Any cons of lowering springs?

totopo · 06-07-2015, 03:33 PM

Other than the well known allignment issues, There are a lot of cons for lowering springs. Spring rate, ride height, and damping are all interrelated. To build a proper suspension, you first decide on bump travel. That determines your spring rate, and that determines your damping.

So with lowering springs only you have a dilemma. You can either go for stiffer springs that support the diminished bump travel (and properly stiff springs will have really high spring rates to go from bump travel of like 5 to 3 inches) which will the be woefully underdamped and cause the car to feel like crap.

Or you can go the route most aftermarket springs go for and just have similar spring rates, which won't be enough spring for the lowered bump travel. This causes the suspension to constantly bottom out, killing the shocks and doing damage to your frame.

In addition, lowering the car changes the suspension geometry and the roll center. It usually puts the roll center underground which is suck.

All in all, why do you want to lower your car? Looks? Performance? Lowering for performance isn't straight forward. You want matched damping for your spring rates. There are calculators online to figure out what spring rate you want to run for a given bump travel. Then after that you should probably get roll angle adjusters, and then probably weaker anti roll bars.

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06-07-2015, 03:33 PM	#11 (permalink)
totopo Base Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: California Posts: 32 Drives: '14 370z 6mt Rep Power: 13	Other than the well known allignment issues, There are a lot of cons for lowering springs. Spring rate, ride height, and damping are all interrelated. To build a proper suspension, you first decide on bump travel. That determines your spring rate, and that determines your damping. So with lowering springs only you have a dilemma. You can either go for stiffer springs that support the diminished bump travel (and properly stiff springs will have really high spring rates to go from bump travel of like 5 to 3 inches) which will the be woefully underdamped and cause the car to feel like crap. Or you can go the route most aftermarket springs go for and just have similar spring rates, which won't be enough spring for the lowered bump travel. This causes the suspension to constantly bottom out, killing the shocks and doing damage to your frame. In addition, lowering the car changes the suspension geometry and the roll center. It usually puts the roll center underground which is suck. All in all, why do you want to lower your car? Looks? Performance? Lowering for performance isn't straight forward. You want matched damping for your spring rates. There are calculators online to figure out what spring rate you want to run for a given bump travel. Then after that you should probably get roll angle adjusters, and then probably weaker anti roll bars.