[Greenbull]

I´m thinking about upgrading my 94 LX Sedan to coilovers. I´m planning on swapping out the rear drums for discs, also. I´d appreciate any advice on best bang for the buck brake upgrades.

The only coilovers I´ve looked at to date are the Weapon-R. I read the posts on those and I´m gonna try to find the Ground Control set. My questions for this is what all will I need to make the conversion?

Are adjustable struts avail for a 94 Escort? Are there any that will fit? Is it worth looking for adjustables?

BTW: I´m new to this site. I´m very happy that there are a BUNCH of ppl that have better luck and knowledge on escorts than I have found yet.
Thanks, Y´all rock!

 

[95EsortSittinLo]

i got a ? whats the stock height on a escort i measured mine and it was 7 inches does that sound right? eevryone says my car seems to have been lowered already or is that just the stock heigh of scorts?

 

[Juggernaut]

where did u measure from? i´m gunna check mine today. i do have eibach/tokico, but it doesn´t look like it actually lowered it any, there´s still the same amount of space between the tire and the fender lip :-?

 

[95EsortSittinLo]

I measured from where the bottom side of the car stops to where the ground starts i wanna lower it like 2 inches. Does anybody know how hard it is to adjust coilovers if your a retard like me?

 

[Beaverboy]

I ordered the Weapon R Circuit Pro coilovers and they arrived on Friday. I make a mistake though, and planned to put them on the $160 set of ZX2 S/R Tokico struts.. no go.. the Tokicos are too large for the sleeves to fit over. Sirens should have gone off in my head when I noticed that the Ground-Controls come to fit KYB/Koni and a separate part# for Tokico shocks... no such sirens went off :-?

I´m a little miffed, because I wanted the tokicos, not only for their value, for their shorter travel.

I´m still looking into fitting the sleeves on after a little work on the shocks. They´ve got a top cap (unlike aftermarket shocks) and I´m trying to figure out if that´s just a redundant dust seal that I can remove, or if it´s actually a pressure cap. I´m going to call Tokico tomorrow to find out if they´ll tell me anything. I´ll let you know how it goes. :-]

BTW, the Circuit Pros appear to be fairly high quality for the price.. I paid $225 for mine from Mean Street in Greenville, SC. That was the best price I found (Weapon R claims $275 on their site). They shipped kinda slow (last parts to arrive out of 5 orders in one day) but they came in good condition. Good things come to those who wait :-]

 

[Beaverboy]

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22-04-2003 at 17:16, 95EsortSittinLo wrote:
I measured from where the bottom side of the car stops to where the ground starts i wanna lower it like 2 inches. Does anybody know how hard it is to adjust coilovers if your a retard like me?

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First of all, don´t get coil-overs if you just want a huge drop.. start saving your money for air bags, or go out and cut your springs with a hacksaw (not really). Huge drops do not mean better handling.. usually they mean much worse handling and failing suspension components (and sometimes stress fractures in the chassis). Lowering 1"-2" you should be alright.. after that you start getting into those undesireable side effects. The main purpose of coilovers is to allow you to corner weight the vehicle for balanced handling.. you can dial in the cornering attitude by spilling weight front to rear, and you can fine tune for symmetrical turning left to right (or to one side if you´re a circle track racer). To corner weight you´ll need to locate someone with a set of scales. A look through the phonebook for a speed shop, or a visit to the local track on a race or practice day will yeild some results.

 

[95EsortSittinLo]

lol idk what i want a lowrider scort or a better handling scort you dont see to many lowrider scorts thats originally what i wnated to do hence my name

 

[Beaverboy]

Lowriders are cool, but you really should use airbags with them so you can raise them up for when you´re not cruising downtown. People who install coilovers and drop the perches all the way down end up with leaking/blown shocks, a shitty rough ride (made worse once their shocks blow) and more squeaks and rattles than I can even think to shake a stick at. The handling can get downright dangerous when your car is riding on the bumpstops. You hit one frost heave while cornering moderately and you´ll be skipping sideways like a stone.

 

[Zeemax]

Also, driving too low can damage more than your car. The kidneys and lungs are two of the most sensitive organs in the body. Your kidneys take a lot of the brunt of bumps when travelling. Excessive lowering creates more jolts and those keep beating up your kidneys over and over again. Leading to bleeding into your bladder, or worse, developing a blood infection due to wastes entering the bloodstream.

Not trying to gross anybody out, just want to pass along helpful info. If you want to lower the car, get the bags, and only drop it at the show, or cruising. But keep the stock or slightly reduced ride height for all other travel.

 

[95EsortSittinLo]

holy shit i never thought of that good tip

 

[95EsortSittinLo]

would lowering 2 inches actually look diff and make it handle a little better?

 

[ALIEN3T]

mine is lowerd 1 3/4 inches and you can see a diffrence
but weapon r makes coilover, plus the adjustable one!
why buy new coilovers when you already have them ust buy springs
or buy agjustable coilovers!

 

[Beaverboy]

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01-05-2003 at 15:03, aliennation95gt wrote:
mine is lowerd 1 3/4 inches and you can see a diffrence
but weapon r makes coilover, plus the adjustable one!
why buy new coilovers when you already have them ust buy springs
or buy agjustable coilovers!

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I think you´re confusing the terms strut and coilover.

A strut is a shock with a coil spring mounted over the shock itself. The only benefit of a coil strut is packaging... it eats up less space. The coil spring being "over" the shock is implied.. it´s not like anyone is going to put effort into bolting up leaf springs or torsion bars on their escort.

A coil-over used in this context is a small diameter coiled race spring mounted on a threaded (adjustable) perch.

 

[ALIEN3T]

i know what people are meaning them by here, i get yelled out by old rodders and ,my dad for it! since in the old way a coilover was a spring ocer the shock or strut, thats what rodders were buying for there rear ends, and the spring takes place of the leaf spring!
even freinds of ours at elderbrock get on me for it!
we have it the focus dosent in the rear!

 

[Robofunc]

d00d, my car is to tight, yo. itZ on the bumpstops and it looks GOOD.
i get ALL the coochie, doGG!
But, my kidneez wuz bleedin´ like a MoFo! It wuz cool at firs´, pukin´ up blood at partiez makes fools think you TOUGH!
but i got tired of tha red trots, so i got one of them kindee beltz like dirtbike dudes wear, dig?

 

[WhiteligthingEXP]

so how about more info on bags, because that is the only think i would do to my EXP to drop it ne ways?

 

[Rob]

Hello:

What does mean the following statement regarding coilovers:

"adjustment anywhere from 0"-4" depending upon its application"


Does it mean the coilover lowers from 0" to 4" ONLY?

In other words it DOES NOT raise at all ?


I do NOT want to lower my car but would like the idea of coilovers for
two reasons:

1. Gain more room in the wheel wells by cutting off the
stock perches.

2. Be able to adjust the hight of my car
depending on load I am planing to carry.


I understand I can achieve the first if I set any coilover
available to the lowering equal 0"?

But are there any coilovers which also rise the vehicle?
Could I achieve this by using longer springs
than those standard lowering springs on coilovers?


Thank you,


Rob

 

[Beaverboy]

If you go with Ground-Control, they come with Eibach race springs, which come in 3 or more lengths.. so when you talk to them, you could probably tell them what you want to do and they could possibly give you the next longer spring in the same rate. (maybe?)

The problem with lift springs, is that you end up with less rebound travel than bound travel.. so rough roads get even rougher (like when lowering). As long as you keep it moderate you shouldn't run into any problems though (like when lowering).

Why do you want to gain more room in the wheel wells? The tires can already reach as far as they can go up next to the shock body since they fit under the perch. Cutting away the perch will give you more room for a larger outer diameter, but if you do that your acceleration and braking are going to suffer, and rubbing on the outer fender may still be a problem. What size wheels are you trying to fit?

 

[Rob]

Hello:

I consider the following options:

- 195/60/15
- 205/60/15
- 205/55/15
- 205/50/16

Besides the first one the following 3 are known to cause problems
with rubbing the front strut.

Beaverboy: you remember we used to consider those tires in the past.
I learned a lot from you regarding this issue. Once again thank you very much.

So knowing the causes of rubbing I have not given up with
solving this issue .

I think the design of the front stock strut
is wrong. The perch should not be so big and so close to the tire.


Therefore the idea of coilovers gives a hope for solving this problem.
But of course you do not need lowering in this context.


Thank you,


Rob

 

[Beaverboy]

Ahh, gotcha. I'm learning all the time too.. you need to when you're this forgetful :?

Sounds like a plan then.

Edit:

What does mean the following statement regarding coilovers:

"adjustment anywhere from 0"-4" depending upon its application"

Does it mean the coilover lowers from 0" to 4" ONLY?

In other words it DOES NOT raise at all ?

Yep. I don't know how exact 0-4" really is though.. 0" could really be + or - 1" depending on your vehicle's weight, the state of your current springs (cracked.. sagging.. etc).

Also, on a side note, the Weapon Rs, while stiff, don't seem to be made for heavy loads since they're so short. I was reading up on some installed into a probe, and when the fellow contacted Weapon R to get some more detailed information, the max load per spring was a few hundred lbs less than stock. I would think the Eibach race springs w/ the Ground-Controls would handle loads better (and probably ride a little better).