gas struts

[shepherd79]

hey guys,
what will gas struts do with regular coils?
will it make it stiffer or smother?
i am still trying to find a way to make suspension stiffer without drop.
thanks.

[Jims 86LXI HB]

Tokico H.P.'s should be slightly stiffer then stock struts, around 15% stiffer is what I"ve heard. That would be enough for an improvement.

You could get longer springs for ground-control coilovers and maintain a stock ride height and have a stiffer suspension that way. But to be honest I thought my stock suspension was a pretty good setup. And yes what I have now is much better than that.

[shepherd79]

well jim,
the reason i am doing this is because everytime i get over a hill or anything, my car feels like american boat car. it goes up and doen a lot. it is too smoth for japanice car.
plus i had 250-275 pound guy sitting in the back sit and i was rubbing tire everytime i hit the bump.
why is it? do you know?
do you know the part number longer springs for ground-control coilovers?
thanks a lot jim.

[Jims 86LXI HB]

Before I do anything else I have some questions. What size tires are you running? Make and model of tire? And do you have reason to think your struts are bad? If so what makes you think that?

[shepherd79]

hey
i am still running on 13 inch rims with 185/70 R13 tires, they are some cheap stuff i got just to keep me on the road.
it is a cooper tire, i couldn't find model.
i reason i think my strats are bad is that when i push on any corner it takes two full swing (up and down) to stop. my dad has the same problem on his VW passat.

do you think it is because of the tire?

[Jims 86LXI HB]

Well your tires aren't helping things as far as how the car feel's. But more importantly you've discovered for yourself that your struts are shot. So do by all means replace the struts. That will help a whole bunch. I can tell you that if you plus size your rims and tires that will add to the improvement that the new struts will bring. As far as what does plus sizing does to ride quality, I can say from my own experience it did not change the ride a whole bunch. The car felt allot better. I went from 13's just like you, to 15's.

One thing that doesn't make sense is you saying you hear the tires rubbing every time you hit a bump when you've got friends in the car. Their isn't anything for the size of tire your running to hit on, they clear with room to spare. Unless you've got aftermarket 13" rims. I wonder what it is your hearing?

[shepherd79]

hey jim
i was helping my friend with his car(3geez 2d coupe) and i saw the 4 14" in his garage. so i ask him how much? $60 for 4 of them. so i took it. so now i have 195/60 r14 it is like day and night. but i can still feel the worn out struts.
about the rubbing sound, well i am not sure what it is. it has to be something in the rear suspension. i am leaning toward the tire rubbing on the top of the rear fender when i hit bump. my dad has the same problem on his passat when he has 2 -250 lp people on the back. may be my rear coils are dying. who knows how they were abused before i got my car.
It has 265000 miles on it. i am preatty sure coils are stock.
thanks.