Mopar Stage 1 Springs

[contraption22]

Hey guys.

Anybody here have the Mopar Stage 1 lowering springs and care to offer a review of them?

I'm considering a set.

Thanks!

[neoned]

I can't speak for them personally but from what I hear, ride is similar to stock and they won't blow your stock struts.

But that is 3rd party info.

[mario03SRT]

Contraption,

I ran those for 2 years on my 2003. They are a progressive rate spring and ride very good and gives the car a decent drop too. I added the PT Cruiser GT front sway bar and rear ACR rear swaybar with poly bushings. The car woke up BIG Time. See Jimmy @ S&P Development on SRT Forums for a discount and they guy will know exactly what you want!

FYI,
Marion

[contraption22]

Thank you for the response. Unfortunately the damn thing failed inspection today... so i gotta take care of that first.

[mpboost]

Contraption,

I ran those for 2 years on my 2003. They are a progressive rate spring and ride very good and gives the car a decent drop too. I added the PT Cruiser GT front sway bar and rear ACR rear swaybar with poly bushings. The car woke up BIG Time. See Jimmy @ S&P Development on SRT Forums for a discount and they guy will know exactly what you want!

FYI,
Marion
I am running the same spring and swaybar setup right now.

The Mopar springs are great for daily driving. However I don't feel they improve the handling of the car very much over stock. If you are just looking for a drop in ride height, I'd say they are definitely a good choice. None of the lowering springs out there (except possibly Goldlines which share almost identical spring rate) are going to ride as good as the Mopar Stage 1 springs.

I would also suggest the PT/ACR swaybar setup from S&P Development. It is only like ~$150 and they throw in the upgraded Mopar rear tension struts for that price. I actually think this is a better upgrade than the Mopar Stage 1 springs alone.

[rich tideswell]

Not sure how many miles are on your car, but have you looked into upgrading the struts as well? Modern has Tokico Illumina's on the shelf for our cars, the factory Tokico Illumina's are real nice on my ACR. Add those in with the other parts mentioned and I'm sure you'll love the way the car handles.

I know lots of people push for coil-over set ups, but for a daily driver, do you really want the extra expense??? And not to mention paying for a corner ballance.

[contraption22]

I have considered the Tokicos. They will likely be my choice for replacements when the times comes. I only have ~40k miles on my car now, so hopefully I can get a couple more years out of the OEM struts.

I have a 19mm rear bar I got out of a totaled 2001 Neon ACR, but have not gotten around to installing it yet. I will probably order the PT front bar from the dealer at the same time.

[rich tideswell]

Right on. Just figured that you would swap out struts at the same time you do springs, no sense in tearing it apart twice. Heck, get new upper mounts/ lower spring isolators/ bellows and you could assemble the struts on the bench and swap them in and out as a unit.

[contraption22]

Your logic makes perfect sense, Rich.

[Aries_Turbo]

how did it fail inspection? thats a bit wierd to see a car that new fail.

im used to my old crap failing.

Brian

[contraption22]

From a post I made in another thread:

My SRT-4 failed emissions inspection last week, apparently there were some hidden codes. I know I had checked it for codes by cycling the key, before I brought it in, and none were present.
I had brought it to PepBoys for this. So after it failed, they asked me if I would like a complete computer diagnostic. For this they wanted to charge me $90. So I asked what the codes were. They said that they needed to do the diagnostic before they could tell me what codes it has. I declined obviously. I then requested the emissions test printout, which of course had the fault codes printed on it.

Anyway, they were automatic transmission codes, a result of the turbo toys. So I ordered the code scrubber from N2MB, and installed that today. Very easy. I hope it works!

[rich tideswell]

Your logic makes perfect sense, Rich.

....and we're going to preform the magic once more, don't forget about filling the rear mounts to prevent the clunk

http://www.srtforums.com/forums/f75/info-how-fill-rear-shock-towers-prevent-clunk-45087/

[contraption22]

Thank you for that! I wonder if this would work on the 1st gen neons as well. My mom's has a nasty clunk, as did my 1998 R/T. My SRT-4 is quiet tho.

[rich tideswell]

Thank you for that! I wonder if this would work on the 1st gen neons as well. My mom's has a nasty clunk, as did my 1998 R/T. My SRT-4 is quiet tho.

don't see why it wouldn't.

[Aries_Turbo]

From a post I made in another thread:

My SRT-4 failed emissions inspection last week, apparently there were some hidden codes. I know I had checked it for codes by cycling the key, before I brought it in, and none were present.
I had brought it to PepBoys for this. So after it failed, they asked me if I would like a complete computer diagnostic. For this they wanted to charge me $90. So I asked what the codes were. They said that they needed to do the diagnostic before they could tell me what codes it has. I declined obviously. I then requested the emissions test printout, which of course had the fault codes printed on it.

Anyway, they were automatic transmission codes, a result of the turbo toys. So I ordered the code scrubber from N2MB, and installed that today. Very easy. I hope it works!

ahhh gotcha. yeah some stage 2's have that and all stage 3's. i have a buddy with stage 3 and he just bought that to fix the issue. :)

i wonder if that auto stuff was on purpose.... hmmmmmm.

Brian

[contraption22]

ahhh gotcha. yeah some stage 2's have that and all stage 3's. i have a buddy with stage 3 and he just bought that to fix the issue. :)

i wonder if that auto stuff was on purpose.... hmmmmmm.

Brian

I've heard it is because the PCM's use the auto trans circuits to run the boost control and intercooler sprayer features, and thats why the no-toys PCM's do not have this problem.

[Aries_Turbo]

you would think that they would have removed the other checks for the auto trans in the code then if the trans wouldnt be there.....

oh well.

brian

[contraption22]

you would think that they would have removed the other checks for the auto trans in the code then if the trans wouldnt be there.....

oh well.

brian


Yeah you'd think so, especially since they removed the downstream 02 check.

[contraption22]

Well i just won a set of "unused" Stage 1 springs on Ebay for ~$200 shipped.

[rich tideswell]

24mm front bar
http://www.speedandpowerdevelopment.com/PURCHASE/SUSPENSION.html

[contraption22]

Thanks! I'm gonna price it from my dealer tomorrow. It can't be cheap to ship that.

[ScottD]

Mike - what do you think of these springs now that you've had them on the car?

I bought some BBS ACR wheels for my SRT-4 and want to lower it since the 16s look small-ish to begin with.

I'm thinking of going with the Eibach Pro Kit springs though because the drop is 1.6 in in the front, 1.8 in in the rear, opposed to 1 in around for the Stage 1 springs.

[contraption22]

Lemme see if i can find some pics of it. I like em personally. They're a little bit stiffer than stock, but not too bad. They lower it about an inch in the front, 1.25 in the rear. I chose them because the drop is not too radical, and the Mopar springs are the most "stock-strut-friendly". Don't expect your stock struts to survive very long with the Eibachs.

Keep in mind that the 225/45/16's, the spec tire size for the ACR, will lower your car by a 1/2 inch by themselves. And your speedo is going to be reading 4.5% too fast.

While you are at it, add an ACR rear swaybar... pretty cheap upgrade and balances the car out alot when pushed in corners.

[ScottD]

The rims I got are new in the box, so I'm still trying to make my mind up about tires. 205/55/16s or 225/50/16s would be pretty close to the diameter of the stock 205/50/17s.

I'd read that the Eibach Sportlines are pretty brutal in terms of ride and on the struts, but I didn't get that feeling with the Eibachs Pro Kits. I don't want too radical of a drop but I like the idea of dropping it a little more than the Stage 1 springs.

I also kicked around the idea of picking up used SRT-4 ACR struts since they can be had on SRT forums.

[contraption22]

If you can get the used ACR struts, do not get lowering springs....The ACR struts will lower the car an inch by themselves,

Your old 17" wheel/tire combo will no longer fit with the ACR struts and you will HAVE to get a shorter tire.

[ScottD]

Crap! I didn't realize that. Why can't anything ever be easy?????

[ScottD]

I can't believe how few choices there are for struts for the SRT-4. I'm probably just going to go with the Mopar Stage 1 springs and keep the stock struts. I can't see replacing struts when the car only has 12k on it.

[Keito]

Im in the same boat
My car just flipped 10000 miles and I wanted to lower it.
I've had a set of stage 1 springs for a few months just haven't had time
to install them.

[ScottD]

I don't really want to spend $600 on struts to drop the car another inch.

What about ACR struts with stage 1 springs? Of course I guess I'd have to get the correct speedo gear and put that in too.

[contraption22]

I don't really want to spend $600 on struts to drop the car another inch.

What about ACR struts with stage 1 springs? Of course I guess I'd have to get the correct speedo gear and put that in too.


You will get roughly 2.25 inches out of that setup.

[ScottD]

Thanks for the info Mike. It's nice to be able to post here and get rational responses as opposed to SRTForums.

2.25 sounds good. In general I'm not a big fan of lowering cars too much, but with using the 16" BBS ACR wheels I want them to fill the wheel wells and not look small, and I think a 2 inch drop will really help in that regard.

[contraption22]

Well.... actually now that I think about it, it may be more. Because you will have the shorter springs, struts with lower spring seats, and a shorter tire.....

hmmm....

[rich tideswell]

Yes the ACR is approx 1.25 to 1" lower than the stock SRT-4...

Actually, the SRT-4 ACR struts are nothing like the aftermarket parts.. they are a cartridge style where the damper is assembled into the strut tube and tightened into the assembly... They were also specifically tuned or the SRT-4 and have nothing in common with the after market illuminas besides the type of adjustment - hydraulic bleed.

There are more than 1000 copies of the ACR produced. Tokico is the OEM vendor of the base neon and SRT struts so they already have the tooling for the parts.

The ACR spring perches are in the base neon position... The SRT springs are shorter and the spring/strut combination lowers the ACR about 3/4" to 1" .... The tires lower it about another 1/2" ...

Have a nice day.

-Doc

Then add the Mopar Stage1 springs drop on top of that.