlines and the camber was horrible.

[ddgsxr504]

Unless you actually look at the printout that the tire place gives you then you wouldn't know that your car is still not in perfect alignment. The guy may say you are good but that just means that they got you $h!t as close to perfect as they could. In order to get it back to a really good alignment you need to get all the rear traction, toe, camber rods. Also the fronts can be done with those little bolts but I would rather get something with adjustable camber plates. I have Tokico HD struts and Sprint Springs (bought a long time ago) which gave me 2" drop all the way around. Camber anywhere up to 1.5 is ok and won't wear your tire out, it's the toe you have to worry about. My S14 has 1.2 camber in the front and .73 in the back but before I bought the full rear arms setup my toe was off in the rear and I was eating thru tires like every 8 months.

[dfw240_EE]

I think the best route for me is to maintain the stock suspension and save up some money to get the suspension done right. Coilovers, Tension rods, Rear Upper Control Arms, the whole thing.