This is a pic taken of my car with the proper sized 245/50R16 tires with the correct psi on a flat surface. How much lower would sportlines be when installed? Can anyone post comparison pics with images? It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Front;

 

Rear;

 

one thing you might have forgot. If those are the stock OE spring on that car, your car has dropped itself quite a bit. If this is so, a sportline spring would not drop your car much farther. It would however make the ride 100X tighter, give it better responsiveness and a much more quality all around feel. I think you'd be fine.

 

yes I realize that my stock springs have sagged, but I'm already having some clearance issues getting on and off the ferry that I have to cross to get anywhere. This is why I'd like to see a measurement to see what the difference would be.. if its close I'll do it, if not, I'll have to sell the springs.

I know the handling will be a great improvment which is why I bought the springs.. but I have worries about clearance.

If anyone can post some pics and measurements with stock tires and sportlines, I'd greatly appreciate it!!

 

Brisk I just installed Sportlines and I am running stock 245/50/16's tonite or early tomorrow I will post some pics for you. To tell you the truth I love them but......they do lower it quite a bit.

I now have problems backing out of my driveway, I have been running them for a week now and let me tell you the ONLY time I have a problem is when I am going in/out of my driveway and a couple of other places where there is a steep incline.

Yes we scrape normally but this is just a little bit worse than usual. If I go real slow it's not to bad (I always went slow anyways, I work on my on 'bird I'll be damned if I'm gonna mess up all my work)

On the road they are great and feels/handles great. I did complete front end and in the rear I did shocks and springs. It all looks good too..

 

here are 2 pics of my formula with stock sized wheels and tires with stock WS6 springs and Sportlines.
Stock WS6



Sportlines,

 

mine is lower than that with sportlines. and you said ferry .

 

zepher, car looks good but those seat covers in the first pic just have to go...

 

ya i agree. Also the rust on the door isnt too apealing...

It does look alot better lowered though. Good job!

 

The seat covers aren't on the seats in the second pic. His car has changed quite a bit since those pics, just look at his sig. I believe it was painted since then as well.

 

Before I chose my springs, I looked at more pictures and talked to more people than I could ever remember. I came up with only 1 sure thing about the Pro-kit/sportlines. ...and that is there is a fairly large difference between two identical set-ups.

I would say there's no doubt that the average sportline install is lower than the average pro-kit install, but i've seen plenty of prokits sit identical to sportlines, and even some that might have been a tad lower. I've seen pro-kits that look stock, and prokits that are obviously lowered. Having worn out springs may cause your car to look lower to you, but to the rest of us, all we know is stock or lower than stock.

I was nervous that if I chose the pro-kit, I wouldn't see a difference. Well, there's no doubt it's lower. ...but like I said, I have friends that saw NO CHANGE, and that was in comparison to original ride height, not worn out spring height.

In the end, at least for appearance, the only conclusion is that there is no real difinitive answer.

 

Ya, the first pic is the day I bought the car and the second was 6 months later.

Here is what it looks like with my race wheels on,

 

I don't think the ride height of your car will change at all. Your stock springs are sagging and they need to go. Here are a few shots of my car with the sportlines running tires that have the same overall height as yours.





More pics can be seen in my sig.

 

Sportlines on stock size 245/50s....

Front:


Rear:


On this car:


About 15 minutes ago. I'd still like to trim a little bit off the front for more of a rake. Or ditch these and get some weight jacks.

 

damn, that vert bird looks awesome. And I dont even like the 91-92 style.

 

I kno, thats why i said "in the first pic." But as long as it protects your seat then i guess it doesnt matter what pattern is on. But if i had them on all the time, it wouldnt be flowers.

 

Ya, I took those out as soon as I got home.

 

Here's mine sitting on sportlines. The rear sits a little lower due to the system in the back.

 

front: (excuse the dirty tires)

 

rear:

 

i love the way mine sits

 

my other wheels

 

thanks for all the pics guys!!

iansane - your measurements look identical to mine stock

I think I'm gonna try and get them installed.. mabey ..

 

Damn. Just trying to help. Next time I won't bother.

 

thats what some of the guys have been sayin.. you may see little if any change in height, but the ride quality will be much better..

 

iansane - I gave the "rolleyes" expression because of your ride height with sportlines, its the same as my sagged springs!! NOT because you actually took the time to shoot me some images.. that fact is greatly appreciated!! I will be happy with my sportlines if I acheive the same ride height or actually just a bit lower (like 1") any more than that and I will be in trouble. I am already scraping entering and exiting both my driveway and on and off the ferry.

I now realized that I will have to purchase new struts and shocks and install them at the same time as the springs. What are the recommended brands/models?? I'm looking for something that will be comfortable for normal driving yet aggressive enough for spirited mountain carving through the BC Rockies.

Any other things needed or recommended to do/install at the same time as the sportlines?

 

The Tokico HPs are great for "normal" lowered cars. They may or may not be ideal for competitive autoxing. I have 'em with my Pro-kit and they're awesome.

Of course, if you can afford Bilstiens.....

.....as for additional components, you really wanna look into an adjustable panhard rod. I'd personally consider it essential. ...and maybe not essential, but highly recommended would be some adjustable LCA's and relo brackets. To be honest, I'm still runnin' stock stamped LCAs withno problem.

...and maybe some urethane bushings.

 

I'm just retarded and took offense where there was none intended. Thanks for the compliments on the car.

The ride is a million times better. But I did a bunch of stuff all at the same time. Saved up a bit and went through almost the entire suspension. I think the thing I like best is the fact it's stiff as hell but not bouncy like a lot of imports I see around here.

I'm running bilstein HDs. Seem like great shocks/struts. Everyone says (at least on here) that the HDs are better for the prokit and the other bilsteins are better for the sportlines. Never heard why though. Anyone care to explain?

If you're putting new springs/struts in you might as well put new balljoints, a-arm bushings, tie rods, solid tie rod adjuster sleeves and have it all aligned at once.

As Abubaca said, get at least an adjustable panhard rod and I'd also get the LCA relocation brackets to help correct the rear suspension angles. All of the pieces I have are poly on one end and rod end on the other to prevent binding. If you go with any rod ends, get some dust boots to help keep dirt out and prolong their life.

HTH

 

....also look into some new strut tower bearing assemblies. They're not what you might call cheap, but they're important, and if the car has some miles on it, it's probably a good idea.

 

What are some possible flags that those are going bad or worn? I'm completely sure mine are stock so I should probably do them anyways, but just curious.

 

mine before





Mine after

 

f355bird... not much of a difference on your car either.. looks to be about an inch..

dammit I guess I'll just have to put them in and see where it falls

 

The ride quality improvment is worth it.

 

oh ya I'm all for the improved handling.. but as I mentioned before, if it drops too much I'll be in a world of trouble because I need to drive on and off a ferry to go 'anywhere'! and at times the arrival and departure angles can be quite steep.

 

Here's a shot of my '91 RS with sportlines and 245/50/16's along with my '88 Iroc that's bone stock. The GTA rims are on the back as they have my Drag Radials on 'em.

 

The infamous thirdgen "pop" while at full lock is due to worn strut tower bearings.

 

thanks eric17422001.. that picture really puts things into perspective!

 

I'm curious about this "pop". Is that the pop you hear when you step on the brakes? Because I've been wondering what the hell that's coming from...

 

maybe its the pop when u turn the wheels? Oh wait, thats just my crappy tie rods and parallelogram steering...

 

Well I had a good look today at the top of my struts from the bottom up behind the front tire.. and I looked at it from the hood down. I do not have strut tower bearings...

I do have a bushing that goes inbetween the top of the strut and the triangle shaped flange which has three bolts.

Is that what you are talking about?? ...perhaps '89+ newer have a different strut/design?

 

My car did the same thing. Replaced the ball joints, and all was well. You might look into that.

 

I have a new pop in mine. First I replaced ball joints and then the strut mounts and it just started poping again.... I don't know. Anything else down there pop when you turn it all the way?

I also measured my ground to wheel well height and noticed somthing funny.

RF: 27.25" LF: 26.75

RR: 28 LR: 27.25

I think I need new springs. The which ones are the best handleing springs with just a little lowering? Are the B&G (supposedly not as low as the Eibach) as good the Eibach Pro-Kit ?

 

Is it normal to get uneven spring sag? I mean, for one side to be lower than the other?

 

i have the pro kit on my car and it killed the handling just turned it into crap

 

i want to get new springs but im afraid that if i get lowering springs the car will scrape more than it does now, and if i get OEM springs it will raise the car and make it look ugly. Its a pretty expensive decision...its not like you can just take them off and throw them away if you get the wrong thing

 

That is the same thing that I am worried about. I don't want to go too low and scrape nor do I want to get stock and set too high and lose the look or the low center of gravity. I'l figure it out soon enought to get the right springs for my car.

 

did you have your car aligned afterwards? your camber will have to be adjusted when you go with lowering springs.

 

Don't you also have to adjust the panhard bar after lowering? I read somewhere that it is a good idea to do that and the adjustable LCAs and the LCA relocation brackets.

 

very normal, just think theres always a driver, so its gonna wear more on that side

 

Common for our cars especially the 350s with 350 lbs torque over time something has to give usually its the springs.

I think mine has a 3/4 inch diff left to right on the front and the back.