Lowering springs

[DailyDrivenPt]

Hello, I am looking for info on what would be the best bet for springs for my PT. I Live in Wisconsin and DO drive my pt year round. I would like to have a nice drop to get rid of half of the wheel wheel gap. Wheels I am using are factory 17" with 215-50-17. I have seen a couple of options:

Eibach: 1.6 front / 2.0 Rear

H&R: 1.4 front / 1.3 Rear

Maxspeed : 1.4 front / 1.5 Rear

Tein: 1.3 front / 2.0 Rear.

I would like to get as close to oem ride as I could, and a mild drop so that I can at least drive it.

Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!! Dean

[quicksilverdon]

welcome to the forums.
You might consider what I did - just drop the rear.
Look at you PT - the rear wheel gap is bigger than the front.
Other advantages -
rears are easy to do
it actually raises rgethe front a scootch
no downside in ride
no alignment needed

[DailyDrivenPt]

Thanks for the welcome,

What springs do you have on the rear of your pt with the 1.5? Would you have a picture to share with it lowered that way, Visual is always the best. Just by doing the rear, it would cost less $$$$ and less hassles. Thanks for the info.

[fljohnboy]

And where does one just get the rear springs from?

[BlackJack]

I wouldn't do "just" the rear springs, the PT is 'raked' intentionally. It's supposed to look a little lower in the front. If you go and lower the rear 1.5"+ and leave the front, it's going to level it out.... which looks silly, IMO.

For anything less than a 2" drop all around, you really shouldn't need to worry about bad camber wear/poor alignment, etc.

And on top of that, the spring rates are different than stock, so riding around with stock springs up front and aftermarkets in the back is going to affect ride quality.

If you're just going to do springs, any of the ones you are looking at will work. Personal experience? Tein/H&R>Eibach, no experience with MaxSpeed.

If you're looking for an OEM ride, I'd suggest considering changing your shocks out as well, upgrading to something as simple as Koni/KYB/Tokico - something that is going to respond better than stock to an aftermarket spring.

[quicksilverdon]

There are opinions.
I don't like the "butt in the air look".
I lowered both my '02 and '05 rear only and combined put about 150,000 miles on that way with absolutely no problems.
A nose-down rake was for RWD muscle cars - it's just style on a FWD car.

[BlackJack]

Originally Posted by quicksilverdon

There are opinions.
I don't like the "butt in the air look".
I lowered both my '02 and '05 rear only and combined put about 150,000 miles on that way with absolutely no problems.
A nose-down rake was for RWD muscle cars - it's just style on a FWD car.

Technically, a nose-down rake is preferable on a FWD vehicle to move the center of gravity towards the front, putting as much weight as possible over the front of the car... but I'll agree that it's mostly for style, unless you're making some decent horsepower and/or have issues with traction.

[Candyman]

Hey their BlackJack,

Welcome to the Forum.

Really, when its all said and done, just like you guys said, it really more or less comes down to preference.

To me, the stance plays an important roll in the overall look of the Vehicle. I really hate the excessive amount of Wheel Gap at stock height, so I originally bought some Goldline Super Slammers which dropped it 2.50" in front, and 3.25" in the back which I was under the impression would level the car, but after installing them, I quickly learned that their was still a 2" rake. So I went and talked to a buddy of mine who designs, and builds off road suspension for Trophy Trucks for Baja.

Long story short, we fabricated a set of custom progressively wound coils made from a Titanium, Magnesium mix, and set my Ride up to sit level with a 3" drop in front, and a full 5" drop in back which gave my PT a 100% level height of 4" from body to ground, and 3.25" both front, and back. Of course their was not much travel left at that height, so the ride was a bit rough, but the stance really looked pretty good. So much so, that my buddy and I wound up making 4 more sets for other people who really loved the look as well. In fact, my last set was just shipped out last week to another Member of this Site.

Here are a couple pic's of my ride sitting on my first set of Prototype Springs.







I am now running air ride to make it easier to get on, and off a trailer easier, but overall, I don't see leveling a PT as looking funny, but as stated above, its more or less objective depending on personal preference.

That's my two cents anyways.

Go easy, and I will catch ya later.

Candyman

[quicksilverdon]

Weight on drive wheels only aids traction, not handling - ideal for handling is 50%/50%.
Different strokes for different folks.

[Mean Green]

I've had Eibachs on two of my PTs. The ride is very close to stock. You can get away from changing the shocks/stuts if you want to. I eventually went to Tokico shocks/struts and liked that combo.