Wheels or suspension first??

[ndekens]

I have a stock 95 4dr civic ex and I want to get some new wheels on it and lower it, but I don't know if I should get the wheels I want then lower the car to fit the wheels or if I should lower the car as low as I want then get wheels to fit the car. I dont want to end up having to modify the fenders to prevent tire rub or anything like that.
Also is their any companies that sell complete suspension kits like springs, swaybars, bushings and camber kits all together or am I going to have to buy them all seperate? Oh and I don't want to use coilovers.:licker:

Thanks, this forum is sweeeet!

[SilverY2KCivic]

It's all personal preferance and up to you. Some people think wheels before lowering looks gay, while others think lowering before rims doesn't look so good either. In your case since you don't want anything adjustable, wheels will obviously cost more. So figure out which is obtainable first, and which you'd rather have first. For me, I got my wheels first, but that's because I wanted them first, had to get a jump on a really good deal on my wheels/tires I got before the price went back up. Not to mention my suspension set up cost more than my wheels anyways, and my wheels I could take out on credit for the place I got them from, whereas my suspension coilovers I got, I couldn't do credit on. Let us know what you decide, and good luck with it.

[strodda]

personally i'd save and get them both at the same time. rims without being lowered is ugly, and so is being lowered on stocks(trust me, i had them both). that i know of, a complete suspension set hasn't been sold, but you might get lucky, people on ebay are always putting deals together. if you plan on going all out and getting struts, shocks, all bars and poly bushings, etc. then i would say go suspension first, since lowered with no rims is the lesser of the two evils.

do you plan on working on the engine? because if you just want to make your car look nice, then reworking the entire suspension isnt necessary. i dont race, so im just lowered on stock(blown) struts. and it actually feels smooth, except every now and then over a big bump i'll get a bounce.

and about fender rubbing, just pick your wheel size, offset and tires carefully. what size rims did you want to get? and if you do end up with a little rubbing when tucked, rolling the fender a little bit wont hurt anything. and its not visible, so it wont make your car look bad.

[ndekens]

Thanks, and yeah im gonna work on the engine but I don't have money for that yet so I plan on getting the suspension and stuff out of the way first. So what do you think I would expect to spend on the suspension (non coilover)?

[strodda]

well i dont know about your car specifically, but i would assume theyd be somewhat similar to the cost of mine. i got springs for $100, and i could get a set of good struts on ebay, for anywhere between 150-300. all depending on how much adjustability or performance i wanted out of them. as for the strut and sway bars, those can vary greatly depending on what brand you get.

[SilverY2KCivic]

Originally posted by ndekens
Thanks, and yeah im gonna work on the engine but I don't have money for that yet so I plan on getting the suspension and stuff out of the way first. So what do you think I would expect to spend on the suspension (non coilover)?

What lowering springs are you interested in? I've heard great things about the Neuspeed sport and race springs, as well as good stuff about the Eibach Pro Kit springs. I'd say expect to spend roughly $200 for either of those. For shocks, expect to pay about $500-$600 for a set of Koni Yellows, $400-$500 for Tokico Illuminas (both Koni Yellow and Illuminas feature 5-way damning force adjustment) and expect to pay about $350-$400 for a set of KYB AGX, and about $250-$300 for Tokico "Blue" shocks. Hope that helps you out some.

[strodda]

im not sure about the quality of them, but its what i got and they seem fine. theyre speedtech springs by suspension techniques
http://www.inlinefour.com/speedperspri.html
great price too. then again, im a thrifty bastard.