LRegvall

Have you tried putting a breaker bar on the nut and lowering the car on the breaker bar? Each rear corner should put around 800 lbs on the bar. It's been a while since I did it so I don't remember the exact set up. But when you look at it and think about it, it's pretty intuitive. You have to make sure that you have 1/2" drive, 25" bar and that everything is lined up well. Lower the jack slowly. That worked for me. They are a pain. Good luck!

On another note, I think it might be important for somebody somewhere to name their child Strut Clevis. That was on Duck Dynasty I think

There's a bunch discussed on this thread and probably no consensus. Just read through the pages and you'll get plenty of ideas. I have Kumho Ecsta 4x and I like them quite a bit. And they are reasonably priced. But no matter what tire you pick, they aren't likely to make your car last longer.

Epic/Eibachs are around 1.25" front, 1" back. I have Ralliteks which are about the same.

I also have the Eagle GTs (225/45-17). I think they are an underrated tire, maybe because they are kind of standard and OEMish. I don't think they have the ultimate grip of my last BFG KDW2s but they are very quiet and handle very predictably both wet and dry.

Konis and Epics

If you want to spend a little time with it, you can cut a bit off the springs to lower the front end. Most people on here say no (and I haven't seen any post where it's been done), but I'm not sure why. See Herb Adams, Chassis Engineering, pg 34-35 for the "correct" way. But cutting a 1/2 link or so (and seating on the original strut mount) might work to lower the front the amount you want (Subaru does lift the front on their cars a stupid amount). If it doesn't work, then buy new springs. The downside is some time spent experimenting. I'm running Ralliteks on stock struts with a fatter RSB and am happy. I thought about cutting the stockers for the same reason you're talking about.

Eibach

I guess nobody will want to go on vacation there. Very scary and horrible things happen all the time (just in time for halloween). This is probably a good way for the tourist bureau to cover themselves for liabilities in case someone hurts themselves while vacationing. It makes you wonder why they advertise themselves as a vacation spot.

Norm, I think the Civic is able to get some dive out of the front springs (when braking hard into a turn), which lightens the rear which allows the car to rotate when he turns in. If that is what you meant. It's a different dynamic than I'm used to. That would be stiff front springs and front bar which ensure heavy understeer. Leif

It's kind of fun (which can turn into a pain) trying to figure out how to play with the suspension to change the handling balance. I like a car that I can use lift throttle and brake rotation on (i.e., a tendency toward oversteer). I'm running a stock FSB (22mm if I remember) along with a 2-way adjustable 20mm AVO RSB set to tight. I hadn't really thought about the front spring rates until I talked to a friend who tracks his supercharged Honda Civic. He hasn't changed the sway bars. He says the Civic runs a very fat FSB and a skinny RSB. But he apparently has no trouble rotating the car on the brakes which we could only attribute to softer front springs.

Just a thought. I'm now running on Ralliteks on OEM dampers. Will likely switch to Konis in the not too distant future. I like the Ralliteks and don't feel any need to switch (other than dampers). However, the Eibach/Epics seem to be a little softer in the front (if the stated spring rates are accurate) while the rears seem closer in stiffness. This softer front might help handling for those that like being able to get more lift throttle/brake rotation. That is, the E/Es might be better if you like to have the front stick more when you get off the the throttle and bring the rear around. A softer front should help. This is a theoretical point since I haven't heard any empirical evidence from anyone who has tried both springs.

They are stiffer so they won't feel like the OEM springs. But I'm glad for that. A different damper like the Konis that can be calibrated to the stiffer springs would likely feel better. But they are still going to be stiffer over some bumps. I don't think you can avoid some compromise on the handling/ride balance.

I don't think I've seen any comments on this forum complaining of premature damper wear with the Eibach family of springs. I'm not expecting it at any rate. Anyone else have feedback?

I'm running ralliteks on OEM and the set up is pretty good. Better dampers would be better. The GR2s are supposed to be little better and I've read somewhere hereabouts that they have worked well/better than OEMs. I'll probably switch to Konis at some point. But the ralliteks plus some rear sway bar changes (20mm AVO) make the handling much better than straight OEM.

I remember the post but didn't go back to see the source. Where did you get the spring rates? I had tried to find them (as had others in the past) but they had been reluctant to release them. Glad you could find them.

The Ralliteks look identical to the Eibachs. But when I asked about spring rates a while back they wouldn't disclose but someone above had reported rates for them (not sure where info was from - Rallitek or independent measure?). They are close though. And they all have about the same drop.

The Eibach brand appears to be back in production. A 6/6/11 delivery would seem to indicate an inventory issue and not a production issue. And they are all progressive springs. The Eibachs, Epics, MSIs and Ralliteks are all related (on the mother's side I think). The differences will likely be minimal (although I certainly haven't tried them all; just based on my own research and looking at the pics). Mostly it's a matter of price, brand, color, support, and who you like to buy from.

I think the Epics are a rebranding of the Eibachs produced for Epic, i.e., they are the same. Therefore I think they are both progressive. The Ralliteks are progressive rate springs also made by Eibach but Rallitek hasn't disclosed spring rates. All three look very similar (except for color) and have a similar drop. My guess is that they will produce a very similar ride.

Do you have an aftermarket sway bar. It sounds like the kind of noise a swaybar might make when it is torqued abruptly.

and, any feedback on either?

Have you cranked in much preload to compensate for the suspension sag and the relatively short travel in the suspension? It actually helps a lot. I've been messing with mine for a while trying to "civilize" them. They are actually pretty comfortable right now. I have 1-3/8" preload in the front and 7/8" in back (I'm going to unwind this to 1/2" to 5/8" in the rear). Dampers are 6 front and 0 rear. Ride height is 13.75" rear and 13.5" front. While still firm, the ride is actually fairly compliant without being bouncy. The only thing I haven't gotten away from is the bang from the metal-on-metal camber plates over sharp bumps. There isn't much of a shock but the bang is annoying and probably inescapable. That being said, I am also thinking of switching to a non-camber plate set up (maybe stock struts and rallitek/eibach/epic springs). California's roads were ranked 49th worst in the country. Los Angeles was ranked the worst in California. I hit a lot of sharp bumps in day to day driving and the bangs become annoying.

Not to get off topic, but how are your BC Coils set up with spring rates, ride height and preload? And what aren't you liking about them?

Why did you get rid of the Epics? Not low enough? And what was it with the Megans that made you switch them out? What's the difference in ride, handling and stance between the Epics and Swifts?

What struts are you on?