need help deciding on spring/shock combo

[irishkev90]

I have a 1998 Protege and I want to lower it about 2". Not looking for race quality, just street use at a fairly cheap price, a.k.a. no coilovers. Any and all suggestions are welcome, thanks.

 

[11B-33T]

Have you checked out protegegarage.com? I'm looking into replacing my original (145k miles (boom08)) shocks and going with some Eibach Pro or Intrax springs. Of course, doing this will more than likely require the addtion of sway bars, strut bracing, possible end-link replacement/upgrade, etc-etc-etc....(blah)

 

[irishkev90]

Yeah, I'll probably be replacing as much as I can. Everything underneath is so rusted. I'll tka ea look at protegegarage, thanks for the advice.


P.S. I have a Mazdaspeed strutbar on mine

 

[irishkev90]

Okay, I got tired of waiting so I ordered KYB GR2 struts and Dropzone lowering springs.

 

[11B-33T]

Okay, I got tired of waiting so I ordered KYB GR2 struts and Dropzone lowering springs.

When you're done, you know we require pics or it never happened mang!

 

[irishkev90]

Oh, there will be pics, trust me. I took a pic of my steering wheel after I painted the Mazda emblem, soo...... haha.

 

[mig360mBJ]

i am using B&G spring and KYB gas shocks real nice ride

 

[irishkev90]

The dropzones were out of stock. so i got B&G 1.5" drop springs. Already hav the KYB struts, wish they were black instead of silver, but no big deal.

blurry pic, but oh well.

 

[irishkev90]

Update: I have all the parts (struts, springs, mounts) and I'm hoping to get tit done today. It's rainging out and my brother's Integra is in the garage, but I might be able to squeeze my little Protege in there. I'll post up some pics when it's all done.

 

[irishkev90]

Pics:

Okay, pic time.

 

[irishkev90]

Thanks. The ride is still nice. Not quite as stiff as I expected, still a bit of body lean/roll around tight turns. But there's no annoying bouncing like my brother's Integra on coilovers. I wish it was a slight bit lower and stiffer, but this is fine for my first go at anything like this. Handling should be better when I get larger wheels and lower tires . . . . . eventually, haha.

 

[irishkev90]

Yeah, I'm not getting new wheels/tires for a while. The current ones still work (duh) so no need to replace. I don't think I'd mind maybe a half inch lower, but we'll just wait and see as time goes by.

 

[11B-33T]

Good work dude! Body roll in the turns eh? Did you install the strut brace yet? I didn't read that you did but I think it would help...

 

[irishkev90]

Yeah the strut brace is on. It doesn't roll as much as the stock springs and struts did, but I believe it could still be a little flatter around turns. Maybe some new bushings for the sway bar/end links or something. Just throwing out ideas.

 

[irishkev90]

Cool, I'll take a look, but probably won't actually buy anything until next year. It's not extremely neccessary at the moment, more like a dream of perfect handling, hahaha. My winter project is a projector retrofit. I ordered prjectors, shrouds, ballasts, bulbs and harness from theretrofitsource.com. Should be fun.

 

[irishkev90]

Got my kit today. Made a new thread since this is in the wheel/tire/brakes/suspension catagory and headlights projectors don't really fit here, haha.

Here's the link:
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...etrofit-in-1998-Protege&p=5485842#post5485842