Lowering springs and shock absorbers

[yaboy4life93]

Hey guys, my 2001 squeaks very minorly when it hits a bump. I was told the squeak was coming from the right rear shock absorber. With that I was wondering if I could grease it, or would that be dangerous? On the otherhand I was given a quote of 150 to change the rare two, but if I were to have to change them, I would change all of them for I guess 250. Well if it was dangerou and I did have to change them, would I feel a smoother ride? while there of course I was also thinking of perhaps lowering the car. I was looking at springs on ebay from a seller named raceguys. They were like 90 dollars. Are these legit springs or some hazardous ones. Also does the lowering of the car really help appearance, as I have 18 in wheels w/t low profiles. Any insight would be very much appreciated?

 

[Bullitt347]

You can grease the shock bushings, but you really can't grease the shock itself. Shocks and struts are what dictate ride quality, not the springs, unless the springs have too high of a rate. A 600 lb/in spring on a V-6 car could induce a jarring ride and shocks would have little effect. A wrong shock could induce a jarring ride on a mildly sprung car as well. Shocks are really "spring oscillation dampeners" and not shock absorbers at all. If the "shock/strut" is to stiff, it will not let the spring oscillate and cause a rough/jarring ride. If the shock/strut is weak or "blown" then the spring will oscillate with no control and cause a overly bouncy condition when hitting a bump. I have H&R Super Sport springs on my 02' Mustang and the ride quality for the most part is like stock on "normal" roads, and somewhat less compliant on bumpy roads. The handling is MUCH better when tossing the car into the corners tho. The ride height came down about 1-3/4" overall and I like the result. I am also running a 245/45/17 in front and a 275/35/18 in the rear with no rubbing issues whatsoever except the front drags/scuffs when turning in reverse only. This is due to the ackerman being off when going backwards. When driving forward there is no problem at all. I am not concerned with it as 99% of my driving is forward.