I had been looking to do a project like this for some time, upon researching i found there is very little info out there for this type of thing concerning our cars.



Disclaimer. this is not a how to, This is just for informational purposes. Going this low on stock struts can cause them to bottom out and blow.

So basically I'm posting this for those that think lowering springs are not low enough and Full Coilovers are over kill. You have to do your own footwork for sourcing parts.

The basics
this kit consist of sleeve style adjustable springs.
Front: 5" perch 7" 350lb spring
Rear 4 " perch 7" 450lb spring


Things to consider when sourcing parts
you can't use the stock front top spring perch , so you need a top perch that can accept the factory strut bearing. The perches i had almost fit the top bearing,so i took my drimel and did some trimming. (I would have preferred somthing with a taller tab or recessed foot print to better lock the bearing in place.)







Just for reference , stock spring perch, stock bearing and stock spring perch assembly vs aftermarket spring perch, stock bearing and stock top hat assembly






Also note when the suspension is unloaded things tend to just kinda fall apart. This is only a issue when lifting the car, special care has to be taken to make sure everything lines back up when the car is lowered back down.
The front spring perch will drop from the top-hat, and the bearing may have a tendency to become misaligned


The rear , this pic is fairly self explanatory The rear springs will just fall out. I zip-tied the spring,perch,bump stop assembly to car to make it a one man install.


Amazing it kinda sorta self alines , limiting straps should be installed on the rear to keep the axle from dropping low enough to allow the spring to pop out.
Another(much better) option would be sourcing shorter shocks.



What my setup looks like.


Heres the complet front assambly



Heres the complet rear assambly


End result
The car rides like any car would ride with stiff springs...Ridged as fck. every bump in the road can be felt ,but the stock shocks and struts do a surprisingly good job at dampening(no bounce). Pot hols or large bumps in the road will make you s**t yourself from both the jarring force and the horrifying sound of suspension comportments reaching their mechanical limits. The car is flat threw corners which can be good and bad.

This is pretty much adjusted all the way down, You could use shorter springs to go lower, but i strongly advise against it on stock shocks and struts. With this setup the the front strut probably has a good 2.5 3" of travel before bottoming out with no bump stops.

 

nice, why no piece of wood used between jack and axle?

the zip tie idea is good

 

When i lift the car i use wood.

 

excellent

 

ghetto, but seems like a fun little project

 

Yeah it was pretty fun.

I often wonder why so many people think Sleeves are ghetto.Granted the parts "I" used may be alittle on the ghetto side (ebay) But i had this stuff laying around form past projects and such. with springs from stance or eibach, and maybe a shorter spring with an helper spring to help with preload. i think a decent means of lowing can be had cheap for those that don't need the full adjustable of a full coil over kit.

 

not bad there. I have a set of universal sleeves with upgraded STANCE springs ive been trying to sell for a while now

 

For a couple reasons, besides the questionable quality of the springs. They look way too short for our struts and will blow them out very soon. The rear springs seem like they will unseat on a hard corner. Your most likely hitting the rear bump stops and that is the jarring ride you're feeling, along with the coilbind in the rear.

If you went with a good spring, of the right length and coil count I think this would be a lot less ghetto.

 

^ and id probably pick them up but im going to have to go against it if the ride is THAT bad, i get that kidney jarring slam when i hit bumps on megans already im trying to do something a little better with the same drop if at all possible.

 

Pretty sure i already addressed all those points.

The jarring is the front strut internally or external bottoming out.

The back has yet to bottom out, and the bumps are cut.

fix for the front is a shorter spring with a helper (wont fix bottoming out,but even coilovers will bottom out when set so low) but it will keep load on the sping at all time.

Fix the the rear are shorter shocks,or limiting straps.
there is enough compression when the car is on the ground to keep them from un seating on corners . due to the nature of the torsion beam the beam would have to bend or the car would have to flip or the ass will just slide before the spring would be unloaded enough to fall out. And if you plan to drive the car that hard, i would highly suggest full coil overs.

Next year when me and my wife's cars both paid off ,and we recover from buying a house ,im actually looking into coilovers and shooting for more of a track prep setup.( pbir is only an hr away lol)

 

Not gonna argue about it with you man, it's your car do what you please.

 

Starting to remember why i avoided this place years.

 

Because I'm trying to save people from making your mistakes?


Mark something on here did this the right way, saw great results in autox.

 

I guess i should have been more clear,my build is not a performance oriented build. This could be done for racing if the correct parts were to be sourced and by not lowering the car so much.

I did alude to it, but i guess i should have been more to the point rathering than thinking people have to power to read something and use there own desecration to decide whether or not this could be what they are looking for.

All i'm doing here is posting my findings so that if someone else is doing something like this they don't have to start form scratch.


Honestly from what I've found (need to buy new struts and shocks) for me it doesn't make allot sense to go this route if you plan to slam the car.

But someone who may already be on koni yellows,or something similar , and want to go lower ,or run linear springs... sleeves really aren't as bad as everyone seems to think if you take the time to do the foot work to do it right.

 

I would try to find a shorter shock. Have you found any shorter shocks for our car? I was planingto looking for sleeves like this but thought springs are to short. My brother dis a 4 inch drop on his silver ado and his shocks were completely closed so he ended up biy if shorter shocks for a old heavy and custom fit them and it worked. I'm thinkig I could do something similar since he is good at doing custom work

 

I would try to find a shorter shock. Have you found any shorter shocks for our car? I was planingto looking for sleeves like this but thought springs are to short. My brother dis a 4 inch drop on his silver ado and his shocks were completely closed so he ended up biy if shorter shocks for a old heavy and custom fit them and it worked. I'm thinkig I could do something similar since he is good at doing custom work

 

Monroe has a great online catalog.
http://www.monroe.com/assets/downloa...engthSheet.pdf

The stock shock mounting is
top LS29 12mm x 1 3/4"
bottom LS47 9/16 X 1 5/8"
Stock extended length is 16"


in my case i would need something with an extended length of about 13" to keep the springs from dropping out. also i haven't found anything with exact mounting,i'll probly find something close and just shim it.

Haven't figured out damping,or compressed length or any of the other stuff ...as i said not doing to the foot work for other peoples projects

 

Yea I understand but I'm thinking of maybe getting sleeves for now and shorter shocks to get a better drop on the rear. As for the from Idk how will go lol

 

So after some more tinkering ,and researching I think iv got a plan for my finale configuration


Going to do front strut inserts with a reduced length (less than stock) to aid in the fight against bottoming out the strut. havent decided what brand yet.

for the rear i may just go with a shorter shock and limiting straps, because if i simply go with a shorter shock i wont be able to adjust the ride high back up without replacing the shock .

 

I love this, My friend and I just got done with doing this to a RX7 with Tokico Illuminas. Badass sir. Badass.

Edit, what are youre fender heights? With my setup my front fender(highest point of fender opening) is at 23.5" and rear is 24.5".

 

Sounds good :thumbsup hope you keep this updated I want to do this but not sure if it might be same price as coil overs lol

 

Yeah after pricing the koni yellow inserts and rear shocks it pretty close pretty close to 700 bucks,

 

Yes if it is that much I'll just get coil overs

 

After driveing around for a few weeks i think the stock struts and shocks are fine with stiffer springs, so im gonna go with SS/TC shocks and struts,and maybe some lighter springs.

also this came in the mail today...

 

do it up!