Tokico Springs need moar lowz

Scott Long

Registered User
I installed a set of Tokico springs on the 94 SC this weekend along with new upper control arms and strut rod bushings. Well once we got it all back together and lowered it off the jack stands we stood there scratching our heads. The car sits exactly the same as before.

So..... damn. That took a lot of time for nothing. Now I have to pull it all back apart one of these weekends.

How much do I cut off the springs to lower it so it doesn't look like a 4x4? I'm thinking 1 coil all the way around and see but maybe 1.5 coils? I know its better to cut less and then you can always cut more, but its time consuming to keep removing and reinstalling the springs and lining up the upper mounts. I'd rather not have to take it apart 3 more times. I want the car to have about a 1 finger gap between tire and fender instead of the 4 finger gap it has.

I can't believe the damn springs didn't even make a difference. We measured 28" front fender and 28.5" rear fender. I didn't take a before measurement but damn you'd expect a lowering spring to lower the car right???
 
I installed a set of Tokico springs on the 94 SC this weekend along with new upper control arms and strut rod bushings. Well once we got it all back together and lowered it off the jack stands we stood there scratching our heads. The car sits exactly the same as before.

So..... damn. That took a lot of time for nothing. Now I have to pull it all back apart one of these weekends.

How much do I cut off the springs to lower it so it doesn't look like a 4x4? I'm thinking 1 coil all the way around and see but maybe 1.5 coils? I know its better to cut less and then you can always cut more, but its time consuming to keep removing and reinstalling the springs and lining up the upper mounts. I'd rather not have to take it apart 3 more times. I want the car to have about a 1 finger gap between tire and fender instead of the 4 finger gap it has.

I can't believe the damn springs didn't even make a difference. We measured 28" front fender and 28.5" rear fender. I didn't take a before measurement but damn you'd expect a lowering spring to lower the car right???
Scott you have to waite a while for the springs to settle my eibachs didn't look as though it lowered the car much either until a month later. Also the more you drive it the quicker they will settle
 
We'll give it a little while, but I may end up cutting a coil or so to get it to sit right.

Your car looked really low at the shootout. About like my black 92 5-speed w/ Eibach springs. Thats the look I was hoping for with this 94.
 
I don't care what spring it is they are going to take a month or so to settle. Those tokicos are made by vogtland so once they settle you will be happy with em.
 
The immediate issue is that your stock springs were sagging really bad. You think your car looks like a 4x4, take a gander at some pictures of a stock SC from 1989. Wowsers. If you noticed pictures of Kurt Kriesz 35th anniversary that he posted up here in spring, it looks fully lowered and it's only got a few thousand miles on it. Sitting is probably worse than driving the car when it comes to spring sag.

The other thing is, did you re-tighten all you load bearing suspension bolts with the car sitting on the ground after you rolled it a bit to settle things? People don't realize just how much bushing wind up will raise a car.

The Tokico springs are only 1.25" drop anyway so they aren't the biggest drop spring around. If you had put Eibach's on the car I can pretty much guarantee you'd be getting a very different result. I have used Eibach, Tokico, and Vogtland springs on cars that I've done recently and rest assured, the Tokico's are noticably taller, with the Eibachs being very low by comparison.

If you want, I'd be happy to trade you a set of Eibach's for those Tokico's and not have you cut them.
 
Mine took about 2 weeks to settle with me driving it every day. I have the tokico's they don't make anymore, they currently only offer 1.25 drop mine are 1.75. You want to see a car set high the teal car I was working on for my wife I put back together with some low mileage sport springs, it was extremely high in the back.
Alan
 
We may be down for the trade Dave, but I'd have to swap the eibachs in first and then ship you the Tokico's. I can get these back off but its a pain to put the stock ones back on. Let me know if you want to do the trade and I can swap them over one of these weekends and ship these too you. How big of a hurry are you in?
 
If you noticed pictures of Kurt Kriesz 35th anniversary that he posted up here in spring, it looks fully lowered and it's only got a few thousand miles on it. Sitting is probably worse than driving the car when it comes to spring sag.

Actually, my Anniversary car has 1.5" lowering Eibach springs on it. When Andy owned it, he couldn't stand the 4x4 look with his 17x9 cobra R's that he had on the car, so he lowered it. He gave me the original springs and shocks when I bought the car, but I haven't made time to put them back on (not that I'm in a hurry to do so). If I ever start taking the car to strictly judged shows I might, but for now most shows allow for 3-4 mods and still be considered stock. Right now I'm sitting at springs, tint and a crappy battery cable.
 
The Eibach look is perfect. I actually like the H&R but can't find them anymore so the Eibach is fine and if you want lower take a coil out.

This car is going to be a daily driver during nice weather, will come to the shootout, and will only be getting a few mods to it over time. We just want it to look and handle good for now.
 
I don't care what spring it is they are going to take a month or so to settle. Those tokicos are made by vogtland so once they settle you will be happy with em.

+1 on the settling. It took one really full track day (3hrs on the track) for my car to settle out with lower springs. DON'T cut it until you notice the car has settled (few weeks with normal driving) or you might find yourself too low... and that would suck because your suspension geometry will be too screwed up.

-g
 
Oh... you'll notice it... just go slide a floor jack underneath to lift it and you'll see the difference. :D Also, I can coax min up about 1/2" to slide said floor jack underneath. When I let it down, I bounce the car a bit to get it to settle. I actually don't want anymore drop.. I have some bumps to negotiate and sometimes its hell on the air lip under the front bumper.
 
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Scott,

I'd be happy to ship these to you first and I'm in no hurry. These Eibachs have been used though but they are in great shape. Just so you know. I'll post or email some pics.

David
 
Scott,

You also need to drive the car a few yards to get the true ride height. Just dropping it down off the jacks will always look higher, because the wheels and tires are tilted in the unloaded position.

David
 
Well we took it down the road and back a couple miles.

XR7 Dave, the swap with the eibach's will be the best bet. I'll PM you the address.
 
Like David said, you can't just set the car down. When I was chopping on my stockers and experimenting with ride height, I would lower the car down and go back and forth in the driveway a couple times. You'll get 90% settled real quick. After a year and a few thousand miles of driving, my fronts appear to have settled maybe 1/4 inch more on each side.

For the record, this car had cut Eibachs - cut em right out of the box and it drove great:

wfc082.jpg
 
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