Springs & Shocks vs. Coilover suspension

[S.F.W.]

I am currently running Eibach Prokit's, with Koni FSD shocks. I am fairly happy with ride comfort, and look.
However, as I carry heavier loads in the car such as my winter rims and tires, or 4 passengers, the car is bottoming out. I have generally noticed when I moved to my 16" winter set up, the car seems to bounce a lot more. Worse it almost seems to be scraping the ground, as I go over relatively minor speed bumps, etc. I have noticed the springs seem to have settled or sag a fair bit.
Brings me to my question: Is there a problem with my springs or shocks? Is there an easy way to tell?
If I move to a coilover setup, such as Tein Basic, or Yonaka, will this a)solve the bottoming out problem ? b)how will it affect ride comfort?

[WhiteSpeed3]

well if u move to a coilover setup you will have the ability to raise it up any time u want so your bottoming out problem is solved

as for ride comfort it might be a little rougher but not so much that you will want to kill yourself

and if u do switch let me know i'll will take your setup off your hands and we can work something out for the install

[S.F.W.]

well, I'm more concerned with the compression rate of the springs/shocks. My current setup seems that it shouldn't bottom out when carrying a load..

[Noisy Crow]

Springs support the weight of the car an provide isolation over bumps etc. The shocks just damp out the suspension oscillatons. They do provide additional resistance to the suspension moving up, but that is not their primary purpose.

If you are bouncing more with your winter setup, then I would suspect that shocks aren't doing their job... becacuse it sounds like their springier sidewalls on the winter tires are causing the un-sprung portion of the suspension to bounce around and the shocks aren't damping that out.

[Kevin@nextmod]

well if u move to a coilover setup you will have the ability to raise it up any time u want so your bottoming out problem is solved

as for ride comfort it might be a little rougher but not so much that you will want to kill yourself

and if u do switch let me know i'll will take your setup off your hands and we can work something out for the install

Good luck trying to adjust it after 1 winter... Since the dirt, salt, grime and crap will seize up the threads.

[S.F.W.]

Good luck trying to adjust it after 1 winter... Since the dirt, salt, grime and crap will seize up the threads.

That is one of my worries, I don't know how difficult it is to service coilovers.
Kevin - any ideas as to which is more likely the root cause of the problem, springs or shocks ?

[Kevin@nextmod]

well i'm not too sure. When i had the 3, my setup was prokits, with koni yellows. ALSO i went with koni yellows and sportlines. So i was even lower then you and the sportlines were softer then the prokits. So i guess definitely not the springs problem. Maybe the shocks are too soft? Mind you my yellows i had it set half way, so i guess it held up?
Another thing is, roy roy had the same setup as you before but i don't recall him having any problems.

When you say your car bounces a lot more when you have your 16inch winter wheels on, that is because your winter tires side wall is ALOT softer then the ones you have on your allseaon/summer tires. So you will feel your car bounce more.

[S.F.W.]

When you say your car bounces a lot more when you have your 16inch winter wheels on, that is because your winter tires side wall is ALOT softer then the ones you have on your allseaon/summer tires. So you will feel your car bounce more.

This is true, but what really worried me is the rear of my car literally felt as though it was scraping the ground when I had passengers.

[Kevin@nextmod]

Well, the FSD AFAIK is OEM replacement shocks, and they are there to provide comfort and a little handling when you corner. They explain that it will feel like stock shocks. So i guess, when you sit 2 grown man in the back, your car will go a lot lower because of the soft shocks and the springs. You'll hvae the same problem if you have the stock shocks on.

I'm not sure if i'm getting you anywhere but i'm trying my best to help you.

[S.F.W.]

Well, the FSD AFAIK is OEM replacement shocks, and they are there to provide comfort and a little handling when you corner. They explain that it will feel like stock shocks. So i guess, when you sit 2 grown man in the back, your car will go a lot lower because of the soft shocks and the springs. You'll hvae the same problem if you have the stock shocks on.

I'm not sure if i'm getting you anywhere but i'm trying my best to help you.

That does make sense. I guess I should look at upgrading to a set of yellow's. The ability to set the stiffness, seems like it would alleviate some or most of my issues.

[Kevin@nextmod]

One thing you have to think about is, the yellows might solve your issue but when you adjust it, you lose yoru comfort ride. And if you're going to lose your comfort ride, just get a set of tein basics. Koni yellows are a pita to adjust the rear. You have to take the strut out to adjust the damper. So its not as easy as you think. Koni yellows are also expensive. I believe they are $750? when the dollar was friendly, and now its probably roughly guess $800?

[mEtH]

Good luck trying to adjust it after 1 winter... Since the dirt, salt, grime and crap will seize up the threads.

I ran my coils for 2 winters I believe it was and had no problems. You just have to take care of them properly and not just leave them as is. Every time I did a tire swap I cleaned out all the grime in the treads with a firm brush and always sprayed them down with some of that rust check spray as it has an anti-seize agent in it.

Hey Kev aren't you on coils? thought I saw you raised your car for the winter too, or did you swap out the suspension for the winter...


I loved the basics setup, it was so stiff and hugged really nice. Problem after a while was that it was rough all the time and sometimes felt worse depending on my mood and if I was ill etc. I enjoyed it a lot but always worried about the other people that would hitch a ride with me. If you are going to do the coils and with the cost of a good set of shocks and springs, I would put the extra bit for the super street, or a set that can adjust dampening. If you set the shocks to be just a little softer then what the basics would be at, I think it would be a near perfect setup. The best part is that you can set the ride height just perfectly to have an even drop all around.

[Kevin@nextmod]

I ran my coils for 2 winters I believe it was and had no problems. You just have to take care of them properly and not just leave them as is. Every time I did a tire swap I cleaned out all the grime in the treads with a firm brush and always sprayed them down with some of that rust check spray as it has an anti-seize agent in it.

Hey Kev aren't you on coils? thought I saw you raised your car for the winter too, or did you swap out the suspension for the winter...

Another way is to put some white grease for automotive on the coilover threads that will help protect the crap from going on the threads.

And yes, i took out my coilovers for winter, as i'm WAY too low for winter driving. I didn't want to bother adjust the front and rear as its the same price as taking them out, so i took them out instead.

The rear of my suspension is gay, i have to take out 2 bolts on each side to adjust the height, and since its a double perch design, anything i move on the springs, i have to move the same on the shocks, and its too much work, so i might as well take them out.

Another reason is, i'm considering another set of coilovers. These aren't rough enough for me. I need something more serious since i'll be tracking a lot more next year.

My car looks like ASS now...... i do'nt even want to drive it.

[S.F.W.]

Thanks guys for the advice. I'm going to start pricing out some options.