lowering springs on stock shocks, bad idea?
lowering springs on stock shocks, bad idea? i really want to lower my car but dont want to spend 7-800$ right now to do it. Ive already spent alot of money on it this year. Is it that bad of a thing to do w/ out getting aftermarket shocks?
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If your going strictly for looks, and don't care about ride or handling then its up to you to give it a try. If you care about ride, handling, control, feel etc. then shocks are the last thing you want to skip out on.
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YEAH...the ride will probably be terrible...depending on how worn out they are.
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my car sees the track maybe once a year. why lower it? because i have 18's on it and it looks like its made to go off roading. i want to drive my car on nice days and weekends. i have a real nice DD, i just enjoy driving it and want it to look badass
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Hello, if your shocks are in decent shape you should be fine. We offer a lowering spring that will drop your car 1" and still retain OE ride quality. We have the springs in stock and sell for $229.95 per set of four. The part number for the set is SP001. I also sell just the front or backs by themselves for $125.95 per pair. Her is a pic of a car with our springs installed and a link to our page. Made in the USA.
http://www.bmrfabrication.com/F-bodySuspension.htm
http://www.bmrfabrication.com/F-bodySuspension.htm
Last edited by BMR Tech2; Jun 9, 2008 at 10:07 AM.
The ride will be terrible even if they AREN'T worn out. I put a Pro-Kit on my car when it had around 1500-2000 miles, and the ride was terrible. Due to budgetary considerations, I drove it that was for another 30,000 miles, or so. At that point, I put on the SLP Bilsteins.
I know that everybody says the Konis are superior, however A) The Konis are a lot more $$; and B) At least in my opinion, the Bilsteins were a tremendous step up over the DeCarbons, so I'm reasonably happy with them; and finally C) I've never ridden in a car with the ProKit Koni combination, so I can't make a comparison.
The lower the drop the worse it's going to ride. I bought my Firehawk with 27,xxx miles on it with sportline springs. It freakin sucked dude. The stock dampeners aren't very good to begin with. Add softer spring rates to the equation and the stock dampeners can't take it.
You won't realize, like me, how shitty the stock dampeners are until you upgrade to something.
Would I recommend doing springs now and wait and save the money for koni's or revalved bilsteins next spring? YES
I drove my car for a year with stock dampeners and sportlines. Will it drive down the road? Yes. Does it ride rough? Yes. It's like anything else, you will get use to it.
If you want to do your suspension in stages I think thats fine. Not everyone can drop that kind of coin for koni's. If work and such wasn't the way it is right now I probably couldn't.
There is a reason Strano and Koni's are talked about so much on here. It's because they are the best. Not once have I heard someone say another setup is better than Strano/Koni or Strano/re valve bilsteins.
How shitty ride/handling quality is like anything else in life. It's relative. It just depends on what you have to compare it to.
My car puts down around 320rwhp and I think it's pretty quick. If I rode in a new Z06 with 500rwhp I would think my Firehawk is a turd. But if I never ride in a 500rwhp car I won't know. Does that make sense?
Hope this helps.
Jason
You won't realize, like me, how shitty the stock dampeners are until you upgrade to something.
Would I recommend doing springs now and wait and save the money for koni's or revalved bilsteins next spring? YES
I drove my car for a year with stock dampeners and sportlines. Will it drive down the road? Yes. Does it ride rough? Yes. It's like anything else, you will get use to it.
If you want to do your suspension in stages I think thats fine. Not everyone can drop that kind of coin for koni's. If work and such wasn't the way it is right now I probably couldn't.
There is a reason Strano and Koni's are talked about so much on here. It's because they are the best. Not once have I heard someone say another setup is better than Strano/Koni or Strano/re valve bilsteins.
How shitty ride/handling quality is like anything else in life. It's relative. It just depends on what you have to compare it to.
My car puts down around 320rwhp and I think it's pretty quick. If I rode in a new Z06 with 500rwhp I would think my Firehawk is a turd. But if I never ride in a 500rwhp car I won't know. Does that make sense?
Hope this helps.
Jason
It'd be easy to jump on a forum and procede to tell folks how I have the perfect part for all their needs. That's what many do. I'm not, and don't ever want to be that guy.
The facts are the stock shocks ride like crap, becaue they are crap. They do a terrible job damping the stock springs and unsprung weight. Adding lowering springs that have more rate and less available travel left for the shocks to do their damping isn't a good combination.
I've had customers tell me that my springs don't ride any worse than stock springs do when they use stock shocks. That's great.... but the OEM ride quality is horrible, and the control is even worse. You can only get but so bad, and the shocks are pretty much horrible.
Can you lower a car on stock shocks? Yes you can. Should you? No you shouldn't. The stock springs are not the weakest link in a stock suspension. Can you improve them? You can, just like you can improve your cylinder heads... but like your heads don't if you don't have a cam and intake and exhaust to make use of them do they help as much as they should?
The facts are the stock shocks ride like crap, becaue they are crap. They do a terrible job damping the stock springs and unsprung weight. Adding lowering springs that have more rate and less available travel left for the shocks to do their damping isn't a good combination.
I've had customers tell me that my springs don't ride any worse than stock springs do when they use stock shocks. That's great.... but the OEM ride quality is horrible, and the control is even worse. You can only get but so bad, and the shocks are pretty much horrible.
Can you lower a car on stock shocks? Yes you can. Should you? No you shouldn't. The stock springs are not the weakest link in a stock suspension. Can you improve them? You can, just like you can improve your cylinder heads... but like your heads don't if you don't have a cam and intake and exhaust to make use of them do they help as much as they should?
__________________
www.stranoparts.com --814-849-3450
Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
10 SCCA Solo National Championships, 2008 Driver of they Year, 2012 Driver of Eminence
13 SCCA Pro Solo Nationals Championships
2023 UMI King of the Mountain Champion
www.stranoparts.com --814-849-3450
Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
10 SCCA Solo National Championships, 2008 Driver of they Year, 2012 Driver of Eminence
13 SCCA Pro Solo Nationals Championships
2023 UMI King of the Mountain Champion
Various threads with before/after pics of SP141 springs:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspension-brakes/653781-strano-springs-pics.html
https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...3&page=1&pp=10
https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspension-brakes/688764-suspension-parts.html
https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspension-brakes/576054-before-after-pics-strano-springs.html
https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspension-brakes/653781-strano-springs-pics.html
https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...3&page=1&pp=10
https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspension-brakes/688764-suspension-parts.html
https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspension-brakes/576054-before-after-pics-strano-springs.html
__________________
www.stranoparts.com --814-849-3450
Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
10 SCCA Solo National Championships, 2008 Driver of they Year, 2012 Driver of Eminence
13 SCCA Pro Solo Nationals Championships
2023 UMI King of the Mountain Champion
www.stranoparts.com --814-849-3450
Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
10 SCCA Solo National Championships, 2008 Driver of they Year, 2012 Driver of Eminence
13 SCCA Pro Solo Nationals Championships
2023 UMI King of the Mountain Champion
