Suspension Overhaul - Questions

[Vortex]

Hi guys, first post here on TGC. Was really excited to find this place and see so many Galant enthusiasts.

I am planning on doing a suspension overhaul on my 99 GTZ. I live in Michigan so I have old man winter to contend with, but I want to get my ride setup a specific way and I'm hope'n you guys can lend some advice.

I want to drop the G and close the gap (especially in the front), but more than that I want a high performance suspension that will really hug corners and perform very well.

I've done quite a bit of reading and searching over the forums and have found that my best bet for shocks and struts are the KYB AGX shocks and struts. Here is what I have not been able to determine from my reading:

A. What springs will give me the best performance/ride (H&R, Progress, Eibach)?
B. Is there anything better available for a rear sway bar than the stock GTZ bar?
C. Is there a bushing package I can buy to replace all of the polyurethane bushings? I figure while the suspension is tore up I might as well go the whole distance and do it right.
D. Aside from the shocks/struts, springs, bushings, and sway bars is there anything I am overlooking that I should consider to increase my G's handling performance? And how much do those upgrades cost?

The car needed a suspension overhaul anyway, so I don't mind dropping some cash to do it right and get exactly what I want out of it.

Also of note - I do plan to keep the existing 16" alloy's and Goodyear RSA's as a winter set of rims/tires - however next spring will invest in a nice set of 17" rims and rubber to further extend the overall performance (and look) of the car during the months I can truely have fun with it. https://www.thegalantcenter.org/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif

I look forward to and appreciate any input you guys might lend.

Thanks,
Kip Kulich
Michigan

[Auto-9]

Answering your questions in the order they were posted:

A. It's all relative. In my experience the Eibachs rode a bit softer, the H&Rs firmer. So for me...H&Rs were beter because I like a firmer ride. I don't know which would offer better performance though. Never did get a measurement.

B. Yes, the ST Sway Bar is thicker at 22mm while the GTZ is 19mm. However, on our cars it requires some modification to the car for it to fit.

C. Yes, the Energy Suspension bushing kit includes polyurethane bushings for the front sway bar, rear sway bar, rear control arms, and front control arms.

D. Not really...except tires and weight. Get better tires, somehow cut down the weight as well as distribute it better, and you'll corner better. You may want to look into getting a front strut tower bar, and some underbody reinforcements like a lower rear tie bar or the D3 chassis stiffening kit. Many members say they can feel a definite improvement in handling. A strut bar will typically cost between 50 to 80 dollars, the tie bar about 80 bucks, and if you go D3 it may cost around 200 to 300 for the parts that you want.

[Vortex]

Rallifan,

Thanks for the feedback.

I ordered the KYB's today and will be trying to pickup the H&R's this weekend. I prefer a firmer ride myself and having had Eibach's on my old Mustang I wasn't overly impressed by them.

Any suggestions of where I can order the bushing set online at? I've actually been trying to find a good online parts retailer that has a solid selection of performance parts in general for the Galant.

Thanks again!
Kip

[Reelax]

since you have winters to contend w/ i would also look at ground control adjustable ride height springs so you can raise in the winter and lower in the summer w/o having to swap your springs out.

for the ultimate in suspension you might wanna think about the TEIN super street coilover set ($1500) or the JIC MAGIC FLT-A2 set ($2000). these are both fully adjustable damper / spring (matched coilover) sets and both are for the '00+ eclipse which shares suspension parts w/ the 8g galant.

[Vortex]

Thanks.

I thought about getting adjustable coilovers - but my concern with adjustable coilovers is that I would not get the same performance and ride quality with those as I would with springs. Maybe that is a misconception on my part?

I certainly couldn't bring myself to shell out 2g's for the high end coilovers so I'd likely be looking at Ground Controls or Skunks or some such.. although honestly I did not explore that option much.

My thoughts on winter months were that we see maybe 3 months of snow (Late december through mid March). During that time if it snows more than my inch and a half drop can handle with the stock 16" rims and tires then chances are I wasn't going to leave the house anyway. https://www.thegalantcenter.org/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif Maybe those who are in the same area of the states as myself can offer some input on suspension and ride performance in the winter months.

With all these things in mind I'm looking at the following:

KYB AGX's
H&R Springs
Suspension Bushings (still need a recomendation of place to order this from)
Camber kit (Do I need one? If so make some recomendations).

I'm probably being overly annoying with this thread, but I just want to make sure I cover all my bases before taking things apart and that I get the most I can out of my suspension changes. https://www.thegalantcenter.org/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

Thanks,
Kip

[akiraflux]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vortex)</div><div class='quotemain'>Camber kit (Do I need one? Â*If so make some recomendations).</div>

no real way to tell for sure till after it's done. if it's a small drop chances are you won't need it. the bigger drops it's almost garaunteed you'll throw your camber off.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vortex)</div><div class='quotemain'>
I'm probably being overly annoying with this thread, but I just want to make sure I cover all my bases before taking things apart and that I get the most I can out of my suspension changes. </div>

nonsense! better safe than sorry and i'm pretty postive quite a few people here LIKE to help out others.

[Reelax]

o yeah don't foreget the strut tower bar...

[Vortex]

Well I picked up my KYB AGX's last week (Thanks Jessica over at Club3g!) and ran down to tire rack to pickup the H&R Sportline springs.

Slowly but surely I'm getting everything together to do my overhaul. https://www.thegalantcenter.org/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

I was looking at Energy Suspension's website (http://www.energysuspension.com/mit.html) and wondered if the following for a 2000-2002 Eclipse would work for my 99 GTZ?:

HYPER-FLEX SYSTEM Complete Master Bushing Set Includes: front and rear control arm bushings, front and rear sway bar bushings.

Like I said before if I'm gonna have the car apart to do the shocks, struts and springs I might as well go the extra step of replacing all the bushings.

Anyway should I look at that set or would something else be better suited to my application?

Thanks again,
Kip

[Auto-9]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vortex)</div><div class='quotemain'>I was looking at Energy Suspension's website (http://www.energysuspension.com/mit.html) and wondered if the following for a 2000-2002 Eclipse would work for my 99 GTZ?:

HYPER-FLEX SYSTEM Complete Master Bushing Set Includes: front and rear control arm bushings, front and rear sway bar bushings.
</div>

As my first reply to your question said, yes, Energy Suspension makes a bushing kit for our platform. However, I do not know the part numbers but if you're really not too sure and just want to be safe you can ask Road Race Engineering (where I got my bushings from).

[Vortex]

Cool. https://www.thegalantcenter.org/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

I have a local parts superstore/warehouse type place about 15 minutes from my house that stocks all sorts of things and I know they carry the Energy Suspension line - I'll run out there tommorw and talk to the guys and see if they have what I need.

What should I expect to pay on average for the kit?

Thanks again for the help.

Kip

[Auto-9]

It's very cheap...it's the installation that will make you wonder if it's worth it. I think I paid about...145 for the set? Somewhere there.

[Vortex]

Well I went ahead and hijacked a friend and did the installation today with just the KYB's and H&R springs.

Wow. BIG difference.

I got some before and after pictures of the install and the drop - as soon as I get the stuff off my friends digital camera (hopefully tommorw) I'll post some pictures.

After having it all apart I can see why you say the installation of the bushings is questionable - it looks like a lot more work than I had previously thought and I'm glad we didn't get envolved with that today.

So my frist steps are taken towards a custom G-Ride. I think next I'll look at the rear sway bar and strut tower brace. Altezza lights and new rims and tires will be on my agenda for the spring.

Anyway thanks to all you guys for the help and feedback - it went a long way in making my overhaul a success!. https://www.thegalantcenter.org/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

Kip

[Auto-9]

No prob. You're my first sucess story https://www.thegalantcenter.org/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif Just something for you to think about though, Dinan does not offer polyurethane bushings as part of any of their packages. They believe most factory bushings are good enough, not just BMW's.

[Vortex]

After having a chance to drive the galant for a few days now I've noticed that in certain circumstances (seems to be a turning/bounce) I will hear a minor "clunk" from the driver side strut/spring. Friend and I bounced on the corner a bit and noticed that it seemed like the spring was "jittering". The best way I can describe it is that as the coil of the spring starts to come to an end at the top of the strut the coils come very close to one another. It almost looks like the spring touches and grabs and holds ever so slightly enough for the spring to "release" and "jitter".

I'm sure I'm not doing the problem justice with my explanation -but I hope it makes sense.

Any thoughts as to what would cause that? Bad spring maybe? It's only the driver side strut.

I've also not gotten an alignment done yet (and yes the car does need one - the wheels are cambered a tad). So perhaps an alignment will fix the problem.

Anyhow, thought I'd hit people up here to see if it's something they'd seen with the KYB AGX/H&R spring setup. Or any setup for that matter. https://www.thegalantcenter.org/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif

-kip

[Auto-9]

My H&R/KYB combination also did that, but mine was on the passenger front. It didn't damage anything or cause any serious problems other than being a slight annoyance on low speed bumps. The technicians suggested that maybe the spring seats needed a little grease, but I never applied any lubricants so I never found out if this was a solution. Maybe it will work for you.

[leadfoot]

what does a D3 kit do and how does it work?

[Vortex]

Rali,

it's funny that you mention grease. We sprayed some lithium lubricant up on the spring and for at least the better part of the day it didn't twitch. It slowly started to come back over the course of the next day or two (which would lend itself to the theory that maybe the spring seat just needs some grease).

I'll give it a try and let you know.

Kip

[Auto-9]

what does a D3 kit do and how does it work?

The D3 kit includes 2 bars that brace the body, 1 bar up front that acts as a front lower tie bar by bracing the control arm points, and 2 bars in the rear that brace the control arm joints to the vehicle body that behave kind of like rear lower tie bars.

[Vortex]

I got the four corner alignment done this afternoon. Since then I haven't had any issues with the spring. I'll keep an eye on it and let you know if it keeps acting up - if it does I'll try greasing it a bit.

-k