lowering front only?

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 7:53 pm

2005 sxt, stock everything but wheels (17"). put the new wheels on today and i can't stand the gap in the front.

i can live with the space on the rear but the front gap is just too big for my liking. anyone have some suggestions? i would like to keep the ride as close to stock as possible but still lower it a bit. i dropped one of my old cars, and while it looked good the ride was terrible. any thoughts?

thttxboy · Post by **thttxboy** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:55 pm

u probably want mopar lowering springs they only lower like an inch I believe and I really would suggest lowering the entire car not just the front

OB · Post by OB » Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:00 pm

SRT-4 springs are good for a very minor drop (1/4") all around. Spring sets arent sold separatly from front to rear unless you special order them. You could cut your front springs but I wouldnt recommend it. I suggest a mild spring set, like the eibach pro kit, which is good for a 1.5" drop and very affordable, especially on the used market.

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:10 pm

I know better than to cut springs so that is not an option. Any input as to the changed ride with the pro kit? This is my dd and i do about 30-40k a year and the last thing i want is to be bouncing around.

OB · Post by OB » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:56 pm

I personally ran the eibach pro kit for about 2 years on Tokico HP struts and loved them. Mild drop, decent ride, great handling; all around good setup. On stock struts the ride would be slightly different. The springs are progressive so they do very well on city streets. They're definatly nowhere near as soft as stock though. It's always gonna be a compromise. If you cant handle a stiff ride, then you cant handle a lowered car. That's my piece on it at least.

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:59 pm

There are different levels of lowering and thus different levels of ride comfort. My past experience was with a 2.5" drop and I never trimmed the bumpstops. I would hope that a 1" to 1.5" in the front only would not affect the comfort level to any extreme extent.

Along the same lines do the srt springs lower or raise an sxt?

OB · Post by OB » Tue Sep 16, 2008 2:54 am

How low the car is has little to do with ride quality. Spring rates and suspension travel of the dampers are the key. Most cars that are very low have high rate springs, making for an uncomfortable ride. My car is dropped 2" and rides very good compared to most cars i've experienced. It's all about quality of parts and the correct setup.

Yes the SRT springs are good for a very small drop. Already covered that in one of my posts above.

dblsg · Post by **dblsg** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:06 am

OB wrote:How low the car is has little to do with ride quality. Spring rates and suspension travel of the dampers are the key. Most cars that are very low have high rate springs, making for an uncomfortable ride. My car is dropped 2" and rides very good compared to most cars i've experienced. It's all about quality of parts and the correct setup.

but with the car being lower... don't you have less travel?

Skinny_tires · Post by **Skinny_tires** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 11:51 am

If you want that front gap gone, DO NOT go with the srt springs..you wont see any difference...great springs if you want a sleeper with some performance, but not for what you want.

"D"

Neon4Life · Post by **Neon4Life** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 2:28 pm

nice rims on the neon. but you should just go with a all around drop.i used dropzone lowering springs from ebay and only costed me $60 with shipping. people might argue that they are bad but ive had then on for about a year and they are still perfect a little bouncy but perfect ride and good handling.

OB · Post by OB » Tue Sep 16, 2008 3:38 pm

dblsg wrote:
OB wrote:How low the car is has little to do with ride quality. Spring rates and suspension travel of the dampers are the key. Most cars that are very low have high rate springs, making for an uncomfortable ride. My car is dropped 2" and rides very good compared to most cars i've experienced. It's all about quality of parts and the correct setup.

but with the car being lower... don't you have less travel?

Well of course, but this can easily be remedied by using shorter bump stops. The factory stops are like 3" tall, so even a 2" drop could be compensated for by cutting them. All I meant is that ride height itself doesnt affect the quality.

ZeroChad · Post by **ZeroChad** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 5:27 pm

I'll just throw in this. When I was installing my coilovers, I did the fronts in one day, and the rears the next. The stance was super-raked, I loved it. It actually handled great, with minimal loss in ride quality.

nineball · Post by **nineball** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:41 pm

I decided that I don't want to invest more money into the car so the wheels and tires are now for sale in the parts section.

SlvrACR · Post by **SlvrACR** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 11:08 pm

I would have just got a set of SRT springs. I did this and it looked great. I only payed $30 for the set

dblsg · Post by **dblsg** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 11:37 am

OB wrote:
dblsg wrote:
OB wrote:How low the car is has little to do with ride quality. Spring rates and suspension travel of the dampers are the key. Most cars that are very low have high rate springs, making for an uncomfortable ride. My car is dropped 2" and rides very good compared to most cars i've experienced. It's all about quality of parts and the correct setup.

but with the car being lower... don't you have less travel?
Well of course, but this can easily be remedied by using shorter bump stops. The factory stops are like 3" tall, so even a 2" drop could be compensated for by cutting them. All I meant is that ride height itself doesnt affect the quality.

i've been away for too long "meng"! you know i gotta pick on you!

OB · Post by OB » Wed Sep 17, 2008 3:33 pm

^alright double sausage I wouldnt expect any less! Its all out of love though right!