I don't know how many of you are serious about lowering your cars but i am and i want to see this happen. TheDon from over on the schuman forums got a quote from a custom spring manufacturer (www.coilsprings.com) for $386 to do a 2.5 front and 3.0 rear drop, 20% increased rate. I spoke with one of the techs there and it sounds like they REALLY know what they are doing. They can literally make anything you want. He said that a large part of $386 is set up fee and not manufacturing costs and that they could offer a significant discount for anything over 5 pairs of springs. That is NOT a very large order i dont think. I dont have an exact price for the set given the discount but if 5 of you are interested this is something we can pursue. We would all have to agree on the same drop and rate. I am interested in a 2" drop all the way around, further adjustments could be made with the spring spacers. The order would probably have to be for only 280/300 cars because of similar weights. If the discount was only to $350 (speculation) this would prove to be cheaper than purchasing H&R's from a european source + the additional cost of shipping. You may or may not want to run stock length shocks but as NuR and I have been discussing without everyone sle (?) With a custom lower bracket to accept regular loop shocks (another thing we could have run in a batch) the world of aftermarket/short shocks is open to you. *gauging interest* anyone?
again, we seem to be the only ones interested in suspension upgrades. haha.. i played around with my suspension from 9pm last night to 11am in the morning! the lower front shock mount comes out with a 12 point 10mm socket. and the bracket is held on with a sealed dowell pin within a rubber bushing. so here's the BEST thing to do..
once an adequate short travel shock is found with a loop for the lower mount, you remove the rubber bushing. then you buy a couple of heim joints to either press in, or weld in. then remove the lower mount from the factory shock by cutting the loop and removing the dowell and rubber bushing. now you can simply use a bolt through the heim joint to attach the lower mount. and use a regular set of high grade bolts as apposed to the rediculous 12 point bolts. problem solved!
and as for the spring issue, i was going to have some custom wound in a 10 unit production and distribute them within nur-spec.com. but yeah, i spent a LOT of time last night in regards to ride height. i have done all the math and found the perfect height. not to mention it optimizes the roll center aswell! whenever i get some money to play with, i'll do some prototyping on various components and either fabricate them myself, or have them machined in 10 unit productions.
so far my list of prototypes consist of-
springs
shock mounts/shocks
upper comtrol arms
heavy guage aluminum skidplate
induction system
sway bar endlinks
steering linkage endlinks
lower control arms
rear sway bar
solid sway bar mounts
ect..
i was going to make small limited quantities so i can share, but as you know, there are some serious issues with BW members and i.. however, you've always been right here with me, especially with the suspension ideas we've been bouncing off eachother, so if i do produce anything, you will be the first to be in on it
bboybaroo you don't really need rear lowering springs. You can adjust the self-leveling height to a lower setting.
I would be interested in lowereing my front end but I don't have the money and for myself I don't think it is really needed. These cars handle alright as they are but I would love the slightly dropped front end.
Keep us all posted, I'd love to see the result. One old forum member (GaryL) did the same with his 81 td. He bought amazing pentas and dropped the front. It was an amazing look.
strictly using SLS to lower the rear is sketchy ala' spring cutting/running stock shocks. If performance is something you care about you cant just squash your springs. I dont know where gary went but we are both oregonians and i would love to see his car. Anyone know how to track him down?
He left Benzworld mid-05 and I haven't seen him since. He lost faith in the forum due to some immature stuff we had going on. You may ask an admin about it but other than that I have no idea. Check out the threads he has started, he did some nice stuff to that wagon. I'm a big fan of it.
Yeah my car is adjusted down via the SLS. I want the hydraulic shocks with normal ones so i can lose some more body roll. As for my front springs being cut, i don't have any issues with it. Its a hard ride at the front with speed humps and all.
I could probably get a set of performance shocks down the road but whether they are any good or not is another question.
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