Mechanics giving me a headache - Kony Yellow / GC coilover install

[dsprimal]

so I shopped around and asked for pricing to get my koni yellow / GC Coilovers installed and the place that offered the cheapest price was Meineke. I went in this morning with the parts to soon be dealt with a guy who didn't know wtf he was doing. I told him "I want a 2 inch drop all around". He then says "2 inches?!?!?! your going to be rubbing the fenders and scraping the bottom of your car!! that car at most can go down 1 inch." (this is at stock height......). after looking through the instructions, he seemed so puzzled to the point where i felt uncomfy even leaving him to do the job.


So he was like "I can install them but you're going to have to do the adjusting yourself to your liking." I understand that part, but I wanted him to do the lowering for me so i could get an alignment directly after and be on my way. rather then having to do work myself after paying the guy $300 bucks for a simple install then later having to adjust it myself and then go back for an alignment......

He also noted that the cambers change drastically when lowering. even on a 1 inch drop he said my wheels are gunna cave in a lot and that an alignment wouldn't help with that at all. and that my tires would be f****d in the long run. is that true? i feel like thats BS unless i'm dropping it 4+ inches.

anyone live in the tristate area of New York that knows of some performance shops that they can recommend? i really can't deal with mom and pop shops. i need to go to a shop that'll have ppl that know what KONI YELLOWS AND GC COILS are. thanks!

 

[Hecz]

how do you know what 2" is on a coilover?

DIY man,

 

[Jose1027]

300 to install??? I know guys here that do it for 100-150,nd if your cool with them just bring them beer lol

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

 

[dsprimal]

how do you know what 2" is on a coilover?

DIY man,

idk thats why im hoping to find a spot to do it for me lmao. i would DYI if i had the time in my schedule to do so. but even if i did i wouldn't trust myself doing this and messing it up.

 

[Hecz]

idk thats why im hoping to find a spot to do it for me lmao. i would DYI if i had the time in my schedule to do so. but even if i did i wouldn't trust myself doing this and messing it up.

its the no that hard at all man. research some tutorials. Had the time.. well, you do know everyone HAS time for everything, we just make it seem like we do not. Good luck man.

 

[speedygonzales]

you know man sometimes itll be the mom and pop shops thatll have the best mechanics, and its because they need to be good at what they do in order to stay in business. if they suck they only have themselves to fall back on whereas the big national shops they got a pool of avrage guys who can just get the job done.

 

[will85w4]

Starting to sound like a broken record in here with this suspension installation. Like stated in the other threads you have posted on here; get yourself a $100 tool kit, rent the spring compressor tool from autozone or oreillys, and do the work yourself. OR you could just return the konis and the gc and get your money back and put the whole thing behind you. I have a feeling you lowering your car is going to lead to more problems for you than what it's worth.

 

[crash!]

Well to be honest, the shop just doesn't want to be liable for anything that happens with lowering the car.

Seriously do it yourself. It's like what, 12 bolts all together?

 

[JohnS.]

Considering it's a NY car (unless it's been stored every winter or was purchased from the south), you want to factor in rust. And in general, the rear LCA bolts are known to seize and snap. So consider the possibility of having to get new LCA's or getting stuff torched / cut out. I bought aftermarket LCA's with my shocks/springs. Saved me a lot of headache because 3 bolts snapped on me.

It is very simple to install coilovers but it can turn into a GIANT headache once bolts start to break. If you're not too mechanically inclined, I suggest finding a knowledgeable fellow Honda head or keep looking for a shop. If you're in the tri-state area, I would assume the car scene would be better than other random area's.

Also, you don't need camber kits. And 2" won't rub on squat unless you get 17"+ wheels.

 

[DarkCreep]

Youre making this much more complicated than it needs to be. I have never seen a suspension install be dragged out this long.

 

[DarkCreep]

Starting to sound like a broken record in here with this suspension installation. Like stated in the other threads you have posted on here; get yourself a $100 tool kit, rent the spring compressor tool from autozone or oreillys, and do the work yourself. OR you could just return the konis and the gc and get your money back and put the whole thing behind you. I have a feeling you lowering your car is going to lead to more problems for you than what it's worth.

Agreed x2. I want to help out OP but he sounds like the kinda person that makes things so much more complicated and just sees the negative end of the deal.

OP here's some quick words of advice.
-2" drop will NOT make you scrape the bottom of your car. I was lowered 4", now that made me scrape.
-2" drop will NOT give you excessive camber wear. Youll get maybe negative 1.5 degrees and even then your tires wont wear out. As long as you have your toe angle fixed (hence the alignment) youll be fine. I had negative 3.5 degrees in the front and my tires wore evenly since I got an alignment every 6 months.


Honestly though, just return the suspension you purchased and get some replacement OE shocks from Pep Boys/O reilleys/AutoZone and have Meineke install that.

 

[2slo4u]

all the time you spend finding a shop to install set up and waiting for them to actually do it, you can have it done already

i wouldn't do an alignment right when you install it because you'll want the shocks to settle in..wait a week or so..its very easy though

 

[Hecz]

i do not think he's going to do it on his own. some people just don't wrench. oh well.

 

[Trekk]

I don't think many of you understand how shops work. Shop charge a rate of anywhere from $80-120 an hour for labor. The tech gets his pay, which at a little shop might be $12-15 labor. So if the shop wants $300 at $100 an hour labor. The tech at say $15 flat rate gets $45 for the install. The shop pockets the other $255 bucks. If you go by alldata it says 3hr for the fronts and 2.4hr for the rear lol...

This is why I do as many side jobs as I can.

While its not hard to do, some people just don't own the tools or live in places that allow you to work on your car. If you don't want to get hands on, the best thing to do is look for a shop that deals with low riders. If you were close I'd hook you with the install and alignment for $100.

 

[civexspeedy]

so I shopped around and asked for pricing to get my koni yellow / GC Coilovers installed and the place that offered the cheapest price was Meineke. I went in this morning with the parts to soon be dealt with a guy who didn't know wtf he was doing. I told him "I want a 2 inch drop all around". He then says "2 inches?!?!?! your going to be rubbing the fenders and scraping the bottom of your car!! that car at most can go down 1 inch." (this is at stock height......). after looking through the instructions, he seemed so puzzled to the point where i felt uncomfy even leaving him to do the job.


So he was like "I can install them but you're going to have to do the adjusting yourself to your liking." I understand that part, but I wanted him to do the lowering for me so i could get an alignment directly after and be on my way. rather then having to do work myself after paying the guy $300 bucks for a simple install then later having to adjust it myself and then go back for an alignment......

He also noted that the cambers change drastically when lowering. even on a 1 inch drop he said my wheels are gunna cave in a lot and that an alignment wouldn't help with that at all. and that my tires would be f****d in the long run. is that true? i feel like thats BS unless i'm dropping it 4+ inches.

anyone live in the tristate area of New York that knows of some performance shops that they can recommend? i really can't deal with mom and pop shops. i need to go to a shop that'll have ppl that know what KONI YELLOWS AND GC COILS are. thanks!

Like I said in my PM response to you, I would NOT trust ANY run of the mill shop/mechanic to do this install. ESPECIALLY Meineke, stay far away.... I would say a simple shock/lowering spring combo might be fine and you may get lucky, but a coilover setup, esp Koni/GC, is a little more complicated and requires a little assembly. Even if they somehow did get the assembly part right, they could easily put the springs in the wrong corners(assuming you have different spring rates front and back).

Rubbing your fenders has very little to do with how low you are. That has more to do with your wheel size and offset. For example, I put my race wheels/tires on my daily driver to put some miles on the fresh tires and scrub them in before my next big race. The wheels fit just fine with zero rub issues on my '91 Civic Si that I race which is lowered quite a bit, lower than 2".. But when I put them on my daily driver '99 Civic EX that's lowered around 1.5", they would rub the fender lip in the rear slightly under hard cornering. Why? because a 15x7 +35 wheel just doesn't have the right specs (I could make it work by rolling the lips but it's just my DD and they were on for less than a week..).

No, a ~2" drop won't be terrible on your tires. Get an alignment done at a shop with competent mechanics and you'll be fine. To help extend the life of your tires after lowering, you should rotate your tires regularly(like every oil change) to help out. Also remember if you make ANY adjustments to your ride height after your alignment, you'll need to have the car re-aligned.

300 to install??? I know guys here that do it for 100-150,nd if your cool with them just bring them beer lol

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

$300 is around the normal rate for a shock/spring install around my area. I would expect a coilover install to be closer to around $400 since it takes a little assembly and more time to get the ride height set.

you know man sometimes itll be the mom and pop shops thatll have the best mechanics, and its because they need to be good at what they do in order to stay in business. if they suck they only have themselves to fall back on whereas the big national shops they got a pool of avrage guys who can just get the job done.

I told him in a PM earlier, I would never trust any run of the mill mechanic to do a coilover install. I've worked with many mechanics who have years of experience and are ASE master tech certified blah blah, but they scratched their heads when they saw my coilover setup on my Civic. OP's best bet would be to go to a known performance shop that has experience doing coilover systems. Might be more pricey, but I'd have better peace of mind.

 

[Jeffhondadc5]

Where are you in NY? I know you said tristate area already..

 

[dsprimal]

I don't think many of you understand how shops work. Shop charge a rate of anywhere from $80-120 an hour for labor. The tech gets his pay, which at a little shop might be $12-15 labor. So if the shop wants $300 at $100 an hour labor. The tech at say $15 flat rate gets $45 for the install. The shop pockets the other $255 bucks. If you go by alldata it says 3hr for the fronts and 2.4hr for the rear lol...

This is why I do as many side jobs as I can.

While its not hard to do, some people just don't own the tools or live in places that allow you to work on your car. If you don't want to get hands on, the best thing to do is look for a shop that deals with low riders. If you were close I'd hook you with the install and alignment for $100.

I'm on my way to miami. i bet the commute expense would still be cheaper than if i got it done up here! LOL

Like I said in my PM response to you, I would NOT trust ANY run of the mill shop/mechanic to do this install. ESPECIALLY Meineke, stay far away.... I would say a simple shock/lowering spring combo might be fine and you may get lucky, but a coilover setup, esp Koni/GC, is a little more complicated and requires a little assembly. Even if they somehow did get the assembly part right, they could easily put the springs in the wrong corners(assuming you have different spring rates front and back).

Rubbing your fenders has very little to do with how low you are. That has more to do with your wheel size and offset. For example, I put my race wheels/tires on my daily driver to put some miles on the fresh tires and scrub them in before my next big race. The wheels fit just fine with zero rub issues on my '91 Civic Si that I race which is lowered quite a bit, lower than 2".. But when I put them on my daily driver '99 Civic EX that's lowered around 1.5", they would rub the fender lip in the rear slightly under hard cornering. Why? because a 15x7 +35 wheel just doesn't have the right specs (I could make it work by rolling the lips but it's just my DD and they were on for less than a week..).

No, a ~2" drop won't be terrible on your tires. Get an alignment done at a shop with competent mechanics and you'll be fine. To help extend the life of your tires after lowering, you should rotate your tires regularly(like every oil change) to help out. Also remember if you make ANY adjustments to your ride height after your alignment, you'll need to have the car re-aligned.



$300 is around the normal rate for a shock/spring install around my area. I would expect a coilover install to be closer to around $400 since it takes a little assembly and more time to get the ride height set.



I told him in a PM earlier, I would never trust any run of the mill mechanic to do a coilover install. I've worked with many mechanics who have years of experience and are ASE master tech certified blah blah, but they scratched their heads when they saw my coilover setup on my Civic. OP's best bet would be to go to a known performance shop that has experience doing coilover systems. Might be more pricey, but I'd have better peace of mind.

thanks bro, good insight! i'll consider what you said. i'm sure i'll find some performance spot around here.

Where are you in NY? I know you said tristate area already..

westchester NY. 45 min outside of NYC.

 

[Jeffhondadc5]

Too bad I wasnt home.. I could totally use some extra cash to do this but im at school. I live in orange county lol. Im sure you know..

 

[dsprimal]

Too bad I wasnt home.. I could totally use some extra cash to do this but im at school. I live in orange county lol. Im sure you know..

orange county isn't far at all! i'll make that trip bro LOL PM me

 

[Jeffhondadc5]

orange county isn't far at all! i'll make that trip bro LOL PM me

lol told ya. Im in my last year of school right now but im out in PA about 500 miles away from home. I have a couple friends back home that might be willing to help for a few bucks man. Ill PM you