Say I wanted good handling...
 

It's getting to that time where I'd like to change my suspension before it gets too soft. I was taking a look at all the different things offered to us, and have come up with the Bilestien/Eibach pro-kit combo. LCAs would be done as well, along with the relocation brackets.

Now, am I missing anything you think? Anything I should do while it's all apart anyway?

Also, if anyone knows any links with good pricing or group buys for said parts, it'd be appreciated.

Our sponsors, JSPerformance and RPM Resto+Custom run deals for parts. I know RPM is running an LCA group purchase right now.

If you don't have them already, I would look into a set of subframe connectors first. While the stuff is apart I'd attack some of the undercarriage with a wire brush and a rust preventative paint to prevent future corrosion.

I always hit the potential rust areas with good ol' POR-15 after cleaning them up. I'm going to check out our sponsors' stuff later today.

I would do subframes first. But its your money.

I have Strano's springs, sway bars and Koni's SA and its a very nice combo, don't know how it stacks up to what you are considering, but the Strano package is very well thought out.

I know a lot of third gen guys on TGO used to run the Bilstien / Eibach Pro Kit combo after having Sam revalve the shocks to match the Pro Kit.

- Justin

I ran the SLP Eibach/Bilstien combo and loved it. It was an excellent handling combination. I didn't think the car was low enough so I changed it up two more times after that.

the most popular setup on TGO right now is koni yellows and the prokit, the adjustability of the koni is nice, as the bilstiens dont have that feature.
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Toys live

^But the lack of that feature is what keeps them from blowing and making another thread titled "****ing Konies are leaking," no? I was looking at those or AGX for adjustability, but I've only had AGX in the past.

Also, aren't the Bilestiens the only ones valved right or something?

For a performance application, stay away from KYB shocks/struts. They are for run of the mill DD's for the most part.

The Bilstiens do not not from the factory valved correctly for aftermarket springs - they are designed to work with stock springs. For best performance you'll need to get them revalved (Sam Strano is local and can take care of it easily).

- Justin

Don't get hung up on adjustibility. Too much adjustibility can be bad. And Mr. I <3 the taste is right, SFC is the #1 thing to do.

Doing it all together. Since I don't own a welder or anything, I was thinking of getting the bolt on SFCs and then taking the car to someone to get those welded together. Dice? No dice?

Also, does anyone have Sam Strano's contact info handy?

It is not uncommon to install SFC's this way. Just make sure that you take care to make the car straight and level when you bolt them in. You don't want to add wedge to the car when you don't mean to.

Ok, all I need now is someone kind enough to give me this Strano character's contact info, and my next post here will be the results.

http://www.stranoparts.com/

- Justin

depending on the mileage your strut bearings might be rotted once I had my struts apart I realized that they were in pretty bad shape plus a bad tierod end. just be prepared for extra costs. My Eibach pro kit ended up pretty low in the back, granted I have a 100lb. speaker box in the back but its about a 1 inch diff right now and looks like ass. Handleing is alright but I actually had to cut an inch out of my bumpstops and it is still bottoming out (also only using stock replacement kyb shocks in back). Gonna try to remove the bumpstops alltogether and maybe get better shocks for back. Let me know if you wanna see how bad it looks ill send you a pic. Im not all for buyig top of the line **** but you may want to consider it with this cuz my ride quality is absolute s**t right now.

And just putting this out there this thread pulled in 12 responses within the first 24 hrs. To help back up what I was bitching about in my suspension post.

I did UMI SFC, Tubluar LCA's and I have a Tubular Panhard bar, but now since i just got Eibachs in, I got to buy an adjustable Panhard bar, cause when you lower your car, you need an adjustable PHB to recenter your rear. I also have relocation brackets to be going on as well, and also I picked up from Suspension Techniques the 35/25mm sway bar combo, believe me, my car does not lean in corners lol, but yeah KYB's are like for DD and spirited racing, but go with Koni's or Bilstein's if your looking for a little more for your buck. I have the Bolt in SFC cause I dont have a welder too ,and I have had no problems with them. The nice thing is if you have something you need to work on, you can take them off and out of the way, and if you ever do get a welder, clean up the area, and take off the paint and weld away :)

Koni stuff comes with a lifetime warranty, you may want to keep that in mind. That in itself to me was worth the extra money.

I run koni yellows/eibach prokit, the pro kit rear spring rate is exactly the same as a stock iroc spring rate, and didnt lower the rear of my car at all. The front spring rate is a lot heavier and dropped the nose an inch or so. Everything else in the rear of my car is Spohn, no complaints.

SFCs are the first thing you should do before any modification to the car...I know Josh @ JS Performance does an awesome job with installing them, and his price is very reasonable considering he does a lot more than weld them in. He is also a dealer for UMI and can recommend different suspension items based on what you want for the car.

what really helped my car was BMR panhard bar, BMR subframe connectors, and BMR lca's loved how my car handled after!

I haven't changed the springs or shocks yet, but i have installed UMI LCA's, and PHR. That alone helped alot. I put a set of 315's on this weekend and that REALLY helped. I had to grind down the inside of the wheel a bit, but was worth it. Like said above though SFC are a must.

You shouldn't have to grind the wheel at all, and you don't want to do that anyway. What's it hitting on, the bumpstop?

- Justin

koni shocks were the best mod i ever did to my car. comfy ride and great handling. i have the same setup as qwikbird by the way... qwik cars and great suspension :lol:

my rears didn't clear the bump stops....so i cut em off. barely clears like that

Definitely do SFC's, springs/shocks, lca's w/brackets, and if you have any money leftover I'd suggest panhard bar and torque arm. As stated above I'm a dealer for Spohn and can install all of the above mentioned products.

Misunderstood i think. On the inside of the the wheel where the bead of the tire has to pop over in order to seat is where i grinded. The bead of the tire was soo thick that it wouldn't budge over the tiny hump. It almost had a square look to it so all i did was round it off.

BTW: These are on the stock wheels.