GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I have an issue....I just switched my eibach pro kit springs and replaced them w/ hotchkis springs.now its loud when i drive down the road.if you look inside the trunk there is two small hatch openings that can be popped out and it lets you have access to the top bolt on the rear struts. somebody please do this test for me......when you bounce the rear suspension up and down does that bolt move w/ the car or can you see it moving against the relation of the car

b/c mine seems to move toward the top of the car (into the trunk) when i push down on the suspension

Mine moves a little also. when I push down on the car, the top of the strut rises a small amount, when you let up it drops down. It only moves a small amount, but the movement is definitely there.It looks like there is a thick rubber bushing at the top of the strut, when you push down the bushing compresses a little, as an additional shock/vibration absorber. I didn't measure the amount of movement, it would be hard to compare the amount of movement between the two. My first guess is that the movement you see is typical and ok, but that's no guarantee

ok...thats good to hear.....the other thing i noticed is that the top of the strut actually makes contact w/ the plastic from the trunk in a few places....its even got plastic filings all over the top of the strut now from rubbing....even though ive only driven a mile!!

that doesn't sound right, but I don't know if that's a normal effect of the springs mod. Mine doesn't hit, at least not with the movement I can induce by bouncing the car.

Had a buddy come out and look at it.....the shop missed the washer on the top of the bump stops.....a very important part....i knew i couldn't have missed anything....ive done this install too many times. i'll be there tomorrow morning for them to rectify the situation.

Quote, originally posted by philndz »Had a buddy come out and look at it.....the shop missed the washer on the top of the bump stops.....a very important part....i knew i couldn't have missed anything....ive done this install too many times. i'll be there tomorrow morning for them to rectify the situation.Don't you just love it when someone else works on your car? They charge alot, but care very little.

This is why I try to be extra careful when I do work on cars! Working at CC, we tend to get the short end of the stick because of other shops who really DON'T care. But..because of my experience, I can do a pretty good job, it might not be excellent, but it's better than most!Heck, i'll put more effort into someone else's car than I will my own!Stupid shops, I hope they get it right this time!

Let us know how they compare to the Eibachs. I thought you had an aftermarket sway bar.

nope, no sway bar (YET)the hotchkis are slightly lower and handling is a very decent improvement.....all w/ very little change in ride quality!I'm very happy so far.....got a race tomorrow so we'll see how they do on the the track

Now that you have the springs you need to get the Hotchkis bars to finnish you handling package. How does that size tire work on a 7"rim. I know that they are closer to the correct height than the 215-50-17 s are.

sway bars are the next mod....and some race rubber for the trackthis tire size seems perfect on 7in rims

How was your race day at the track?

fantastic....the hotchkis make the car way more predictable. it felt really really solid and responsive at the limit!

I suspected that they would be better on a car without a bar upgrade. The hotchkis bars tend to understeer a bit with TRD/ProKit springs but probably work great for their own springs. The progress rear bar is great for TRD springs but would probably make a hotchkis spring setup too twitchy.

The handlling is mostly neutral with the spring and bar combo. It does not understeer like it did stock.

i plan on getting the progress sway....twitchy is okay w/ me...the faster the car responds the happier i am