Hey, so my 09 SS got vandalized cause apparently some punk kids thought it would be fun to beat my car to a pulp and steal my charge pipe + BOV. Happened last night but I'm already thinking about what I need to get cause I NEED a car but I want something I can tinker with myself.

I want to lower an LS/LT Sedan, all show no go. At this point I need something reliable (questions to come), I need something that I want to be able to afford without getting a 10k+ loan again, and something that I can actually build instead of buying built (bad luck, not cool anyways).

Since owning an SS, I LOVE the front and back end. I would like to do the SS front clip to give it the lower, sleeker SS look if I don't find the right mileaged cobalt with fog lights.

I want to do XXR 527's, 522's, or 530's, probably 8.75 or even 9.75 if I can fit them without looking dumb as hell and get a really deep concave look. I love the wide, concave look, not too much poke but a lot of beef.

As far as suspension, what would be my options for coils on the base models? With that being answered what's the best route to take to get the best bang for the buck?

Questions:
1. Fitment: What difference am I looking at in suspension from the 09 SS I own compared to a base model? If I go low what parts would be my weakest points in the setup that would need to be upgraded or repaired? Will I get axle bind/ (Not even 100% sure what that is, not to familiar with suspension)

2. Coils: What would be my options for coils on the base models? What's the best route to take to get the best bang for the buck? Also, how low would these bring me? Low low, or just kind of low? I'm not looking to scrape pan or anything but I would like to get the 17" or 18" wheels/tires near or under the fender while being flush if that makes sense..

3. Wheels: I know on the SS you can run 8.75 +35 with big breaks no issues. Without a big break package what offset am I looking at for the widest wheel I can go with a little stretch and poke?

4. Am I unrealistic for trying to build this? I saw a chopped picture of a silver sedan with XXR 527s in 17s I believe and I digged the look of it. Also Jookycola is running this and my idea is very similar just a little wider.

v v I'm going to hit him up too and see what he thinks but any other advice to how I can achieve this look?

No trollin' please and don't hate on me for not just buying an SS again.

 

All cobalt suspension parts are interchangeable. I don't know how wheel offsets would work but I'm assuming the same since the same body.

 

IMO i would buy back your SS from the Ins. comapny and swap over all of the suspension. the LS and LT's came with the FE1 suspension, with stamped steel controla arms and meh steering knuckles. you could swap it all but im not sure if the 4 lug hubs would bolt in.

Jookys car looks good, esp for a base model.

id say go for it. there are much more knowledgeable people than I that can be more help with this, hope they see it and chime in!

 

depending how low u go, you will get axle bind. the ss motors are different so they dont bind as much

 

^ yea any lower than about 24"/25" fender heights and you start taking your chances with axle bind, sucks to hear about your SS though. right now i'm on stock steelies for winter and lowered all the way down on coilovers (with both lock rings still in) and i don't get much bind (just under 25" front fender height). Jooky's car looks perfect to me in those pics, i love his setup, even with the base bumpers

 

axle bind sucks. ask me how i know lol
and yea his car does look great in those pics! too bad its gone :/

 

yea i know you're like 1"/2" lower than me just by looking at your mud flaps, and i'm lowered like 3.5" from stock, like i said i don't get much bind unless i kill it in first gear or kill it to get on the highway. just cruising i'm fine, might look into Powell rotated mounts and new wheels next year, depends on what happens between now and then

 

should def get bigger wheels haha. and that sig is old unfortunately. its lower now with diff wheels

 

i know, i've had my snows on less than a week and i've been told by a couple people it looks better with blacked out wheels i just don't want to spend money again for wheels if this is just my DD for work when i want to get a new bike come spring time, i'd probably go 17x7.5 or 8 anyway. i'm fussy with what i like, at first i didnt think i'd like my Sport Editions but they grew on me and i love them, just small for what i'm going for now

 

I would but I have a lien on the car and if i buy it back I'd still owe on the lien and have to make payments plus a second payment to buy a LT or LS.

 

gee how bad did they vandalize it, that sucks. and dam his LS got low. coil overs should work, spacers some 18's with 235's

 

Pretty bad... cops think it was a group of kids who specifically targeted me cause they only touched my car, 1 out of the 6 cars in my drive way. Body is beat to ****, they deep scratched everything you can find and kicked in a bunch of the body panels, scratched the wheels to ****, broke almost every window, punctured all my seats, speakers, RPD, and even busted out the vents in the dash. My BOV and charge pipe is missing too so that just is the icing on the cake. I'm even missing a few things that they did sadly.

You think running a 9.75 with 235 are going to rub or am I crazy for thinking that'll be ok with the +20 offset they only offer? lol

 

I'd be more worried in security then wheels at this point.

 

Pics??

And that will have way too much poke. I know the lowest offset wheel setup with the widest wheels (while still having nice fitment) was Dom's car with 9.5" wide wheels with I think +22 offset in the rear and +25 in the front. I could have those mixed up though

 

Look at Brent's car. 17x9s +30 rears and +25 fronts. Pokes a tiny bit, looks amazing

 

i think that will work. forgot the size of my old cars rims, had it lowered not on coils tho had horrible tire gap so i spaced it to flush fit.

and that sucks any chance you could get the exhaust off of it?

btw if you need help with installs, im a mechanic and i got tools and a garage

 

I'm running mine as low as the black sedan on the picture on the front end and I have about one inch between my tires and the fenders on the rear.
my tires don't rub, but im only on 215's, and I have no axle bind.
I got ksport coilovers, powell rotated trans mount and ttr steering rack spacers.

 

a 9.75 will poke a little more then mine. it might rub depending how low you go

 

yea i'm on Megan Racing coilovers with OTTP rack spacers, might look to get Powell rotated mounts next year to get rid of the little bit of axle bind i do have. throw up some pics guys so the OP can see your setups

 

Somethings fishy here, the problems with ya lnf do suck but has your haters did you a favor here lol? pics?

 

I don't want to tuck the tire too much if I even tuck at all. I guess that depends on how low I can get it to go and if I get axle bind

I want to stretch a 215/35/18 or 225s over a 8.75 or even possibly a 9.75 depending on poke and how everything plays out. So I'm not only looking for drop in the coils but anything to go low even if it drops me the smallest amount.

Thanks man, and no. They took pictures of everything so if I wouldn't have called the cops so soon I would have stripped the rest of it myself! Haha, just kidding. I wish I was able to get stuff off of it though but we'll see what happens. I might be hitting you up in the near future, I'm not too smart with suspension work, more of an engine type of guy as far as my ability to do it myself but I feel I'll eventually have to learn all this stuff since I love stance. Only makes sense.

Even only at +20 it's going to stick that much more out? I guess I might have to settle with 8.75s but I want them to be wiiiiide.

How much have you spent on your setup and have you changed over to the TC knuckles and other stuff dealing with TC suspension (from what I've read) to minimize axle bind?

As much as I loved the car I think it could be considered a favor! My mom laughs though cause she's always hearing me talk about how much I can't stand my car cause it breaks down but she doesn't understand the love/hate relationship use Cobalt owners have. LOL

I'll get pics up tonight when I get home from work if I can even function properly on my back meds. - Pics are on laptop so I'll have to do tomorrow.

I want to see some pics though from you guys with setups and the specs of them if you have time to throw something up.

Two more questions on my mind. Bad idea to buy a 2008 with over 60k miles? I have a 2009 I'm looking at right now with only 22k miles I want to jump on once I found out everything. I also completely forgot I want a little front and rear camber. Nothing too crazy, just a little but nothing like that VIP ****... lol Would I need to shim the rear to get camber it sounds like?

 

All cobalt revocation areas are exchangeable. I don't know how rim offsets would work but I'm supposing the same since the same system.

 

Looks clean, love the rear over the cobalt any day

 

Oh jeez, this is why I stay away from Flint. That absolutely sucks, but cool that you're getting into another blat.

 

This is what mine looks like. 215/45/17 on a 7" wheel