lowering question
On The Tree
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 170
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From: St Petersburg Florida / Murren Switzerland
the only other thing you will need is the bumper spacers. And make sure the tires clear. and you will need to be extra careful where you drive, i.e. frigg'in speed bumps! plus if you have SFC and exhaust pipes, etc.
Teching In
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 19
Likes: 0
Hope I don't sound like a caveman, but, what is a bumper spacer?
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Just to keep us in mind, we offer a high quality lowering spring that might fit your application. These springs are built to our specs with ride quality and great handling in mind. They offer a 1.25" lowered stance. And as always made here in the USA!! Here are a few pictures of vehicles using our springs-
All you need is springs if you are to lower your car. But being lower isn't the only factor that changes.
Stock shocks are poor at controlling stock springs, so if you add more springrate then thats even less spring control. Your ride quality will change and in my opinion would be worse than before. If you don't care about that, then I guess you can rule it out. Ideally people should upgrade the shocks when changing springs.
Lowering the car can have other effects like what your alignment sits at. Your camber and toe will change. Alignment should be considered. Lowering the car changes the panhard bar's geometry as it connects between the chassis and axle so you may end up with a slightly offcenter rear end. Also the lower control arms will change their geometry angle. If you like to launch the car then this angle will hurt your traction a little. To fix that, people put in lower control arm relocation brackets so that the arms will be level or at an opposite angle. The opposite angle can have a poor effect on higher speed turning stability though.
Just some tidbits I thought I would toss out there for you
Stock shocks are poor at controlling stock springs, so if you add more springrate then thats even less spring control. Your ride quality will change and in my opinion would be worse than before. If you don't care about that, then I guess you can rule it out. Ideally people should upgrade the shocks when changing springs.
Lowering the car can have other effects like what your alignment sits at. Your camber and toe will change. Alignment should be considered. Lowering the car changes the panhard bar's geometry as it connects between the chassis and axle so you may end up with a slightly offcenter rear end. Also the lower control arms will change their geometry angle. If you like to launch the car then this angle will hurt your traction a little. To fix that, people put in lower control arm relocation brackets so that the arms will be level or at an opposite angle. The opposite angle can have a poor effect on higher speed turning stability though.
Just some tidbits I thought I would toss out there for you
Possible damage could occur if it causes interference problems with other components on the vehicle. Otherwise the car would just have some ill handling characteristics..
YOu can lower with just springs and the stock shocks but the ride will be harsh. Its best to do it right all at once. As far as lowering springs there are a lot of good things about BMR, Hotchkis and Strano's. I would definitely get a panhard bar regardless if you replace the shock.
Here is a stand point from both directions because i've went down both roads. The lowering springs on stock shocks and lower springs with aftermarket shocks. On my 98 car I put right at 50k miles on a prokit with the stock shocks. 75k to 125k on the o.d. It wasn't all that bad, but I didn't have a properly setup car to compare to. Well i've only put 500 miles on my Koni/Strano combo on my new car and let be say I felt like a complete idiot for running the setup I had on my 98 car and actually thought it handled well. I was definetly living in a fantasy world. LOL!!
Here's my 2 cents...
1) If you lower the car, I would probably change the shocks. The Decarbons are okay for the stock springs, but not for lowering springs. As Guz said, the ride will be really harsh. Firmer is good...harsh is not..Might as well do the shocks at the same time
2) If you lower the car, it will shift to the side a bit, (more if it's already off center form the factory - yes some are). An adjustable will fix this. If you ever plan on getting bigger wheels/tires, you'll NEED to re-center the rear so the tires don't rub...especially during hard cornering
3) As far as the springs go, go with what you like. They're all pretty good. I with with Eibach's Pro-kit (don't go with the Sporlines if you plan on lowering AND getting bigger wheels). After about 5 years, they have settled a bit, and did have to roll the fenders in a bit to fit my 295 tires, but it's all worked out in the end.
But I guess, some pics would help a bit...
You can see where my tire used to rub
1) If you lower the car, I would probably change the shocks. The Decarbons are okay for the stock springs, but not for lowering springs. As Guz said, the ride will be really harsh. Firmer is good...harsh is not..Might as well do the shocks at the same time
2) If you lower the car, it will shift to the side a bit, (more if it's already off center form the factory - yes some are). An adjustable will fix this. If you ever plan on getting bigger wheels/tires, you'll NEED to re-center the rear so the tires don't rub...especially during hard cornering
3) As far as the springs go, go with what you like. They're all pretty good. I with with Eibach's Pro-kit (don't go with the Sporlines if you plan on lowering AND getting bigger wheels). After about 5 years, they have settled a bit, and did have to roll the fenders in a bit to fit my 295 tires, but it's all worked out in the end.
But I guess, some pics would help a bit...
You can see where my tire used to rub
The adjustable panhard bar is the main thing. If you are concerned with trying to get the max out of the car at the track the Adj. torque arm then might be something to consider.
