Need help from Protege Suspension Gurus

[MakeMeGoFast]

For a long time I've been wanting alot of power for the Pro. But I can not in right mind do that without out having the suspension up to par. I just need help with what direction to go from here. And any possible parts that I should replace, with a car that is coming up on 70k miles. Bearing, bushings etc. I have a 02 ES. With Tokico Blues, Eibach ProKit. No swaybar at the moment, had the AWR with every problem that comes with it and its links. which is why i dont have it on right now. also im running 205/50/16's.
What works well with other suspension components. I want to cover everything maintenence and performance wise. Im trying to go about this the right way.

The list

$190 Tein S-Tech(dd ride quality isnt really a concern)
$550 Tokico Illuminas
$360 Racing Beat sway bar setup. Front and Back
$Pending AXR Clunks Fix Braket
$Pending AXR Endlinks Front and Back, If they ever get in production
$180 GT spec trailing arms.
$102 Pedders Front arm bushing Kit
$81 Pedders Rear Trailing Bushing Kit.
$110 MSP front upper strut mounts
$70-150 Front Tower Bar.
Possibly more products from the GTspec cataloug after everthing else is purchased.
215/40/16(for next spring)
Racing Seat. possibly seats

 

[DE31]

racingbeat swaybar with delsing or axr brackets is working great with me. only problem i have is when i have full passengers or a full trunk (weight in the rear) my right rear endlink loves coming loose not sure why, i always end up tightening it after the drive.

 

[JoshP5]

You can get MSP front upper strut mounts and rear trailing links, which have stiffer bushings and keep geometry more in check.

Corksport now has some polyurethane suspension bushings.

People like the Progress rear sway bar as well as the MSP/AXR setup as mentioned above.

Stiffer, linear springs (Tein S) will help as well.

 

[DE31]

i did like the progress swaybar when i first installed it but after i upgraded to the msp delsing set up the progress just felt too soft, although it is a bigger bar the way the racingbeat one was designed i think the leverage is better. and i also have tokico illuminas and tein s-techs which i felt was pretty good. going on onramps i've left a few evo friends (they always say my car is fast in the corners. not sure if its just because they cant drive =P)

 

[SuperProtege5]

racingbeat swaybar with delsing or axr brackets is working great with me. only problem i have is when i have full passengers or a full trunk (weight in the rear) my right rear endlink loves coming loose not sure why, i always end up tightening it after the drive.

What racing beat are you talking about? The MSP set-up?

 

[DE31]

yes, with the old delsing brackets, huge improvement over stock, even an improvement over progress rear swaybar

 

[JoshP5]

FYI Delsing brackets are no longer made; the AXR "clunk-fix kit" is its successor.

 

[MakeMeGoFast]

Now that i've been paying more attention to my suspension. I've notice that my passenger rear is about a half inch higher. And has more negative camber than the driver side. This is also the area where the popping noise is coming from. Something is screwy. I mean if it sits higher, it should have less camber. Also I was measuring things last night and notice that the rear lateral arms(ones perpendicular to the wheels) are different lengths. There is a difference of about 3/16. Also ever since I bought the car it has had a slight pull to the right(problem side). After all these thing I'm finding, I think its time to get to a suspension shop. Only problem I dont know any good ones in the Philly tri-state area. Im not trying to take it to a corner shop.

picture not exactly the same angle from both sides but look at the angle of the wheel relative to the body

 

[JoshP5]

Interesting--I have a similar problem. My rear has slightly different ride heights since I installed Racing Beat springs and I'm getting some clunking, too. I just switched from Tein H springs, which gave an even ride height and no clunk. No alignment yet--I'll visually inspect my camber.

 

[MakeMeGoFast]

Ok. So I want make a somewhat of a master plan,list, What ever you want to call it.Something I can follow. If i am missing something I should get let me know, or recommend something in place of somthing.

Tein S-Tech(dd ride quality isnt really a concern)
Tokico Illuminas
Racing Beat sway bar setup. Front and Back
AXR Clunks Fix Braket
AXR Endlinks Front and Back, If they ever get in production
GT spec trailing arms.
Pedders Front arm bushing Kit
Pedders Rear Trailing Bushing Kit.
MSP front upper strut mounts
Front Tower Bar.
Possibly more products from the GTspec cataloug after everthing else is purchased.
215/40/16(for next spring)


My goal with all this is to have a car that is very stable, predictable, Something that I can trust when I push it. I dont feel any of that right now.

 

[JoshP5]

Sounds killer.

FYI, Corksport also has poly bushings; stock front, MSP rear endlinks will work fine; you'll push with that RB front bar.

Visually inspected my rear camber--the difference isn't as pronounced as yours, but since pavement is often slightly uneven, I'll keep checking.

 

[SuperProtege5]

Could the clunking be from the springs still settling?

 

[JoshP5]

Don't think so, most clunking is caused by loose nuts/bolts, bad endlinks, swaybar binding, maybe a couple other things, but springs themselves don't really clunk.

 

[MakeMeGoFast]

So funny story, I replaced the rear muffler rubber hanger. and so far the "sound" has stopped. I had bought new urethane muffler hangers but they pulled the muffler right to the bumper. So like an idiot I cut one side of it to let it hang down I bit. Not exactly supporting it laterally. So I guesse the exhaust system shook every time I cornerned hard. Its a theory, but so far it holding up. Which is good news. We will see in the next couple of days

The Peddars PB's are the one that corksport offers. and about the Front Swaybar. Its up in the air, not exactly decided on it.

 

[JoshP5]

Ha! I wish my fix was that easy.

That front bar will be awesome for everything except sliding around corners. It'll corner flat and keep you safe. Install's a royal b****, though.

 

[MakeMeGoFast]

Well it would be a good time to install the rear engine mount while its all apart.

 

[JoshP5]

Might as well--you'll practically have to take the whole front half of the car apart anyway.

 

[MakeMeGoFast]

whats the differenc about the front upper mounts from the MSP

 

[JoshP5]

Stiffer rubber bushings.

 

[MakeMeGoFast]

are you talking about what the springs seat into