Ok so i bout my 95 civic DX 5 months ago and it came lowered with steelies but the dude cut the springs, it was wayyyy to low, i bout 16" rims for it and only the back 2 fit, so i bought cheap lowering coilover spring kit from amazon and put those in the front....the rims fit and look great but my car rides like total CRAP. I can hear every little bump and its sooo bouncy. This couldnt possibly be good for the car right? Should i just buy 2 legit ones for the front, ? I would say just buy all 4 but im in a bind with money at the moment, would buying 2 temporarily be ok to do?

 

Just wait until you can afford all 4 is my suggestion.

 

It's likely not the springs that are bad - it's probably the shocks. If you're bouncing around, it means the shocks aren't strong enough to control the new springs with the higher spring rates.

Imagine jumping on a mattress, then you stop. You won't stop instantly - you'll still bounce a couple of times before coming to a complete stop, right? That's basically what's happening with your car. Every time it hits a bump, it'll bounce on the springs, and keep bouncing until it loses kinetic energy, or there's something to help dampen the bounce (your shocks).

Cutting springs is a terrible idea for a number of reasons, and I'll bet the previous owner of your car drove it around on the cut springs for a while. Odds are, the shocks were probably in constant (or frequent) contact with the bump stops (because the shock travel was shortened, but not compensated for by stiffer springs) which destroyed them.

Get some decent shocks (KYB - not the GR2, Koni, Tokico - but not the HP), and I'll bet the car will ride like a champ. Do you know what the spring rates are for the new ones you just bought?

 

since you're still rocking cut springs in the back, just replacing the shocks wont fix it. You'll just end up destroying your new shocks.

Get new springs AND shocks. Save up your money and do it right, or you'll end up doing it twice.

 

Buying new shocks alone will unlikely fix his problem. He bought no-name coilovers. No body knows what the spring rates are. Even IF the seller claimed this and that spring rate in their description, it is very likely the ACTUAL spring rates of the springs are faaaarrrrr off. Hell even the top spring companies like Hypercoil and Eibach aren't precise if you measure the rates. Companies like Tein have tested absurdly off their claims. Can't imagine what something like this would test.

^ This. Doing anything less than replacing your entire suspension will just be a bandaid, AT BEST. Save up for at least a decent spring/shock setup and you'll be much happier. Don't forget to get an alignment afterwards..

 

Even if he doesn't have a definite figure on the spring rates, I'm just thinking that something like a KYB AGX will happily handle spring rates up to 350lbs, Konis up to 500lbs. Just trying to find out what he might be able to get in his paltry budget, but at the same time, didn't want him to think that $30 Gabriels will solve his problem, either.

Bouncy, to me, indicates bad shocks. And if he's been running on a shortened ride height with soft, stock-rate springs, he's probably riding on the bumpstops ("I can hear every little bump..."), which have been punishing those stock shocks. Or, now that he has higher spring rates on the front, what's left of those front shocks won't last long at all.

To the OP - since you're on a tight budget, the short-term solution would be to find some cheap OEM springs, put them on, then save up the money for proper shocks/springs. The car won't look all nice and lowered, but it'll make for a much nicer riding car for the time being.