Anyone running Eibach springs and/or Bilstein struts. If so, where did you buy them from. I'm gonna get these soon & just wanna know where the best price to get them are right now other than Ebay.

 

I dont run Bilsteins but I have found the best deals on the Internet off Ebay. Got a full set of Tokiko Illuminas for $406, over $100 cheaper then Spohn, Thunder Racing, and Ground Control. I didnt price anyplace locally though, so maybe some good deals can be found. When you are deciding what Eibach springs to get, be sure to check out the suspension forum for the Eibach spring rates. People have been trying to get the actual spring rates for years but Eibach was very secretive. Finally someone got the specs and posted them up for us. Turns out the Pro Kit (1" drop) is stiffer than the Sport Lines (1.8" drop). Explains why I always had rubbing issues with my Sport Lines. I'd recommend the Pro Kit.

 

Thanks for the info man. I was leaning toward the pro kit already. I read the thread on the topic already too. Guess I gotta go suspension price hunting.

 

Well, I'm gonna try & get the springs & maybe even the Bilsteins through the long on going group purchase on WS6.com. Seems to be pretty good prices. I'll let you guys know how everything goes & how much shipping will be. It's a 4th gen site but I think I heard that you can change the parts to 3rd gen on the group purchase. We shall see.

 

Update!!!! Good news & bad news. Good news is-I ordered my Pro springs & Eibach Hd's from Shox.com & got additional discount through the WS6.com group purchase like I mentioned before. Bad news is-shipping was gonna be an arm & a leg if they shipped it UPS. The guy I talked to at Shox.com, name is Chris, was really cool & helped me out on the shipping. He got me a better rate but the catch is that it's coming to me by regular postal mail. Not even priority but just regular postal. So, it's gonna take a couple of weeks for my stuff to get here. Just as a fun fact, the springs, struts, & shocks weigh about 90 lbs!!!! And I wonder why shipping was so expensive. Can't wait to get my stuff!!! I'll post pics when I install everything

 

Wow. 90lbs, that's a good bit of weight. How much drop is that going to give you?

 

Thats why I hate it here, one word, shipping.
Its too damn expensive, for no reason at all.

 

Yeah i know. Found out that those Bilsteins are a hella heavy! The Pro kit gives about an inch of drop. Not much, but just right for me

Yeah tell me about it! When I asked the guy how much shipping would be, he asked if I was sitting down or standing up. I said I was sitting down So he told me to stand up, turn around, & bend over rofl!! You can't win here. Your items are either too big or too heavy, then you get screwed up the a** with shipping. I think the only place that has the best shipping rates that I know of is Scoggin Dickey. They have the most awesome rates for shipping items anywhere

 

Ha. Ship by slow-boat, if at all possible! That and you really don't mind the wait. I wonder if the slow boat has sails and has to go around the Horn still.

 

The only problem with that is that it is so slow, most companies do not ship like that at all.

 

That's one of the reasons why I want to move to Arizona, around Kingman, on Route 66. Most place ship free, right to your door!

 

Hmmm...the Eibach prokit is a really good suspension package for a street car. The ride is still enjoyable yet the stiffness is felt when your taking turns. As for beilstiens their pretty good from what people have told me for again street cars. Really I'd suggest Koni Yellows. I got them in my car and their amazing even for drifting. After I put those struts/shocks in my car my ride became extremely smooth yet stiff as hell with no body roll. O_o

 

It's like Christmas! Guess what I got from the mailman today. Finally got my stuff after about 3 weeks as promised by the sales rep at Shox.com . I found out how they were able to sell the Bilsteins for so cheap. The front struts are remanufactured & have a new part # on them. I called up Bilstein just to be sure. Original front strut # is S36-0201. New part # is AK1049. Looks brand new & we shall see how they perform. The rear shocks are brand new so no problems there. Also, I never realized how heavy front springs are! Anyways, here's a pic of my new goodies & I hope to install them soon. Wish me luck

P.S. Just to add in, here are the prices that I paid being an f-body mailing list member & mentioning the group purchase deal from WS6.com .

Bilsteins Shocks & Struts-
2 AK1049 Camaro/F-Bird 82-92 Front (rebuilt S36-0201) $250.00

2 B46-1121 Camaro/Z28 HD Rears $142.00

Eibach Pro Kit-
1 3801.140 Camaro/F-Bird 82-92 (Lowers 1") $199.00


Grand Total- $591.00

Shipping by slow boat!!!!! Still a steep $90.00. If I went with UPS it would of been about $200!!!

Hope this info informs & helps out anyone planning on going this route. Enjoy!

 

I can't find that GP???

I need some new shocks/struts and that's a killer deal.......

 

Hehe cool, the LS1 dude checks out our little corner of the forum.

 

Update! Finally got off my lazy a** & started to install my goodies. I'll post pics when I'm done. I just started the fronts today. The new springs go in sooo much easier than the stockers! Gotta love shorter springs.

 

Almost forgot the comparison pic

 

Are you going to change the upper strut bearing and spring pad?

Also is a great time to install polys....

 

The upper strut bearings are a little newer. (They were replaced a few years back) Also, the scary thing about doing these simple type of swaps is the attitude of, (oooooohh everything is apart. I can change this, that, etc......lol! ) which can be both a good thing & also a very expensive one.

 

Man it's hard to finish things now that I have a daughter It's ok. Here's some progress pics.

 

Lookn good!! I'll be replacing the struts in my IROC pretty soon, how long did it take you? Wondering how much time I should allocate for that job.

Is it on the road yet? Let us know how it rides!!

 

Thanks Shawn! The job should be a couple of hours taking your time. But being that I have my daughter, I had to work on it a little at a time over a course of about 3 days. Yes the car is back on the road, but bad news there lol! I just made a thread about what happened to me today. Go check it out!


P.S. I never realized how dead my original springs, struts, & shocks were until now. The car rides very good now. Still a semi-smooth ride but when you encourage it on the turns it tightens up! Very good investment.

 

Sounds like fun. So, are we going to see your car at the autocross session soon? We need more cars in F-stock, there's only a Mustang that went to the last time. (Uber S-10 co-worker brings in the rankings, divided by class.) The time I was there, I was by myself! I'm sure now that you lowerd your CG and got more agressive springs now, you would do much better than my GTA - plus I can't drive, either. I just hope you get your car fixed soon.

 

So, how do you like everythin'? You gotta give a full review man!

I think a pro kit is in my future. Still haven't decided on the struts/shocks. What kind of bushings do you have?

Scott

 

Review!!

 

lol! Sorry Scott. I'm getting there.

 

It's funny that a job like front springs seam like it would only take like an hour total. Then you end up taking a couple to finish it all off O_o

 

I hear you. It really is a simple job, but so many things come up like unsuspected problems, or I see other things that I would like to do since I already have it out, etc. etc.

 

Just a quick review on the ending results of my struts/shocks & springs swap.

Overall I am very pleased with this upgrade that I have done. The Bilsteins are awesome & are matched with the Eibach Pro springs. I went with the suggestions of many here to go with the Bilstein HDs instead of the Bilstein Sports. Actually, the front struts are the same for both, as it's only the rear shocks that are different between the two.

In normal driving situations the feel of the car is a bit stiffer from stock, but it's not that bad & very streetable. It actually gives you a sense of more control & aggressiveness when driving. Now, the thing I like is when you "encourage" the suspension in hard turns & cornering. This combo really tightens up & body roll is drastically reduced when pushed a little harder. This type of suspension feel to me is very good & I think others will agree. Imagine a car that feels semi stock in normal driving situations but when need be, will maintain a very controlled feel around turns & corners when pushed a little harder!

In conclusion, I feel that for the moneys worth, this is an awesome upgrade for street driven cars. Now I'm not saying that another brand of shocks & struts wouldn't work as well with these springs, I'm just saying that from my experience so far, I am very pleased with these 2 products.

 

It looks like a great improvement and next time I replace my shocks, I think I'll go with your recommendations.

Having had a 91 RS in addition to my present 87 IROC and 92 Z28, I've noted huge differences in the stock suspension on these cars. The 91 RS was very soft, the 92 Z28 is firmer, but still soft in comparison with the IROC which rides like a go-cart [no body roll, feel every grain of sand and tar strip, drive off curbs without bottoming the suspension...].

It would be nice to take the teeth-jarring harshness out of the IROC and retain the race-car firmness...

Installing the Eibacks and Bilsteins on the RS is a 1,000-percent improvement, I wonder what percentage I'd get putting them on the IROC...

BTW, are you going to swap out the RS sway bars for the Z28 or IROC ones? Those larger diameter bars would compliment the upgraded suspension.

 

Sounds like a good ride.

What's your ride height now? Any rake?

 

It really isn't that noticeable to the naked eye which is good for me . But yes, it does have a slight rake now. Not everybody likes that, but I certainly do

 

I think because I have an RS the suspension was originally a little higher as opposed to like an IROC or Z28. Like i said, to the naked untrained eye, the ride height actually still looks stock. The only noticeable difference was with the front.

Here is a before pic.


Here's the after pic. It is at a slightly different angle in this pic, but you can definetely see the difference in the front.


Here's a side view. You can sort of see the rake.

 

Yes, I'm gonna swap out the sway bars to complement the upgraded suspension. I already have an upgraded rear sway bar since I swapped out the rear end from an 89 IROC to the RS. I feel so stupid now that I didn't take the front sway bar too But I did this swap before I knew any better & joined these boards.

 

acescarrsRS

Did you remove the rear spring isolators (sp) when you installed the Pro-kit?

 

Nope. So if you wanted to get it a little lower you can remove them. I think if you wrapped the top coil with a lot of electrical black tape you shouldn't get too much squeaking.

 

My car had the same rake as yours but i removed the rear isolators and slid over some 5/8" black heater hose to shield the perch and t seems to work great except now it sits DEAD level and I like a little rake and think my front should come down a half inch. Looks to me as if you removed the isolator it would sit exactly how I want mine to be as I am not running eibachs... yet Thanks

 

Hmmmm... I never thought about using heater hose Thanks for the tip man!

 

 

The WS6.com group purchase page shows "Bilstein Shocks" at $308. Since that is a lot for a pair of shocks, and also the fact that there aren't any other bilstein listings, I assumed that was also including the front struts. (Which would be rediculously cheap.)

You listed $250 struts and $142 shocks. At $392, it's not a bad deal at all. Just wonderin' what the "$308" price is supposed to be for? 4th gen stuff?

Not like I have money for them now anyway....

Scott

 

Yup you're right. The "$308" is for 4th gen application. Unfortunately, third gen stuff is slightly more expensive, but still a good deal.