I've had Leda coilovers with 400lb springs in my 2001 ACR for a couple of years now and the rear suspension squeaks horribly. I've heard Neons have a strut mount weakness problem. Anyone else have this problem?

 

did u cut the bump stops when u installed the coiolovers, that causes squeeking and a bumping noice, if not get those strut mount relpaced. KYB makes some good performance ones.

 

My 2001 ACR has squeaked horribly since I bought the car new (after ~10k actually) - your problem may have to do with the isolators for your spring on the coilovers, id check that out first - and how do coilovers work out with the dynamics? I'm pretty much planning on getting rid of mine for some true coilovers - mopar stage 3 units -

wait....you have 400 lb/in rear spring rates? what are your fronts? that seems way too high for the rear, you must be working those struts hard! where do you set the adjusters? hopefully all the way seen as how your spring rate would be 4x as high as it is in a stock acr. I guarantee thats underdamped....ie bouncy....

Why would you repace the awesome inverted struts that the acr has with ****ty kyb's? then it definately would be way underdamped!!

 

"Why would you repace the awesome inverted struts that the acr has with ****ty kyb's? then it definately would be way underdamped!!"

No KYB's here....gas charged Ledas. I agree the Dynamics that came with the ARC were fine struts, but they weren't coilovers, and with the Neon's notoriously short wheel play, I couldn't lower the car enough without problems.

In case you don't know, mechengineer, the Leda units are proper coilovers -- better, and more expensive than the KW's DC sells.

 

Ahh I do now, just my brain was hitting the rev limiter - I have seen ledas advertised in real racing mags like grm but didnt know they made anything for the neons - Im interested now...how do those things work out? and how much did they set you back? I have been looking for a good true coilover setup other than the KWs...any info on your experience with them would be greatly appreciated, and like you there was no way in hell I was gonna just lower my car and lose precious shock travel....besides the dynamics and stock springs work way better on the dirt than asphalt and I want to be able to just switch out the whole assem quickly so I can race on both...

 

All things considered, I'm quite pleased with the Ledas, although at a shade over $2100US (more now), they're pricey. As you'd expect for the price, they're built like Fort Knox -- completely 316/304 stainless with an external air cylinder for each unit which mounts to the fenderwell and affords virtually instant rebound response. Ledas are rebuildable at the factory as well for a nominal fee. You simply ship them back and you get back essentially new units.

On the street, they're a bit much as you might imagine, but you get used to it. I ordered them with the road racing valving and spring rates and I don't mind the trade off of a bit of low speed jounce and stiffness for high speed stability and cornering.

 

Thanks - so you have the remote resevoir option? I looked at some sites to see what was up...I dunno they are a lil pricy but damn they seem like they are worth it, plus I read they will custom valve them to your specs - awesome, what a company!! I need to at least call someone and get some more info on the valving options - I was going to harass mopar and see if I could get the specs for the kws before I went with them but its looking like Im gonna spend the extra cash and get something I know will perform to my every expectation...thanks again for pointing me in the right direction..cheers

 

looks like about 2,200 USD for the basic units from what I could see, ouch - I wonder if it is worth getting the remote resevoir - although I looked at http://www.leda.com/2004prices/Price%20List%202004.htm and it said except north america...hmmm

 

Worth it? Perhaps not. I got 'em when there weren't any other real options. KW's weren't on the market yet. The Ledas are super units, though. I can't believe how fast they react.

 

hmm the more I think about dumping more money into my car the more I think Id like to buy something that would be more fun to race - the dodge is a BEAR thru the cones (at least to try and squeak out a competitve time) although im sure $5k in goodies could help that out but I also could find a sweet RWD car like an older 318i for that price and have a lot more fun driving it - my teammates damn miata has me spoiled, those cars rotate so nice - Ive driven FWD's for too long and Im sick of em to be quite honest - and they dont get any better the more power and torque they have...the dodge makes a decent daily driver and seems to stay in one piece if i dont beat on it too much..