i recently bought and installed myself a set of KYB AGX struts and Neuspeed Sport Springs. I like the height but the car seems to ride really rough regardless of what setting i have the struts on. I have them all set to 1 now for the softest ride but its still rough as hell. rougher than stock. the handling is nice but to tell you the truth i cant tell THAT much difference between all set to 1 and all set to 4. Its not night and day like everyone says. As far as im concerned, setting 1 is no more softer than 4. As far as i know we installed everything correctly. put the bumpstops back in and eveything. However, there are two things i have noticed which could contribute to the lack of ride quality im experiencing:
1. I never had the car aligned after installing the new suspension. i was told its mandatory when installing new sus. but i felt like the alignment was fine. the car doesnt pull to either side so i havent done it. (im a broke *** college student)
2. On the right front strut, something is set wrong or we made some mistake installing the strut/spring. i know this because when i hit ANY speedbump or back out of my driveway, the slightest knock causes a rattle thats definetely coming from the strut assembly. nothing i can really feel but it rattles even when dis/engaging the clutch in 1st gear and reverse. sometimes even shifting into 2nd. the rattle is driving me crazy and im this close to just taking it somewhere and having them resinstall everything because it was my first time doing any suspension work. i had my grandfather help me who is pretty mechanically inclined. but somethings not right.

now whether either of these factors contribute to my incredibly rough ride i do not know. but i thought KYB's (especially when on setting 1 all around) were supposed to be an improvement over stock.

i feel like my car has so many damn rattles and creaks now its not fun to drive anymore. those damn ES mount inserts dont help either. those are definetely coming out the first chance i get.

so can anyone shine a little more ligh on this subject? thanks in advance

 

well of course its gonna be stiffer then stock...nothing you can do about that except getting used to it,make sure you get it aligned also.

welcome to the world of stiff suspension.

 

bump

 

i can definetely feel the difference between setting 1 and setting 4... are you adjusting the screw correctly? push down and then turn? - only thing i can think of -

 

Once you're dropped, it'll never ride like stock, get used to it.

 

Any recomendation for a spring that lowers but is a little softer then the eibachs? Progressive mabybe? I am interested in the lowered look, but dont need a kidney bustin ride...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 4g4me &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Any recomendation for a spring that lowers but is a little softer then the eibachs? Progressive mabybe? I am interested in the lowered look, but dont need a kidney bustin ride... </TD></TR></TABLE>

GC w/ Koni Yellows, or go with a true coilover like Tein SS, Apexi N1 if you have the money.

 

neuspeed sports rode a lot better then my current skunk coils....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hOndafienD 04 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well of course its gonna be stiffer then stock...nothing you can do about that except getting used to it,make sure you get it aligned also.

welcome to the world of stiff suspension.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

ever ride in a lowered vehicle? maybe you're just not used to it. but, if you used to lowered vehicles and still think it's to rough i would check a few things:

check your bushings and balljoints. i know that my car runs kinda rough over bumps and i'm on stock suspension. all this because of my bushings/ball joints being shot. if they are shot, it will let to much movement up and down and metal will contact metal. this is what a mechanic said about my car about bad bushings and maybe the same applies to you.

also, i noticed on my car a sticking brake will also cause bumps to be a little more severe.

 

Yea thats right, I changed all 4 shocks/ stuts and it still rode like crap. Then I changed all the bushings and it rode like a brand new car. So check that out might be your problem.

__________
92 Si 4WS JDM H22a

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 4g4me &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Any recomendation for a spring that lowers but is a little softer then the eibachs? Progressive mabybe? I am interested in the lowered look, but dont need a kidney bustin ride... </TD></TR></TABLE>

IIRC, Tanabe springs will drop you about an inch, but have similar spring rates to stock springs.

Dude, to get better handling you must stiffen up the springs and shocks. That is to be expected.

 

Get an alignment man, just because your car doesnt pull in one direction or another doesnt mean you dont have issues with toe, caster, or camber. All 3 of those can contribute to premature tire wear.

ABout the springs/shocks.: Majority of the aftermarket stuff is going to be stiffer than stock, thats where you get the improvement in handling.

I'd do what everyone said, check your install, bushings, and ball joints. Its just like when you get a new clutch, you should have ur flywheel resurfaced. The current bushings/balljoints are used to workin with your stock suspention geometry and spring rates and not accustomed (sp) to the aftermarket stuff.


Sry for the long post, hope this helps.