Well to start off, I have been through a couple of lowering springs for my xB. First I had TRD, then I had Tein, and now I have moved up in the world to Skunk2 springs. I must say, I am VERY impressed by these springs. They have given my xB a muuuuch smoother ride compared to my other springs. The springs drop the box about 1.5” in the front and 1.4” in the back. On a side note, the red color is really sexy too! : )

When installing, I had a couple of problems with stripped bolts from a dealership that had put on my TRD’s and did a slack job but everything worked out in the end. I installed the back springs myself and it took about an hour total. The front ones were a little more difficult because I didn’t have a spring compressor so we had to use our mighty muscles to compress the springs when putting them back on (lol). So it would be a good idea to get a spring compressor if you are going to do this yourself!

TRD & Tein vs. Skunk2 ~ Honestly, IMHO, the TRD springs are really not even worth buying. They are what, $250 brand new? And they really don’t give a good drop at all! I loved my Tein springs but I found that they really didn’t ride how I wanted them to. I did autocross a couple of times and they worked OK. I can’t wait to see how my skunk2’s will be in my next autocross!

These springs are only $192 brand new and I tell you now, they are worth every penny! For more info on these sexy red springs, go to this link: http://www.skunk2.com/Suspension/ind...odId=lowspring

Here are some pictures:
http://s114.photobucket.com/albums/n...razyxb/Skunk2/

The best before pic I could find


YAY for Skunk2 Springs!


After Front


After Rear


After Overall






Hot Red

 

whats are ur wheels? did u hav s or h techs before? why do like em more? but ya mine are on the way to!

 

The wheels are 17" MSR Series 113 w/ Kumho tires.

I had S-Tech's before, which were very nice but I personally didn't get a very smooth ride with them. They handled "well" when I autocrossed with them but just weren't 100% to my standards! I really need some new shocks too but I've been slackin' with the cash!!

You have Skunk2's on the way? Schweet!

 

ok so i've been trying to decide between the skunk 2 and tein h-techs.
my main concerns with the skunk2 are the ride height and ride smoothness/comfort.
as you know, the htechs give a 1 inch drop, but these skunk2 give a 1.5. so i was wondering if you were having any trouble with going up steep driveways or going over speedbumps/potholes. also, is it more comfortable than stock ? i want to maintain a smooth ride for the ladies haha. also need good height clearance for loading luggage and cargo in the back...

 

Lookin' good!

 

Ok well first off, see the picture below of my car coming into the driveway *before the front S2's were installed* where the lift was. This is when I had the S-Tech's on the front. I had no problems getting in this super deep "ditch" driveway with the S-Tech's on... You can kinda see in the picture that there is a board on the ground so I wouldn't have to scrape going in there. When coming out of the driveway WITH the Skunk2's on, I had no scraping problems either. So it evened out really.

To compare with the 1 inch H-Techs ~~ Do you have rims on your car? Like I said before, I have 17's and I haaate an outrageous amount of wheel gap and that is one reason why I got rid of my TRD 1-inch springs in the first place. I feel that a 1-inch drop doesn't really make a difference at all. You'll still have a significant amount of wheel gap if you have rims and it's not like a 1-inch drop will even make a big performance/comfort difference either.

Ok as far as the luggage/cargo part, this might get confusing but bare with me. Like I said in the original post, I have had the S2 rear springs on for a few weeks. In that time, I had 4 people in my car and luggage too for a 2 hour trip. The people in the car obviously made the car go down a little bit but I had no problems with scraping at all. Usually when I have people in there, the exhaust will scrape when I go over a speed bump or something but it didn't do it with the S2's.

As far as being "more comfortable than stock"... Well IMHO, stock will always be more "comfortable" than anything (because that is how the car is supposed to be) but as far as overall performance, overall upgrading suspension makes it a lot better. Honestly, the S2's are SO comfortable from what I can feel from having them on now.

On a side note, I have been told that the S2's will settle a bit more than they have so far. I will post up pictures in about a week to compare to see if there is a difference!

 

hmmm ... ok thanks for the info.

i do have the 18" TRD's on for the spring/summer/fall, and i switch out to the stockers for winter.
i will be switching out my TRD exhaust for the GReddy Ti-C in august, so the bigger exhaust i'm worried about scraping. my driveway at home is a lot steeper than yours, i'd say a 20-30 degree slope, and i too have that sidewalk gutter thing that you have.
also, since i go to school in pittsburgh during the school year, i have to constantly encounter speedbumps, potholes, railroads, etc ... basically crap roads 24/7. no smooth asphalt anywhere.
i definitely know that the handling will improve with the lower center of gravity, and i know skunk2's great reputation performance-wise.

 

Ohh ok thats cool. The 18's probably fill the gaps even better than 17s anyway!

That sucks about potholes/asphalt/etc. Oh the driveway in the pic isn't mine, although I wish it was, because they have a lift in their garage! PIMP!

Yeah S2 is a good company. I'm very glad they started making box stuff. It might take a while for them to produce some more things but i'll definitely be keeping my eyes on their products! Good stuff!

 

Not to threadjack, but Evosky... I have the TRD 18's and an H.Tech drop... when I had my 15's on, the H.Tech was a decent drop, but with the 18's on there, it's begging for more of a drop. (Goldline, DF210) I'm just outside of Chicago, and the roads suck here too, but the way I see it, I already run 35 series tires, so what's another inch down? The drop on the Skunks looks really good.

 

ok .. yeah i'm still on the fence about this ... i can get both skunk2 and htechs at competitive prices, but i just dont want to be scraping and messing up my underbody and bumper lips all the time if the drop is not practical enough ...
and i've always wanted teins ... but i know skunk2 is up there too ahhh ..... such a hard decsion.

for the skunk2's, are there any creaking issues ? just in daily driving and such. because my friend who had a civic on htechs had creaking, and he couldnt stand it, so he took off the htechs. i get a decent amount of creaking from my stock springs right now ... which is weird ....

 

Cracking? Wow... It will be some time before my springs think about cracking, lol.. But I seriously doubt they will.. If they do, ya got me! lol

 

Creaking... The H.Tech have a plastic cover over where the dead coils touch, so there isn't any noise or rubbing. The Skunks don't appear to have that, but you can buy a wire wrap to wrap along the dead coils if you think noise might be an issue.

 

Ooooh I see what ya'll are saying.. I just used the stock plastic covers.

 

Yea, those two brown pieces of plastic off of the Teins for the fronts...

Some springs, like the DF210 (these too, it looks like) have several dead coils in the rear. Occasionally, these coils rub and make noise. They're under some pretty serious tension so I wouldn't expect them to make too much of a racket.

You saw the plastic sleeve on the back Teins? I wanna say they are the second coil in from the top? It's the same theory.

Anyway, I feel like I'm rambling...

I couldn't find a good picture of the DF210 rear installed, but every other dead coil has a wrap to prevent noise.
See how the 5 dead coils on the Skunks touch? That's what the wrap prevents.

It's by no means necessary to do, but if you do notice noise, that's a fix for it. (it's not like the rear springs are difficult to remove)

 

right right.
anyway, i'm still undecided, though prob leaning toward tein.
nothing against skunk2. probably may even get them in the future when i don't need to rely on the box as my daily driver.

keep us updated on how those S2's ride !

 

Oooh ok. The plastic covers that I have only touch the place where the spring meets the metal housing I guess I could call it...

 

Right... it shouldn't be noisy, but if they are, plastic wire wrap will quiet them down.