Commodore Suspension

[GothicKidd]

Looking to upgrade my half job lowered car.

got 3 odd options..

• Commodore F&R Lowered Struts Shocks Springs VR VS Sedan Lows/Super/Ultra &lower! | eBay
• COMMODORE VR VS VT VX VY KYB KING SPRINGS FULL KIT .. | eBay
• KYB / Kings Commodore Lowering Packages!

what would be the better option? Looking for the best ride quality while having the lowering look. I know I'll be satisfied with the Monroe Kit.. or should I go for KYB's?

Would like to upgrade, But want to spend minimal . Anything's better than what I have.

also car sits about this height, and I want to keep this height.. Maybe a tad lower in the back. What springs would be best? - Ill find a better pic if this one doesn't help.

[DAKSTER]

Not sure what you mean by the sponsors lowering kit.

Choosing between the other 2 options, I think I would spend the extra on the KYBs if thats what I really wanted.

Its really not much more on a scale of things.. they are both in the 600 range, 80 bucks might make a difference between a 220 vs 300 dollar item but I dont think I would let it influence me when you are spending that much in the first place. You'd spew if you had made the wrong decision to save 80 bucks.

Disregarding the cost, Monroes are good quality too, as are the King springs that also come in the kit. The main thing that disturbs me is the descriptions.. low, super low, etc. Its too vague. I keep reading about people fitting superlows then deciding they werent low enough etc.
At least the KYB set actually state how many mm it will lower your car. The 40mm they state sounds good to me, and I guess they will get you some extra street cred too.

The above advice lacks any kind of substantive knowledge and in the event of any death, serious accident, or sore bums from poor ride quality, I accept no personal, moral, legal or emotional responsibility if you use any part of it

[DAKSTER]

By the way, wtg on what I assume is your decision to spruce up the old car rather than take chances on a new moneypit. With any luck this moneypit is almost full and you can relax and enjoy soon

[sweefu]

Sponsor's kit, aftersales support is the best such a great mob to deal with. hands down decision.

[GRPABT1]

One important thing left out of Te description of most suspension kits is the spring rate itself. Often they're to low a spring rate in a commodore and crash on the bump stops providing a harsher ride then the stiffer spring. I went from 250lb to 500lb front springs and not only does it handle better it's also a lot smoother.

[GothicKidd]

Not sure what you mean by the sponsors lowering kit.

Choosing between the other 2 options, I think I would spend the extra on the KYBs if thats what I really wanted.

Its really not much more on a scale of things.. they are both in the 600 range, 80 bucks might make a difference between a 220 vs 300 dollar item but I dont think I would let it influence me when you are spending that much in the first place. You'd spew if you had made the wrong decision to save 80 bucks.

Disregarding the cost, Monroes are good quality too, as are the King springs that also come in the kit. The main thing that disturbs me is the descriptions.. low, super low, etc. Its too vague. I keep reading about people fitting superlows then deciding they werent low enough etc.
At least the KYB set actually state how many mm it will lower your car. The 40mm they state sounds good to me, and I guess they will get you some extra street cred too.

The above advice lacks any kind of substantive knowledge and in the event of any death, serious accident, or sore bums from poor ride quality, I accept no personal, moral, legal or emotional responsibility if you use any part of it

ah I meant KYB / Kings Commodore Lowering Packages! should of just linked it straight away.
Like I said I dont want to spend alot of cash but enough to get me a decent lowering kit.

I think they didn't mention the height or w/e because you can order from a list of springs.. giving different heights.. blah.

Hmm I've heard good about monroe.. heard good about KYB. but is KYB really worth the extra cash to save my pockets..

My suspension is bad atm so one of these kits would be alot better..

By the way, wtg on what I assume is your decision to spruce up the old car rather than take chances on a new moneypit. With any luck this moneypit is almost full and you can relax and enjoy soon

Yeah. I love the car.. It's unique which is why I wanted it. I'm really hoping a couple more fixes and it's good as gold.
Had my Panhard rod bushes replaced today.. what a difference!

One important thing left out of Te description of most suspension kits is the spring rate itself. Often they're to low a spring rate in a commodore and crash on the bump stops providing a harsher ride then the stiffer spring. I went from 250lb to 500lb front springs and not only does it handle better it's also a lot smoother.

Don't people just cut off some of the bump stops or even replace for a 'lower' type to deal with that?

[GRPABT1]

If you cut bump stops you're introducing a whole host of other potential problems.

[GothicKidd]

If you cut bump stops you're introducing a whole host of other potential problems.

Even in half? I hear alot of people doing it.. :\

[GRPABT1]

You hear alot of idiots doing it, the same ones who cut springs.

[GothicKidd]

You hear alot of idiots doing it, the same ones who cut springs.

Ah fair enough. and thats true enough :P

[Commo_Carl]

I lowered mine with gabriel ultra lowered shocks and king super lows, they feel great and handle great. Haven't heard that great reviews about monroe, sure they're not that bad though. Got mine on ebay for round 600 including adj panhard rod which you'll need as i'm guessing it not IRS? Don't #### with bump stops, it's a hard landing without them, you can get special king ones that are designed to be shorter etc. I can try get links for you for mine, mine were cheapest I could find on net.

[m1lky]

The bump stop is there to stop the shock, spring or axle bottoming out. On a lowered car that hits the bump stops all the time you also need to replace them regularly as they break up.

Gas struts are much better than oil ones (more money but worthwhile).

As above you may need an adjustable panhard rod if you lower it. Otherwise the rear axle will sit funny.

[Full Spectrum]

I've had kings pedders monroe fe2 and the best combination i have found is my current lovells kyb combo.

[DAKSTER]

Don't people just cut off some of the bump stops or even replace for a 'lower' type to deal with that?

Hope you arent considering this. Why spend money at all if you are going to do a dodgy? The plan is to fix the suspension and stop filling the money pit isnt it?

When I get around to doing mine, I am going to get quotes from all the name brand companies for FE2 equivalent suspension and a strut brace. Whoever comes up with the best price wins.

All of the name brands make good products in my opinion, and I dont need anything fancy so price would be the deciding factor for me. Like I said though, if you have always secretly yearned for a particular brand and you dont get it because it was an extra hundred bucks, you will regret it. Start cutting bump stops or any other dodgy stuff and you'll regret it.

Do it once, do it right.

[GothicKidd]

Hope you arent considering this. Why spend money at all if you are going to do a dodgy? The plan is to fix the suspension and stop filling the money pit isnt it?

When I get around to doing mine, I am going to get quotes from all the name brand companies for FE2 equivalent suspension and a strut brace. Whoever comes up with the best price wins.

All of the name brands make good products in my opinion, and I dont need anything fancy so price would be the deciding factor for me. Like I said though, if you have always secretly yearned for a particular brand and you dont get it because it was an extra hundred bucks, you will regret it.

Nah Just wondering about it..
Fair enough.
I've always thought Monroes was the best. Ive currently got gt gas and they aint too bad considering they're prob shot.

I've had kings pedders monroe fe2 and the best combination i have found is my current lovells kyb combo.

Oh yeah? Thrown me off track completely.. Ill look them up..

[Jezza]

i have monroe gt sports in my vy with fe2 suspension and the ride is still nice and the handling is great

[GothicKidd]

i have monroe gt sports in my vy with fe2 suspension and the ride is still nice and the handling is great

So you think Ill be satisfied if I went the monroe lowering kit?

[GRPABT1]

Depends on what you want from your car, handling, comfort, or just that lowered look?

[GothicKidd]

Depends on what you want from your car, handling, comfort, or just that lowered look?

Never understood the whole meaning behind handling. I want some comfort with the lowered look.
There has got to be better than what I have ATM. I know it changed alot when pedders swapped cut springs to a lowered spec spring. but I still want better than what it is. I'm sure the shocks and struts are probably shot.. and Im very certain my front springs r still cut thus the reason I want a proper lowering kit.

[DAKSTER]

Unless you want to race the thing on a track, new shocks and springs from pretty much any company along with a decent sway bar and good bushes all round is going to provide all the handling you need on a relatively modern daily driver. Just make it handle the way it did when it was new.

If you want to drop it a couple inches then hey go for it, just use a professionally designed method of doing it.. just as you are doing, buying a kit. Add a nice sway bar system, a new set of nolathanes all round, and a strut brace and you have all you need.

If you fancy yourself as the Stig and you do a bit of track work sometimes then you might want to tighten it all up a bit more, with thicker sway bars, firmer springs etc, but most people will never push their cars hard enough to reach the need for this (and certainly not legally unless they take it to the track).

It makes me laugh when I see kids with bone rattling suspension, tyres that are no more than rubber bands on a tobacco tin that cost about 20 times what they should, lowered so far they cant get up their own driveway and have to park on the street.

There is no tangible benefit in putting this sort of crap on your car (apart from looks and street cred) in the real world. If anyone pushes their car hard enough to need that stuff on a public road, I hope they stay the *uck away from me.

I think you are going about it the right way, buying a kit is the way to go regardless of what brand you buy. At least that way you know all the bits should work well together. I'd be going for a bit of comfort and keeping the lowering to a practical level personally.

[GRPABT1]

If handling isn't an issue then like mentioned any of the lowering kits at a sensible (legal) height will do the job. I disagree on replacing the sway bars and URETHANE (Nolathane is just a brand and a shit one at that) bushes though. New rubber bushes will be more comfortable than urethane and quite adequate while probably lasting longer in most cases. And bigger sway bars may reduce body roll but also will counteract the bump absorption of a good comfort suspension setup.

So IMO any of the brand name kits with some new factory rubber bushes and a good wheel alignment should make you happy.

[DAKSTER]

If handling isn't an issue then like mentioned any of the lowering kits at a sensible (legal) height will do the job. I disagree on replacing the sway bars and URETHANE (Nolathane is just a brand and a shit one at that) bushes though. New rubber bushes will be more comfortable than urethane and quite adequate while probably lasting longer in most cases. And bigger sway bars may reduce body roll but also will counteract the bump absorption of a good comfort suspension setup.

So IMO any of the brand name kits with some new factory rubber bushes and a good wheel alignment should make you happy.

yeah urethane, nolathane whatever lol... that interests me that you say that, i've never tried them myself but I thought they would offer some improvement. Totally agree that rubber is going to be more comfortable.

I think people tend to forget that any car built in the 90s and beyond handles as well as most drivers are capable of taking advantage of.

Modern cars were built to handle well enough to get most people out of most difficult situations, without compromising too much on comfort and practicality. There arent any truly bad handling cars on the market any more. Sure, some are better at extremes than others, but for day to day driving as most people will only ever do, there is bugger all difference.

All you need to do to a car of less than 20 years old to make it handle well, is to make it handle like it did new. I remember driving a rented VR in 94 and being amazed at how good a car it was, and how well it handled.

[GRPABT1]

To true, 10 years and a couple hundred thousand kilometers can cause alot of wear to suspension components. Things like shocks are only rated for 20-50K km's but people expect them to last forever.

[GothicKidd]

To true, 10 years and a couple hundred thousand kilometers can cause alot of wear to suspension components. Things like shocks are only rated for 20-50K km's but people expect them to last forever.

Well when I first bought the car, it had cut springs. I know I travelled a few hundred K's before I got a chance to replace the back springs. I really dont know how long the previous owner had cut springs. But im sure that having cut springs would of made the shocks wear out quicker?
I asked Kmart auto if replacing my shocks would help my car.. and said no. Though only one place Ive taken it has suggested a shorter shock..

[GRPABT1]

K-mart lol. Take it to a reputable mechanic...... Not Pedders lol