Help...I got my suspension done at a speed shop in Brooklyn, NY and its been giving me major headaches. This is a long story.
I have a 1998 ACURA 2.3CLauto
Ok first off I go into the shop for suspension options and they recommend Koni Adjustables(www.koni.com) with a set of apex springs(www.apexsprings.com)(not APEXi) They recommended those springs over a set of Eibachs, because there supposed to offer a better ride for my car.(according to them anyway...maybe there just pushing it cuz they got a big, apex suspension dealer sticker on their window?)
Well anyways, the grand total is 900 and the car would be lowered "1.5"(they say the springs lower 1.25) So I start letting them do it. They do the front of the car, and they put it on the lowest perch. So after they do the front they start doing working the back of the car. They come to me and say that they cant finish the back bc they have to break some bolts and screws to get to the back and they have to order the bolts from the dealer. So I'm driving around for a week with the front lowered and the back stock, bottoming out like crazy even worse when theres someone in the car. The tires rub and loses control when theres a slight imperfection in the road. Well after a full week of bottoming out left and right, they call me and tell me the part is in from the dealer. Ok so I go back and they put my car up on a lift and start working on the rear suspension. After about 2 hours the guy comes back to me and says, oh we have a problem, I cant get the bolt out and they showed me where both sides of the bolt was broken on the bushing. There like, we have to order the bushing from the dealer. Ok, so I took the bus home that night cuz they said theres no way to put even the stock stuff on the back so I can drive on now. Ok so after a week of not having a car, I get a call saying that they got the bushing in. So I go in and they have it done and they guy says the back was put on the middle perch on the shocks. And on top of that charges me 75 for the bolts and bushings and when I asked for the stock parts back just incase I may want them in the future, the guy said they had to "break" the parts when they were working with the bolts so they are useless for me to take home. (grand total so far, 975) Ok so now I drive the car, The shit is still bottoming out here easily, the front bumper scrapes easily and worst of all, the tire rubs. Like I'm driving on the highway at 70MPH and when theres even a slight imperfection in the road the tires rub and thats not even turning! Definately DOES NOT feel safe at all when your driving fast and all of a sudden your car loses control bc of the rubbing issues. Almost caused a few near accidents when the tires rubbed and then made the car swerve. When you turn, the thing bottoms out AND the tires rub. I took one of my tires off and it was all like chopped up from all the rubbing. Also, the tire rubbing always seemed from day#1 was happening more on the left side than the right side. Also the car also veered to the right when your not holding the steering wheel. I complained to the speed shop and the shop blamed it on the alignment. Ok so about 2 weeks later, after horrible tire rubbing/bottoming out/no fun driving the car bc the tire rubs every 2 seconds, I finally go to a alignment shop to get my alignment done. (went to 3 diffrent places until I could find a place that would work on my lowered car!) After about a hour and a half the guy in the alignment shop shows me my shocks under the car. Turns out the fu*king speed shop didnt put the shocks on right! The front two shocks werent lined up with the alignment marks,(its supposed to mate together so the shocks wont turn/more stable) so they couldnt align the front! The back shocks were installed fine. Oh yea and the left shock was closer to the alightment marks, and the right side was off my like a inch or so from the left side. I guess thats why my car always seemed to look like it was tilting to the left since I got my car lowered?!??! (cost for alignment $75, grand total 1050) Ok so I go back to the speed shop complained and they redid the front shocks and while they were at it, they put the front shocks on the perch above the lowest perch on the front shocks. They said it is the highest perch on the front shocks (are koni adjustables supposed to have 2 perches or three. for some reason, i dont trust the guys at the shop too much anymore) Ok, so after all that, I brought my car back to the alignment shop again. They aligned it and they said the camber and caster is off and the toe is fine. The camber was off by about 2 on all wheels and the caster around 1.5. They said I would probably need a camber kit or it would eat up my tires(oh another headache!!) (alignment#2 I got charged 40 bucks, grand total 1090) Ok, so I drive it for a week, the tire rubbing seems to be alot better but it still happens, and its scary to have tires rub on the highway. If you try to do really hard turns it still rubs but to a lesser extent than before. And also, the rubbing seems to happen alot more on the right side now than before, it seems as if the rubbing is about equal in both sides now, instead of being mostly on the left side. Everyone I know that sees my car says it definately looks more than a 1.5 inch drop. I actually measured the center of my wheel to the edge of the fender with nothing in the car). In the front theres about 13 inches and the back theres about 11.5 inces. Needless to say, theres no wheelwell gap in the back. It looks as if the wheel is tucked underneath the fender. And in the front the wheel gap is minimal.(anyone know the stock measurements for this model year/engine?) Looks cool and all, but its not fun to drive when your car bottoms out/scrapes and wheels rub, making the car lose control. Ok, now onto this week. The other night, I had 4 other friends in the car. My oh my, my dear car. The tires were rubbing at every single little not perfectly flat part of the road, even sweeping curves going under the speed limit would make the tires rub both in the front AND the back. And under hard braking, the tires would rub too. A embarassing situation when you say you paid over 1000 bucks on a suspension thats barely drivable. Ah, I regret doing the suspension stuff now. Ok so this weekend I go back to the shop and complain once more. The guy starts telling me some bs about how the tires oversized(their stock rims and stock size tires, 205/55/16) and he starts going on by saying my rubbing problem is bc when u lower ur car, ur supposed to get lower profile tires and thats why I am rubbing(according to him anyway) And I thought your always supposed to maintain the stock diameter? Also I was telling him about how I went to the apex website and the springs said it was a 1.8" drop, not a 1.25" drop and he was like, the manufacturer specs are wrong and that he ordered accord V6 springs so their supposed to be stronger. Well now, I must ask....What should I do now???? My stock stuff is gone, And the tires rub like crazy and the car cant be aligned properly without a camberkit and I bet the stuff would still rub if I have people in my car. I want a suspension that can handle hard turns without bottoming out(my stock suspension never bottomed out or rubbed on my during hard turns) And wont rub when I drive agressively thru the turns while having a load of people in the car! I would like something that wouldnt have to require the expense and hassle of a camber kit.(if possible) I have the feeling that apexsprings arent really that good springs(maybe get better springs?)... I've tried adjusting my konis to harder settings, a turn and a half, helped a lil with the rubbing and bottoming, but it is still VERY BAD. The other day, I had 4 other people in my car and a bunch of friends in another car following me and they said they kept on seeing my muffler scrape and spark...definately not good. The tires also kept on touching the wheelwell/screeching with the resulting jolt that it gives the steering wheel and the loss of control. Also, even easy corners caused rubbing. Ah, all I want is something I can corner HARD in with friends in the car, without rubbing/bottoming out etc... I never had any rubbing issues with the stock suspension...no rubbing on hard cornering even with a full load. Please help with any advice you have and what my options are...thank you for your time in reading this lengthly article...

DAN
acuradan69@aol.com

 

if the problem is as bad as you say, you need to take the speed shop to court to reimburse your for all the damages. then come to MobileWest for all your suspension work. wow, i dont know how you could mess us springs and struts!

 

That def. doesnt sound good. You need to take them to court or something like rms said. They should pay for all the damages to your car (tires, muffler,etc.) if the product wasnt as described and they screwed up the install but thats just my opinion Good luck

 

I'm sorry to hear that, man. I don't know if you have any ground to sue them. But then again, I'm not a lawyer. These guys from the shop obviously didn't know what they were doing! I mean, for crying out loud, they had to break some bolts and screws to get the rear shocks and springs replaced! I don't get it.

You can probably get a lawyer or something. But that's another hassle. If you can't do anything with it legally, then I suggest you just get yourself some Eibach prokits and replace your Apex ones. With Koni adjustables, your suspension will ride great.

I hope this helps.

 

If they said they had to break bolts, I would have told them to leave my car alone. Obviously they don't know what they are doing. Sucks that you had to find out the hard way. Definately take them to court or find a way to get a full refund and get your stock stuff back.

 

i did my own suspension, wonder if i can sue myself for bottoming out? .. actually the kyb agx struts are 8 way adjustable in the back and 4 way in the front, and ground control coilovers and eibach shocks are a perfect setup.. it rides like a board with few twists of the adjuster.. and rides like a luxury vehicle again with it set soft.. i prefer the rock hard suspension personally

 

Wow, that was the longest post I've ever read. Anyway, just remember if you lower your car you will not be able to fit as many people in the car!!! Once you lower it you cant fit 4 people cause it's lower than stock and it's bound to bottom out. Even with just one person in the car it is bound to bottom out here and there. Now with four in the car that's crazy. Especially if your muffler is scraping!!! You should really limit the # of people in your car to very few.

 

Well, I changed the suspension to UPGRADE my cars capabilities, not DOWNGRADE them. I drive around with friends in the car alot, and this is just unacceptable. My car has essentialy turned into a 2 seater. If I wanted a 2 seater, I would have bought a 2 seater! With two people, its not nearly as bad but its still bad. Even with just me in the car, long sweeping curves will cause rubbing! I was thinking of either changing to a set of ground controls or the eibach pro kit...anyone have this either setup in the car with koni adjustables, and whats your experience with them, with a full load in the car.

DAN
acuradan69@aol.com

 

Wow, I was hoping not to read the whole post because it's so long, but read it anyways.

Sorry to hear about your troubles.

Now, being in NY the roads aren't always smooth, so you should always take this into consideration when lowering your car. Find out how low your car was lowered...it sounds like at least 2". CLpower is riding on Tokico Blues I believe and Eibach Sportlines..which lower around 2"+ and he says that he rubs when he corners hard. Not always if I can remember correctly.

As for riding with passengers...of course you won't be able to ride with as much weight as you could with the stock suspension, but you should be able to ride with at least 3 if you only lowered your car the stated drop of 1.5".

Also, did you say that they didn't give back the old springs and shocks???? What!!??!! This is one thing you can take them to small claims court for..I am not saying that you should sue them...just take them to court, or at least let them know that you are going to take them to court if they don't fix everything. If they gave back everything and your car rode like this, I would say that you got the suspension you paid for....but they didn't give back your original equipment...that is wrong!

Honestly, I am not trying to criticize you at all so please understand that. I have not done any suspension work yet so far because I still need my car to ride with a lot of weight sometimes because of friends/supplies etc. When you refer to your stock equipment never bottoming out and such, of course it didnt The stock suspension is built for the best comfort in mind...not for a sporty feeling.

I would say, go for the Eibach Prokit if you want the 1.5" drop. I haven't heard many complaints from these springs...and I agree. I think they would work perfectly with the eibach adjustable shocks.

Good luck, please keep us updated!!

 

dan.... after reading your post.. i didnt want to read the replies.. lol so if this is repetitive.. sry...

first off.. never get work done in BKLYN.... next... no more about the products you buy and what effects they will have on your car.. do internet research... it will save you a huge headache...

Sry that your stuck but these guys sounded csetchy from start of your story.. When you need shit done... PM me.. I live in westchester... I can hook you up with people that will do quality installs and honest sales if you dont mind driving an hour tyo do thm.. GOOD LUCK BRO!!!!

 

yo shietz fucked up....
ma car sits as low or lower than wat u describe..and i dont have those problems..i have a pretty smooth ride, no rubbing of tires...and i can fit 4 -5 people in ma car...
on my first set of springs..they did tell me about having to break something to put in the rear springs..but that was fixed easily with a replacement part that for like 10 dollars...so that remark didnt seem too unusual for me
and if all the parts are put in right..did you check and make sure that they are for the right car (97 accord or CL will do) just a thought..
but damm..im sorri

 

Judging from the responses I think I am going to go with either a Eibach pro-kit, or a set of ground controls. What do you guys think, and what is the actual lowering of the pro kit, and the adjustment range or the ground controls? ALl I want to do is not rub when theres people in the car!
thanks

DAN
acuradan69@aol.com

 

in the rear, it looks like half the tire is covered by the fender(its tucked in) and it seems that its on the middle perch on the koni sports. In the front the fender is ast the a little bit ovet the edge of the tire, very minor gap(the konis are on the perch above the lowest, im not sure if there is 2 or 3 perches) Because of this it looks as if the car is lower in the front than the back....

 

Man that is weak, I hate shit like that. Anyway, I have Pro-kits w/ the koni yellows. I got to say it is nice. The yellows only have 2 spring seat adjustments. I had my installers put it on the lowest knotch and my car sits about 2" lower. sounds like about where your car is at now, but I have never even with people in my car bottomed out and I have 225x 40x 18's. This set up is nice, I especially like the shocks, it can really give you a sporty ride even in our car. I hope it works out for ya man, I feel ya.

 

Do you have any pics of your car from the side?
From your info I guess the front has two adjustments and the back has 3. The front is on the top and the back is on the middle.
I was considering either prokits or ground controls. Some people say ground controls f*ck up your cars ride and Fu*ks up your car in general bc of the spring rate/sleeves. What do you all think? Pro kits or ground controls? Ground controls seem nice bc there adjustable height but how the heck do u get all 4 sides perfectly even when your adjusting them and do you need an alignment each time u do it? And lastly do u need a camber kit with either of these? I just want extreme cornering cacabilities without scraping bottoming under a full load!
thanks

DAN
acuradan69@aol.com

 

With GC's, you need to pick the right spring rates and length for your wants & needs. For example, on my old 2.5RS, I picked 300 lb/in F and 250 lb/in R and 8" long springs all around. This gave me a very stiff ride, minimal body roll, and the ability to keep my car at stock height to about 2" below. Other people have picked shorter springs for a bigger drop while others picked longer ones for the ability to raise the car above stock.

If you order the GC package from places like NOPI, I have no idea how you'd pick spring rates and what shocks the collars fit over. Call GC direct and speak to Tony.

The only way they'll mess up your car is if you pick a spring that's too short or too stiff for the particular shock the collar is designed for.

 

GC or prokit?? vote now!

 

damn that sux. hope u the best.