Suspension - need some advice!

[r0ma]

Hey guys.. after all the recent incidents on the road's i feel i need to get my cars problem sorted.. (its a R33 GTS-T btw)

ive had it 'droped' only a inch or 2 right around.. but ive only used springs. no other componants.

ive got a set of good quality TEIN springs.

but after this.. the car feels REALLY unsafe and insecure. it feels to jerk around, its really bouncy. and feels unstable. on the highways doing 100km/h it doesnt feel very sound.

on boost if you hit little bumps on the road it looses traction because it jumps around so much.. clunking and all sorts of shit.

i dont have the cash right now for a full upgrade from whiteline or anything but am willing to spend 500 or so for the time beign to fix.

any idea on whats wrong or what other parts i need?

sorry for the long post. Thanks guys!

[siksII]

sounds like the springs you got are way too stiff, which is usually the case with jap aftermarket springs, it would have been a safer bet to get some whiteline springs...or local ones where u know how stiff they are..

stiff springs in conjunction with your (probably?) stock shocks = adding to the problem..

so if i were u i would change the springs again.

[r0ma]

Yea mate. the shocks are stock.

its not the stiffness thats the prob tho.. its they car feeling like its getting out of shape.. and swaying.. all over the place..etc.

maybe i can get some aftermarket shocks and it might help??

[blind_elk]

How "adjustable" is your suspension? It's possible that the weight distribution is all wrong after the ride height was adjusted.

It's probable that the shocks are not matched to the springs. Stiff springs and soggy shocks don't really work well together.

[siksII]

aftermarket shocks will probably help,

but all tein springs ive seen are wayy to stiff so yeah in combination with the probably worn shocks things are not working.

new shocks will cost u more than 500 though...

also your bushes might need replacement, (made apparent by new stiff suspension)

[r0ma]

Yea i may need to look into new shocks.

wheres a good place togo ? im in the sydney area.

cheers.

[MANWHORE]

Hi, with what sik said about most jap aftermarket springs being too hard. some are hard and some are soft. Some coilovers are also adjustible from soft to hard.

Tein make a very nice range of combos. Some offer a very nice ride, still with feel. Others are much harder.

The problem is (i'm very interested, so i've had a play and own many many sets of suspensions, so I'm no noobie):

People just go, oh, I wanna lower my car, so they buy a shorter set of springs, like king low or super low. But these aren/t designed for the stock shocks.

By reducing the travel of the stockos by 2 inches, basically, think about it, i'm not being sarcastic, but the shock has a lot less travel and damper than it was designed for. What you need, is something that was designed to operate in those lower conditions. Take a look at the tein site - www.tein.co.jp and notice how their lower shocks have a much wider tube, scuh that it actually can still damp when it's shorter compared to the stocko. Just to prove my point, the stocko will keep hitting the bump stop and basically get destroyed in a couple months.

sik, you were 100% on the money, new shocks are definitely needed, and probably the bushes will be worn. No biggy really, don't stress, they aren't that expensive.

[MANWHORE]

Btw, I'd suggest that this thread be moved to the suspension section. Might give other people an insight, because I've noticed that it's been posted up quite a bit - people having problems with springs on stock shocks.

[Busky2k]

When you did your springs, did you get a 4 wheel wheel alignment done? That is the first thing I'd do to try and fix the problem. If that doesnt fix it, then start looking at hardware...

[r0ma]

cheers guys,

i will look into some new shocks.