Eibach Springs Lowering a 2002 Viper GTS

Luisv

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There have been plenty of threads on this but, as you have come to expect (I Hope :rolaugh: ) from me... I wanted to let you all know what I did and give you some photos of the job and the before and after. Like the other mods I have done so far, none of this is rocket science, but I feel that I have gotten some good shots that sometimes the other threads fall short on. Also, I tried my best to give you before and after shots in similar positions so that you can get as good a before and after as I could give you. I may be getting worse with the search engines with age, but I could not seem to find a true before and after of this change. I hope mine helps.

Again, not rocket science, so I am not going to go into huge detail, but I will mention some things to help those that are thinking about the mod. It really is quite simple but just requires some thought, the right tools and a bit of muscle or leverage (depending on how you look at it :rolleyes:). You can do this one corner at a time but, as you'll see in a bit, if you need to get all four off at once, you'll have to lift the car and place it on stands. I put in a few shots of that just to give folks an idea of what I do to get it up on jack stands. Where I locate them, etc. So here goes.

I have the benefit of two floor jacks. As a result I lift the front and rear with two jacks at a time. This way, i lift it evenly and I don't tweak anything. I lift the front first then the rear. Once it's up on the four jackstands, I put the floor jacks at the front lift points and just pin them in place. They are just there as safety/backup and to give it more "left to right" stability.

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Here is were I place the front and rear jack stands.

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Since the car is on coil overs (although fixed) replacing the springs is basically just a matter of getting the shocks off and then swapping out the springs. To get the coil overs out requires the removal of two bolts per corner. If you want to make life a bit easier, on the fronts, you can remove the sway bar links from the lower control arm. This allows for easier removal of the lower shock bolt. I did that. What I discovered in the process is that the boots don't last 10 years. The links are perfect on the sway bar tie rods, but the boots are damaged. I'll upgrade/change those later. For the sake on completeness, I've included a shot of the four bolts, two for the front and the two rear. However, it's obvious when you look in there.

Front top and bottom bolts.

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The rear top and bottom bolts. Yes, this is after they have been replaced. Those are the new springs.

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I'll continue on the next post.....
 
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Luisv

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Ok so now the shocks come out over the top. In order to get the bolts off you'll need a good pry bar or a long lever to get the lower control arms pushed down a bit. I used a long breaker bar and slipped one of the floor jack bars over the end to give me a longer leverage arm. Don't need a ton of force, but it makes for an easier job.

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This is the front shock with the stock spring on there. Looks easy but the problem is the coils are too close to get the typical strut spring compressors in there. I eventually took the springs to a shop... more on that in a bit... for now the stock shock, spring and the compressor. You'll see it does not fit without damaging the spring and the body of the shock.

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The rears are identical except that the lower mount has a fork to allow the half shafts to go through to the rear wheel hubs.

Below are the photos of the new springs. I just put those just to show that the fronts and rears are different. They do have different rates and coil designs. You can see the difference in length but in addition to that Eibach is kind enough to designate the springs with numbers. The 001 springs are the front and the 002 springs are the rears.

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You have a couple of options for the springs. I went to a shop (buddy of mine in Miami and a member in a club I am in) that has a wall mounted strut spring compressor. The catch is that not all wall mounted compressors work. The main issue is the rears. Since the rear Eibachs are variable rates (hence the tighter upper coils) you have little to grab onto to compress. What you need is a compressor that has an "offset" top or a hole on top so that as you compress the top of the shock clears. I grabbed a shot of the one my buddy has as an example. While tough to see, the screw on top that pushes down is offset from the center line such that the shock will clear. Remember, the shock's center line and the spring center line are the same for the coil overs.

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The jaws or bars mounted on the moving, upper part/carriage are tapered so that they fit between the coils safely without marring the finish. It really is the easy way to go.

Here is a full shot of the rears mounted. Note the compressed upper portion. That is what makes it tough to get on. The fronts are simple.

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Luisv

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One note, did not get photos of this, but I did want to mention that I adjusted the shocks prior to installing the springs. If you look at the body of the shock in one of the photos above, you will see that the Koni shocks are adjustable. To do that, with the springs off, you remove the rubber bump stop in the shock and the plastic washer from the shaft of the shock. You then slowly compress the shock until it just bottoms out. You then slowly twist the shock until you engage the mechanism. You will feel the shaft drop into the notch. With the shock still down in the notch you simply turn it clockwise to increase the damping. Counter clockwise reduces the damping. In my case, I had a pad and paper ready to count the turns to go to full counter clockwise. In my case all four were identical. Half a turn from the softest setting. The stock shocks have 5 settings in two full turns of the shaft while engaging the adjustment notch. I'll go from 0 to 4. If you consider full soft (completely counterclockwise) zero, then setting 1 is half a turn clockwise, setting 2 is one full turn, 3 is 1.5 turns and setting 4 is 2 turns (full clockwise). Again, mine were all set at setting 1 or half a turn from full soft.

Since the spring rates increase with the Eibachs, you should increase the damping. In short, make the shocks "stiffer". You don't have to go full hard, but definitely more damping. Based on what I've read, (a great deal) many have gone with more damping all around, but have kept the rears softer than the front when going to Eibachs. Given the "lively" nature of the Vipers, leaving the rears a little softer should make it more stable under acceleration. In short, I went with the rears set to setting 2 or one full turn from full soft. The fronts at setting 3 or one and a half turns.

Once the four springs are on the coil overs you simply need to re-install them. You will need to leverage/pry the lower arms down in front and rear to drop the shocks in easily. The upper and lower bolts are torqued to 100 ft/lbs of torque which is spec.
 
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Luisv

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So now some before and after shots. I've seen folks measure gaps before, but that never makes sense to me. The better, more accurate and, frankly easier way to do that is to measure from the floor. If you don't change wheels and tires then the wheel diameter is fixed. In short the top of the tire is fixed. If you measure to the top of the wheel well then you will know what the drop is and you will not make a mistake by not holding the tape measure at a different angle ect. So now that I have cleared up that I am a nut... :rolaugh:... here is the before ride height to the wheel well.

These are the BEFORE shots. The first shot is the rear wheel well. The front is the next shot. Notice there is a one inch difference. However, don't worry about it. The important thing to see is the before and after.

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These next two shots are the AFTER.

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The result was a one half inch drop up front and a full inch on the rear. This was shot after a drive in the evening. The springs will continue to settle a bit and I may get another 1/4 of an inch or so all around as the springs cycle a bit more. It has happened with all other cars I've lowered to date. But let's see... I will let you know. Regardless, the difference is VERY NOTICEABLE. You can see the gap significantly reduce. Here are more shots.

Front wheel shot BEFORE and then AFTER.

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The rear wheel shot BEFORE and AFTER. This is what I had a huge problem with. Definitely looked bad with the huge gap.

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Luisv

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Here are the last before and after shots. A pair of shots from the side and then off at a slight angle. While not perfect, it should give you all a great idea.

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The angled shots...

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Now that I've bored you to death and then some.... the important stuff. The ride and handling.

A few notes. I have not tracked the car but I have driven it quite a bit. Let's call it "spirited" driving. A few fishtails. Some nice mountain roads on a trip (I live in Miami so our twisties are the on ramps to highways :rolaugh: ) and some drag strip launches. You all get the drift.

With the settings on the shocks I mentioned above and the new springs the overall ride feel of the car is very similar to the stock. In other words, I don't feel a significant difference going over the typical city bumps, road reflectors, manhole covers, etc. It is not stiffer when it comes to that. However, when you push the car the car is definitely better planted. I feel I can accelerate harder out of turns. I had to get on it harder to get it to fishtail, for example. I took it to the drag strip and made a few passes. The track was not in "optimal" condition, but I did drop my 60' times by about 15 hundreds. Not bad for just a suspension change. In the end, I would say that the variable rates of the springs give you a day to day ride that is similar to the stock setup but does give you better handling characteristics when driving harder.

So... hope you all enjoyed this and I hope the before and after shots help those trying to decide what to do...
 

Fatboy 18

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Thanks for the write up and pics, I have thought about lowering my car but Im worried about the rear suspension. With the stock wheels my rear wheels fit inside the rear arches under full compression, but with the Pruner CCW wheels I have fitted on the car the wheel offset makes the tire rim stick out fractionally! When the car is under full compression the lip of the wheel arch is shaving the outside rubber off the tire!

If I did lower the car, I would need suspension travel to be much more limited?

I don't know if this is done by springs or playing around with damper settings? I don't want to mess around with something I know very little about?

I currently have my rear shocks off the car as I am replacing the output shaft on the rear Diff.
 

bluesrt

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Note. Your well gaps wont be accurate unless you set them on a alighment rack
 
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Luisv

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The driving impressions I mentioned above are without an alignment. I used a very reputable alignment shop down in Miami. A place called the Alignment Factory in Miami, Florida. All they do is alignments, nothing else. They do amazing work! I took the car to them when I first got it back in July and they set the car up perfectly. After I dropped it I felt absolutely no difference. No pulling to one side or the other. The rear feels more planted than before. ect. HOWEVER... I am heading out tomorrow to have them double check it. I don't think there will be anything more than a very slight tweak since the drop is not drastic. In fact, it may be more from the car going out of alignment from use than what the springs did... LOL. I will let you know when I get back from the shop tomorrow.
 

alwayscode390

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So you put lowering springs on your coilovers?

I thought coilovers were adjustable, but I guess that affects the ride if you lower it? ---
 

Indy

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So you put lowering springs on your coilovers?

I thought coilovers were adjustable, but I guess that affects the ride if you lower it? ---

Only ACR models had coilovers..GTS and RT10 came with adjustable shocks only....
 
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Luisv

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OK. The GTS has coil overs. Hate to be a pain....

They may not be ride height adjustable, but they are coil overs. The fact that they don't have threaded perches does not mean they are not coil over shocks.

A coil over is a concentric combination of the spring and shock absorber. It basically allows for the spring and damping to be in line with one another. This eliminates having to account for different leverage or torsion on the shock/damper vs. the spring.
 

viper04

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Luisv
Nice write up with pic's. Two question, are the adjusted shocks, only for Gen 2? and let me know what you fine out about the Alignment after lower the car thanks. Once again nice write up.
 
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Luisv

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Luisv
Nice write up with pic's. Two question, are the adjusted shocks, only for Gen 2? and let me know what you fine out about the Alignment after lower the car thanks. Once again nice write up.

Thanks. Glad you liked it...

While i have not done a lot of research on the other gens, i did find out some details that may answer your question.

My understanding is that Gen 2 & 3 are similar if not the same. The rears on those have a fork that lets the half shaft go through. The earlier model rear shocks are attached to the lower arms missing the half shafts in front or back... don't know.

I believe both Gen 1 and Gen 2 had adjustable damping. Don't know if Gen 3 have the same adjustment and/or if it was done te same way as the Gen 2.

I hope to do the alignment tomorrow... Will let you all know on that.

Hope that answers the question...
 

Grisoman

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Luisv--Thanks for taking the time to document this work . . . I certainly appreciate it! Is the outcome what you expected (or better/worse) and worth it for your driving habits?
 
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Luisv

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Luisv
Nice write up with pic's. Two question, are the adjusted shocks, only for Gen 2? and let me know what you fine out about the Alignment after lower the car thanks. Once again nice write up.

Luisv--Thanks for taking the time to document this work . . . I certainly appreciate it! Is the outcome what you expected (or better/worse) and worth it for your driving habits?

OK. Just got the alignment done today. As mentioned before I go to the Alignment Factory in Miami which do excellent work. They had done the car once when I first got it which was done to make sure it was right. Now they redid it after I put the springs in. In short, the car was in spec before I put the springs on so any delta now should be from the ride height change.

After I put the new springs in the car was still aligned. In other words, it wasn't pulling to one side or the other. That, however, does not confirm toe or camber. When they got it up on the rack we found that the main change up front was some more negative camber. Some additional toe in was there but minimal. The rear got some additional toe in. Camber changed but it was not as drastic. Everything was set back to spec and the car tracks perfectly.

I would not say there is a noticeable difference in the seat of the pants feel after the alignment. Since I was in a proper place to begin with the taking out of the slight, added negative camber and removing a touch of toe in, was not going to make a huge difference in city driving. I took it to my favorite open space and played a bit before attracting too much attention and, perhaps, I felt a bit tighter in the rear. Ie a tiny bit better grip under hard acceleration. Again, however, it might be just in my mind. The difference was tiny.

Bottom line... If you do lower the car, get it aligned, no doubt. If nothing else it will save a premature tire change and give you better traction. It will not hurt.
 

Indy

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Thanks for the follow up. Looks like minimal changes in alignment settings, but good to have it checked anyways. I never understood why Vipers didn't come with the lowered ride height from the factory. Hopefully the GenV has overcome this little cosmetic problem.

OK. The GTS has coil overs. Hate to be a pain....

They may not be ride height adjustable, but they are coil overs. The fact that they don't have threaded perches does not mean they are not coil over shocks.

A coil over is a concentric combination of the spring and shock absorber. It basically allows for the spring and damping to be in line with one another. This eliminates having to account for different leverage or torsion on the shock/damper vs. the spring.

Adjustable coilovers for the ACR is what I actually meant to say ....but thanks anyways ;)
 

viper04

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Luisv
Thanks for the update and write up. Really asking cause i'm about to do the same. I did put in lowering caps in the rear, when I got my new wheels but it did very little to lower the car,now going to do the lowering springs. I still have not found out if the Gen 3 have the "adjustable damping" shocks.
 

Viper98912

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Any new measurements or pictures that now you've had it on there a little while? I'm debating doing these springs on my car; I just hate that I'm already close to scraping everywhere in this car, including barely making it out of my driveway.
 
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Luisv

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Any new measurements or pictures that now you've had it on there a little while? I'm debating doing these springs on my car; I just hate that I'm already close to scraping everywhere in this car, including barely making it out of my driveway.

Actually the front did come down a bit more, about 1/4 of an inch further. I expected that... the rear, however, dropped less. The front and rear rates are different so this is expected. Overall, now, after about a month installed and a hundred or so miles driven, I saw an overall of a bit over 3/4 up front and just over an inch in the rear.

You will scrape more, obviously, however, it is not like i did not scrape before. Now I simply need to continue the same practices.... shallow entry angles into lots/dips and parking in reverse to make sure I don't hit the wonderful parking blocks designed for Ford Excursions.
 

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