Im looking at buying some lowering springs in the future sometime so im starting looking now. Which are the best ones and about how much would they set me back? Also, I heard that some of the springs will wear out your struts faster, is this true? So far the only ones i have found are the Eibach ones.
Thanks

 

I have Eibachs, had them on for about a month and half and I absolutely love them. The ride will be a little stiffer/bouncier you will feel more of the bumps than with the stockers. I have heard they will wear your struts out faster, but oh well. I've heard the mopar lowering springs are the best for not killing your struts. But let me tell you, the things you can do around corners with the Eibachs is amazing, I would of never tried it with my stock springs. I went around a corner yesterday and about 45, i took it so hard that I laid rubber down and I was not even the least bit worried about the car rolling over. I can't wait to get a sway bar kit on this thing. [sm=smiley15.gif][sm=smiley15.gif]They say the drop for eibach pro's is 1.5 inches all around, but its probably more like at least 2 inches once the springs settle down. I can post some pics of it before and after it's lowered if you want. Hope that helps you.

Oh yeah, Eibachs are $199 from Modern Performance. There are many other choices for lowering as well besides Eibach, you got Mopar lowering springs, goldlines, progress lowering springs, you could do coilovers, thats pretty much all of them.

 

im planning on getting coilovers sometime...

prolly after the wicked alaska winter lol

 

Yeah Neon SXT 04 some before and after pictures would be sweet.

How will it look if i get some 17s for it too? Im thiking about getting some Enkei 9 spoke 17s around the same time i get the springs. But i need to work on getting some money first

 

sounds like you've got a great handling car in the future. I've put Enkei CDR 9's on my car but stayed with 15 inch with 205/50-15's. I refused to ride on 40 series tires--too harsh. I don't think you're giving up much in handling from 50 series 15s to 40 series 17's--at least most driver's skills wouldn't take advantage of it, but looks are a factor too.

I've also had the Suspension Techniques sway bars for a couple years. Fabulous. I've broken the rear sway bar brackets three times (including a heavy duty and one I made with barstock and angle iron.) I drive my car VERY hard, tis true, but I've found the right solution finally--angle iron, barstock welded together at the right angles (I think it was about 10 degrees barstock to angle iron)--drilled and tapped. Use a long bolt all the way through the barstock and angle iron and then put a nut with washer on the back side. This seems to be holding up quite good.

Also, I decided to experiment with my stock springs. I didn't want to go much stiffer and the Mopar Neon performance book seems to imply you can get away with an inch or so cut off but doesn't like you doing 2 inches. My KYB struts raised the height just a little so I kept the springs cool with water and used a diamond embedded blade to cut off (taking small chunks at a time and letting it cool). A quarter of a coil put it back at about stock (for 170,000 miles) ride height. I believe I will experiment with another quarter coil at a time until I've dropped about 1 inch or so. There has been NO determinental effects but you do need to be careful not to anneal the metal (keep it cool while cutting). If you do this remember that stiff sway bars also have a tendency to stiffen the ride and potentially raise ride height--they've done it on both my neon and my camaro.

All in all this car out handles ANYTHING I've ever driven or ridden in. It is truly amazing. I constantly embarrass C4's and often C5's (since their drivers don't know how to drive them), F body's and Mustangs around a few decreasing radius turns on on-ramps around here. If I don't want to be passed. . . you simply can't on a turn.

Good luck.

 

Do you have any pictures of your car with the Enkei 9 spokes on there? I was interested to see what they would look like on a Neon.

 

My biggest weakness--I haven't bought a digital camera. My wife counted after our trip to Utah this past week--we have 26 rolls of 35 mm to develop.

I took SEVERAL pics so I could report to Amanda in her preferred method the "before" pics of my paint & body project for this next year.

I'll try and get them developed this week and get some up for you (and Amanda ).

 

I'm sure it would look sweet with some 17's. I plan on getting some 17 inch enkei RS7s in gunmetal at some point. For now I have the stock wheels on there. I love the Eibachs, I would not raise my car up for anything, lol. They weren't that hard to put on either if you have some tools and some time, me and a friend put them on without a problem. Hey Red91RT, how much of a difference would a sway bar kit make??? Heres a before and after pic. Check out my wheel gap now, I love it.

[IMG]local://upfiles/1628/9770BE79F8A342AF83C8B37335D8F4CF.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/1628/D8C07C39E94C434597ABE08FE65E35E1.jpg[/IMG]

 

On my Camaro it actually raised it like 2 inches going done the road--front only. I was amazed. So I put the slapper bars on the rear full seat on the springs and they raised the rear a couple inches (like three).

One the neon it wasn't as noticeable. I'd say far less than an inch. Probably 1/2 an inch. It's more pronounced in the rear. I didn't have a rear sway bar originally--Highline model 16mm up front, nothing on back. It's now 24 mm on front and 22 mm back. It' probably perked up that rear about 1 to 2 inches now that I think about it. It's definitely a LOT stiffer in the up and down motion at anyrate.

 

What is the difference between coilovers and lowerring springs, I have seen a big price difference between them. What are the pros and cons of each? Thank you