I want to fix the suspension on my car. The passenger side springs seem to be alright and haven't sagged much, but the driver side, front and rear have both sagged about the same amount. I wanted to maybe buy eibach springs to lower the whole car and inch and fix the ride height issue.

Now, with the eibachs, can i use struts that are valved for normal springs, or do i need performance struts valved for lowered cars(even if the ride height is lowered just an inch), im on a buget here and i dont want to spend an arm and a leg.

Last quick question, is there something that would cause just one side of the car sagg, i understand these cars have rear springs that sag, but i never heard of just the driver side springs sagging or passenger springs sagging. My car has 103 km on it, so the car has probably been sitting for a lot of its life. What do you guys think?



2003 Cavalier 2dr. 5spd

low mialage doesnt always mean it hasnt been driven lots, it just means it hasnt been driven far. previous owners may have driven it 10km round trip to work and back, but had to sit in traffic for 45 minutes a day.

drivers side is prone to sagging being there is always someone on that side of the car. that extra weight is enough to cause springs to sag over the passed 12 years.

eibach springs, as they are only 1" drop (this is the pro kit), they are a performance oriented springs, and are a lot stiffer. i would not recomend stock or stock replacment struts with these springs. you can get away with sprints or canuck motorsports, but i wouldnt realy recomend it either. i would go with some kyb grt struts and shocks. they are performance struts, and as kyb doesnt recomend them with lowering springs, they work very well with them.

thanks sharkey, i look into the grt's. Maybe if i can pull some money together, i'll do the upgrade.



2003 Cavalier 2dr. 5spd

kyb Gr2...'s


1st 1st gen on air.....

I've always recommended the KYB/Eibach combo.

Quote:

i understand these cars have rear springs that sag,

They do look that way. I've installed 2 sets of stock height replacements on one car, and all three looked sagged. My Sunbird ragtop sometimes looks low in the back also. Yet surprise, surprise. A measurement from bottom of rocker to ground showed the cars were both higher in the rear than in the front.

I have to conclude it's an optical illusion.
-->Slow

I don't want to put stock replacements on the car because i think the stock springs are just throwing money away, unless they're really cheap. How much did you spend on the stock replacements, slow, you think i can get away with just replacing the driver side springs, or would that cause the opposite side to look sagged?

Do you guys think they would bother me about these springs when i go for a safety certification in toronto, ontario? The car has seemed to level out a bit since i bought it, lol, but theres still a slight slant to the car.



2003 Cavalier 2dr. 5spd

i Just meassured my sag, from the floor to the start of the body panel just above the tire.
There's is about an inch difference between the left and right side of the car.


25 1/4" - LF RF - 26"

25 1/2" - LR RR - 26 1/2"


Pretty sickkk eh, one side of the car is lowered, and one is not, sickkkk. lol

The eibach's would be soo nice to get becuase I like the stance on the left side and the eibachs will give me that 1" drop. They are just soo much money when talking about a $800 car.




2003 Cavalier 2dr. 5spd

itll be well worth it if you plan on keeping the car awhile though... imo... i've put more than $1000 in my $1000 sunbird...



member nejbody

i do plan on keeping my sunbird for a while, if the car doesnt pass safety and needs suspension mandatory, i will probably do the upgrade with the gr-2's. Then my next plans would be to steal bumpers/skirts from a se along with the rims, so that the car will look a lot sportier. Plus i need a new driver side door cus the bottom of mine is rotting out. other than the door, not much rust at all on the car, not even under it.



2003 Cavalier 2dr. 5spd

I had enormous sag on my driver side, and the struts were factory, so I decided to upgrade this summer...

Sprint springs - 1.5" drop in front, 1.6" in rear.
Gabriel struts

Before:


After (with new hood, headlights and rims):

im glad you went back to sunbird lights... at least i think you did... cant wait til my new monitor comes... ill see pictures again




member nejbody

Yep went to Ph2 Sunbird flip ups

Quote:

How much did you spend on the stock replacements, slow, you think i can get away with just replacing the driver side springs, or would that cause the opposite side to look sagged?

Sorry... missed this.

It's not really fair to use what I paid for parts. My wife works for a parts store, and I used to work at a dealership which sold me parts at their cost. Sorry.

I've only replaced rear springs as it's always the rear of the car which seems to be low to me. If one side was low, right or left, I'd replace the springs on both sides. Especially since most aftermarket springs come as a pair anyway.

I just looked at prices on partsamerica.com. The most expensive stock replacement springs would be priced at about $180 to do all four corners. The Eibach kit they sell is priced at $249. For almost $70 difference, I'd spend some time looking through a spring book comparing spring rates and heights and I'd try to find a set of OE replacement springs which would do the same thing as the lowering springs. But I'm twisted and enjoy stuff like that.

Hmmm... I noticed that the rear of your car is 1/2" higher than the front. Same as mine. Looks low in the back? Mine does.

-->Slow

89 Sunbird, your car look f'n sickkk. I think the sunbird front end looks a hella sweeter than the z24 lights and grill. I really wish my car had those skirts, bumbers, rims, pop-up headlights and lowering done to it. Makes a huge difference.

slowlej- thanks for the reply. If i change the springs, i'm probably going eibachs or maybe a lower drop plus strut/shock upgrade. My car is higher in the back but it doesnt look like the back of the car is sagging. I think the tilting to the side type of sag is more annoying in my opinion, lol. Its not that much tho, maybe and inch or two to the left side.

OH, and 89Sunbird, how much did that set up cost you. And would you recommend that set-up. Thanks



2003 Cavalier 2dr. 5spd

I paid like $40 each for shocks, $65 each for struts and $180 for the springs...then I had to have a shop install them because of a seized bolt, so that cost me another $200....