Hey guys, looking for some help in regards to lowering the car. Lately I've been tossing around the idea of lowering my car. But it isn't as simple as it sounds. I have to consider a lot of things since I like to drive the car all the time, even in winter when there's a lot of snow. So right from the start, I wouldn't be looking to lower the car THAT much.

The reason I want to lower the car is basically just for the looks, I am not concerned about the handling and everything. I am basically looking for the cheapest/safest way of lowering it, without having to spend any extra money on rolling fenders, camber kits and what not.

Here is my current summer set up. It's sitting on 20" Axis Angles with 20x9 on the front and 20x10.5 for the rear. The tires are 245/30R20 90Y front and 275/30R20 97W rear.

So I am wondering what kind of lowering springs should I be looking at. I don't want to lower the car THAT much as I stipulated above, considering the fact that it will be driven in snow as well. Perhaps a 1" drop? Would that be too much? Will it require rolling fenders or camber kits at all? Perhaps a little less drop? I want to make it aesthetically aggressive. So what do you guys suggest? What kind of springs should I be looking at?

Thanks for the help in advance guys.

On a side note, I was considering the whole camber kit idea as well, maybe going for that 'flush' look where the wheel sticks out at an angle. What is a general cost for looking at something like that? For winter I have to switch the rims to stock 18"s, how will that work with that?

Thanks, once again.

 

Both Hotchkis and Tein make springs that are less than an inch drop.

 

I just added these springs this week Hotchkis. Im about to put on some 20 inch axis wheel but different tire set up.

 

+ 1 on the hotchkis or tien. its 5/16" and 3/4" drop front and back IIRC. you dont want tanabes. they give a 1"/1.2" drop and you will need a camber kit for the rear for sure. with hotchkis and tien, i think its best to have one, but not mandatory.

 

accuair suspension

 

you need a camber and toe kit for the rear even if you leave your car stock ...

 

Yes you should lower the car for super flush.

 

^ hahahaha!

I have Tein S-Tech springs. I burned through a set of front tires real quick due to camber. I learned my lesson the hard way and bought a front camber kit. I do not a have a rear camber kit and have minimal camber wear on my rear tires.

 

skip the spring and go with some stance coilovers

 

I've been researching this as well, and I think that swift springs are the best bet for mild drop with stock shocks. Should be daily driver friendly (even around here!) and stock shock friendly as well.

 

Hmm something starting to smell

 

So even with the mild drop of Hotchki's and Tiens, I need to get camber kits? Perhaps I should leave it at stock height for now then. How much do camber kits cost anyway? I wouldn't know where to even start looking at them...like i said, I wouldn't mind that look where the rear tire is all slanted and sticking out as I've seen on some 350z's. Guess it all depends on how much it would cost to do all that.

 

Great suspension 101 thread for you to read, everything is explained.

Some cars will need the rear camber kit, some don't. My car with a 1 inch drop had -2.1 rear camber with 0.05 Toe (all in spec) Some cars are barely in spec at factory height.

 

cheapest kit ive seen is $130 for the camber arms and toe bolts

 

stance coilovers ftw!!

 

Besides the fact you have a lot of researching and studying to do I am bored at work so I will hand feed you this information. Please do some more searching and all your other questions should and probably be answered.

1: you never posted your offsets, depending on this, will depend on whether or not you need to roll your fenders, how much, and what look to achieve, or what size spacers you may need.

But I digress since I can only assume with no pictures that your 20" rims fit properly to start I will offer this one piece of advice.

DO IT RIGHT DO IT ONCE.
Camber kits are not about HOW MUCH as they will save you tires and will eventually save you money over no kit.

Here is a good rear kit. PM vendors on here for pricing.

They are the SPC rear camber and toe bolt kit.

Front A arms:

Cusco front A Arms

These are what I personally use on my car and are the only ones I have experience personally using. there are many options out there and I did about 8 months of solid research before deciding to get these parts.

Just remember you get what you pay for. I chose these since they offer everything I needed, easy adjust-ability (this is huge as allot of cheap ones are Extremely hard to adjust) and they arent top of the line but are high enough to be reliable and not break the bank.


For your "stretched" look that is a whole nother ball game and allot more research on your side for how extreme you really want to get.

MY ADVICE??? Get your camber adjustments first, then do allot more research and decide how low you want to go and if you want to change it in the future then decide between coil-overs for adjust-ability in height, or springs to save on cost (remember lowering springs will make your shocks fail at a faster rate) If you plan to stretch I suggest coils to be abel to stiffen them up more.

Once you make those two purchases/adjustments then decide if you are ready for the maintenance and headaches and problems of the stretched/slammed look. then browse the stretched tires thread and decide how crazy you want to go. and how big of a spacer you need.

 

Thanks a lot for your explanation, starting to make some sense now!

 

barnabas, just curious of some examples of "maintenance and headaches and problems" with the slammed stretched look?

 

read the stretched tire thread....

Broken front lips, scrapped exhausts, broken axles, tie rods, CV boots, scrapped body panels, camber worn tires, unable to drive on certain roads, cant get into certain parking lots.

Thats the most common/obvious stuff. There is plenty more little things or things that can happen by chance.