What would be the most conservative drop, with the least issues (ie bottoming out, camber, stock shock life) judging by real life experience?
Looking at this matrix below, it seems that Swift and Tanabe are the top choice, but the Swift springs tend to bottom out?
.........................Drop Front......... Drop Rear
Tein S Tech............. 1.9 ..................1.8
Tein H Tech ............1.5 ..................1.3
H&R .....................1.3 ..................1.2
Swift ....................1.3 ..................1.0
Eibach .................1.5 ..................1.2
Tanabe ...............1.0 ..................1.3
B&G S2s .............1.9 ..................1.8

 

I ran -1.5 camber all around with 0 toe on my Subaru for years with no issue. If my camber comes out to be anything less than -1.5 all around, I will be happy.
Toe kills tires, not camber.

 

Tanabe should be the mildest drop but tends to drop the rear a bit more than the front which can look a bit off. There's this "fix" if you decide on Tanabes and want to raise the back a bit
My 09 G37xS (AWD) Lowered on Tanabe - Droopy Bum fix too!(PICS) - G35Driver
I had B&Gs and they're like H&Rs (which are no way as "mild" as listed)
B&Gs/H&Rs/S-Techs are all within a 1/4" of each other, Swift, Eibach & Tanabe are a fair amount higher and probably within a 1/4" of each other on that side of the spectrum.
As far as Swifts bottoming out, haven't heard that they're excessive in that regard. The milder drop springs that try to retain OEM comfort will be more prone to hitting the stops but shouldn't be enough to deter you from getting them.

And yes, toe kills tires but heavy camber will also make short work of them, not -1.5 but over -2.

 

Springs are not bottoming out unless they have a really poor design. The cars bottom out on bumpstops on the frame or inside of the shocks.

 

Springs were installed today.

DOMO

2.5 hours labor charges, which was fair, IMO. No complications, except for the discovery that my driver's side tie-rod end is starting to fail. So that's getting replaced later this week, which has to happen before the car can go in for an alignment.

Because of the tie-rod issue, and the unknown alignment, I didn't get on the car hard at all, so I can't assess any changes in handling, other than to say the comfort level seems identical before/after.

The drop, however... that works for me completely. Those 19x10" Rears pulled in to where I'm very happy. Most of the poke is gone. It's not 100% flush, because the tires are quite normal with sidewall, and not at all stretched. If I had to say, it sure looks like the edge of the rim is perfectly aligned with the vertical plane of the rear fender.

Overall, the car looks far more aggressive. I hate using that word, but at this point it's the right word to use. Very sleek. And I made it up the hump in my driveway, which was a huge concern.

Pics tomorrow sometime.

 

Higher in the front or just me?

 

A little bit, yes. But if you're seeing what I'm seeing, and I'm good with what I'm seeing, then you're going to that place the Bene Gesserit dare not go. (Worms, spice, what's the freaking connection? Seriously, what is it? LOL) Maybe you'll think otherwise tomorrow after seeing pics.

I'd like to find a perfectly flat location for photos. Like a cement floor parking garage, or a large and relatively new parking lot that looks level. Basically, somewhere that the gap on both sides of the car is identical. You know, for the kids.

 

Great to hear the install went w/out issues and nice to find out going in about the tie rod end, seems a bit premature for that to fail since you don't have a lot of miles on your car. Must've been those off ramps that you hit on two wheels
At any rate look forward to pics and more impressions post-alignment, I told you the poke would all but vanish

 

I don't think ramping hard caused it. The boot is shredded, so something much have kicked up hard and ripped into it, then crap got into the joint and it's been slowly going bad. You would only know it with the car on the lift, because steering is rock solid at all speeds. Clearly the TR boot is there for a reason. LOL

Whatever happened, I'm actually pleased to find out about it now rather than later, when it could have been much worse.

Well, yes, but it remains to be seen if that exceeds spec by so much that I have to dig deeper into my wallet for a camber & toe kit, in which case a little bit of poke might come back. Not really wanting to do that.

Way too much detail about details. Can't believe I went down this road. OMG.

 

When all the dust settles and you still have a grin on your face, then I'll be happy too Hopefully your camber is at the very worst, right on the upper edge of spec, Anything in the -1.5 or better should be a win as long as your toe looks good. I'm crossing my fingers way over here in New Mexico so maybe, just maybe it'll work out w/out any more out of pocket.

 

Wife's none too thrilled.

You spent how much on springs?
How much on installation?
How much will the tie-rod end cost?
Then you have to pay Matt for installation... again?
And how much is the alignment?
And WTF is a camber & toe kit?
It costs how much?
Matt has to install that, too?
And another alignment?

Oh boy.

We have a Caribbean Vacation coming up soon... that should relax her. I hope.

 

That's almost a carbon copy of my Mr&Mrs banter about 2+years ago w/ the exception of the install and the Caribbean vacation. Tell your wife it's my fault.

 

Brand new admin parking lot in the school down the street.



I've a set of 3mm spacers I'm going to play with for the 8.5" fronts, so they match the offset in the 10" rears.

 

Looks great Rochester! I think the rear looks perfect! You need the front lip, just tell your wife the car always had it lol.

 

Thanks, man. The driveway is a hard stop on the OEM chin. Can't happen even if I wanted it to.