Lordy! I don't know HOW you folk accomplish spring installation so quickly!

[TrevorS]

Sunday I spent aprox five hours working on my Eibach Pro-Kit install (preceeded by picking up a McPherson spring compressor from AutoZone.) After cleaning and rebuilding the front strut assemblies (recent winter road mess), they're sitting in my kitchen while some touchup black paint is drying on the strut fittings.

Those 22mm strut to knuckle bolts took some serious loosening. Ended up using my 1/2" torque wrench to get a little more leverage -- tried my impact wrench first, but don't have enough air pressure to generate the needed torque. (It worked well on the strut to sway bar link nut and McPherson top center nut though !)

Turned out I needed the spring compressor both to install the Pro-Kit springs and to remove the stocks, though the Eibach springs didn't require anywhere near as much compression. (The stock springs are moving to the Eibach box in case of future need.) Tomorrow is supposed to be another nice day, so I'm hoping to complete the job then. Hopefully it won't be too difficult to re-install the struts solo (a passing neighbor got roped into ratcheting the last nut on each, while I held the struts for removal.) I'm evisioning supporting the positioned strut with one hand while starting a nut or three with the other kind-of-thing !

Seriously, you people that can accomplish all four springs installed in only four hours or so amaze me. I can't even imagine it !

[burstaneurysm]

Heh, I guess I shouldn't even tell you about the time that my friend that lowered an xB in 14 minutes then. :lol:

[TrevorS]

Man -- I'm not sure I could even get all the wheels off in 14 minutes !

It took me five more hours to complete the job -- a total of ten! Guess I shouldn't consider a career as a spring installer . I noticed the strut towers are about a foot ahead of the firewall, so I'm guessing the affect of installing a TRD Strut Brace would be somewhere between the tC and the original xB.

I celebrated completion by taking a run to return the rented compressor. It feels VERY different! Before if felt much like a small van or wagon, even with the stiffening of the sway bar (reminded me of the Honda Pilot, but that leaned more.) Remaining body lean is virtually unnoticable, and the ride is definitely MUCH firmer. It's as well I didn't go to lower profile tires, a further increase in road feel would not be good! I expect it'll relax a bit when I retire the snow tires in a few weeks (the anticipated snow storm pretty much fizzled, but there's still time .)

Question, how soon after installing new springs is it reasonable to have the front alignment checked. I put them on at approximately 285 miles, and I've read comments to the effect that springs should be allowed to "settle" for awhile before alignment.

Took it out for a short run this evening and I'm increasingly noticing a quick low amplitude bounce, which I presume is because the spring rate has increased, but the strut/shock damping hasn't. Is there any reason to expect the stock shocks to fail sooner or be a source of problems given the spring change? Also, are the only struts/shocks that will work well with these lowering springs the "performance" packages from Eibach, TRD, Tanabe, or whoever the respective manufacturer is? (Not sure I'm very comfortable with that bounce sensation!)

I do like the look, basically what I wanted. The rear appears just barely higher than the front, though I gather that can be further adjusted by how the rear springs are "indexed". I indexed at "3:00" per the TRD instructions (and per the oem springs), but it appeared as though "6:00" resulted in a lower positioning for the spring.

One thing though, I found it was necessary to release the horizontal and relax the vertical swaybar clamps (to the axle beam) and remove BOTH lower shock bolts in order to free the stock springs. The TRD instructions said only do one rear wheel at a time, but that simply didn't work. If either shock bolt remained installed, then the axle beam at the other side wouldn't drop far enough to allow the oem spring to be removed. However, TRD is definitely right that the sway bar should be installed AFTER the springs !

[burstaneurysm]

Glad you got the springs in and that you're happy with them. The springs should take about 2 weeks to really get down to where they should be. After this time, be aware that you might notice some knocking in the struts. This is normal. After the springs settle, the tophat of the strut tends to loosen up a bit, just crank down the top nut again and you'll be good to go.

Post pics of the drop when you get the chance.

Oh, and you should wait until the springs settle before worrying about an alignment. Honestly, you probably don't need one for such a modest drop, but most places will offer a free alignment check. It's the front toe that you should keep an eye on, but if the toe is within a reasonable spec, don't worry about the alignment. Also, keep in mind that due to the rear torsion bar setup of the rear, the back can't really be aligned...

If you really wanna change out the struts, Monroe Sensatrak are nice, affordable options for comfort. Otherwise, consider KYB, Koni or TRD for more performance oriented handling. The springs shouldn't really blow too much quicker (maybe a bit, but barely noticable) A friend of mine had Tein S.Techs on his stock struts for 60,000 miles before needing to replace them.

[TrevorS]

Thanks for the info !

Just got back from another trip. I think I need time to accustom myself to the change -- it starts out feeling nice and firm, but then with a little distance, the much heightened experience of road "feel" gets a little wearing (feels more sled-like than the Eclipse.) I've read the TRD coils increase the rate by 10%, which leaves me wondering what the Eibach Pro-Kit does -- given it's supposed to be their ride-preserving street-vehicle setup. The springs just feel really tight.

My early impression is that although the improvements in look and handling are excellent, there is a real penalty in ride comfort. Since I deliberately went with what appeared to be the tamest drop available, I hate to imagine the ride others are experiencing with the Eibach Sport-Kit (1.2"F 2.2"R), TRD (1"F 1.5"R), or Tanabe NF (1"F 1.7"R) or particularly their DF springs (1.7"F 2.1"R) -- unless the NF springs are actually softer riding despite their much deeper rear drop. (My stock Eclipse AWD definitely gives a more comfortable ride (at least, it did when it worked ).) I'm considering calling Eibach and asking which springs they would recommend for lowering a 2008 xB while best preserving ride comfort -- the Tanabe NF or their Pro-Kit ! Then I'd inquire about shock recommendations towards the same goal. I'm just going to have to see how this works out over time.

Yet another trip, bank and gasoline. About 1/3 of the way through break-in and calculated 25.9 mpg with mostly small town driving with lots of stops and fairly slow speeds (pretty reasonable agreement with the ECU average computation.) I tried paying special attention to corner behavior and I'm actually not recognizing any lean whatsoever, it's me that's reacting to the corner, not the car.

By the way, when I had the wheels off, I compared their mounted weight to the Konig FullCount (all 16" rims.) Using a calibrated shipping scale, the numbers were 43 lbs steely+snow and 44 lbs Fullcount+Bridgestone, guess I'll see no performance improvement there ! I'm afraid some of my preconceptions/expectations are having a hard time! The steel rim weighed 21 lbs, and Vox quoted their 17" Monza as 21.2 lbs. I'm going to ask Konig the weight of the 16" Fullcount (shipping weight for two rims was 46 lbs, but that included packaging.) I'm beginning to conclude the majority of this aftermarket mod thing really does primarily revolve around appearance.

[burstaneurysm]

Well, wheels are a bit of a shot in the dark. Most of the truly lightweight wheels don't necessarily look that great (i.e. they're generally boring) Forged wheels, which are both very light and very strong are also very expensive.

I've read that the Tanabe springs are some of the best riding springs out there. My Goldlines are hella stiff... I guess I've just gotten used to it. But one of the reasons I keep looking at the DF210 is to soften the ride a bit.

[TrevorS]

Goldline, eh? GPS-0804 gives 2" F+R for the orginal xB! I suppose a mere 1.7"F 2.1"R could be a little softer ! I guess it's a question of the "height" and SR of the sweet-spot before the progressive SR gets serious. For all I know the Tanabe NF could indeed have the most laid-back sweet-spot out there, but short of buying and trying them all, my best bet seemed to be the least aggresive lowering (hopefully bringing a less aggresive SR) -- plus a more modest drop makes sense for me (as in the Eibach Pro-Kit with a 1.2" rear.). Well, if you make that change, even temporarily, I'll be very interested in how you appraise the difference! (I've yet to come across a Consumers Reports evaluation of aftermarket springs !)

Yes, I guess I'm really not surprised the mounted wheel weights are very similar, though I did expect the steel rims to be at least a little heavier! Still, it's certainly clear my final rim choice was focused on anticipated vehicle appearance, not least rim weight !

Another short run, it felt pretty good, and the look definitely works -- perhaps I just need more time to get used to the ride. Don't know what the story is on my Agency Power crank pulley -- either RX7store.net order status maintenance is garbage, or their responsiveness is nonexistent. Placed the order Thursday and they still say processing -- I'll phone them tomorrow!

[burstaneurysm]

I'm lowering a tC today... I think we'll time it.

[TrevorS]

I'm coming to the conclusion my installation efforts are notable only for the degree with which they take greater time than anybody else's ! Oh well, what can I say? As long as the result is good -- I'm not complaining !

[burstaneurysm]

We did it in about 2 hours. The back springs on a tC are a real PITA. Ugh. Ah well. The fronts were done in about 30 minutes.

[TrevorS]

Incredible -- (shakes head in dismay)