Cheap suspension- how cheap should I go? What should I avoid?
 

I want to go through the suspension on my 99 ex coupe. I plan on the eibach pro-kit struts n springs, add rear sway bar, lower brace, upper and lower rear control arms and front 3-point tower brace. Maybe if I wanna go really far I'll do all the bushings, hard-mount front subframe and then get all crazy and do a full chromoly rollcage. Ha, maybe not all that. Ok, but here's where I need help and/or advice from those that've been there on these cars. I see a lot of cheap Chinese parts for these floating around. Particularly like the rear upper and lower control arms and lower brace. I have a gut feeling to avoid these no-brand china copy crap. Godspeed is brand I've seen that's still cheap, but possibly falls in same category. I want it to still be solid and reliable, so a poorly cast control arm that may snap is no good. What should I look for? Recommendations?

I know I know; fast, cheap, and safe. You can only have two.

Re: Cheap suspension- how cheap should I go? What should I avoid?
 

Suspension parts are an area where you don't want to cheap out. There are companies that are expensive just because of the name and then there are some that are expensive due to amount of R&D that was done to create the product.

I like to stick with companies like:

Progress Technology, Tein, Eibach, Energy Suspension, Neuspeed, DC Sports, KW.

Cheaper parts may sometimes not be as affective as there more expensive counterparts, like eBay strut tower and sway bars. They are better then nothing but not as good as they can be.

Re: Cheap suspension- how cheap should I go? What should I avoid?
 

^this

The way I look at it, imagine what would happen in the case of failure of that component. Cheap/knockoff parts have a higher tendency to fail, so that's where my logic comes from. In the case of suspension components, if, say, the strut fails (like the mounting bolts shear, which I've seen on various forums), that corner of the car will drop, resulting in more damage. Control arms are the same way.

Things like extra braces and whatnot, you'll notice a change in performance, but you'll still retain overall function.

Just some food for thought.

Re: Cheap suspension- how cheap should I go? What should I avoid?
 

The bare minimum I would spend on a suspension setup that is any kind of quality would be $500, Anything less, and you are risking it. But also consider that everything over $500 isn't great quality. Stick with name brands. Koni, Bilstein, H&R, Neuspeed, Tein, Ground Control, Eibach, Tokico, etc...