Here is the deal. I have a honda 2001 lx sedan stock.

Im buying a full lip kit which i think would drop the entire body of the car around 1 more inch all around then it already is, ( correct me if im wrong)

Now, I need some suggestions, I want to drop the car itself after the kit maybe no more then 1 inch or 1 inch and 1/2 what are my options on suspensions:

a. full adjustable coil overs which are affordable. ( i think this would be good i live in nyc and the winters are terrible and potholes can crack a tranny or oil pan fast!! )

b. complimentary shock + spring combo, ( i have heard ima need this as well-camber kit-) which are affordable.

Price range would help alot!!! I mean i dont have kids, but i do have alot a bills, so basically whats the best price advice you guys can give me? Also how much is labor for adding the new suspension?

Im not trying to win a car show contest, just keep my civic looking fresh and making sure the the suspension is up to par for a daily driver.

I do understand from forums here that i can cut the springs to drop it an inch. but the shocks will eventually blow not too long after that.

Any advice will be appreciate greatly. This is the first forum i have been a part of and the advice ive received before has helped alotttttt

 

You will not need a camber kit, especially with your car which has McPherson struts up front and does not take on much negative camber at all when the ride height is lowered.

You will need an alignment to correct the toe. This is necessary to ensure that your tires don't wear out quickly. Another thing I should mention is that you need to get the car aligned ANY time the ride height is changed, so you may not want to go with a height adjustable coilover.

Something like an Eibach ProKit spring will provide a fairly modest drop, and you won't need a super-expensive shock set like Konis to control those. I don't know what all is available for your car, though. But most DEFINITELY do not cut stock springs with stock struts and shocks, ESPECIALLY not springs made for McPherson struts. Those springs typically have only 3 or 4 coils total, so removing one would most likely put the car on the ground.

 

Hmm seems to be more to it then just lowering and raising the coils seasonably then i expected. I have been looking online and its costly as well, might be worth it depending on the price to initially install the coils. how much is a wheel alignment, if you happen to know any random prices?

The camber kit seems to be another issue im not sure about. i was under the impression that when its lowered you have to adjust the camber as well so u don't get a negative camber and the tiers wear fast. Price on this?

Thanks for the advice on cutting the springs. i don't think i will be cutting any all.

Basically after the initial cost of the install on the springs/shocks or coils, and labor to install.

what are the maintenance cost? other then an alignment every time a heights is changed? Provided I don't kill myself or destroy the car while driving.

 

A good 4-wheel alignment should run around 60 bucks. Some places that use laser alignment MAY have problems if your lip kit hangs too low and the beams don't have a clear path under the car. I used to have problems with this and had to take off my front bumper to get an alignment. In that case some shops may charge more. I now take my car to a place that does it the "old-school way" but they do very good work.

I generally like to get an alignment at least once a year because wear and tear over time will cause parts to get out of alignment slightly, even if you have not hit any huge holes or dips or whatever.

As for camber kits, generally it is not needed. Out-of-spec toe kills tires WAY faster than negative camber. On most all cars, dynamic toe changes as the suspension moves through its range of motion, so when the ride height changes, toe gets out of whack and it needs to be aligned.

On 90's Hondas, negative camber increases dramatically as the car is lowered, and the change in camber also changes the toe. This causes tires to wear out very fast, and people used to just automatically attribute that to the negative camber, when in fact it was the toe-out that caused the accelerated tire wear.

So just get an alignment and get the toe-in set to factory spec, and don't worry about camber kits. You'll be fine.

 

Thanks for the advice, i will definitely use this when I being all my car work.