WHEELS OR LOWERING

[JSWILL70]

[8)]I know this topic has been "rode hard and put up wet" but I am going to ask it in a different way! I want to either lower my car OR put 18'S on it. I drive this car every day and I want to know which will give me the better ride. The great thing about our cars is how good they ride. I am willing to give a little...but not much.Thanks for any info .

[CREWZIN]

Don't have a GT but the first mod I did was Eibach lower springs. They are progressive which means they work the same way the OEM springs do but are shorter. Hardly noticed the difference in ride and mine's a daily driver too with just past 60,000 miles.

[Mike-in-Orange]

If you're happy with the ride and stance of the car then there's probably no real reason to mess with it. With all due respect to CREWZIN, just because the Eibachs are progressive doesn't mean they have the same spring rate as the stock shocks but are simply lower. I do not have the Eibachs so I can't offer a definitive comparison between those and my GoldLines, but if the spring rate is quite a bit different from stock then the factory shocks have a hard time controlling the rebound of the springs and you get a bouncy ride. Then again, if CREWZIN is happy with his setup who am I to say otherwise? Modding a PT in any way, shape or form is about as subjective an exercise as you'll ever find!

I was very unhappy with the ride quality I got from my GoldLines, but once I installed the Tokico performance shocks things were back to being tight and controlled. Very pleased now with the appearance and ride quality.

If you have the opportunity to attend a PT Cruiser meeting of some sort it might be in your best interest to go for a ride in a few cars set up with different springs, shocks, wheels, etc. An informed decision is always the best.

[CREWZIN]

Mike,

If you recall, I said I hardly noticed any difference in the ride. It did ride harsher, but not anything that the wife could complain about....and believe me, she would tell me. I did stay with the 16 inch wheels when I went aftermarket because I wanted the higher sidewall...which has a lot to do with ride quality. Going to 17" wheels and lowering would have been too much of a change. As you said, modding which includes handling and ride comfort is very subjective...what's seems OK to me might not be good for someone else.

[JSWILL70]

Thanks for the input. I have only lowered 2 vehicles, one was a 02 Dakota and the other was a 98 Mustang GT. Both had alot more sidewall on the tires to work with.The mustang I could not tell much of a difference. I am just not used to these small sidewalls on these PT's. I really love the way our cars look lowered.I also hate the 6 inch wide GT wheels. The 205 tires just aren't wide enough!! I want at least a 235 on it to make it look better. I need to go to some car shows and talk to some people. Thanks again for the info.

[ptgtcb]

quote:Originally posted by JSWILL70

[8)]I know this topic has been "rode hard and put up wet" but I am going to ask it in a different way! I want to either lower my car OR put 18'S on it. I drive this car every day and I want to know which will give me the better ride. The great thing about our cars is how good they ride. I am willing to give a little...but not much.Thanks for any info .

First of all, what exactly are you looking to do. Better handling or just looks? If your looking to fill the wheel well your not going to accomplish anything with the 18" wheels as they are going to be almost the same overall diameter as the 17's or you will have abs problems, etc.

My experience when I lowered my GT with Eibachs is that the ride was very much the same(which disappointed me considerably), but you have to cut the bump stops as directed. If not, you will bottom out too soon and it will feel as if the suspension is too stiff because it is basically riding on the stops.

As far as the progressive springs I feel that this is very much misleading as if you look at the spring installed and loaded, the top coils(tight wound set, which goes on the top) is in coil bind. This set of coils is really just a sort of spacer so the spring is not so short it falls out when the suspension is unloaded. I can only say this for the eibach and goldline sets because I have these sets. Gold line emailed me and said their spring rate is 165 lbs and I belive the eibachs are similar, Pretty weak so I would not think they are much more,if any, stiffer than the stock springs.

Anything that deviates from the stock suspension is going to change the ride. Personally, I think the stock suspension stinks. I like a tight well handling car not one that drags the door handles when you corner, like the stock suspension.

It is hard to determine what to recommend when your not sure what you want to actually do (at least I am not sure). However, no matter what you do I highly recommend you add at least the stock rear sway bar. This really will not affect the ride at all, except reduce the tendency to roll. Better yet, larger front and rear bars, but this will affect the ride somewhat, maybe a little more than somewhat.
Note; A larger bar set is not going to lift the front tire when cornering, I have been running my cruiser pretty hard in the corners and have not eperienced this condition. Road America racing maybe, street peformance doubtful. Just my 2 cents worth.
[8)]

[PT2NV]

quote:Originally posted by JSWILL70
I want to either lower my car OR put 18'S on it. I drive this car every day and I want to know which will give me the better ride. The great thing about our cars is how good they ride. I am willing to give a little...but not much.Thanks for any info .

I assume 'better ride' and 'give a little' means you want to stay as close to stock as possible.
First suggestion, get a rear sway bar. I know it is not one of the two options (lower or 18's) you mentioned, but it will definitely give you an immediate upgrade in performance, with virtually no negative ride penalties.
Next, I would suggest the springs. Personally have Eibachs on my PT, and am very happy with 'em. Not really stiff or harsh, and they both lower the car (makes the wheels look more in proportion to the wheelarches)and reduce the rake of the car. I felt the stock rake made me feel like I was leaning forward in the seat.
As for 18's, with the shorter (and stiffer) sidewalls, the overall ride will change (become stiffer) with 18's, much more so than springs. Also, as previously posted, overall wheel/tire combo diameter will be the same . . . and with shorter sidewalls on 18's, wheelgap will appear to be greater with the 18's . . . leading everyone to tell you to lower the car.

Good Luck (and make the rear sway bar your first mod)

[JSWILL70]

Thanks for all the answers. Did you guys have to have your PT's aligned after the lowering springs? Does anyone know what brand the MOPAR springs are going to be?? I work in the parts dept at a Dodge dealership and I have been watching the part # but it is not released yet. They are going to be " I believe" 2.00 in the rear and 1.5 in the front. I can buy these at cost so that would be the best deal for me. When I get back to work on Monday I will look and see if they offer a rear sway bar. I think after all the input the best for me is to lower my PT, sell my GT rims and tires and get me some 17x7.5 and some wider tires. Thanks again people for all the input.

[Mike-in-Orange]

quote:CREWZIN Posted - 06/12/2004 : 12:37:46 PM
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Mike,

If you recall, I said I hardly noticed any difference in the ride. It did ride harsher, but not anything that the wife could complain about....and believe me, she would tell me. I did stay with the 16 inch wheels when I went aftermarket because I wanted the higher sidewall...which has a lot to do with ride quality. Going to 17" wheels and lowering would have been too much of a change. As you said, modding which includes handling and ride comfort is very subjective...what's seems OK to me might not be good for someone else.

I've always valued your opinions and observations CREWZIN, bit I wasn't questioning whether you liked or disliked the ride, only the statement

quote:They are progressive which means they work the same way the OEM springs do but are shorter.

Being progressive doesn't neccessarily mean they have the same spring rate. If the spring rate is different from stock then the stock shocks may not be able to control the rebound of those springs, and that's where the potential problems lie.

That's the subjectivity you and I are both talking about. When I put the GoldLines on my car I still had the stock tires and wheels (since changed to larger wheels with lower profile tires). It may very well be that the GLs and Eibachs have spring rates that are different enough where the Eibachs don't have as negative an impact on the stock shocks so the ride doesn't suffer as much - I can't say for sure 'cause I've never seen numbers for the stock springs or any aftermarkets. I guess the bottom line is you and I took slightly different approaches to achieve basically the same results - good looking, good riding cars that we both love!

[CREWZIN]

[quote]quote:Originally posted by Mike-in-Orange

I guess the bottom line is you and I took slightly different approaches to achieve basically the same results - good looking, good riding cars that we both love!