Rep Power: 0

I was thinking of lowering my 2002 EM2 about 1.5" with the tein s tech lowering springs for about $200. Is an alignment absolutely necessary? I will be doing the install myself cus i got acess to a spring compressor. I want to put 17" wheels I just painted on. right now im ridin on steelies. I need to buy tires first then maybe get an alignment at the same time. What I want to know is my car has about 132k miles will I be ok with 1.5" lowering (shock wise)? And do i need to align my car. Someone told me they didnt align or get new shocks when they put coilovers on their lude. This is all for aesthetics not really performance.

 
Rep Power: 256

for $600 more dollars you can get fully adjustable progress coils. and yes when ever you do anything to the suspension you need an alignment.but as for having 135,000 on the stock shocks its hard to really say if they will be fine or not.

 
Rep Power: 367

lowering - if the shocks/struts are not designed for handling the lowering, they will be gone in no time and the ride will be crappy. I guess tokiko blues were recommended?
Also, at 1.5 lowering, you will likely need rear camber kit, or your rear tires will be spreading legs.
also, need to check top mounts while you at it. they tend to start clunking after installing lowering springs.
alignment is always warranted when you change things that change geometry of suspension. lowering also changes the toe due to small angle changes of the front struts, and if you decide for camber kits, yes, you need to align the car anyway.

 
Rep Power: 285

Tein s.techs are perfect!

You should always have an alignment done after any suspension work, if you want to save money, I'd suggest you do your LCA bushings, struts and springs all at once. It means you'll be shelling out another $400, but it will save the cost of two alignments in the long run.

 
Rep Power: 511

Any time I mess with my suspension I get an alignment.

Also, I rode on tein s-techs and stock struts for a while (~30,000 miles) but the next thing I bought were tokico blues.

 
Rep Power: 352

like everyone said. anytime you mess with suspension, you need alignment.

 
Rep Power: 0

ok, but what about the oem shock/strut dealie?

 
Rep Power: 511

They'll be fine for a while on stock struts, but I'd make tokico blues the next thing on your list of things to buy.

 
Rep Power: 285

Stock struts aren`t meant to be used with lowering springs, so they tend to blow out pre-maturely and ride terrible when low. Tokico blues are a perfect match with stechs are ride great!

 
Rep Power: 256

by the time you finish paying for shocks and alignments you could have invested in full coilovers.

 
Rep Power: 268

buy my tokico blues =D

 
Rep Power: 285

Good struts and springs, are way less than any decent set of coil overs.

 
Rep Power: 367

eh? you feeling better already?

 
Rep Power: 285

Sort of, still got a scratchy throat from being on oxygen, but the oxycodene is taking care of the pain for now.

Again, if I post anything weird, its the pills talkin.