Decision time for Springs!

[Cabad85]

Originally Posted by mureshan

It seems to be lower than without SPC......or the last one not X?

Yea I have a RWD model, so usually they won't be as low as X models due to the X being a little heavier.

[mureshan]

You RWD goes lower than AWD with Eibachs in this thread.

[classy37]

Originally Posted by AesonVirus

Wes... the things I do for you.

I left work early, got my little one out of daycare and booked home. I walk in the door and tell my wife that I need to disappear for 15 minutes. I leave her hanging with hungry kids and run out the front door.
I go outside and do a quick wash on the car. I grab the camera, snap a pic and see that it's too dark to capture the car. I then run back to my gear bag and grab my flash, pop it on, snap a few more to find that the batteries are too low... I need more light!
I run in the house and climb up into the attic. I come down with an arm full of Christmas flood lights and extension cords.
I go back outside, run 100ft of cord, hook up two 250W flood lights and snap a few more pics. Now, the light reflecting off the car is way too much... can't see the car. I rerun the wires, reposition the lights and snap a few more pics... bad lighting. I then turn the internal flash off and use just the flood lighting, but it requires a long shutter time and I couldn't go back into the house to grab a tripod... the wife would have flipped on me. Nothing was coming out. The wife thinks I'm nuts, trying to take pictures of my car in the driveway in the pitch dark with flood lights blasting out of the back yard... she may be right.
Here's the outcome of a rushed photoshoot in the pitch dark with bad lighting. LOL



I'll have to snap a few pics tomorrow in the parking garage at work. Tonight just didn't work out.
I tried though!

EDIT - Ya know, looking at these crappy pics, the drop looks good with no butt sag at all.
Things have settled VERY nicely and I couldn't be happier.

Based on these pics, I my rear sits noticeably lower than yours. Maybe it appears this way because you have different size wheels, although I believe your wheel diameters are the same as stock, so this shouldn't be the case? You said you have a bit less than 2 fingers in the front and a bit less than 1 in the rear, right?

[Triton3.5]

Scott will prolly take more pics,, in the day light here fairly soon,,, then will see how his car sits,,, its really tough to tell,, his driveway comes down in the back there,, tough to see if it level there also... imo.. you def. don't want your front and rear gaps the same!!! that just means the front is to low,, or the back is to high... classy, you have pm....

[AesonVirus]

Yeah, I have a steep driveway but it's flat where the car sits there.
The car sits very level, but yes... The gap in the rear is less than in the front, by about one finger.
Still waiting for some better weather.

[johnnyzee]

Scott, just seen your latest accomplishment with the G...
AWESOME JOB! i'm happy you finally did it, enjoy the drop. All that nonsense about Impul, coilovers for the X, etc etc, is finally over I see.

If the gap in the rear bugs you (as it did me), add spring spacers (what I did, 5 minute job, still holding up great, some may disagree with its use) or spring isolators (better proper approach but requires taking the rear apart again and a bit of cutting rubber to get them in).

Congrats, looks hot!

[classy37]

Originally Posted by johnnyzee

If the gap in the rear bugs you (as it did me), add spring spacers (what I did, 5 minute job, still holding up great, some may disagree with its use) or spring isolators (better proper approach but requires taking the rear apart again and a bit of cutting rubber to get them in).

Congrats, looks hot!

I'm definitely interested in hearing about both approaches. Can you give us more info- where to buy, how much lift they provide? Thanks!

EDIT- a quick search for spring spacers brought up lifts 2"+. I think all I need is 1/4"-1/2".

Found these isolators... http://www.springworks.com/auto-bush...boots-buy.html

[AesonVirus]

Originally Posted by classy37

I'm definitely interested in hearing about both approaches. Can you give us more info- where to buy, how much lift they provide? Thanks!

EDIT- a quick search for spring spacers brought up lifts 2"+. I think all I need is 1/4"-1/2".

Found these isolators... http://www.springworks.com/auto-bush...boots-buy.html

I'd want to see data on how this affects weight distribution before I went that route.
Right now, the car is level. Adding height to the back for looks alone may add unnecessary weight to the front.

[johnnyzee]

This thread will show you how spring isolators would work:
My 09 G37xS (AWD) Lowered on Tanabe - Droopy Bum fix too!(PICS)
Isolators would be the "proper" way to give a lift in the rear, as it wont affect spring rate. They're also required if you want more than 1/2" to 3/4" lift.

As for boosters/spring spacers:
I personally, haven't had a problem using these. Both my cars, the G and a lowered Camry have these on the rear. They last forever, work great, and are extremely easy to do. You basically buy a donut spring booster, the kind that says "front coil spring booster 1" lift". Jack up the rear end. Slide the donut into the spring coils, and turn/slide it on the coils, making it sit lower on the spring (toward the floor), as low as you can possibly turn it. Give the extra force to really get it to sit well on that lower coil so it doesn't move on you. Then drop the car, which compresses the coils, and voila, 1/2" to 3/4" lift in 5 minutes. The higher up you position the booster on the coils, the less lift there will be.

Just understand what this is doing. You're basically wedging this spacer between two coils when the wheels are in the air, then when the car sits and the spring compresses, that spacing between the 2 coils stays 1" apart. Why I have to note that it isn't proper (disclaimer), is that you're eliminating the functionality of 1 coil, thus changing your spring rate. However, my experience is that there is NO difference in ride feel/quality with or without the spacer in.

here's a pic of the spacer i'm referring to (cost approx $10 each):

[pfarmer]

Originally Posted by johnnyzee

Just understand what this is doing. You're basically wedging this spacer between two coils when the wheels are in the air, then when the car sits and the spring compresses, that spacing between the 2 coils stays 1" apart. Why I have to note that it isn't proper (disclaimer), is that you're eliminating the functionality of 1 coil, thus changing your spring rate. However, my experience is that there is NO difference in ride feel/quality with or without the spacer in.

The possible issue I would see is that besides removing the one coil out of the picture you have also moved the flex stress off of the coil and moved it up to a different area. This may or may not be designed for this purpose.

We actually used to use external metal adjusters to remove coils out of service (which in my mind was not a good thing). They allowed height control in both directions. Depending on placement I have seen issues with the point directly above and below these adjusters on the remaining coils.

[AesonVirus]

Had the alignment done this morning. Toe needed some serious adjustment but the camber was already as far as it could go so there is little to no improvement there.
Looking at the numbers, I'm going with a rear kit but not the front. The front are not far enough beyond spec to justify the $400- kit (at least not for right now) but the rear is way out, so I'll have to fix that within the next few weeks... before I get my winter setup on there.

[Wes_888]

Post your alignment results when you get the chance Scott!

But im glad you finally found the time to align it.

[Lucky_One]

To Aeson and Johnnyzee:

both of you have eibach springs and 19" wheels. Could you guys do me a favor and measure the gap on the front and rear wheels with your fingers? im planning to get the eibach and in the process of getting g37s 19's. would like an estimate of how much gap i would have left for clearance. thanks

dave

[AesonVirus]

Originally Posted by Lucky_One

To Aeson and Johnnyzee:

both of you have eibach springs and 19" wheels. Could you guys do me a favor and measure the gap on the front and rear wheels with your fingers? im planning to get the eibach and in the process of getting g37s 19's. would like an estimate of how much gap i would have left for clearance. thanks

dave

Originally Posted by AesonVirus

There is less than one finger in the rear and almost two fingers in the front, but that's the way the fenders are cut and not the fault of the springs. I think it looks great.

I'll take some real measurements when I have some free time.... gimme a day or two.

[AesonVirus]

Originally Posted by Wes_888

Post your alignment results when you get the chance Scott!

But im glad you finally found the time to align it.

I'll try to get it in here tonight.
I need to order the rear kit and have a second alignment done.

I've also chewed the sh!t out of my tires.
This drop is starting to cost me a small fortune.