Dropzone Suspension performance springs and gas strut review. Overview |
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Transaction After placing my order on-line at cbwheels.com, I was pleased to received my shipment tracking number by e-mail the next day, and very pleased to receive the package within four. The shipment was well packaged and double boxed with no damage to any parts on arrival. |
Contents Ordered were two rear and two front struts along with four performance springs. I was pleased to find the rear springs have a very soft first stage. What this means is that during normal driving the first stage (small coils) stay completely compressed, relying on the second stage to support the weight of the car. |
During quick maneuvers however, such as braking while turning or quick position changes in a slalom which would cause the car's body weight to roll off one back tire, these coils expand to take up the full travel of the shock and maintain tire pressure on the ground utilizing all four tires for better traction. This is a common problem with coil-over springs, which can actually become fully unsprung during hard turns, leaving one tire or another with no weight at all on the ground--no weight means no traction. |
It then is used to uncompress the spring slowly. Although there are various 'less elegant' ways to accomplish the same task, I will not go into them, as I don't want to be responsible for lost body parts. The spring compressor would also be needed if reinstalling the OEM springs by compressing the spring prior to installation on the strut. However, since the performance springs (when fully uncompressed) are just slightly higher then the extended strut, they are easily compressed enough by hand to install the top and get the retaining nut started on the strut shaft. Take note though, that unlike some coil-over springs, these springs still do fill the entire strut when fully extended, leaving no gap which can cause poor handling characteristics. I chose to start with the rear struts and springs first. After removing the old shock assembly, I disassembled it, taking note of all the parts. Some of them are used to assemble the new strut and spring such as the top seat, center bump stop and some other various hardware. It is a very straight forward assembly, and very good instructions were supplied. I did, however, modify the bump stop which keeps the strut rod from bottoming out within itself. Normally the stop, which goes around the strut rod, is about 4 inches long. I shortened this to two inches to give the strut more room to travel while still protecting it from bottoming out. I did encounter a problem when installing the new strut, however. The nut that holds the bolt in place through the bottom of the strut is welded to the OEM strut and none were supplied with the new. I found though that this bolt is the same size and thread type as the OEM strut top retainer nut. The new struts came with their own retaining nuts so the OEM nut was used to secure the bottom of the new strut in place, averting a trip to the auto parts store. |
Total removal and installation time for me was slightly under four hours. With a buddy or a lift you should be able to bang this out in half that time. |
A quick trip down a rough road and an impromptu slalom in an empty parking lot quickly laid to rest any doubts about the quality vs. cost of this suspension package. The car performed flawlessly at all tasks with minimal body roll while still providing a satisfactory ride on rough roads, even at speeds greater then 100mph (closed circuit.... of course! ... right). I would recommend Dropzone Suspension components to anyone looking to improve the look and performance of their car. From ease of installation, to great performance at a great price, these guys got it right. |