No one else will touch this car. :|

So I found a shop that does mostly rice rockets and what not. The guy said he has never even heard of a Crossfire but agreed to put the springs in. Should I pass?

I'm a little nervous he'll mess something up.

How complicated is this job anyway?

 

Go to a Mercedes dealership and they'll take care of it! Cost me $1000 to install.

 

1000 dollars is pure retarded, i'm sorry cyril but you got raped on that deal. i've done it to my own car, its a really simple job, anyone with the right tools can do it in 5 hours or less, i did mine in my driveway on jackstands, took me 8 hours but the first 4 were spent on the first corner learning how to do it. its cake. the suspension shop can handle it i assure you, however if you really don't trust them, i can do it for you if you live in so cal, and i'll do it for any price you feel is reasonable. let me know, otherwise that place can take care of you, no worries.

 

LOL $1000!!!??? That's nuts dude.

This shop does a lot of lowering for rice rockets like supras, rx7, RSX, and Integras. I've only seen Japanese cars there and was just a little worried. I asked if they knew what a Xfire was and they didn't even know.

But how different can it be? Plus I saw some of his equipment and he has the spring compressing machine and other stuff.

I was just a little worried since, its more of what you would call a "ghetto" shop. If that even makes sense. But I've been to 7 different shops and nobody wants to touch the car, so I thought it must be super complicated.

 

i paid $150 (eibach springs) at my local benz dealer to an after hours mechanic. average price should be around $250.

cyril...had springs and shocks installed (h&r cup kit)...this requires more work. he should have paid no more than $500. but...he's happy and that's what matters.

 

to get the springs out on the front you have to take the shock out anyways, so replacing it with a new shock really isn't more work, the rear technically you have to remove the shock as well but i learned a trick to do it and it takes about 15 minutes a side to do the rears without removing the shocks. if the shop does japanese cars they should be alright, the only tool that isn't a basic hand tool was a t55 torx bit i had to go buy at sears for 6 dollars and change. everything on japanese cars is metric, and everything on european cars is metric too. have a little faith in the shop, its a cake job, the only thing i'd worry about is the test drive following the spring installation.

 

Any competent mechanic can do this job. My only concerns would be ensuring that the sport compact shop has:

1) Certified mechanics.
2) Experience doing this.
3) Proper torque information for the car.

Please also note that most major tire shops have certified mechanics that specialize in lowering kits (Belle Tire, etc). They do a nice job, and have all three of the above. Plus, it doesn't hurt that they usually have all of the equipment on site to align the car properly after it is done. The alternative is to do it yourself, and though it is an easy job, I wouldn't recommend it unless you live very close to an alignment shop (so you can go STRAIGHT THERE once the job is done (or risk severe tire wear).

You are really going to enjoy the Prokit. I installed one on my previous car (modified Mazda Protege5), and it was nice. It doesn't spoil the ride one bit (because it is progressive rate), and dials out body roll a good deal (for the same reason). Not only does handling improve, it will give the car a nice stance to boot!

 

They installed the H&R cup kit with springs and shocks. Took them 4 days to finish it since they have to bring my car to a local auto stereo installer to remove and install my speaker pods (which is real easy actually, but I think they don't wanna risk damaging it). I did get a brand new Toyota Corolla as a loaner and the service is great, which I could not expect from Chrysler!

 

OMFG, what a difference. The car is transformed.

Took only 2 hours and 20 minutes at my local Midas as they didn't even remove the shocks in the back but instead disconnected the arm from the body.

rides great and looks great. If you haven't done this yet this should be the first thing you do.

 

people always bit*h about the alignment, there is NOTHING you can do about alignment, literally. the only thing lowering the crossfire does is throw off the camber, which there is literally nothing you can do about. they sell camber bolts for the front end, but with the eibach kit you're still within spec, so it doesn't matter. i have the service manuals to the 2004 crossfire and i'm only .2mm off spec on the front, but mine are the H&R's. with lowering of this vehicle comes negative camber, live with it or don't lower it.

 

I don't need a realignment, the car is tracking straight and true. I don't think I need to do anything actually.

 

that's my point, you don't need anything at all, there is nothing you can do.