Eibach Springs

[Ktlplxm]

I cannot remember which board it was on, but a while back I found a thread concerning the handling and ride characteristics of the Eibach Pro Kit. Well I now have prob 12000 miles on mine, and for the first lil bit they were doing quite well. They exhibited all of the normal lowering spring signs that I've expected from Eibach. Initial lowering was good. The settled ride height after 90 days was good. So it has remained, until a month or so ago. In the beginning, I would only get a "scrub" with passengers in the car, a full tank of gas, and a very sizable bump in the road. Now, within the last couple thousand miles, it bottoms out and scrubs all the time. Is there anyone else who has noticed this? I've also done a little more spirited driving, and I've noticed it is now suffering as well. I contacted Eibach about the problem twice. The first time the guy I spoke to was, for lack of a better word, a dick. I told him I believed the spring rates were a little softer than they should be for that particular car, and that I thought that perhaps due to this, the springs were collapsing or sagging quicker than they should; even my resting ride height is lower than it was after they initially settled. In typical "tech guy" fashion he said it was my shocks. I quickly reminded him that the shock is not responsible for ride height, it is there to control the kinetic energy created by the spring during compression; not support the car, and that if he would treat me like a brainless moron I would not assume he was reading from a script written to help brainless tech guys who like to call themselves experts. Once the niceties were over, I was transferred to "tech guy #2". This one actually conducted himself quite well. He was more interested in the specifics and details than #1. I mentioned to him that I had seen it discussed a few times on various boards, but now cannot seem to find them. Has anyone else had this happen. Tech #2 would like to make sure this is not a common occurrence, and that it is one of a few isolated incidents. I'm not keen on removing the springs to send back as of yet (especially since I do not trust a "blind" test where I am not present). I've gathered the measurements I was asked for, but would also like any additional feedback that anyone else has... Thanks again.

[Panzer Leader]

I have heard that if you put springs like Pedders and Eibach and H&R on a car with OEM struts and shocks there is a chance that they will fail. BUT I have also had reports on Hondas where they (Eibachs) start sagging. BTW it was a good chance that Tech One was from India.

[-Ray-]

Eibach is in Irvine Calif. last I remembered. I had their springs on a different car and had to issues with settling.

[Greed4Speed]

This resembles a common problem with 4th gen f-body Eibach's too. The rears settled lower than the front. On the Sportlines, they used the same rate as Prokits. Go figure, when you use the same soft spring with a 1.3" drop and a 2" drop it rides the bump stops.

With that said, if you do run a more agressive spring on stock shocks/struts the shocks/struts will fail quicker.

[Ktlplxm]

I've built suspensions several cars in the past, from Grand AM GTII class, and Rolex to some nasty street cars, and as long as you match everything well, no one part should fail significantly faster than another. As stated previously, the shock/struts job is to primarily control the rebound of the spring; a good progressive rate spring should never kill a set of quality shocks. If the Shock fails, then it was not a quality shock to begin with. Thanks for the input guys. Keep it coming

[Panzer Leader]

Eibach is in Irvine Calif. last I remembered. I had their springs on a different car and had to issues with settling.

Obviously a "routed" call. Yuk Yuk

[G8Smitty]

That is not great news. I've had mine on for about a year and 5000 miles with no problems. I've gone through intersections that had large bumps and have been surprised how stout the springs are. I assumed that with these springs, my struts were going to wear out quickly (or quicker). I figure that once that starts to happen, I will go and buy a quality strut and maybe a strut/spring combo. I've been very pleased with mine and they so far have exceeded my expectation.

Calling for support on anything is something I dread. When I resign to doing it, I expect the worst so I cannot be disappointed. Sometimes, my worst still exceeds their best. :P

[Ktlplxm]

I've had my Eibach's for about 6 months and roughly the same mileage (I drive a lot) with no problems to date. They settled right after install and hasn't changed yet. The lower ride height could be your bushings wearing out and nothing to do with the springs. Mine were trashed and I had to replace them with poly pieces when I installed the springs. I dont have any problems with myself driving alone or with 750lbs of man (two really big dudes) in the back seat on high speed turns or on a launch.

Do you have aftermarket wheels by chance? I'm thinking you changed the offset and didn't roll your wheel wells for clearance at full bump.

Ah yes, but if it were the wheels it would have doing it to them from day one. A little "sckrrt" at a decent dip is expected, butI can install my factory wheels and its still hitting now. Fenders rolled, edges massaged; trust me, I can fit wheels lol. I have 18x13 345/30/18's on my F-body

[WhiteDeathLSX]

I recall the sagging Eibach issue was a concern for the F-Body folks. I just had the Pro-Kit installed today and I was pleasently surprised with the look and ride quality. I'll keep my fingers crossed...

[Rob@WretchedMS]

Pedders springs do not sag, can't speak of the other manufacturers listed, but there have been numerous complaints about the eibach springs doing this.

it is however best to replace the dampers at the same time you replace the springs, it's possible to damage the springs if the drop is to much for the dampers, and once the bump stops are damaged the dampers will give up, then the springs will tend to get damaged from coil bind and could cause a sagging issue.

[Ktlplxm]

Pedders springs do not sag, can't speak of the other manufacturers listed, but there have been numerous complaints about the eibach springs doing this.

it is however best to replace the dampers at the same time you replace the springs, it's possible to damage the springs if the drop is to much for the dampers, and once the bump stops are damaged the dampers will give up, then the springs will tend to get damaged from coil bind and could cause a sagging issue.

At 1" and .8" drop (F-R) that shouldn't be an issue. If it were, and that turns out to be the alibi they use, then it should say in their instructions and sales media, that it must be used with new shocks/struts. The rear of mine has now dropped over 1.2", an additional 50% more than planned, in under 9 months... not good.

How does pedders get its measurements for the "drop"

[BSmith]

Eibach has a history in the 94-96 Impala world for the rear sagging also after a period of time.

[Rob@WretchedMS]

At 1" and .8" drop (F-R) that shouldn't be an issue. If it were, and that turns out to be the alibi they use, then it should say in their instructions and sales media, that it must be used with new shocks/struts. The rear of mine has now dropped over 1.2", an additional 50% more than planned, in under 9 months... not good.

How does pedders get its measurements for the "drop"

we get our numbers from real world results, not a computer calculation.

When we do the first bunch of cars we check all numbers and verify everything to be as accurate as we can

[Ktlplxm]

I mean where do you take your measurements? When checking Eibach, they measure from the center of wheel to tip of wheel well. That way a taller or shorter tire height does not affect the measurement.

[Rob@WretchedMS]

http://wretchedms.com/images/rim-gaurd-1024.png

[2QUIK4U]

I cant speak for the G8 Eibach springs as I have the Pedders on my car but on my 02 SS I had the Eibach pro-kit with Strano re-valved Bilsteins and they sagged quite a bit in the rear over time. I eventully went to the Strano springs and never had a problem after that.

[Ktlplxm]

Thanks Rob. thats what i was making sure of when comparing drops