What are the Advantages of coilovers

[djnarush]

ok, so yeah, i drive a pick up..
my shocks are mounted inside the spring...
i was talking to a few of my truck buddies about converting to a coil over...
it can be done, but its going to take some money, time, and delicate fabbing to get the angle right....

seems it would be easier, and cheaper just to get custom springs made... but my question...

what ARE the advatages of going to coilovers, from my stock set up...

[requiredoption]

Ride hight adjustability and corner balancing

[my 1 88 u]

adjustability.
Ride hight, dampening, camber

[requiredoption]

Originally posted by my 1 88 u
adjustability.
Ride hight, dampening, camber

camberplates are not necessarily part of a coilover system, although alot of coilovers come with them. You do not need coilovers to get camber plates.

Adjustable damping is in the strut or shock, again some coilovers have a bunch of adjustablity and some have none, and a bunch of regular old struts and shocks do have adjustablity.

[djnarush]

cool, so instead of a conversion..
i should just get custom springs, and good shocks..
this is not my daily driver, so i really wouldnt need to adjust for ride height...

[requiredoption]

Eibach and a few others make a full range of linear rate springs, basically any rate you could want, they have. So getting custom spring's made seems like a overly complicated ordeal.

Alot of people prefer coilovers because they give you the ability to fine tune the cars characteristics beyond damping and alignment, being able to distribute your weight is a pretty big thing.

However, alot of other people are running on a spring/strut combo of their choice, and their really isnt any downside to it.

It all comes down to personal needs/taste.

[Darkstar]

I don't think there are many coilover sets available for djnarush's pickup. Shocks can be the only thing you can do with the suspension. They have less adjustability options, but I'm sure they'd be sufficient for you.

[djnarush]

actually, the only coilovers for my truck are for offroading..
thats y i wanted to fab a conversion for use of coil overs..

Eibach are the only performance springs avaliable for my truck..
which i DO have, but i need the front end a little lower, and a little stiffer..
I have KYB shocks, soon to get the monomax...

i was thinking abot cutting the coil a bit to to lower the truck an inch, and also stiffen the spring..

i have heard mixed reviews of cutting springs...

but im a rebel....

[tonesdef]

the man advantage is the fact that most coilovers are valved for the spring rates that are on the coil over so you'll have a much better ride and handle better. Plus the fact that the adjustablity helps alot

[AlexPfeiffer]

If you want the best setup, which also includes alot more $$$, then go for coil overs, but you will have to modify a few things to set it up right.

The advantages are that you have way more adjustability, from changing your spring rates, shock dampening, ride hieght, corner ballancing, its all around better but if your not at the level to understand how to adjust it, then keep it basic.

My suggestion, keep your setup and cut the springs to get the ride hieght you want.

[Ichi-Go]

Also good coilovers you can change your ride height without loosing suspension travel. If you cut the spring and/or get lowering springs it uses up strut travel. I agree with Alex cut your spring to the height you want. If you want camber adjustments you can buy pillowball mounts with camber adjustment.

[Ris4drift]

you shoudlnt need camber plates. your going to want negative camber which should be a result of dropping your truck, and you shoudl be able to get an alignment shop to work it a litle to get it consistent on both sides.

id say call up eibach, see if htey can make some ground controls for your truck, and if you are using kyb agx those shoudl be okay. also i know rhys's gto used highly modified 3sgt ( i think thats the platform, basicaly 3000gt / stealth ) coilovers . it can be done. but before you start tryign to do crazy hibryd stuff. honestly, start calling and calling and calling seeing if anyone has anything. your gonna have to go straigth to the source though, most retailers/shops will probably tell you they dont exist b/c they dont feel like looking for you.