going back to cali.. i mean stock

[No-Townhustla]

hey world, got a question. Im trying to go back to pretty much stock suspension, i still have my orig springs but my stock shocks are blown. I lowerd my car last year with some cheap coils. you know how the story goes blown shocks, bald tires, fucked up axels really regret not taking other peoples advice but im a fuckin hard headed impatient basterd. Any ways im going to have to pay a shit load to undo the damage i did with these coils. (new tires, axels ect.) So although i wanted some new lowering springs and struts i decided its not worth it.

were could i get the stock shocks or something similar to them without paying a arm and a nut? and what should i expect to pay to have this done?
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[No-Townhustla]

my advice to anyone wanting to lower your car, take your time find out the pros and cons and do it right.

[superbluecivicsi]

Do you really care on quality? Even if you bought some cheap shocks to replace the stock ones on your car from autozone $45 for the front and another $45 for the rear, the OEM quality is way better. You will definately know the difference, even if your not dropping the car anymore. I havnt had experience on the other more expensive generic OEM ones($130 the cheapest ive seen em, thats just for the front, the rears should be the same price too).

If it was me, Id just go get some tokico blues. Youll be happy with em. They are proven and better than spending it on generic oem wanna bes. There also the same price as the generic OEM one if not, cheaper.

[No-Townhustla]

yea your probaly right, but at the shops aroound here tokios blues cost $89 installed per side, and that pretty much puts me over my budget for fixing this. Another thing is i would also have to get some new lowering springs which again is out of budget. but thanks for your advice.

[Miataracer]

you can install performance shocks without using lowering springs... it just doesnt really work the other way around which is what you have already found out

[phoenixitc]

I just had H&R OE springs and Koni yellows installed. I'm starting to regret doing it and am seriously considering having the OEM springs and struts reinstalled. I thought I matched the parts to work well. I have a choice of having the rear struts readjusted to the top perch (installed on lowest perch) or scrap the whole deal. I'm wondering if I could just go back to using the OEM springs and keep the Konis, set at the highest perch setting on all four corners.
Thoughts?
Thanks!

[No-Townhustla]

what are you regreting about your your set up i thought both those products were suposed to be great.

[engineer]

Originally Posted by No-Townhustla

what are you regreting about your your set up i thought both those products were suposed to be great.

yes but u have to match shocks and springs or u can adversely affect handling in a big way. my advice? buy a pre-matched suspension kit. garages specialising in suspension probably have them, as do big companies like eibach.

[phoenixitc]

Originally Posted by No-Townhustla

what are you regreting about your your set up i thought both those products were suposed to be great.

They are, but the drop in the rear is extreme. I bought the H&R OE springs for the smallest drop available in an aftermarket spring, .5" at best, not over 3". I'm sure the additional drop is due to the Konis.
All of the matched kits showed an advertised drop of at least 1.5". I did not want more than 1".

The ride is a little stiffer than stock, that's not the part I regret. I am hoping the extreme drop is due to the perch setting. The combination of .5" drop with the H&R OE springs, and the Konis should have given me 1". Perhaps I misunderstood the lowest perch setting on the Konis as providing only 15mm additional drop. Additional drop over what is the question.

The front even dropped more than I expected, over 2inches. Perhaps I should have ordered the Koni Reds instead.

[phoenixitc]

Ok... I called Koni (should have done that before installing the struts) and asked an engineer about my situation. He stated that the front struts have two perch settings and I should have set them to the top one. The rear struts have three perch settings and I should have had them set to the middle. This makes for a stock height in conjunction with a lowering spring. He said I should never use the lowest perch setting with any type of lowering spring. He stated my ride comfort will improve noticeably cuz I feel a little bouncy and am hitting the rear bump stops on big bumps.

[phoenixitc]

Spoke to another engineer about a second option. Go back to the stock OEM springs and keep the Konis on the low perch.

Any thoughts on either option? Thanks!