Need Help.. Droping Gs300

[TomMieX]

does anyone have suggestion on what kind of springs or suspensions?

[gs2slow]

i have a 1st gen gs300 and the only way i found for max drop was springs from intrax, it dropped 2' in the front and 1.7' in the rear, the only way to go lower is coilovers, but i couldn't suggest that! BUT, there's always the good old cut springs technique!

[alexR]

How is your ride with the intrax? personally I would sacrifice the ~.2 drop and buy from Tien or H&R or something of that nature.

[Neo]

I'd go to coilovers right off if the funds are there. ;)

What are you looking for? How much drop? Handling vs ride considerations? What size wheels?

[HREWheelMaker]

I lowered my brother's first-gen on Eibachs- the ride is great, but the drop is only 1.25". So, we tried the Intrax springs. springs... unfortunately, the rear springs 'stack-up' under compression and make a clicking sound over every bump... they dropped the car a bit more than the Eibachs, but not the full 1.8" advertised drop.

If you lower these cars more than 1.5" on stock struts, you will find theat the front suspension bottoms easily and quickly over large undulations- this was the case with the Intrax.

Also, the camber gets pretty far out of whack when the car is lowered more than 1.25", so this will be an issue with the Intrax and coilovers. I am not aware of a good camber adjustment kit for this car- the OE camber adjusters are already maxed-out on my brother's car (with Eibachs) in an attempt to get the camber close to OE settings. It still wears the inside edge prematurely on his 19" tires.

The Eibachs are back in the car now... lesson learned- should have coined-up for the coilovers in the first place!!!

Go Eibachs or coilovers- there is no other GOOD solution for these cars.

[cal]

HREwheelmaker,

do you have pictures of your car. i would like to see your 20" wheels.

please send to corkycalvin@yahoo.com. i see that you live in s. cal also.

thanks

[- t a k t i k s -]

A great combo is the Eibach pro-kit and a set of koni adjustables. A drop of about 1.5 and a decent ride to go with it! Its been working for me for the last 30k miles!

[Neo]

HREwheelmaker,

do you have pictures of your car. i would like to see your 20" wheels.

Get ready to drop your jaw. Bob has one of the sweetest modded GS around. Expect class not rice.

[TWINTURBO619]

How is your ride with the intrax? personally I would sacrifice the ~.2 drop and buy from Tien or H&R or something of that nature.

i have intrax on my first gen and it rides like a dream. i'm still on the stock struts and loving the stock ride. so i couldn't complain on my intrax springs.

[PEARLWHITE_lex]

What do you guys think of TEIN S. TECH springs with L-TUNED shocks on a 99 GS with 20 inch rims. Just wondering if that would be a nice drop and would the ride be ok.

[MonStarr]

HREwheelmaker,

do you have pictures of your car. i would like to see your 20" wheels.

Get ready to drop your jaw. Bob has one of the sweetest modded GS around. Expect class not rice

HREwheelmaker, Neo has got me intrested....do you thin you could post a pic on here? I would love to see it myself!

[MonStarr]

Oh yeah...what exactly are coilovers and what is the major difference btweem them and springs?

MonStarr

[TWINTURBO619]

Oh yeah...what exactly are coilovers and what is the major difference btweem them and springs?

MonStarr

you can adjust the ride height with coil overs. personally, i don't think it's worth putting on coil overs because the ride is so rough. i'm all for the stock ride which my car rides like a dream on regular intrax springs. but that's my opinion.

[NT2SHBBY]

What do you guys think of TEIN S. TECH springs with L-TUNED shocks on a 99 GS with 20 inch rims. Just wondering if that would be a nice drop and would the ride be ok.

don't know about the GS, but on my previous 03 Maxima, the Tein S-techs were total garbage. Dropped the car coilover low, but rode like a riced out civic on cut coils.

I would stay away from Tein springs, they make better coilovers, from what I understand.

[Neo]

HREwheelmaker,

do you have pictures of your car. i would like to see your 20" wheels.

Get ready to drop your jaw. Bob has one of the sweetest modded GS around. Expect class not rice

HREwheelmaker, Neo has got me intrested....do you thin you could post a pic on here? I would love to see it myself!

I hope Bob doesn't mind but I'd like the honors. ;)

[Neo]

Oh yeah...what exactly are coilovers and what is the major difference btweem them and springs?

MonStarr 

you can adjust the ride height with coil overs. personally, i don't think it's worth putting on coil overs because the ride is so rough. i'm all for the stock ride which my car rides like a dream on regular intrax springs. but that's my opinion.

It really depends on the coilovers. They range from racing applications to street cruising so it is just a matter of buying the ones that fit your needs.

As for coilovers, here is a little write up a friend of mine (Todd from TMEngineering) wrote about it:

The term coilover refers to the physical placement of a spring around a shock absorber. Older cars for the most part didn't have what is referred to as a "strut". Most had some coil springs on a-arms and/or leaf springs or some combination thereof. The shock absorber was usually separate and connected some suspension arm or axle to the body or usually the frame somewhere.

Newer vehicles (in the effort to save time, money and weight), use what is usually referred to as a McPherson strut assembly, which contains the whole shock and spring in one assembly. Many times this is also an integral part of the suspension, rather than just a separate component that controls height or damping.

In the technical shock world, any shock with a spring on or around it is referred to as a coilover (simply by definition of the word itself).

Now, most aftermarket replacement springs use the existing shock or strut, or a replacement shock that is designed to be a direct replacement. This is fine, especially so if you can find a shock that is matched in damping to the spring that you are using. As mentioned above, there are so many variables with other suspension components, tires, plus user preferences and intended use, that it is pretty hard to cover them all.

This is the beauty of so much stuff on the market, that one can choose what is best for their application. Especially so nowdays with the resource of the internet, where you can exchange information and experiences to help guide you in the right direction.

Now, most race cars, both road and drag have what they refer to as a coilover setup, which has a spring around a shock, but with the added twist of a threaded or adjustable spring seat. This is used sometimes to adjust vehicle height, but also to change spring rate. On a race car, optimum suspension settings are very critical, and this allows the user to make fine adjustments for corner weight, shock absorption, plus usually damping adjustments as well. This is where the more common "coilover" term comes from.

Now some aftermarket companies developed shock and spring setups for street cars (or weekend race cars, or stock-type race cars), and tooled shocks with adjustable spring seats, and specific springs. These of course don't work with the stock parts, you simply remove the whole stock assembly and replace it with the new shock and spring setup. This of course is very expensive to tool and produce, as virtually everything has to be made from scratch. In the world of aftermarket parts, this is not too cost effective, as most people are not willing to spend the $1000 to $3000 that these cost. It takes a serious enthusiast to spend this money, but there are added benefits beyond normal springs and shocks...

The stock shocks are a given length, which is fine for stock use. When using lowered springs, of course the car is sitting lower, but that also causes a problem with losing some of the original suspension travel. Other than the body of the car hitting the ground, the tires hitting inside the wheelwells, or the control arms binding up, the only thing controlling how absolutely low a car will go is usually the shock body itself. Toyotas have a tendency to have longer shocks than some other manufacturers, so lowering them more than 1-1.5" is usually the most you can go. Of course this still causes a loss of suspension travel from static ride height until the suspension is bottomed out due to the length of the original shock. This is something you cannot escape no matter what. This is where the aftermarket coilover setups can be much superior...

These are designed with the shock and spring together, and are also intended for use in lowered applications. Why is this important to us? Because they will make the shock SHORTER than the stock shock. This allows the suspension to travel more before bottoming out. This also allows the shock to stay in an optimum portion of its stroke during normal use, which is something that the stock shock doesn't get to do.

There are very few manufacturers that are willing to make a direct replacement shock that is significantly different from the OE unit, probably due to compatibility issues or what not. This is where the coilover setups reign superior, and are also able to ride better at the same or lower heights. It is when the suspension bottoms out on the bump stops when the suspension provides a "bad ride."

Some Koni and Bilstien shocks also have adjustable spring seat shocks, which have grooves milled into the shock body with a c-clip that can be adjusted to change the height of the spring seat. This is basically the same thing as the threaded adjustment seats, just without the infinitely adjustable height adjustment. But once again it all comes down to the length and design of the shock itself.

Todd Matsubara

TM Engineering LLC

www.tmengineering.net