Lowering Suspension - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Createdtoburn · 06-30-2009, 07:15 PM

Well I need to replace my rear struts soon, and I'm thinking about just getting full suspension. I want to lower my car maybe 2 inches or so, and replace my struts and whatever else at the same time. I'd also like to stiffen up the whole suspension a bit more, maybe new sway bars and better springs...

Anybody have any ideas the best way to go about this and wheres a good place online to order parts from for this car? I'd also like to see what anybody else has done if you guys wanna share. I don't want to spend toooo much, but I'm willing to save up if need be!

thanks

AE92, 89 GTS, 4AGE

4agetercel · 06-30-2009, 09:58 PM

if you wanna replace the springs and shocks you might as well buy coilovers, if you have the money, if not just find some cheap lowering springs, i think theres a guy on here still selling ae92 suspension stuff

Createdtoburn · 06-30-2009, 10:06 PM

Yeah I was thinking about some Coilovers, but does anybody know a good place to get some that are quality without breakin the bank? hah

4agetercel · 06-30-2009, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Createdtoburn

Yeah I was thinking about some Coilovers, but does anybody know a good place to get some that are quality without breakin the bank? hah

thats the problem

Createdtoburn · 06-30-2009, 10:21 PM

Well I found this for some nice Lowering Springs, checkout the price, and free shipping too.
http://www.autogrimmig.com/servlet/t...lla-FWD/Detail

4agetercel · 06-30-2009, 10:27 PM

not sure if he has any of this still?

FS: AE92 GTS- KYB, Eibach & Whiteline

canadianae92 · 06-30-2009, 10:43 PM

I suggest not getting the cheap coilovers made in Taiwan ksport, jic, d2, megan(all produced in the same taiwan factory). Just do your research before you go and waste your money on that shit, ask people who've tried them, look for reviews online, or whatever. I have a friend running ksport coilovers and hes blown something like 4 struts in a year(now remember all those other companies are the same quality).

Coilovers
Tein, and Cusco make coilovers(cusco is a reputable name imo).
Groundcontrol makes coilover sleeves(or however you call them) but would require some custom work by you or a shop. Theres a website with some info on it.

Struts/inserts etc.
Bilstein makes oem replacements, Bilstein is a very very good.
Koni Good
KYB
TRD(money)
Tokico(Mixed reviews from what I've seen)

Springs
ST(I'm going to be trying these out I have a ae102 set on the way, the ae102 springs are a bit less of a drop than ae92).
Eichbach
TRD(Can rape your wallet).
H&R

AE102 Springs
Whiteline These guys are supposed to be good... but $70 for front end camber bolts alone.... wtf!? + Shipping from aus. Lol.
Intrax(Never looked into them after I heard of their springs sagging).

Also Fensport is a UK company that specializes in toyotas, they got a bunch of stuff they offer.

I know there is more companies out there for probably each section, but just trying to give you a hand, maybe save this list and copy it to a text save somewhere on your computer and add to it later for future reference.

OEM PART# SOURCE AND ONLINE OEM TOYOTA SHOP
ToyoDIY.com
Add this to your favorites or bookmarks, helps you find part #'s
Toyotaworld.com
Order oem parts with your part # from ToyoDIY.com
I haven't had the chance to use toyotaworld.com yet but I've been told its good.

I'm not sure of a good brand new online part vendor, I go through local speed shops for new aftermarket ordering.

canadianae92 · 06-30-2009, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Createdtoburn

Well I found this for some nice Lowering Springs, checkout the price, and free shipping too.
http://www.autogrimmig.com/servlet/t...lla-FWD/Detail

I've seen Eibach for $200 on ebay, make sure to look around before making a decision.

Also I'm not so sure of B&G or whatever they are. Here, make of it what you will >>> BG Coilovers <<< I was the one who asked the questions, they said they don't have a dynograph reading for me(if a aftermarket strut manufacturer won't send you a dynograph for each strut buy at your own risk...). Personally I don't want to deal with a company who won't back their product. BTW BG's struts are made in the same taiwan factory as ksport, you can look up the horror stories for yourself.

The BG springs are likely a rebrand but check for reviews of them if you're considering buying them.

Fyi I found a deal for ST springs $100 shipped and they are on their way. So don't forget to look out for great deals on here and local websites and other club websites relating to our vehicles

. Good luck.

Donald · 07-01-2009, 05:47 PM

I have K-Sports on my '89 GT-S. I have replaced the original K-Sport springs wiith various softer Eibach springs trying to make them more liveable on the street. I autocross my car, and I think the original springs were too stiff even for that.

The original springs were about 385# front, and 280# rear. I have the fronts good now at 200#.
The rears are now 150# and I am looking into getting even softer springs for back there, (100#).

I also have Whiteline sway bars front and rear. I believe that the sway bars have done more for the handling than the coil-overs. Don't get me wrong the coil-overs make a big difference, and are quite adjustable for height and damping.
Mine have cost me almost as much to swap out springs, as it cost to buy them.

I believe Jmaz has had to have his K-Sports rebuilt, and I think he has had them about the same time as me, about a year and a half.

My recomendation would be to get sway bars, good quality lowering springs (Eibach or something like that - go to groundcontrol.com) and some good shocks.
Stay away from the coil-overs, unless you plan on racing or autocross.

I would suggest you not lower more than 1.5". A drop of 2" will sacrifice a lot of your shock travel, resulting in bottoming out on hard bumps.

See my K-Sport thread below.

K-Sport Coil-overs

***REN69*** · 07-02-2009, 01:53 AM

2inch is useless on this car as a daily driver, trust me... I'd go as suggested with 1.5-1.7inch drop, the APEX springs at 1.7inch are great, still bottom out once a while but not as bad as lower cars.

I recently test drove an AE92 that I'm thinking of buying, it had custom made coilovers on it and I thought ride was OK until we hit a bump.

eage8 · 07-02-2009, 10:38 AM

bottom line the best setup for an AE92 in my opinion would be KONI yellows (you have to get GT-S struts to put the cartridges in) with ground control sleeves on them and maybe some cusco adjustable pillowball mounts (I think tein might make some too). along with some whiteline sway bars.

also, canadianae92 doesn't know what he's talking about.

JIC coilovers are definitely made in japan and he's going to be very disappointed when his AE101 ST springs come and don't fit on his AE92 struts...

Also the BG coilovers he posted are made by a totally different company than B+G springs...

Createdtoburn · 07-02-2009, 11:13 AM

Hmm I'll deff take into consideration of the ride height drop. I didn't realize an extra inch would do so much. Well I found some Eibach springs for like $210 I'll probably end up getting, and they lower the car 1in. I can't really seem to find much else around that price. So maybe I'll try those springs. Now I need to figure out where to get some struts and whatever else.

thanks your guys help/info!

eage8 · 07-02-2009, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Createdtoburn

Hmm I'll deff take into consideration of the ride height drop. I didn't realize an extra inch would do so much. Well I found some Eibach springs for like $210 I'll probably end up getting, and they lower the car 1in. I can't really seem to find much else around that price. So maybe I'll try those springs. Now I need to figure out where to get some struts and whatever else.

thanks your guys help/info!

Tirerack.com has eibachs for $206 along with KYB GR-2s and KONI Yellows. GR-2s would probably work fine for eibachs since they don't lower it that much.

xxgmsmgxx89 · 07-02-2009, 11:42 AM

so, what exactly does one need in order to take a base DX sedan and lower it an inch or so? springs and what else? bcuz i know theres other stuff that has to be replaced, it cant be as easy as swapping springs and call it a day.

eage8 · 07-02-2009, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxgmsmgxx89

so, what exactly does one need in order to take a base DX sedan and lower it an inch or so? springs and what else? bcuz i know theres other stuff that has to be replaced, it cant be as easy as swapping springs and call it a day.

there are other things that should be replaced, but the only thing that needs to be is the springs. I would recommend getting new struts, top mounts and bump stops at the same time though