I have a 02 Cavalier LS Sport and I was wanting to possibly lower it. I'm sorta on a budget so what would be the best way to do this, all ideas are new to me, thanks everyone!
Carcustoms.net has the Eibach prokit for 225 shipped, and you can get KYB AGX springs on eBay for about 375 shipped BIN.
Thats literally about the cheapest you can go for quality. Do NOT skimp on suspension parts. Get a piggy bank if you need to and save for a couple months, but these parts can kill you or someone else if you cheap out.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edited Saturday, July 07, 2007 4:37 PM
get springs.. cut the bump stops.. its not gonna be a horriable ride and then later if u want shocks upgrade then.. people on this site dramatize too much about suspension.
of course heating or cutting springs it out of the question but as long as u have a decent spring n CUT THE bumpstops.. it will be fine
i have rk sport springs that rode like @!#$ i thought it was struts, until i learned they didnt cut bumpstops when installing them now its not too shabby
You may be able to ride on the stock struts for a while, but they are not valved for shorter springs, and they will blow eventually, and although some folks say the ride is tolerable, I've been in a lowered cav with stock struts, and it might as well have had jackhammers for struts, and yeah, he cut the stops too. Gotta cut the stops on any drop spring if you want to do it right.
I still stand by my earlier post though, you never know when you hit a bump at speed and something breaks and sends you into a ditch, a dividing wall, or heaven forbid another vehicle.
Jonathan shumacker wrote:get springs.. cut the bump stops.. its not gonna be a horriable ride and then later if u want shocks upgrade then.. people on this site dramatize too much about suspension.
of course heating or cutting springs it out of the question but as long as u have a decent spring n CUT THE bumpstops.. it will be fine
i have rk sport springs that rode like @!#$ i thought it was struts, until i learned they didnt cut bumpstops when installing them now its not too shabby
lol thats why i was doing everything wrong. well its good to know that as long as i cut the bumpstop, i can do anything
/sarcasim
please do not listen to him. yes you can lower on stock struts but it is very unsafe and will not last long at all. your risking your safety and your passengers safety, along with others on the road. do it right the first time or dont do it.
I was lowered 2" on stock struts for over two years and the ride blows. You're better off waiting until you can do springs and struts at the same time. That way you will save money if you are having it installed or will save time if you are doing it yourself.
Rob
Sold 2/2/05
I was lowered on Goldlines and stock struts (with cut bump stops ROFLMAO) for about a yr on my old 03. Ride wasnt bad at all, but mainly because the struts where not old and worn out, and I didnt drive like a bat outta hell trying to take 90 degree turns at 70mph lol. Now that setup I wouldnt use to long because your struts will wear faster. Deffinately look into getting some good aftermarket struts (KYB AGX, Koni's, etc.) in the close future, not just for "safety" but it will help the ride some.
Mike, whats your take on bagged trucks (being that 90% of them dont have shocks up front)?
there is nothing wrong with running no struts as long as its done properly. esb ran no struts in his rear with a complete bag setup. the reason stock struts are bad when lowering is that the lowering spring or coilover is usually a much higher spring rate then the oem spring. obviously this causes quicker wear on the struts causing them to go bad. once they go bad and start to bounce, thats where the problem is. you hit a bump and your car is bouncing up and down and you cant control the bounce. like driving on ice. yes you can control the way your going on ice but once it starts to slide you just have to go with it, you cant control how slippery it is. same for blown struts, you cant control how much boucing its doing. if you hit a bump while trying to change lanes you could possibly wreck. same for as going around a bend. if you hit something going around that bend and bounce, your going to have some trouble staying on the road.
as far as bags go, you can control the pressure in the bag. you can make it very soft or very hard. you cant refill the gas in your strut once its gone. bags give you that adjustable damping just like adjustable struts do.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Monday, July 09, 2007 11:01 AM
