Im dying to lower my 95 gsr, but Ive seen so many lowered cars that looked so F up Im scared to do it. Also I only want to lower it about 1 inch or 1.5 just enough to eliminate the wheel well gap. I heard that H&R springs are good. Another thing, I still have the stock shock on the car from 95. I want to put new shocks on if I get the springs. You have too from what I hear. I mean can I just go to a auto parts store and buy new shocks for the car, and then get springs online or from someone and bring it to a Midas or Meineke and have them put all the stuff on? What did you guys do? Any help would be appreciated.

 

I'm going to lower my car this month with a set of ITR springs. With a mild increase in spring rate, you would probaby be ok with stock shocks. I went ahead and opted for some nice Koni Yellows since the stock shocks already have 100k on them...so I went ahead and upgraded.

With a higher spring rates, you will require new shocks, either now or later, because higher spring rates will blow out the stock shocks eventually. I would purchase shocks from the internet becuase the internet vendors will definately have better prices (see sig.) than a local store.

You can have them installed at a local shop or if have a bit of wrenching experience...install them yourself, which is what I'm doing! for DIY.

Here's a link to a DIY installation if you're interested: DIY coilover install

 

if you dont know what ur doing, then i suggest that you have a mechanic do it, because you have to compress the springs then bolt the center bolt on. if you dont have the springs compressed tightly, then it might slip off and knock out all ur front teeth. ouchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. i know you want to do it urself, but its much safer to have a mechanic do it. they have the proper tools.


[Modified by 97gSrkId88, 10:50 PM 2/10/2003]

 

All you really need is a spring compressor...which is pretty easy to use and can be borrowed from autozone or the like for a 20$ deposit. However, if you are not comfortable working on your own car then pay to have it done. But personally, I like doing the job myself because I know the job will be done right!

 

It's not too bad doing it yourself. I had a buddy who knew what he was doing and he did the first two and I helped him with it. Then I did the last two by myself. It's probably the mod that I'm most proud of. And yes I was a paranoid little bitch when working with the spring compressor cuz I kept having visions of the spring coming loose and cutting me in half. Just make sure you have it pointed away from you, other people, and anything of value and you'll be okay.

 

for such a mild drop you might look into the H&R OE or H&R Sports or the Eibach Pro-kit... since the same labor is involved in putting in new springs as putting in new springs AND shocks (either way you have to take apart the same mechanisms).. I would go ahead and do both at the same time..

if your doing it yourself.. this saves you the labor of doing the same job twice.. if your paying someone to do it.. this saves you both time (waiting for them to do it/having the car in the shop/downtime) and money (labor costs)....so either way its cheaper to do it yourself and you might as well.. then you get the benefit of aftermarket performance shocks and performance/lowering springs...

as for whether or not you can/should do it yourself.. only you can guage your own mechanical abilities/or disabilities.. so I'll put up some links and you can see for yourself if you can tackle the job..

http://www.bseries.net/html/garage/spring.php

http://internet.cybermesa.com/~drew/...uspension.html

just make sure you have the proper tools, a spring compressor and a helper is handy... good luck..

as for what I did.. I installed it myself...
I went w/ Eibach sportline springs and Koni yellow/sport shocks..

you can order the shocks and springs online thats what I did.. it was cheaper than what the local "performance" shops wanted...

 

Do it yourself, that's how I and many others learned. It's not very hard, oh, and your car doesn't have shocks, only struts all around. I'd change the struts if they're bad.

 

[QUOTE]I want to put new shocks on if I get the springs. You have too from what I hear.QUOTE]

I've had Eibach Pro Kit Springs on my GSR since last June (about 12,000 miles) with stock shocks. So far no problems. Like the others have said, you will want to upgrade the shocks if you go to stiffer springs like Eibach Sportlines or H&R Race Springs.

 

You dont need a compresser. Just unhook teh uper control arm for the front, with the shock cap already off, and then you drop the lower control arm the spring will de-compress. for the rear, just loosen teh cap on teh shock and then drop teh LCA. saves hellas time.Do it yourself, its not hard and will save you money.

 

I just installed some itr springs with kyb agx with a buddy of mine this past weekend. took me 2 days to do because i had to work half the day. i used the instructions from here: http://www.bseries.net/html/garage/spring.php
good luck man

EDIT: this site with spring rates might be useful to you: http://php.indiana.edu/~bchang/Pics/...ate_Table.html


[Modified by slomob18b, 3:26 PM 2/11/2003]