Lowering the front

R Dubya · January 21, 2005, 09:51:56 PM

I know that the only real alternative to the rear 4x4 stance of my car is coil overs, and I am planning on getting set in a few months, but I am wondering about lowering the front. I have 245/45/50 ZR16 tires on the car, what came on it when I got it, but they are just look much smaller than my 245/50's on the other TGP. I've done some searching but didn't find a definitive answer about lowering springs. Who has used what springs and can you give me an opinion on them? I saw the Eibach Monte/Lumina springs, but are they the best way to go?

Invasion1 · January 21, 2005, 10:30:01 PM

Theses are so far the best method to lower the front.....

Info from www.w-body.com Upgrades section

Suspension Techniques. Suspension Techniques offers lowering springs to fit the front of the first-gen W-body. They are commonly sold through JC Whitney for $80/pair (SKU #ZX810113T). They are designed to lower the car 1 to 1.5".

buy them here

http://www.jcwhitney.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10101&productId=217496&catalogId=10101&langId=-1

R Dubya · January 21, 2005, 10:40:34 PM

Thanks man.. I'm going to lower the front and rear hopefully in the spring, but I've been reading on those coilovers on 60degree, they are noisy from what I gather. Maybe Josh can chime in here, you have them on your Cutlass, are they that bad?

turby · January 22, 2005, 03:19:28 AM

What about using the FAF rear leaf? If you could get ahold of Shawn and see how much it lowered his CS.

GutlessSupreme · January 22, 2005, 08:07:55 AM

Not much, as I recall. Or at least not near what he had hoped for.

turby · January 22, 2005, 08:31:40 AM

Quote from: GutlessSupremeNot much, as I recall. Or at least not near what he had hoped for.

Someone said it may settle more after being used.

R Dubya · January 22, 2005, 09:24:59 AM

I think it went down a quarter of an inch.. I was hoping for double that at least in the rear. The tires are much lower profile and look funny, I want to take some of that space away.

EDIT: I meant .75". That's what I think Shawns car dropped. I was looking for a little more.

no1kicker · January 22, 2005, 10:00:00 AM

Do the TGP's have stiffer front springs? If so, how would lowering affect the handling.

idbeast · January 22, 2005, 11:29:31 AM

Quote from: RW89TGPI think it went down a quarter of an inch.. I was hoping for double that at least in the rear. The tires are much lower profile and look funny, I want to take some of that space away.

Put 200lbs of dog food in the trunk, that will lower it a lot!!! If it is too low remove one of the 50lb bags. :shock: :wink:

twinturbosedan · January 22, 2005, 04:51:42 PM

i got my front lowering springs from TwinDualCam.com along with my adjustable rear coilover kit. they are out of business now of course, but Shawn Lin mentioned once that the front springs TDC used were Eibach. i use 225/60-16 tires, and i don't get any rubbing at all. they didn't lower the car as much as i would have liked but i think the Eibach springs were designed to lower a W-body with a DOHC/auto whereas i have a much lighter 3.1/282 combo. i've heard that Intrax springs will lower the car a little more than the Suspension Technique springs, but they probably cost more.

i don't really like my rear coilovers, mostly because of the crappy upper spring mount. sometimes one side of the car's rear suspension would become completely unloaded while doing a hard u-turn (leaving one of the rear coils completely loose) and then when the suspension came back down again the spring wouldn't go back into the upper mount correctly, ie. it would be sitting crooked and make horrible noises. i'd have to raise the car with a jack and then lower it back down making sure the spring sat correctly. the FFP upper mount is MUCH better from what i've heard.

another note about the rear coilovers. the lower spring mount actually 'doubles' as the adjuster. IOW you set the ride height by turning the lower spring mount on a threaded sleeve that slips over the strut body. there is a set screw that goes through the lower spring mount/adjuster and it has a nylon tip that presses against the threaded sleeve so it 'locks' in place so the ride height won't change while you're driving around. MAKE SURE you don't overtighten this!! i thought i was careful not to overtighten it, but then when i went to re-adjust the rear coilovers sure enough i stripped them out trying to loosen them :evil: now the only way i can adjust the ride height is with the use of two big pipe wrenches....one to hold the threaded sleeve in place and one to turn the lower spring mount/aduster. i'm not sure if FFP uses that same set screw method or what but i will be replacing my TDC coilovers with FFP coilovers soon anyway

good luck :)

z284pwr · January 22, 2005, 05:27:16 PM

Now we just need an update on the front Coil Over setup FFP has/had been working on for some time now.....

futuretgp'er · January 22, 2005, 10:58:41 PM

i want to hear from someone with coilovers installed....do they or do they not improve handling??? i know you can adjust ride height but im looking for a lower and sportier handling ride! i don't fully trust the quality of these companys because the struts they use, they use kyb gr2, which unless re-valved, are only designed to handle stock spring rates...im sure they work fine and lower the car, but if you cant use a stiffer sping rate to cut down on body roll and other important suspension geometery i wouldn't buy them.

so anyone actually have an opinion on whether or not they improve handling?

TGPilot · January 23, 2005, 12:05:38 PM

Quote from: idbeastPut 200lbs of dog food in the trunk, that will lower it a lot!!! If it is too low remove one of the 50lb bags. :shock: :wink:

That or an ugly fat girlfriend!! :lol:

tyroelite · January 23, 2005, 12:15:34 PM

I've got the FFP coilovers on my car and it seems to handle better than before. That could be for at least one of the following reasons:

1.) I switched to the coilovers becuase my rear leafspring was VERY cracked on one side and beginning to split and my struts were pretty well shot.

2.) They actually make a difference.

At any rate, I like the feel of the car but I imagine it may be a little bit better if there were some stiffer struts instead of the KYB stock replacements. Between the coilovers in the rear and a STB in the front, it goes around turns at speed quite well.

idbeast · January 23, 2005, 12:18:49 PM

Quote from: TGPilot
Quote from: idbeastPut 200lbs of dog food in the trunk, that will lower it a lot!!! If it is too low remove one of the 50lb bags. :shock: :wink:

That or an ugly fat girlfriend!! :lol:

But with the ugly fat girlfriend, and you are sitting too low then you need to find a different ugly fat girlfriend 50 pounds lighter, it is just easier to remove one of the 50lb bags

Lowering the front

Invasion1

TGPilot