[Guest]

I know that a lot of people are running ground controls on their car. However, they are a bit pricey. Just out of curiosity, is anyone running coil-overs other than ground control? (e.g. OBX, Matrix, TopSpeed, Weapon-r, Skunk-2, etc.) Do you like them? Did they sag? Do they perform well; especially compared to the GCs? (I had a few qestions!)

 

[david]

The problem with the cheaper brands of sleeve coilovers is that you don't have a choice of spring rates. Usually when you ask them they cannot tell you what spring rate their springs are. If you want a super harsh ride with no real performance improvement sure go with them. If you want something that is going to last and people who are going to stand behind their product go with ground control.

Remember you get what you pay for.

 

[Blair]

Well let me get up on my soap box for a minute. First of all why do you want coil-overs? I can't think of a good reasonto put coil overs on a street car. Second, I agree with the last post. I *tried* to put weapon-r coil overs on an Eclipse once. Did you know you have to take them OFF THE CAR TO ADJUST THEM!!!!! There is no way to get the corner-weights right with that garbage set up. Just my opinion I could be wrong.

Blair
preaching again

 

[Guest]

Here is the reason I want coilovers. SNOW! I live in Wisconsin, and is sucks! I have Sportlines (Eibach) now, and the ride is horrible. I can't get on most lifts (at dealer) I don't dare drive in more than a couple of inches of snow. I like the look of the Sportlines, but I don't know how much longer my kidneys can take it! With the coilover set up, I could lower it without sacrificing the horrendous ride. Did I mention the ride sucks?

Am I reapeating my self my self my self?

 

[skyliner]

Sportlines shouldn't ride that ruff. Coilovers alone wont give you a smooth ride. You need a good shock to go along with any spring set-up period. I had Eibach pro-kit on my first SE-R and rode like CRAP I had two problems worn out shocks and I didn't trim the bump stops correctly. I now have Sportlines and good shocks rides 10X better then before.

 

[ClassicSE-R]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by skyliner:
Sportlines shouldn't ride that ruff. </font>

IMO, I think Sportlines ride horribly. They are really bad springs. SE-R's have hardly any suspension travel at all. Sportlines are soft springs and they *way* overlower the car. I bet a Sportline car has less than 0.5" of suspension travel, at least on the front.

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">
Coilovers alone wont give you a smooth ride.

</font>

That is 100% true. However, the problem with aftermarket springs like Prokits and Sportlines is that they lower the car way too much for the amount they firm the suspsension. Therefore, it gets to the point where the spring isn't stiff enough to keep the suspension from compression into the bump stops. Bottoming out hurts way worse than really stiff springs! Coil overs allow you to choose a tremendous variety of spring rates (from 150 to 500 lbs/in in 25 lb/in increments!). Plus, you can control the ride height and spring rate independantly, so you can make sure than the car has enough travel for the amount of spring you are running.

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">
You need a good shock to go along with any spring set-up period.

</font>

Yes, this is also 100% true. Shocks play a huge role in terms of ride and handling. If you cheap out on shocks, your results will be horrible. If you think that GC's are too expensive, then leave your suspension stock. If you don't modify it correctly, your car will be worse than it was before. The cost of the GC's is only part of the equation. Really, if you get GC's, you will also need a good shock: KYB AGX's are the *very* least. Even then, that's not a very good suspension for an SE-R. If you want the best thing for the money, get the Motivational suspension. With a shorter shock body, this gives lots of travel while lowering the ride. They are about $1500, but IMO, it's the cheapest suspension available for our cars that has anything better than marginal performance.

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">
I now have Sportlines and good shocks rides 10X better then before.

</font>

I'm surprised you are doing so well with Sportlines. To each his own, but I think that anything more than a 1" drop with stock length shocks is too much.

Rob

 

[nj1266]

I had AGXs with Prokits on my car for almost 2 years. I liked it a lot. For the street you cannot do any better unless you go with GC. I even road raced the car and I did well with that set up. I have since given the set up to my brother. Here is what you need to do with the suspension travel issue with the Prokits:

* Get Polyurethane progressive short bump stops for the front shaft of the AGXs. Do not get the long ones.
* Get the motivational rear top mounting plate and use polyurethane stops also.

These two will give a fair amount of travel.
We are running this set-up on my brother's 99 SE and we have had great results. He carries almost 70lbs in the trunk w/o any bottoming out. Only on the steepest of dips does his car bottom out in the front.

------------------
Naji Dahi, aka Red Mist
Fast 1998 SE-R Last of the SE-Rs
Slow 1996 G20 (AGXs/G20t springs, K&N drop in filter)

 

[Guest]

Thanks for all of your replys. I will save up and go with the GCs.

 

[RPWSER]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by skyliner:
Sportlines shouldn't ride that ruff. Coilovers alone wont give you a smooth ride. You need a good shock to go along with any spring set-up period. I had Eibach pro-kit on my first SE-R and rode like CRAP I had two problems worn out shocks and I didn't trim the bump stops correctly. I now have Sportlines and good shocks rides 10X better then before.</font>

Just like Rpob said...Sportlines SUCK!!! i have them on my 97, and they are starting to annoy me!!! they have the same spring rates, or damn near clsoe to the ProKits...which, is waaaaay too soft. Im gonna start naming my bumpstops, cuz i come in contact with them soo much!!!! and they are even cut to half their length.

As for a coilover setup....if you dont want a whole new suspension( i.e. motivational, shocktek, thruechoice, etc) then your best bet is to go with Ground Controls and AGx's. Any other coil-over sucks. they are cheap because of a few different things-> they are constructed shitty, they are made a of cheap metals, their either too stiff or too soft, the range of adjustability sucks. Go with ground controls, trust me. you can go from a 0-3 inch drop( or 4"??), you can custom order spring rates( best IMHO is 300 front, 250 rear), they are warranted, and they are made of the best stuff. you get what you pay for!


------------------
Ryan Walsh...1st 97 owner ever to succesfully mount a 98SE exhaust to a 97SER!
relaxing after a quiet ride home from SF2K1. first day without an exhaust in a long time.

 

[Blair]

Ok here's the other problem. Raising and lowering the car does change the alighnment. My NX goes through major changes in toe. IMHO the B13's have awful bumpsteer and i'm workin on a remedy.

Blair

 

[ClassicSE-R]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Blair:
Ok here's the other problem. Raising and lowering the car does change the alighnment. My NX goes through major changes in toe. IMHO the B13's have awful bumpsteer and i'm workin on a remedy.
</font>

The toe does change a lot when you change the ride height.

Strangely enough, I have never noticed any noticable bump steer when driving the car, even at very high speeds on road courses.

Once would think it would be there, but I have never been able to discern it.

Rob

 

[Guest]

Wow! So much info. I was about to pick up some AGXs and the ProKit for my '92 Classic. Now with all this I'm starting to have second thoughts. I like a comfy ride and don't race much (except for those occassional street lights

, but the car now has 68K and it's time to change the shocks anyway. Should I just stick with the stock spring and just go with AGXs? How do the H&Rs fare? Thanks!

 

[nj1266]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Should I just stick with the stock spring and just go with AGXs? How do the H&Rs fare? Thanks![/B]</font>

No. Do not do that. The AGXs are too strong for the stock springs. Do as I said in the previous post. Get the ProKits and the AGXs. Go to www.motivational.net and order the rear mounting plates and the SHORT polyurethane bump stops. We are currently runnig this setting on a 99 SE. It is very good.



------------------
Naji Dahi, aka Red Mist
Fast 1998 SE-R Last of the SE-Rs
Slow 1996 G20 (AGXs/G20t springs, K&N drop in filter)

 

[NXBen]

There are a lot of people running AGX struts with stock springs who are happy with that setup. I have not personally experienced that setup, though.

Your other option is to wait a little bit for the Valley Springs Group deal. The spring rates will be 300 front, 200 rear (roughlt double the stock rates) and they will lower the car about 1". The price should be in the $200 range.

Ben

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by nj1266:
No. Do not do that. The AGXs are too strong for the stock springs. Do as I said in the previous post. Get the ProKits and the AGXs. Go to www.motivational.net and order the rear mounting plates and the SHORT polyurethane bump stops. We are currently runnig this setting on a 99 SE. It is very good.

</font>

------------------
'93 NX2K

 

[Blair]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by ClassicSE-R:

Strangely enough, I have never noticed any noticable bump steer when driving the car, even at very high speeds on road courses.

Once would think it would be there, but I have never been able to discern it.

Rob</font>

I've felt some at Nelson Ledges before. Of course it could just be the bad pavement there!! but I put a strut w/o a spring on once and watched the change through it's range of motion! We had this problem with the F500 car i used to crew for. we ended up engineering some spacers for the tie-rodends to releive some angle from the rod to knuckle joint.

Blair

 

[Ben]

On B14s at least there are 2 "donuts" that are part of the the dustboost/bumpstop setup in the rear. If you trim none of it you basically have no travel in the rear. I trimmed one of the donuts off and it gave me some travel back. Looked at it the other day with the tire off and suspension compressed and I had between .5" and 1" of travel. Bleh. So I cut the other donut off in the rear. I have 1.5" to 2" of travel now in the rear. It's a great ride now. It's amazing what a little travel will do. I don't remember if i trimmed them in the front or not, but I probably will trim a(nother?) donut off the front. Could only improve the ride.

Trim those donuts!

------------------
Ben98SentraSE
98 Sentra SE TURBO

 

[RPWSER]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by nj1266:
No. Do not do that. The AGXs are too strong for the stock springs. Do as I said in the previous post. Get the ProKits and the AGXs. </font>

What do you mean they are too strong??? Please explain. There are many people on this board, and the mailing list using the stock spring/AGX combo, and the majority are happy with the setup. Before you go with Prokits I would use the stock springs until you could save up for the GC's or Motivational, or similar.

------------------
Ryan Walsh...1st 97 owner ever to succesfully mount a 98SE exhaust to a 97SER!
relaxing after a quiet ride home from SF2K1. first day without an exhaust in a long time.

 

[RPWSER]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Lamchop:
Hey all (this is actually D87 but I'm at work). What is the Spring Valley deal? Is this a new company? Can someone point me to a web site? Everybody's saying wait for these instead of getting ProKits so I'm assuming they're vastly superior (and the price seem comparable). Can I expect my ride (compare to stock and ProKits) to be a lot harsher if I get these? It's been three weeks now and I still haven't been able to come to a decision about which springs to get.

</font>

Valley Springs is a new spring for our cars. There was recently a group deal set up through SE-R.net. They are promising, and you may want to go with these. Definately go with these if you are looking for something better than a ProKit and cheaper than GC's. The spring rates are 300f/200r, which is a comfortable comprmise for street driving. The reason most dont liek Sportlines or ProKits, is cuz they are too soft, not even close to these new Valley Springs. They do leave more travel also, only lowering your car 1 inch. They make for a good ride, and get rid of some of that fugly wheels gap

------------------
Ryan Walsh...1st 97 owner ever to succesfully mount a 98SE exhaust to a 97SER!
relaxing after a quiet ride home from SF2K1. first day without an exhaust in a long time.

 

[brian]

get the pro kits and the agxs unless you have the extra money for the g/c setup. I was gonna play around with those urathane bumpstops, but did not think they made a big diffrence, but I guess I will try them out.

 

[Lamchop]

Hey all (this is actually D87 but I'm at work). What is the Spring Valley deal? Is this a new company? Can someone point me to a web site? Everybody's saying wait for these instead of getting ProKits so I'm assuming they're vastly superior (and the price seem comparable). Can I expect my ride (compare to stock and ProKits) to be a lot harsher if I get these? It's been three weeks now and I still haven't been able to come to a decision about which springs to get.