Some people who claim to know cars constantly tell me to not lower my car. They say it permanently screws up the alignment, camber, etc which leads to uneven wear on your tires. They also tell me that it puts tremendous strain on the front end of the car, because the chasis wasn't meant to be have such a low stance.

What problems, if any, has anyone had from riding lowered? Thanks!

 

my alignment is fine, my camber is fine. more strain? how so? maybe just a lowered center of gravity. the only problem i had was when i park on a 1 way street, and park on the left hand side, i usually find myself getting out the passenger side.

 

All those things are true to an extent. If you slam the car with cheap products/ bad short cuts all the statements are true. If you take the time to do it right the should be no problems. Wear and tear should be the same as stock.

 

take the time to do it right? you mean use quality springs and struts? Anything else worth noting so probs don't arise? anything else that ought to be replaced?

 

hahaa....

if ur not careful u can scrape off some of the underside of ur car...harder shocks can damage ur crankshaft...too low and ur tires might rub against ur car...ur muffler on the ground...

my brother dropped his civic something like 5inches.and he ended up causing so much damage to his crankshaft that he just got rid of his civic...

so yeah...depends on what kinda suspension upgrades u get...if u go with softer...u can scrape on the freeway at higher speeds...but if u go too hard not only is it noisy but also annoying.

 

Exactly, some decide to get parts because they are cheap and and up being inferior. do th researcfh and pay up to do it right. If you want to slam your car get coilovers. If you're on a smaller budget then get your spring but make sure the struts are adjustable and can handle the load. While replacing any of these parts make sure everything surrounding the area or attached to it is in good shape....

 

well i have eibachs and illuminas, and the other night i wasnt watching my speed, and bbam car bottomed out on a manhole... put a hole in my tranny pan

 

Just like anything else in life....you get what you pay for. If you buy cheap, expect cheap. And vice versa.

 

the only i know of from experiance were my CV boots eventrually giving out on me. That and some strut bearings and strut mounts too!

Ant

 

Ive noticed it eats your axles, but my last 2 cars were dropped 2" or more and ie only had problems with my axles.

But maybe its also cause i drive like an a$$ ........

 

Just do it right when you lower. Save up and replace worn out parts on your suspension. Plus when your lowered you have to watch out for wholes even more than normal.

I think coil overs are an excellent way to go, not only beacause of the abilit to customize your setup but with setup like the Kspot they replace everything, so you dont have new sturts springs, but same old gaskets etc from 9-10 years ago are still in there.

 

anyone else have this prob???

 

which parts of the suspension do you especially recommend checking?

 

I have lots to say but I don't have time to type it... If I don't contribute in 24 hours, somebody PM me!!

 

strut mount, strut bearing, spring isolators, dust boot, bump stop

 

The problem with lowering a 4th gen is that alot of people do not invest in two things:

1) a skid plate which goes on the bottom of your car..attached to the cross bar..this prevents damagage to flex pipe, oil pan etc etc when bottoming out

2) a " bump steer kit " when you lower the car the two steering rods make a " V " like shape, not good..they should be straight this is what wears out your axles, tires along with the camber being off.
I'm getting one made for my 4th gen because I'm dropped on Ksport.

 

I wish I knew exactly what to check, you'll need new dust boots, which can be order from tire rack (the cheapest place to buy them) and get the mustang front and miata rear (year 1996). Sadly the best way to tell would be when your suspension is apart you can see what definately needs changing, but thats the worst time to find out you need something else and your car is down for a few more days. I'd suggest starting a thread asking which parts should be or usually are swapped out when lowering, include a poll that would help greatly.

this is a link to a PDF of all the suspension parts.
http://s22.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1...Q0N8K1ZY5ID2VA

 

wow. this could REALLY add up the $$$. Didn't think so much was involved if you wanna do it right.

 

If you do a moderate drop (1.2 - 1.8 inches) and use decent struts and springs you will have no problems!

Tokico Illuminas seem to be the gold standard for struts. As for springs, if you want a compliant ride get some not-too-stiff progressive rate springs. H&Rs and Tein H-techs are good examples. They will give you a moderate drop and be only slightly more harsh than stock SE springs.

Don't worry! As long as you don't go too low and get properly matched springs and struts you will be fine.

 

yea but many have been fine for year with new sturts and springs. I'd suggest if you get a lifetime alignment, then if you ever encourter noise and your doing the install you can take it apart all you want and replace anything is noises are present and not have to worry about shelling out $60 everytime for another alignment.

problems dont occur with a specifi height of drop, just an improper combination. Like someone buying Tokio HP Blues and pairing it with S-Techs. with a proper match you'll be fine.

 

ok what u all think about this for evry day driving in the city like brooklyn ny, where we have a lot of pod holes and snow. and i dont want illuminas or any adjustble ones.
These are brand new in the box a set of 4 ( 2 HB3102, HB3103 front struts, and 2 HU2905 rear ) TOKICO HP BLUE STRUTS/SHOCKS and 4( 2 front , 2 rear ) High performance Tokico lowering springs, with a 1.25 inch drop, TO FIT 1995 to 1999 Nissan Maxima all models. These springs have been custom matched and fine tuned to work with these shocks, Tired of bouncing around ? Do it right. Track or street feel the difference with a smoother and incredible handling ride. AMAZING PERFORMANCE. Day and night difference over stock, the best parts you will replace in your car. Comes with the Tokico lifetime warranty. $420 on ebay

 

yea, see i'm not planning on SLAMMING my car. I want a moderate drop that improve looks and handling, while not being amazingly harsh. (thinkin of the tokico suspension kit)

I don't know if I need to take less precautions because of the less extreme drop.

 

Wait, wait, wait, wait, WAIT!

Please explain to me how lowering a car affects the crankshaft in any way.

 

DUDE!! wtf! stop cutting and pasting that cr@p in my thread! That's the ump-teenth time I've read that lil blurb of yours.

 

that's what im wondering too..

 

immediate vasectomy, procreation must be prevented

 

omg..

 

I guess if you somehow completly destroy your crossmember and then that will leave your engine/transmission out in the open for serious damage. C'mon man where's your imagination at??

Not to hijack this thread, but what have all you east coast city folk put on your rides? I'm into reducing the boat float but not into feeling all these pot holes (I want to keep the 'slamming' to a minimum).

 

Please post pics & info after you get your bump steer kit. Oh, and I've found lower tie bars work well as skidplates.

 

cant u just get a matt blehm stage 2 lower tie bar and it serves a skid plate and stiffens things out?

and how much is a bump steer kit?

lol @ killcrap, ive had to do that before also....

 

Adjustable doesn't mean height adjustable, it means you can adjust how soft or hard your struts are.

 

get ure **** on nycmaximas.org and talk to the slammed maximas in there....

 

That's what the guy at midas told me, I don't go there anymore. They like to scare you into not making your car look/handle good. A small drop is OK.

 

I agree, what's with this guy?

anway back YOUR thread, I have Illumina's with eibach's which is a moderate drop so no camber kits etc were need. Anything done to excess is going to eventually cause problems, my Max currently is getting new ball joints and bearings but I attribute that to age and high mileage not beaing lowered but.....

 

Tein is your friend and your enemy,
S techs and similar drop springs(2 inches or more) I would get a camber kit and alignment
H Techs if you are worried about being too low, it's dropped but a slight one, not much to worry about. When you go like 2 inches and lower, yes it looks good but at the expense of strain on the axles, etc. Some people don't care about that it's all in the money you want to spend.

 

lower it no matter what or get you some buckshots and take it off road

 

Okay, here's what I wanted to say.

1. Lowering your car past 3" is just silly. Just saying that to be clear.

2. When you first lower your car, your camber and caster will be off from factory spec, and that means so will your toe. If you have bad camber and/or toe, you will wear down your tires faster. You can have an alignment shop correct the toe, but without a camber kit or camber plates, you might not be able to get your camber back within factory spec if your car is lower than about 2".

3. Lowering your car will also affect the angle of your control arms. Normally they are angled slightly downward. If you're lowered, they will be closer to horizontal, and if you're lowered about 3" or more they will be angled significantly upward. This won't really cause extra strain, but it could hurt your handling. In any case, because of the different angle of the control arms, your front track (the distance between the wheels) will be wider, since the wheels are pushed out more. That could lead to rubbing (if you have wide tires) and increased bump steer.

4. What will be stressed abnormally when you lower your car is your axles. This is because they're basically being jammed inward toward the transmission. They're made to accommodate being in that position in case you hit a big bump or the car leans heavily, but they weren't made to run like that all the time. If this ends up actually being a problem for you, the solution is to buy new axles from Raxles.

5. You will also have to accept a greater possibility of rim and tire damage, since a stiffer suspension is less forgiving; when you hit a pothole or something, since the suspension doesn't want to absorb the hit as much, the tires are forced to absorb more of it, and you could get a blowout or a bent rim.

 

Interesting, so straight horiz arms give you the widest track. Never thought about that. I think the advantage of lower CG outweighs the higher RC and track but it's something to consider.

 

cefiro are you okay?

 

What's RC? :

But yeah, it has to be true. I also figured that having the control arms horizontal under cornering might sharpen steering response, although as you suggest, at least some of that would be negated by a higher CG.

I also realized that the farther you lower your car, the more you might end up stressing your sway bar end links and bushings.

Small price to pay for some handling.