Coilovers vs stock struts with king springs + horn keeps going off

[silviaz]

Hey all, I was looking to get some insights on for a more comfy ride. I currently have tien coilovers but it's pretty bumpy on the road even with the dampness being all the way soft, so looking to get oem style ride quality whilst having the car roughly an inch lower so I was going to opt for stock struts + kingsprings, is this worth it or would I end up having a similar experience to coilovers?

On a side note, my horn randomly goes off, even when the car is off and stationary, I went to replace the relay to see if it would fix it and same issue, as I went to put the new relay it, it immediately started going off, without even the relay been in, just metal to metal contact. Only way to shut it it off is to pressing the horn but it generally starting going off almost immediately. For context, I did have someone installed a reverse camera 3 days prior to it happening, not sure if that has anything to do with it. 

[GTSBoy]

When you say "stock struts", you don't mean actual OEM Nissan struts do you? You actually mean some suitable aftermarket strut? In which case;

• A KYB twin tube will be as comfortable, or better than the originals. They work well with a Kings Low, which are only moderately stiffer than stock springs.
• A good aftermarket coilover, from say, MCA, will make the Tiens feel like the hay cart suspension that they are.

On the subject of the horn..... Look at the wiring diagram. Work out where the wire that is shorting to earth is, and fix it.

[silviaz]

48 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

When you say "stock struts", you don't mean actual OEM Nissan struts do you? You actually mean some suitable aftermarket strut? In which case;

• A KYB twin tube will be as comfortable, or better than the originals. They work well with a Kings Low, which are only moderately stiffer than stock springs.
• A good aftermarket coilover, from say, MCA, will make the Tiens feel like the hay cart suspension that they are.

On the subject of the horn..... Look at the wiring diagram. Work out where the wire that is shorting to earth is, and fix it.

The ones I'm looking for are OEM and have king springs. Will check out the wiring stuff. Cheers for the info on KYB, seems interesting.

Edited August 12, 2023 by silviaz

[Murray_Calavera]

8 hours ago, silviaz said:

The ones I'm looking for are OEM and have king springs. Will check out the wiring stuff. Cheers for the info on KYB, seems interesting.

Sounds like you've found a used part? If the price is right, say around $200 - $300 and they are not leaking and there is nothing else that is obviously wrong with them, this is a good value option. If the king springs are progressive spring rate, they will be even comfier for the street. 

It's all money at the end of the day, if you spend more you'll get more. 

If there is any chance you see yourself taking the car to the track, I'd very strongly consider saving up for a set of MCA/Shockworks coilovers. It is possible to have a comfortable ride on the street while still performing well on track. 

Also, it might be worth looking into how your ride height has been setup with your current coilovers. There is a chance that they've been setup in a way that has drastically reduced your suspension travel, so the harshness your feeling is actually just the suspension bottoming out (if this is the case it can be easily sorted).

[silviaz]

1 hour ago, Murray_Calavera said:

Sounds like you've found a used part? If the price is right, say around $200 - $300 and they are not leaking and there is nothing else that is obviously wrong with them, this is a good value option. If the king springs are progressive spring rate, they will be even comfier for the street. 

It's all money at the end of the day, if you spend more you'll get more. 

If there is any chance you see yourself taking the car to the track, I'd very strongly consider saving up for a set of MCA/Shockworks coilovers. It is possible to have a comfortable ride on the street while still performing well on track. 

Also, it might be worth looking into how your ride height has been setup with your current coilovers. There is a chance that they've been setup in a way that has drastically reduced your suspension travel, so the harshness your feeling is actually just the suspension bottoming out (if this is the case it can be easily sorted).

I raised my car above 100mm and it's much better than what it used to be, but i think the coilovers are junk because when i go over speed bumps, feels like my whole suspension is gonna fall off lol.

[Murray_Calavera]

2 hours ago, silviaz said:

I raised my car above 100mm and it's much better than what it used to be, but i think the coilovers are junk because when i go over speed bumps, feels like my whole suspension is gonna fall off lol.

It could still be bottoming out on the bump stop. 

This is a really good (and short!) video explaining what I'm talking about - 

 

 

[robbo_rb180]

The teins aren't great especially the super streets. I tried a few different things but never worked. Went MCA are way better ride quality even better than an oem setup in my other car.

Horn relay is being triggered so look at steering wheel contacts more trigger circuit or if car has been lowered and rubbed through the loom.

[hardsteppa]

18 hours ago, silviaz said:

The ones I'm looking for are OEM and have king springs. Will check out the wiring stuff. Cheers for the info on KYB, seems interesting.

for the love of god do NOT buy KYB struts if they are the OEM/Excel G i think they're called? They were the most wallowy piece of crap shocks I've ever used . Get something more sports oriented but not sure you'll find much (i don't know what car you have but on that basis I will assume everyone drives an R33 gtst 😁) , probably only Bilstein, and for the rubles they will cost, you'd be better to look at MCA's, Shockworks etc as a complete unit. If you're truly on a budget the Blitz coilovers give a reasonable ride on the street but not the greatest longterm option.

[silviaz]

3 hours ago, hardsteppa said:

for the love of god do NOT buy KYB struts if they are the OEM/Excel G i think they're called? They were the most wallowy piece of crap shocks I've ever used . Get something more sports oriented but not sure you'll find much (i don't know what car you have but on that basis I will assume everyone drives an R33 gtst 😁) , probably only Bilstein, and for the rubles they will cost, you'd be better to look at MCA's, Shockworks etc as a complete unit. If you're truly on a budget the Blitz coilovers give a reasonable ride on the street but not the greatest longterm option.

I was going to get something like this https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/133127728644

[silviaz]

22 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

When you say "stock struts", you don't mean actual OEM Nissan struts do you? You actually mean some suitable aftermarket strut? In which case;

• A KYB twin tube will be as comfortable, or better than the originals. They work well with a Kings Low, which are only moderately stiffer than stock springs.
• A good aftermarket coilover, from say, MCA, will make the Tiens feel like the hay cart suspension that they are.

On the subject of the horn..... Look at the wiring diagram. Work out where the wire that is shorting to earth is, and fix it.

One thing I forgot to mention as well, my airbag isn't flush with the steering wheel it's sticking out so imagine that might have something to do with it. But will see still if I can find a wiring diagram.

[silviaz]

On 8/13/2023 at 5:02 PM, robbo_rb180 said:

The teins aren't great especially the super streets. I tried a few different things but never worked. Went MCA are way better ride quality even better than an oem setup in my other car.

Horn relay is being triggered so look at steering wheel contacts more trigger circuit or if car has been lowered and rubbed through the loom.

Ah ok, will look at that to. Cheers

[Murray_Calavera]

21 hours ago, silviaz said:

One thing I forgot to mention as well, my airbag isn't flush with the steering wheel it's sticking out so imagine that might have something to do with it. But will see still if I can find a wiring diagram.

Occam's razor says the issue with the airbag probably has something to do with the horn issues. Let us know how you go either way.

21 hours ago, silviaz said:

I was going to get something like this https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/133127728644

I vote poor value. Assuming the fronts are the same cost, so around $900 for shocks alone? Your so close to paying for a set of MCA?shockworks coilovers once you factor in buying king springs as well. 

I'd keep saving for the big boy coilovers. Future you will thank you. 

[silviaz]

1 hour ago, Murray_Calavera said:

Occam's razor says the issue with the airbag probably has something to do with the horn issues. Let us know how you go either way.

I vote poor value. Assuming the fronts are the same cost, so around $900 for shocks alone? Your so close to paying for a set of MCA?shockworks coilovers once you factor in buying king springs as well. 

I'd keep saving for the big boy coilovers. Future you will thank you. 

I could go coilovers, but from what I understand they don't seem to last as long as struts? I just want that comfortable ride, don't care about the performance side of things. I have the king springs already, there is a small chance I'll have to get new ones if these are too low but they should be at least 100mm.

What makes you think those are bad? They seem to be at a decent price for quality. Now to hope the airbag doesn't go off lol. Will unhook the negative battery terminal and wait 15 mins.

Edited August 14, 2023 by silviaz

[Murray_Calavera]

2 hours ago, silviaz said:

I could go coilovers, but from what I understand they don't seem to last as long as struts? I just want that comfortable ride, don't care about the performance side of things. I have the king springs already, there is a small chance I'll have to get new ones if these are too low but they should be at least 100mm.

What makes you think those are bad? They seem to be at a decent price for quality. Now to hope the airbag doesn't go off lol. Will unhook the negative battery terminal and wait 15 mins.

Just to clear something up, coilovers are a coil spring over a shock body, coil-over. The factory suspension component you are calling a strut is a 'coilover'. I know what you are talking about but it might be confusing for others. 

Saying the factory coilover is more reliable (or lasts longer) then an aftermarket coilover is not accurate - provided we are talking about a quality aftermarket coilover. 

It's really hard to explain how much nicer a high quality mono-shock is compared to a cheap twin tube shock. As with so many things in life, until you've experienced it for yourself, anything I write here will just be words on a screen. 

You're in a bit of a tricky spot, sitting on a set of king springs that you want to use... I would want to pair them with something like a set of Koni or Bilstein shocks. But by the time you buy the shocks, you've spent another $1,500ish... and what you have is a set of non-height adjustable coilovers that don't have the valving perfectly matched to your springs.... and sure you can have them re-valved but it all adds up.

But yeah, it puts you so close to a set of MCA Pro Comfort for $2,500, which you can have a chat with MCA first and select the perfect spring rates and shock valving..... 

I just think there is so much more value in spending a bit more and getting the MCA setup. 

[silviaz]

13 hours ago, Murray_Calavera said:

Just to clear something up, coilovers are a coil spring over a shock body, coil-over. The factory suspension component you are calling a strut is a 'coilover'. I know what you are talking about but it might be confusing for others. 

Saying the factory coilover is more reliable (or lasts longer) then an aftermarket coilover is not accurate - provided we are talking about a quality aftermarket coilover. 

It's really hard to explain how much nicer a high quality mono-shock is compared to a cheap twin tube shock. As with so many things in life, until you've experienced it for yourself, anything I write here will just be words on a screen. 

You're in a bit of a tricky spot, sitting on a set of king springs that you want to use... I would want to pair them with something like a set of Koni or Bilstein shocks. But by the time you buy the shocks, you've spent another $1,500ish... and what you have is a set of non-height adjustable coilovers that don't have the valving perfectly matched to your springs.... and sure you can have them re-valved but it all adds up.

But yeah, it puts you so close to a set of MCA Pro Comfort for $2,500, which you can have a chat with MCA first and select the perfect spring rates and shock valving..... 

I just think there is so much more value in spending a bit more and getting the MCA setup. 

Ah ok, appreciate the info will re assess my options.

[niZmO_Man]

Get Jesse Streeter to send you these: Tein GSN62-91SS2
And also new strut tops if your ones are old.

[silviaz]

On 8/14/2023 at 11:27 PM, Murray_Calavera said:

Just to clear something up, coilovers are a coil spring over a shock body, coil-over. The factory suspension component you are calling a strut is a 'coilover'. I know what you are talking about but it might be confusing for others. 

Saying the factory coilover is more reliable (or lasts longer) then an aftermarket coilover is not accurate - provided we are talking about a quality aftermarket coilover. 

It's really hard to explain how much nicer a high quality mono-shock is compared to a cheap twin tube shock. As with so many things in life, until you've experienced it for yourself, anything I write here will just be words on a screen. 

You're in a bit of a tricky spot, sitting on a set of king springs that you want to use... I would want to pair them with something like a set of Koni or Bilstein shocks. But by the time you buy the shocks, you've spent another $1,500ish... and what you have is a set of non-height adjustable coilovers that don't have the valving perfectly matched to your springs.... and sure you can have them re-valved but it all adds up.

But yeah, it puts you so close to a set of MCA Pro Comfort for $2,500, which you can have a chat with MCA first and select the perfect spring rates and shock valving..... 

I just think there is so much more value in spending a bit more and getting the MCA setup. 

I did more research and it's gotten tricker, from what I read coilovers can't be comfortable like stock but I guess the MCA pro comfort you mentioned is similar? Will get them a call to. Quite expensive though, my budget for coilovers was $1,500

[silviaz]

2 minutes ago, silviaz said:

I did more research and it's gotten tricker, from what I read coilovers can't be comfortable like stock but I guess the MCA pro comfort you mentioned is similar? Will get them a call to. Quite expensive though, my budget for coilovers was $1,500

Looks like full set is almost 4k to.

[GTSBoy]

10 hours ago, silviaz said:

from what I read coilovers can't be comfortable like stock

That really really depends on what you mean by "comfortable like stock". I would argue that stock is not comfortable because they wallow around, body roll, jump under severe bumps in corners, etc etc.

What Murray said is absolutely the case. Good monotube dampers are worlds apart from twin tubes. I pointed you to (cheap....ish) KYB twin tubes as being the simplest and lowest cost way to retain your springs and get something at least as good as your concept of how comfortable stock dampers are. But I would never do that myself. I have custom valved Bilstein B6s with Kings. Those dampers are no longer available in that style (the guy modding them isn't doing it any more), and so I can't even recommend those. And therefore, if I needed to replace mine, and if I'm asked to recommend a path to upgraded suspension, I will lean towards and recommend MCA or equivalent (depending on country of residence, etc).

$2500 is not expensive for a set of high quality coilovers. It's not 1999 any more. $2500 of 2023 dollars is barely enough to buy a decent set of tyres. You get a lot of suspension performance for your $2500. You wanna talk expensive? There are options that can easily scale to 10x the prices we're talking about here.

There's no point in setting a budget for car mods. You either buy the thing you want, and pay for it, or you just settle for something much much less (and possibly do nothing at all). In your case, the choices really are between the absolute minimum of a set of twin tube stock style dampers, or proper coilovers.

[Murray_Calavera]

11 hours ago, silviaz said:

Looks like full set is almost 4k to.

Which set costs 4k? The MCA Pro Comfort full set is $2,490. There is another option that gets you a bit closer to your original budget, the Voston Comfort set is $1,890. Maybe have a chat with MCA and see if it would suit your needs. 

There is nothing magical about the factory coilovers. Aftermarket coilovers can be setup to more comfortable then the factory suspension. When you have complete control over the spring rates and valving, you can select the specs that are right for you.