Just dropped

[RamAirGAGT]

I just spent 8 hours today dropping my car and it looks badass! I bought them brand new off e-bay from Spring Tech. They were only 125 and i got a 1.75 inch drop and I don't have any of the pogo effect that most springs cause. I was kinda skeptical about buying them because I had never heard of them and they were very inexpensive, but it was a great buy! I always thought the rear was too high and made the wheels look small, and these springs fixed everything! Just wanted to vent because I was happy about doing it! :P

[flyinfreak]

I am thinking about lowering my car very soon too. So you like those springtechs. I was wondering if anyone would buy those and tell me how they like them. I am skeptical about them too for being such a good price. I also am interested in those sprint ones on e-bay too. Although i will not drop mine myself, i'll go to a shop and pay an arm and an leg to get them on. Hopefully no more than 200 bux.

[99ramairgt]

i have eibachs on mine and i love them. they gave a nice drop and took away that nasty fenderwell gap. and as for having them installed i payed about $250.

[AznGA]

Originally posted by 99ramairgt
i have eibachs on mine and i love them. they gave a nice drop and took away that nasty fenderwell gap. and as for having them installed i payed about $250.

250 just for install?

[RamAirGAGT]

Originally posted by flyinfreak
I am thinking about lowering my car very soon too. So you like those springtechs. I was wondering if anyone would buy those and tell me how they like them. I am skeptical about them too for being such a good price. I also am interested in those sprint ones on e-bay too. Although i will not drop mine myself, i'll go to a shop and pay an arm and an leg to get them on. Hopefully no more than 200 bux.

I sure do like em. Our car already has a smooth ride, and these springs do not give that bouncy pogo effect at all! Of course, the ride is stiffer so it is a little bouncy, but not much. The ONLY bad thing is that while it gets rid of that nasty rear gap, the springs are almost too short and sometimes when I am on a bumpy road, I can hear the coils hitting eachother. If you decide to buy em, which I suggest you do, do not install unless you know what you are doing or are with someone that does. Suspension is not something to be tinkered with by some guys that don't know what they are doing. If you decide to do it, I will be happy to help you out and give you pointers on what to do which I learned from doing mine that would have saved me a couple of hours if I knew beforehand.

[heebs99]

$200 is how much spring install goes for usually? god thats a lot =/

[greenmachine92]

what do you think about cutting the stock springs, maybe a half a coil?

[Jason Lesbirel]

Originally posted by RamAirGAGT
They were only 125 and i got a 1.75 inch drop and I don't have any of the pogo effect that most springs cause.....

Just FYI, the "pogo" effect you refer to is actually caused by inadequate damping. Springs, given half a chance, will bounce a car for quite a while. The dampers are there to stop the spring from moving more than is necessary. If the struts/shocks are incapable of reacting quickly enough, the spring keeps on moving until the strut/shock can reign it in.

In this case, the spring rate for the Springtech springs is likely not significantly higher than the stock factory set, so your dampers are able to stop the spring from "pogo-ing".

I know of too many people that buy performance springs and use the wrong dampers for the job. One fellow local to me has a GT with the Intrax springs, but he stayed with the factory shocks/struts. His car pogos like mad over choppy pavement.

That's because the Intrax spring rate is about 180 to 200lbs., as opposed to the roughly 40-45lb. springs the cars come with stock. The factory stuff can't cope with such stiff springs.

[car audio dave]

Greenmachine, dont cut the springs, thats jsut asking for trouble.

RAMAIRGAGT...id appreicate it if you could give me pointers. i jsut bought H&Rs and i wanna install em. im doing it at my work (a car audio shop) wher ewe lowered the head installers matrix, and two other installers cars as well. we havnt done a grand am yet tho.
did you change your struts? im looking at KYBs but if i get those ill have to wait a month or so before i can afford them.

[flyinfreak]

Originally posted by Jason Lesbirel
Just FYI, the "pogo" effect you refer to is actually caused by inadequate damping. Springs, given half a chance, will bounce a car for quite a while. The dampers are there to stop the spring from moving more than is necessary. If the struts/shocks are incapable of reacting quickly enough, the spring keeps on moving until the strut/shock can reign it in.

In this case, the spring rate for the Springtech springs is likely not significantly higher than the stock factory set, so your dampers are able to stop the spring from "pogo-ing".

I know of too many people that buy performance springs and use the wrong dampers for the job. One fellow local to me has a GT with the Intrax springs, but he stayed with the factory shocks/struts. His car pogos like mad over choppy pavement.

That's because the Intrax spring rate is about 180 to 200lbs., as opposed to the roughly 40-45lb. springs the cars come with stock. The factory stuff can't cope with such stiff springs.

So getting new struts and shocks are recommended to have better ride?

Did you get new struts and shocks ramairgagt???

[Jason Lesbirel]

Originally posted by flyinfreak
So getting new struts and shocks are recommended to have better ride?

Did you get new struts and shocks ramairgagt???

A better ride? No. When you buy a spring like Eibach or Intrax, you're getting a stiffer spring. If you don't get a similarly stiff damper, the car will pogo about. You won't get a better ride, but you do get better control, which is more important. Having everything closely matched will make the car safer, actually, under heavy breaking situations, emergency lane changes, etc.

Unfortunately, ride suffers when you firm up the suspension. You'll get better handling, but the ride you currently enjoy with the stock setup is under most circumstances not possible. Now it won't be kidney-jarring rough, but it won't be Electra-Glide smooth, either.

Now, with these Springtech and Sprint springs, they are drop springs - they exist purely to give the slammed look. As a result, their spring rates aren't usually much harder than factory, which lets you retain the stock struts and shocks, as well as ride quality very close to that of factory.

The downside to these springs is that they aren't performance-oriented. Push them hard and they will roll almost as much as factory springs, and because there is less ride height, it will be easier to bottom the car out.

Now, for those of you that live where frost heaves aren't a problem, this will likely never be an issue. But I wouldn't recommend that anybody who drives their car aggressively on less-than-perfect roads use either the Springtechs or the Sprints.

[RamAirGAGT]

Originally posted by car audio dave
Greenmachine, dont cut the springs, thats jsut asking for trouble.

RAMAIRGAGT...id appreicate it if you could give me pointers. i jsut bought H&Rs and i wanna install em. im doing it at my work (a car audio shop) wher ewe lowered the head installers matrix, and two other installers cars as well. we havnt done a grand am yet tho.
did you change your struts? im looking at KYBs but if i get those ill have to wait a month or so before i can afford them.

I would be happy to give pointers
1. Like I said, it was an 8 hour job for me because i did not know the bumps along the way, but this will hopefully cut it down for you
2. Jack up wheel you will work on first and remove wheel
3. Remove the bolts on the strut tower holding in strut
4. Remove the bolts on brake knuckle. But before you remove, get some white out and make a line on each of the 2 bolts you are about to remove so that you can line them up again when reinstalling for best alignment. STILL GET AN ALIGNMENT, but this just holds you until you get around to that.
5. Remove strut by just contorting it as much as you can to get it out. Unscrewing the brake line helped me, but you may not need to do it. Also, I pushed down on the brake knuckle pretty hard.
6. Once out, you will need a McPherson strut compressor to compress the stock spring. Compress the spring enough so that when you remove the top cover it won't fly off.
7. *HARDEST PART* Well, for me it was until I figured a good way to remove the top cover. With a 21mm contorted wrench, hold the larger self locking bolt while you have a 10mm wrench on that smaller bolt. Turn and turn until you can remove the top.
8. Take stock spring out and SLOWLY remove the compressors.
9. Compress the new spring and replace looking at where your old spring laid.
10. Replace cover and take off compressor SLOWLY. Torque top screw to specs. I cleaned the whole assembly with BRAKEKLEEN just because I was there but you may not want to.
11. Replace the strut assembly and torque the screws on the strut tower brace to your vehicle specs.
12. Replace the bolts holding your brake knuckle and align them to the marks you made earlier. Replace your wheel and REPEAT 3X

It is quite a job... and you can always reply to this or PM me for any additional clarification or help!

[car audio dave]

wow thanks man. im gonna probably do the fronts today and the rears wednesday (if i can). ill let you know how it goes.

[DroopyDroors]

I just called suspension max ( the only place that sells springtech ) and they said that they do not have springs for a 2002 grand am? were can i get them??

[RamAirGAGT]

Originally posted by car audio dave
wow thanks man. im gonna probably do the fronts today and the rears wednesday (if i can). ill let you know how it goes.

No Problem! Hope everything works out! Like I said, you can always reply or PM if you run into any problems. DON'T FORGET TO BUY THE BOOK FOR THE TORQUE SPECS.

[RamAirGAGT]

Originally posted by DroopyDroors
I just called suspension max ( the only place that sells springtech ) and they said that they do not have springs for a 2002 grand am? were can i get them??

You might want to keep an eye on e-bay. They were selling them brand new, and that's where I got them!

[DroopyDroors]

Do they have the torque specs in the owners manual. I couldn't find them there. Where can i find out?

[Travis]

I think I'm going to get the H&R's for my car in the near future :D

[car audio dave]

well i wont be putting the springs on until next week now. i dont have the equipment available to me until then.

[RamAirGAGT]

Originally posted by DroopyDroors
Do they have the torque specs in the owners manual. I couldn't find them there. Where can i find out?

I don't think they're in the original owner's manual. You will have to go to the auto parts store and buy the complete manual. They may have to order it for you.

[2000GAGT]

i was gunna order some H&Rs purty soon and i was wondering what hte camber adjustment is for i heard it was important to do otherwise you will ruin something on your car anyone know?!

[car audio dave]

Originally posted by 2000GAGT
i was gunna order some H&Rs purty soon and i was wondering what hte camber adjustment is for i heard it was important to do otherwise you will ruin something on your car anyone know?!

the camber is the angle of the tires. it will be off when you lower the car, and the stock setup wont allow you to adjust the camber. the kits availabe are adjustable kits, so you can make the camber if your car match stock specs even after its lowered.

if you dont adjust the camber you might go through tires faster. the alignment is harder to get right on.

[vern]

H&R springs are the best in the world... you pay a little more but they are never out-performed. Lowered cars look odd without new rims to fill the fenders... Cheapwheels.com helped out my sister with her car. Check them out!

[TA^Guy]

:spam:
Originally posted by vern
H&R springs are the best in the world... you pay a little more but they are never out-performed. Lowered cars look odd without new rims to fill the fenders... cheapcrap.com helped out my sister with her car. Check them out!
Can we delete this account because he is obviously just here to span some crappy internet bussiness.

[GrandAmageGT]

Originally posted by vern
H&R springs are the best in the world... you pay a little more but they are never out-performed. Lowered cars look odd without new rims to fill the fenders... Cheapwheels.com helped out my sister with her car. Check them out!

http://www.gaownersclub.com/forum/attachment.php?s=&postid=82161

OK if this guy tells someone that getting better tires and/or rims from that place helps you remove your back seat easier I'll go crazy!