Lowering an accord with king springs

[viperx]

Hey guys, I'm lookin at getting some springs myself... friend of mine whos a mechanic says he can get some king springs fitted for around $350 ($200 parts).. is that a good price...

anyone got any good experiences from king springs? I'm lookin at only a drop of 1" to 1.5"... i went to the kings website and I found only the "low" catagory on the catalogue.. the model numbers are KHFL-60 (front) and KHRL-61 (back)... does anyone noe how much these drop...

Any comments on ride quality (important) appreciated... i'm lookin at keeping my old shocks (so wear and tear on shocks also important)

Also, i'm a suspension newbie :) can anyone tell me what exactly I have to watch out for, cuz the guy said the mechanic who does them just does them at his own place or somethin. Do I need a wheel alignment after... etc. If someone could outline the whole process for me it would be cool.

Cheers all for reading my long winded message!! :)

[28RAG]

about $100 each end. i got kings on my 95 accord, it still sits high but looks nice, but they will sag to a good height over the next few months and $150 labour sounds about right, i work at a car yard and had the mechanics do mine for cheap - and yeah you will need a wheel alignemtn which i havent bothered to get yet

[razaman]

I have Kings on my 94 accord and the front sits a bit higher than the back - usual I'm told for kings. There is a pic in one of my previous posts. They're a 30mm drop.

I'm currently saving hard for some new shocks and springs. Tokico Allumina shocks with 40-45mm Jamex lowering springs.

Raz (pm me for your graphic/web work - all money paid into my paypal account goes into my car fund - at a discount!! :D )

[will_pop]

i've got my kings at home but just don't have time to install it...
and yeh $150 is not expensive.. but ... make sure they do good job...

hum ...yeh

[viperx]

well how am i supposed to make sure they do a good job??

Well i'm willin to get my hands dirty... i'd do it myself if i had the gear... but thats up to the guy whether hes happy with it... if he's not are there any telltale signs of a bad job????

[Calvo]

if its a bad job, sumfin will usually stuff up... lol.

they say u need an alignment, but i didnt do one after i fitted my springs and its been fine as... meh i dunno.

[Dominik]

viper, look at my previous post (Please help with my strut). Doing it your self might be alright, but you can also end up spending way more than $150!!!

You will need:
Allen Key Set (Metric - NOT imperial! Trust me on this!)
Min. 18" breaker bar
1/2" Socket Set
Spanners
Trolley Jack
JackStands
Spring compressors
Wheel braces etc
Alot of luck (if anything breaks you'll need to replace it etc)

Looking back on it, i wish i'd just gone with the $200 which Tempe quoted me

As for signs of a bad job i think Sam on AccordTurbo.com had a problem where the strut wasnt put back together properly, and the shock ended up popping through and into his bonnet! But i'm not sure if you could spot that without taking a before and after photo of the strut top.

[razaman]

Sorry dude, forgot to answer the rest of your questions:

I also have them with stock shocks. The ride is only slightly stiffer than stock, not much at all. So no problems there. Shocks show no signs of wearing out, they've been on for about 10 months.

The model numbers you listed are the exact same as mine, kings only have a low option, no superlows.

Raz

[Dominik]

Oh, and if you do it too low, wheel alignment places will just laugh at you. The place i took it to had to put blocks undermy wheels to stop it ripping the sideskirts off as i drove it onto the alignment platform. In the end he didnt even fix the rears as i had 2.5 degrees of camber, and he said that there was no point trying to fix it without a camber kit :)

[viperx]

razaman u got a pic of ur car with the springs fitted?

[smoknhothonda]

Hey dude, I have a set of Eibach progressive rate springs that I will wanna sell next week, after I get my coilovers installed.

In my opinion, it would be best if u saved for a bit longer to get sum shock sfitted also. When you ffit a set of lowered springs, the stock (soft) struts dont suit the aftermarket spring setup, and u end up with a ride that doesnt handle as good as it could. eg bumpy ride, struts bottoming out, eventually causing them to fail.....

But if you havent got much moolah, and want your ride to sit a lil lower with less body roll well just fit the springs. But if you have a set of 17 18's with expensive tyres, make sure you get an alignment after u fit them, and maybe even buy a camber kit so your tyres dont scrub out.

PM me know if you wanna buy the Eibachs off me, they are 2 years old with about 40000 kays use, roughly 1" drop, I paid about $400 I will sell em for 200 :)

[viperx]

I'm only lookin at a 1" drop... i figured it shouldn't screw up the shocks that much... same loss of height as filling ur boot full of subs and amps i figure :D

[smoknhothonda]

What I was trying to point out to you b4 was that lowered springs have a higher 'sping rate" then a stock spring (stiffer) thats why you get less bodyroll through corners etc, and the stock struts are basically designed with comfort, more so then performance.

So you end up with a mismatched spring/shock combo... Ideally you would be able to get a set of springs and say a set of koni's/Bilsteins to suit, but you are looking at spending at least 1k...

At the end of the day you will end up with better handling ride with just the lowered springs, but shocks make a huuuggggeee difference in ride comfort and handling :)

[razaman]

razaman u got a pic of ur car with the springs fitted?

There's 2 pics in this thread.

http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7906

Raz

[will_pop]

i got 6th gen accord.. and i got super low kings... dunno why they don't have superlowz for the 5th gen.

[dundas]

hey guys,
just reading this thread...
i too have used king springs on my 94 accord. sits A LOT LOWER than stock ride.
I also put in new shox because i had my shockers tested and they were screwed to the max... might as well put new shocks in too---labour shouldnt cost any more because you need to take the shocks out anyways.
remember it is a 9 yr old car which you have. might as well replace them now before you have to replace them a lil later along the track..save some $$ on labour.
i just put in sum kyb shockers and my ride is much better now.. no more bouncing around corners.
as to those who said the front sits higher than the back... mine sits about the same i think.

looks great and rides smooth... (get your bushes checked too)

Dundas

[higgo_69]

i got custom K-mac springs, which are sittin 2 1/4 inches plus sagging lower . they are nice and stiff and you can get any size you want

and it cost me 100 to get installed

[viperx]

hey razaman, u talkin about those 2 pics with the red accord? doesn't look any lower than stock. might jus be the angle...

Anyways dundas, i figured my shocks would be in a lot betta condition then yours.... my car was bought late 97... so its only a 7 year car.. plus doing the "bounce:" test on each corner it only moves back up, then settles... so the shocks seem in pretty good shape...

[FORGED]

hey man,
king springs dont make super lows for 94 accords which sux... i bought some lows 6 months back and it does drop it a bit, but i didnt really think it was worth the money i spent on them, i could barely notice the difference. I would have prefered to goto kmac and get some custom ones done, that way you can choose the height. but hey if you only want it an inch or so lower, then they are probably for you. i like mine real low:
http://www.brokedowndesign.com/accord/guys-accord-5.jpg

[viperx]

nah man... thats the thing... i like my accord subtle... its not an all out racer is it :) i like the factory look, just wanna improve on it...

[viperx]

Hey smoknhothonda, I've been sending you PMs... u still around?

[aka_NSX]

viperx, where about r u located ? if sydney
please try Hannys performance @ smithfield,
this guy know HONDA, I know he wont do bad job

[4thGenExi]

I've had king lows on mine for about 3-4 months now. Got some koni reds at the same time. It's not a `slammed into the ground` look but it is nice and neat. Probably could've gotten away with going even lower (supers) but thats just getting impractical. The car scrapes going over sharp speed humps and out of fast food carparks anyway... Added to this, Accords have low underbodies as it is.

Rides like a billiard table on decent roads, but anything imperfect she gets a little harsh. Maybe due to 40 profile tyres Im using though... Quality wise I've had no probs, you'll find these springs for almost every car there is. Oh and about sinking in - they have dropped a further 5-10 mill since they've been on. They also did a wheel alignment when fitted but I've also noticed my CV joints and shafts wearing a LOT quicker.

[viperx]

Nah akaNSX, I'm over west... thanks anyway :)

hey 4thgenexi, thanks heaps for the feedback, much appreciated. but how have u noticed ur cvs and shafts wearing? I don't see how changing ur springs will do that.... CVs are supposed to be universal joints anyway and wouldn't the boot block all view of it? Or is the joint making noise?