[wade001]

As I just installed my springs I may be interested in this so I can possibly save my stock suspension before it's too late. But I wonder how these preform with the varying springs on the market, different compression rates, drop heights, etc..

Seeing as d2 collaborated on these it might make sense that the d2 springs would be the best fit, I guess time will tell. I wonder how they would do on my eibach springs.

 

[wade001]

well I order mine this morning so we'll see. Eibach spring with stock strut/shock with 107,000...about time to change.

Following

I'm anxious to find out his experiences as well..

 

[wade001]

Just checked out the store site.. 1.6 in the front, 1.5 in the rear (if you go w the spring addon) that's the lowest drop on springs yet isn't it?

 

[wade001]

Is this just a coil isolator? Or is it some kind of seat/boot?

 

[wade001]

...But I do have strut bar, room bar, mid bar, rear sway bar...

that's what I'm shooting for also.. wanna stiffen up the whole **** thing...

 

[wade001]

UPS just notified me that my shocks/struts were delivered.. leaving work now to check them out.. gonna install them this weekend with my eibach springs. will let everyone know how the install goes.

I'm not going to put the coil isolator on as I already have some on the springs, but if it becomes an issue i know how to fix it

I'm thinking its more with the springs rather than the strut, we'll find out i guess!

thanks david for quick shipping and a great price.. also thanks for helping my GF with her DRL order.. i don't know when I'm going to get those installed. i want to make harnesses for it so it can be easily disconnected and not harm factory wiring

 

[wade001]

When you get these on, please give us an update on the install/alignment/quality and most importantly, the ride with your lower springs (Eibachs I think you had). Thanks!

you are correct, I have eibach springs.

I did get the shocks and struts installed yesterday. the backs took about 10 min a wheel. they were extremely easy to swap out. the fronts on the other hand were a bit more of a challenge. we decided to try it without spring compressors. and while I think we could have gotten the stock strut apart safely, there was absolutely no way in **** we were going to get it back on the truhart strut without some help from the compressors. the rod in the strut itself seems to be about 1"-1 1/2" shorter than stocks.

during the front install, we left the jack under the steering knuckle while we were working on the strut. while putting on the new strut we found we had to jack up the stabilizer link/control arm another 1" or so to fit in the mounting hole on the new strut.

after it was all said and done, the front of my car DID get lower, presumably because the rod in the strut is shorter, which pulled the strut up into the wheel well just a bit (why we had to move the control arm up) I would guess that my front probably dropped 1/4" because we could barley fit the jack under the fronts before we started, but once we had the truhart struts on, we had to lay a piece of 3/4" plywood under the front tires or else the jack wouldn't be able to be removed as the car's bottom rocker panel would be laying on the jack.

I like the ride even more now, it is kind of hard to describe, but it feels less "harsh" now than before. I have only had the opportunity to drive about 20-25 miles on the new shocks/struts. but so far no noise, no clanking, no squeaking, no rubbing. the ride while stiff, seems to give just a bit more than the stock shocks/struts did. the little bumps in the road have almost went away. driving over painting stripes on the road (crosswalks, stop lines, school zone lines, etc.) now doesn't feel like I hit a pothole and instead transmits a slight nudge into the cab while driving.

I made it a point to look when installing the springs on the struts to see if I would have the same problem Richard did with rubbing, but I don't believe that will be an issue for those with eibach springs. but time will tell, after I get a few more miles on these I will pull off the front wheel to check again.

overall, im very pleased with the purchase, the price, the quality, and the ride. thanks again k5 optima store.

 

[wade001]

I have not gotten an alignment yet. Will probably do that this weekend.. giving everything asome time to settle and make sure nothing needs to be adjusted before I spend the $$ on an alignment

As far as the bolts go, interesting product. I don't think you'll have any clearance issues and that 1/4"or so extra my front dropped I could probably get rid of by loosening the nut that sit's in the center of the top hat. I just tightened it down so I could see about the same number of threads as before. It has a nylon insert in the threads, I don't believe it needs to be cranked down all the way (although I may be wrong about that)

EDIT: I was wrong about that, corrected later on in this thread. evidently this nut does need to be tightened down all the way.

 

[wade001]

there were no install instructions included with my package, I watched a couple youtube videos, and checked out www.kiaopman.com before starting. it was pretty straight forward and I would say that even someone who is all thumbs at working on the car could do this with a little patience and elbow grease. the hardest part was actually getting the car jacked up and supported on jack stands.

I really need to invest in a low profile jack..

if in doubt, take a few pics before and make your new install, look like the previous.

 

[wade001]

NO, NO, NO...It does need to be tightened down completely Otherwise you risk damaging the strut, possibly even ripping it out or the tophat when the suspension tops out.

I stand corrected.. thank you, i'll make sure they're tightened down all the way before I leave work. good thing I always keep tools in the car

 

[wade001]

So how much lower are we talking here? This is me sitting on eibachs, not sure I want to go much lower lol.

View attachment 184562

once I get home, assuming there is any daylight left, I can take measurements. but overall, the springs will determine your height (As mentioned before) since the rod seemed to be shorter, I can only attribute the extra drop I noticed to that. maybe the shorter rod has compressed the spring a bit more than the stock struts did.

before we disassembled the struts, I laid them side by side, the stock and the truhart "casing" is the same size, the bolts holes are in same configuration and spacing.

when we took the springs off the struts, I installed the spring compressor and tightened it down just enough so the spring was loose, just enough to take the pressure off the tophat. then we pulled off the tophat and put the coil directly onto the truhart strut. we had to tighten the spring compressors a bit more to get the tophat back on the new strut. this was our first indication that the car would sit a bit lower, although it never occurred to me at the time.

indication 2 would have been when we were reinstalling the strut, even though I had a jack under the steering knuckle and it didn't move very much if at all from its original location when we removed the strut. once we reinstalled the new strut I had to jack up the link stabilizer another inch or so for it to fit into the mounting hole on the strut. remember we visually verified before that the strut casing and bolt hold configuration was the same.

indication 3 was when we were lowing the car and I had to stop short because the wheel still wasn't supporting the whole car weight yet, and I was 1/16" from the bottom of the rocker panel touching the grease zerk on the top of the jack. good thing I was watching, or else I would have probably ended up with a hole punched in the bottom of my rocker panel. easy solution was to put a scrap piece of 3/4" plywood under the wheel. a 3/4" thickness piece of plywood is actually 23/32" thick.

you'll probably end up less than 23/32" lower, if any... my front dropped approx. 1/4"

I didn't see anyone else report they got lower but honestly, i am a type of person that notices things like this. its a trait i got from my dad and has been ingrained in me since i can remember. the industry i work in also requires a keen eye for detail. it is entirely possible no one else has noticed a 1/4" difference. it isn't that much change in the grand scheme of things. who knows, I might have had the springs installed incorrectly originally or maybe just wasn't seated tightly against the stop, or maybe i didn't install the struts correctly. its anyones guess at this point.

 

[wade001]

The extra preload will actually cause the car sit higher than if it had no preload.

I'm confused on this part, how would more compression on the spring cause it to sit higher?

You probably had to put no more preload on the TruHart and Eibach spring than you would have to put on the stock strut and stock spring.

good point, and that comparison never occurred to me

More likely is that the spring support on the TruHart sits lower than the OEM strut (or the rubber seat is supper thin). This would allow them to get more travel out of the system and prevent adding too much preload. That would be my best guess without seeing them side by side.

that is also entirely possible, while I did do a side by side comparison, I did not pull out a ruler or calipers or anything. the seat is at a compound angle, so its harder to compare just by eye and small differences in angles, let alone compound angles, could easily account for this.

thanks for your input! learn something new every day here

 

[wade001]

So how much lower are we talking here? This is me sitting on eibachs, not sure I want to go much lower lol. Ground clearance, 5" front , 6" rear.

View attachment 184562

I have stock 16" rims, eibach springs, truhart struts/shocks.

front about 5 1/4"

rear about 7"

go figure

 

[wade001]

grats, I liked the ride before, but honestly I like it a **** of a lot more now, the install isn't very difficult at all either. enjoy!

 

[wade001]

Vehicle Applications:

2012.5-2015 Kia Optima**
2011-2014 Hyundai Sonata


**Very important information pertaining only to Kia Optima owners wanting to order this kit. You need to check the 7th to last digit of your VIN. (Vehicle Identification Number) This can be found on your front windshield on the drivers side. If the 7th to last digit of your VIN starts with a "5", then your vehicle was made in Korea and this kit will not be compatible on your vehicle. If the 7th to last digit starts with a "G", then your vehicle was made in the US and this kit will be compatible on your vehicle. This info does not apply to the Hyundai Sonata.

hi david, I just noticed this excerpt, however, my 2015 was made in korea, these went on just fine.

could you elaborate a bit on why these do not fit on Korean models?

merry Christmas

---------- Post added at 09:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:31 AM ----------

Noooo , not compatible with my VIN. Guess I'll have to go coilovers.

hold on a second.... lets see what david says

 

[wade001]

Your 2015 model was made in Korea? I thought all of the newer models were being made in Georgia. Does your VIN the 7th to last digit start with a "5" and not a "G"? If so, not really sure then, maybe it was changed on the newer models. This really only pertains specifically to the 2011 & early build 2012 models. Merry Christmas to you too!

yes sir, according to my vin and engine ID code, it was all built in korea... *shrugs* knagm4a77f5619290

 

[wade001]

And here is how she looks after all said and done!!!!!

looks really nice! perfect drop

 

[wade001]

no boots come with the set, you'll reuse boots as well