General Coilovers question

[spills1969]

I was just wonderin what the difference between coilovers and regular strut+spring combos. Is it just lowering springs on lowered struts, or is it something else?

BTW, my friend has an 89 Mercedes 300SE, and he dont know anything about it. He wanted to cut the springs a little to give it a good stance. I was talking to another friend of mine and he said that Id have to replace the struts. I looked on the Benz and it has a coil spring and a shock, and the shock wasnt going through the coil. I thought a strut was just a shock with a spring around it? Can anyone try and explain some of these differences?

[Wraith]

Originally posted by spills1969
I was just wonderin what the difference between coilovers and regular strut+spring combos. Is it just lowering springs on lowered struts, or is it something else?

BTW, my friend has an 89 Mercedes 300SE, and he dont know anything about it. He wanted to cut the springs a little to give it a good stance. I was talking to another friend of mine and he said that Id have to replace the struts. I looked on the Benz and it has a coil spring and a shock, and the shock wasnt going through the coil. I thought a strut was just a shock with a spring around it? Can anyone try and explain some of these differences?

coil overs can give the adjustability on hieght and rebound and compression on your shocks. The coils also come with short stroke shocks which are made for the ride hieght you can achive with the coil overs. While spring and shocks are not adjustable. Some shocks you can adjust the rebound and/or the compression ( the higher end shocks you can adjust both). Generally the Coil over will cost twice if not 3 times the amount of a good spring and shock combo. But if you want ultimate adjustability and performance in your suspension I suggest getting the coil overs. But, if your on a tight budget get a nice set of springs and mate them with Koni Reds ( which adjustable in rebound and are shorter stroked than any other shocks on the market for the Camry) ... I hope this information helps...