Spikey's New Suspension

The suspension parts I decided to go with were chosen after some discussion in the Chrysler3LiterV6 group. They are an incredible help. My car has struts in the front and shocks in the rear and coil springs all around. The struts and shocks I chose are made by a company called KYB. I learned that if you have the money Koni shocks and struts are the way to go; I didn't have the kind of money they were talking about ($400 just for the shocks and struts) so I decided to go with the second best choice. The KYBs are good for ride quality and performance and they are relatively cheap! The front struts are KYB GR-2 [Part# 235045], and the rear shocks are KYB Gas-a-just shocks [Part# KG5563].

I heard that Eibach Springs are the type to go with. If you visit their page you'll see that these springs are used on such cars as the McLaren F1, Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, BMW, and much more! I bought the Eibach Pro-Kit [Part# 2801.140], it was supposed to lower the car by an inch but I can't really tell. I know it's lower but I don't know how by how much. In fact, for your viewing pleasure, I took a profile picture of my car before the suspension install and after, and I have both pictures posted. Also, I have a picture that I created using both of those pictures, it is designed to show just how much of a difference in height there is. See the bottom for this comparison.

I did this job with Rachael's dad, he's a seasoned mechanic so I felt confident ripping me car apart at 2:30 in the afternoon. I was amazed that I got it all back together by 6:30pm. That was due to his awesome air compressor, I used it on almost every bolt! It really helped on tightening down the spring compressor, that would have taken forever doing it by hand. Sorry guys, this is no how-to. I would have done one but doing this job I got my hands very greasy and dirty as you'll see in the pictures. I couldn't hold the digicam with those hands! I asked Rachael to come out and take some shots a few times but it was really hot out there so she didn't stay for too long. She got a lot of good pictures though. See them below:

Click here if you'd like to see Spikey's Suspension Comparison.

This is my suspension the day I got it from UPS, you gotta love those guys!

Here's my suspension all grouped together before I installed it. I took this the day I got it from UPS.

This was very quick with the air rachet!

This is me and Rachael's dad, Ben. We were taking the strut assembly apart so we could get all the mounts and stuff off the old one to put on the new one. This is where the air compressor [or rattle rachet as he calls it] really comes in handy. Doing this job with an open ended wrench would take forever! The second strut took about 5 minutes to dissasemble and about 5 more minutes to reassemble the new one.

I'm checking out this new sturdy KYB strut. The old one didn't even push out when compressed it by hand. I couldn't even compress the new one by hand! I like it very much. :)

My car with no rear tires. This was when I was replacing the rear suspension. Piece of cake, just put the body on jackstands, put a jack under the rear axle, undo the bolts on the shocks lower the jack and pull out the springs. Installation is reverse of removal.

Here I compare the stock front springs with the Eibach front springs. Notice that the stock one has even spacing between each coil, where the Eibach spring has the bottom coils closer together while the top ones are further apart. These types of springs are called progressive springs and they give some ride quality with ride performance. This is exactly what I was looking for!

This time I compare the stock rear springs with the Eibach rear springs, don't pay attention to my face. I was picking my nose and I didn't realize that I had grease on my finger. No really, just kidding.

The rear springs again, this is to better show the progressiveness. :)

Here are the shocks, new ones (left) nice and clean. The old one wouldn't push back out if compressed (like the old struts), the new ones I couldn't compress (like the new struts). And look how dirty! Watch out baldness, here I come!

I didn't take a picture of the struts cause there really wasn't anything to compare they looked identical. The only difference was that one pushed the piston out and the other wouldn't.

Click here if you'd like to see Spikey's Suspension Comparison.

Spikey's Suspension page has been hit 112 times since January 22, 2001.