suspension upgrades for protege

[nativebackup1]

well i have a '97 protege and i am looking to lower it (not slam it,jus get rid of that ugly wheel gap) and i found some lowering springs on protege garage,but i was wondering if i should also get struts to go along with them. also does anyone know where to get a rear sway bar and a strut bar for the protege? im trying to make it handle well before doing any performance mods.

thanks

[91Protege]

I got new struts when I lowered mine, the Monroes were like 30 bucks each, and with 209K on the stocks there were blown out completly. This is by far the best riding lowered car that I own or have lowered for people. I got the springs from ebay and the struts from rockauto.com. As for the sway bar I found a site but its on my labtop and ill get that for ya later, and the strut tower brace i cant help you there. Did you try ebay, they have alot for your year.

Here is from the site that has them for me,
http://www.andysautosport.com/mazda/1995_1998_protege/suspension/sway_bars/addco/

[nativebackup1]

hey 91protege thanks alot with the link-its in my favorites now-lol i havent tried ebay yet but imma go there next. i finally decided to keep the car and i dont wanna half ass anything, u kno? thanks for the info. hey how low did u lower your car? the springs im looking at lower about 1.5 inches.

[91Protege]

I wanted to go 1" but those springs were like 300 bucks, so I went 1.8" front and rear. Here are some pics.
Before
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc167/Hot88MustangGT/Protege/IMG_1853.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc167/Hot88MustangGT/Protege/IMG_1855.jpg
After
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc167/Hot88MustangGT/Protege/IMG_1863.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc167/Hot88MustangGT/Protege/IMG_1865.jpg
With the 17"s I rub on super big bumps, I try to not to hit them but sometimes you just cant avoid them.

[nativebackup1]

wow car and drop look good-i have 14's on there now and i think the biggest i'll try to go is 15". i dont think i want anything bigger....well maybe after a 1.8 swap next year(naughty)

[91Protege]

I just got a good deal on the wheels so I couldnt refuse it. 100 bucks for all 4 with tires.

[nativebackup1]

wow 100 bucks? thats crazy-you definately cant go wrong there....

[91Protege]

Craigslist is great. There just import wheels so its easy to find them cheap.

[nativebackup1]

hmm well i have 14" inch american racing rims on now and i'll prob be getting 15" inch rotas or close-so i guess my question is how low is two low? i wanna drop wo inches... is that to low for a daily driver? i have a mean wheel gap-lol

[nativebackup1]

i don t kno if you can see but its like a off road vehical-lol

[nativebackup1]

^^^^^
dammit! always a small pic lol-ill measure the gap in the morning

[91Protege]

2 inches did you say? If your not going with 17's id say 2 should be good. I know that on my style 1.8 is just about enough for a daily driver, its handles nice, and rides smooth, somehow. Are you going to be doing the work yourslef or having a shop do it. If you do it, and 2" is too low then you can always change it. My mustang is lowered 2" up front and 1.8" out back, and thats perfect for daily use, all tho it just sits in my garage now.

[nativebackup1]

well i usually do everything myself,but i heard that working with springs is really hard,so i mite go through a shop,but labor will suck :-( i was thinking that i wanted to do 2 inches,but i hope that wont keep me from carrying my stuff to school-lol

[91Protege]

Springs are that hard to do, you just need some good spring compressors. The ones on my prot compressed very easy and when putting the new springs back on I didnt have to compress them.

[nativebackup1]

hmm thats what i was afraid of-lol i dont know-it just seems that im spending more on install than on the part-would i need a shop in order to install struts? because if so i might as well do them at the same time,you know?

[red99pro]

hey, cud one of u tell me how long ur longest enlink is center to center?

[91Protege]

Sway Bar end link?

You dont need a shop to install the struts, but if you are going to have a shop do it, its best to just put new stuff on all at the same time. Id get the mounts/bushings, struts, and the springs.

[red99pro]

yep

[nativebackup1]

yea... the money is gonna suck but i think thats what imma have to do...i need to get winter tires too-lol oh well i'll jus get it all-lol
red99-do you want it from a first gen or second gen?

[red99pro]

1st, if they r even made like the 3rd gens

[nativebackup1]

ok um maybe you should pm 91protege cuz he has one-i dont even kno where there is one around here-lol

[91Protege]

I just changed mine. Ill measure front and back. Your local parts store doesnt have any? The front and rear the bolt measures 5" total

[JoshV1288]

heres your front strut bar

http://www.specdtuning.com/mazda2.html

[91Protege]

Did you ever do anything?

[nativebackup1]

haha yep, i installed kyb gas struts and h&r springs; mazda motorsports 4 way adjustable rear sway bar(19mm) and i also bought a cuzco front lower tie bar-i still have yet to install the tie bar though. i also got a set a 15x6 miata wheels that only weigh 13 pounds each;i need to mount those still-it will be done in a few weeks-it handles so nicely now...like a protege should-lol

[91Protege]

Def right, how does it sit? You got pics?

[nativebackup1]

um it sits pretty good its not as low as i would like it, but it is a perfect stance for performance-i'll get some pics up

[nativebackup1]

im gonna be running 15 in miata wheels with a low profile tire so it will sit lower and have less wheel gap

[91Protege]

It will have more wheel gap with a thinner tire bro. Looks good.

[nativebackup1]

yea i kno :( but im hoping the space i gain with a smaller tire will be filled up with a bigger wheel...hopefully

[91Protege]

What do you have on it now? Stock size 14's? I donno if a 15 is going to make a big difference. On my pro with the stock 14's and 195/65/14's i think that fills the wheel well real good. And with the 17's and 205/40/17's I get some gap.

[nativebackup1]

well it came stock with 13's i have 14x6's on it on a 195/60/14 im gonna put the 15x6 miatas on a 195/50/15-i would have gone for a bigger wheels but the miata wheels are only 13.1 pounds each! woot! i think i will eventually get some 17's just for summer driving and such but by then i want to have coil-overs...