# My little weekend project thread



## groovyjay (Feb 14, 2011)

I finally had a saturday with nothing else planned so I had the opportunity to work on the car. I bought the car last November and I was very pleased how it survived the brutal winter we had here and wasn't too keen on lowering it with all the snow we had.

But that's all in the past and summer's here. 

So here's what I started with:




























It's a 1.8L LT with 5-speed manual. A really nice and solid car for the money, gets you from A to B, but that's about it. No thrills or chills. So adding little bits and pieces here and there will (hopefully) make the driving more fun and the car nicer to look at.

The stock suspension has worked just fine, ride is nice with stock springs but I could use a little better handling so I opted to go with Chevrolet's own lowering springs.



















Let the fun begin.










Rear springs are pretty straight forward to change. Here's a shot of the stock spring, they are longer and thinner than the new lowering springs ( as you would expect).










Here's the new spring going in.










Both in and everything back together.










Front end needs a little more attention, but if you are familiar with these, you know they are nothing major to work on.










From the bottom up, you need to remove the drive shaft nut, spindle and sway bar and once you have them done you need to remove the shock tower mounts from the engine bay. 










After that you can pull the package out and start working on the spring swap.










Good quality spring compressor is the key here for saving time and getting the job done safely.










There it is. Ready for install.










Just put everything back together in reversed order and you'll be golden. 





























First shots after rolling the car out. Already a lot lower, I'd say it's an inch lower at this point and it goes lower once it settles.


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## groovyjay (Feb 14, 2011)

While I was at it I decided to install the chrome mirrors. This is another quick job, all you need is a screw driver and two hands. Took 5 minutes to do.










Stock unit ready to go.










Gone. The 3 square holes are where the cover attaches to the mirror assembly.










The mirror needs to be removed out of the way, it just pops off.










Shiny chrome cover in place. I like'em...



















After a quick wash and hoovering the interior I drove home and snapped couple of more shots. I'm really pleased the way it sits now and the chrome mirrors suits the car nicely to.

After some honey do's I finally took the car on some twisty back roads. Man, this is one modification, everybody who like to drive their cars, must do!!! The ride is still really good, no way near harsh. I'd say it has firmed up some, but it's not a race car suspension. It's really BMW like. But the thing that is best about it is the improved handling. Very nice...

I liked it so much that I didn't want to stop driving it. 

I haven't tried other suspension set ups on a Cruze, but I have coil overs on my other daily driver and have tried zillion different suspension set ups on my track cars. For the money this was a really really really nice upgrade! I highly recommend them to everybody looking to lower their car to get a nice sporty, lowered look, nice ride and handling, but are not willing to pay for coil overs.

I'd say the car sits about 1.4" lower now and it's just perfect for me. I don't have to worry about speed bumps or scraping the front bumper on my drive way.

I also got rid of the rubber floor mats and installed new chevrolet floor mats, so the interior is even nicer place to be now too... 

Sorry for the novel...

PS: The springs, mirrors and floor mats are all genuine chevrolet, no cheap rip offs...


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## shawn672 (Oct 31, 2010)

I've heard the springs don't work on the US models but I could be mistaken. Not near low enough for me, but I hope they work well for you


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## groovyjay (Feb 14, 2011)

shawn672 said:


> I've heard the springs don't work on the US models but I could be mistaken. Not near low enough for me, but I hope they work well for you


Good point, I forgot to mention that my car is an EURO spec car not sure how they differ from the US spec cars. I'd think they'd be all the same suspension wise... I got the part number for the springs through an US Chevy dealer, since the dealers here didn't have them listed on their catalogs yet...


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## osiris10012 (Feb 4, 2011)

shawn672 said:


> I've heard the springs don't work on the US models but I could be mistaken. Not near low enough for me, but I hope they work well for you


the b&g springs on mine are euro spec if i remember correctly...thats why they needed mine to test if they would work and they fit great...


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## shawn672 (Oct 31, 2010)

osiris10012 said:


> the b&g springs on mine are euro spec if i remember correctly...thats why they needed mine to test if they would work and they fit great...


Are you saying they were originally designed to fit the european cruze?

When I pull up the GM springs, it says "2.0 Diesel ONLY" but I imagine they're identical...


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## justmike (Dec 6, 2010)

That looks so good. Whats sad is that I am having a hard enough time getting down to seats at the height my Cruze is now. lol Especially after the Echo where you sit up high. Do you think they will ever make after market chrome trim rings for the fog lights? Those mirrors don't look too bad at all. My wife really likes them. I'm kind of iffy on it because my car is silver


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## jsscooby (May 11, 2011)

ride height looks good, although stock, the Cruze looks good too. I have to think on the mirrors. I know the higher trims on the hhr had them and they looked good.


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## groovyjay (Feb 14, 2011)

shawn672 said:


> Are you saying they were originally designed to fit the european cruze?
> 
> When I pull up the GM springs, it says "2.0 Diesel ONLY" but I imagine they're identical...


There are different part #'s for diesel engines and gas 1.6-1.8L engines.


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## osiris10012 (Feb 4, 2011)

shawn672 said:


> Are you saying they were originally designed to fit the european cruze?
> 
> When I pull up the GM springs, it says "2.0 Diesel ONLY" but I imagine they're identical...


i am not positive which european model mine are originally designed for(my guess is the gas models) but yes you are correct. my springs were shipped from europe. before i got a test fit they had me send pics of my suspension to see if the european set up was the same as our US models.


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## CHEVYCRUZE RS (Mar 29, 2011)

how much drop did those springs give you? looks stock to me


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## osiris10012 (Feb 4, 2011)

CHEVYCRUZE RS said:


> how much drop did those springs give you? looks stock to me


that pic was at about an inch and now that there settled i would say 1.2 -1.3 i will have to get you guys an updated pic. When i get the new front springs i am guessing the front will sit at about 1.5-1.6 inch drop. They are going to drop it an extra 10mm.


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## 70AARCUDA (Nov 14, 2010)

...how is the "ride" and "handing" (so far)?


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## osiris10012 (Feb 4, 2011)

70AARCUDA said:


> ...how is the "ride" and "handing" (so far)?


the ride is good they are a bit stiffer than stock but not much..and it definitely helped with handling...i haven't really taking it out and really tested it but you can tell it is more stable and responsive through the turns...and it reduced a little body roll...i think most of the body roll is due to the stock 215/60-16's that are on it...i want to put 18's on it, that should severely reduce the body roll...


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## rdkeller61 (Feb 10, 2011)

I think your car looks great! I really like the chrome mirrors. Good job!


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## CHEVYCRUZE RS (Mar 29, 2011)

yeah please get those new pics on the springs....mirrors look really good tho!


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## osiris10012 (Feb 4, 2011)

i tried getting a quick pic with my phone yesterday but the sun wouldn't cooperate so i will try again this week with my actual camera.


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## GMMillwright (Mar 5, 2011)

What is your current measurement from the ground to the top of the fender opening?


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## ivanjm (May 17, 2011)

Hi help me please i from costa rica and i like to know that the H Y R springs fit on my cruze 1.8 LS its an american version...here is the link on ebay...

H&R Lowering Sport Springs 28976-1 Chevy Cruze 2011 | eBay

Tanks guys...


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