safe way to lower

[rebel2cv]

Might be a daft question but i'm a complete novice with 'normal' cars. i'm on the hunt for a daily so i can finally drag the other 2cv from the yard to mine and restore/modify at my leisure.

Whatever i buy i still want to have a few subtle mods, lower (not OTT) maybe even banded rims. My question is if i was to buy a toyota and a set of coils with 40mm drop, would i have to change shocks? i'm used to 2cvs where you can adjust the rods/uprated springs(as i did on the van) and not worry too much about shocks

[willowandmikey]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Leaving standard shocks mean they wear out quicker as they are put under more pressure.

They don't have to be changed but bear the above in mind.

[unitybonez]

40mm is above mild. I wouldnt stress it.
I run stock shocks on my juiced taunus and althou it could do with a brand new set they still work pretty well for how old they are and the abuse theyve been takin the past few years of daily duties.
Just sayin, but if you wanna be anal about it you sure can, and nothin wrong with it. Just thought you might wanna know real life application against theory.

[Ryannn]

I bought nearly new lowered shocks and springs off eBay for my golf for less than the price than a set of new springs alone. More worthwhile to me. If the shocks on my mini needed replacing, I wouldn't use standard items because it's lowered.

[rebel2cv]

the 40mm was just an example, i havn't yet decided on what motor to buy, or decided how far to go. I know i can't go too far as i now live in the sticks and roads aren;t exactly brilliant. i mentioned to the girlfriend that i was planning on getting a daily.. but i wanted to lower it a bit and do a few 'minor' mods.. her response? GO FOR IT! haah love my girl!

[colnerov]

Feb 12, 2013 12:47:06 GMT willowandmikey said:

Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Leaving standard shocks mean they wear out quicker as they are put under more pressure.

They don't have to be changed but bear the above in mind.

The springs are technically the shock absorbers what your'e talking about are dampers, they control the springs oscillations.

They are not under any pressure, the control comes from the foot valve on the bottom of the piston rod controlling the flow of oil or gas through it both ways.

Colin

[rebel2cv]

soo, i wouldnt need to worry about them?

[rebel2cv]

*dampers i mean

[colnerov]

Hi, I wouldn't. lowered springs are usually stiffer, it's softer springs that are more in need of dampers.

Colin

[rebel2cv]

thanks colin!

[craig1010cc]

You only run in to problems if the dampers bottom out, otherwise they cope fine. And a 40mm drop wont do that. Only thing to keep in mind is that the existing springs will have sagged with age, and so when you fit a set of 40mm lowering springs, it is likely that you wont really see the difference (will prob be 15-20mm lower)

[rebel2cv]

The one I have my eye on is only 11 years old.. Couldn't have sagged that much surely?

[RobinJI]

Feb 12, 2013 14:40:24 GMT colnerov said:

Feb 12, 2013 12:47:06 GMT willowandmikey said:

Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Leaving standard shocks mean they wear out quicker as they are put under more pressure.

They don't have to be changed but bear the above in mind.

The springs are technically the shock absorbers what your'e talking about are dampers, they control the springs oscillations.

They are not under any pressure, the control comes from the foot valve on the bottom of the piston rod controlling the flow of oil or gas through it both ways.

Colin

Actually technically the damper is the shock-absorber, it's the part that absorbs the energy of impact with a bump, the spring redistributes it, but it doesn't absorb it.

I'd disagree about softer springs needing stiffer dampers and harder ones not. Definitely not the case according the both the theory and my experience. A stiffer spring will rebound with more force, so needs a stiffer damper to resist this and allow the suspension to extend at a controlled rate. Softer springs can sometimes need heavier damping to prevent bottom-out, but it all depends on the specific set-up, as well as your reasoning for changing spring rate, and what you want from the car.


To be honest we can't really answer the original question, as it could very a lot depending on what car you end up settling on. Different damper designs and suspension set-ups will react differently to lower (and probably stiffer) springs. But yeah, as a general rule, on most stuff 40mm isn't much of a big deal, and standard dampers if in good condition will manage ok, especailly if it's a sportier model with half decent dampers as standard. It likely won't be as ideal as matching ones, but it'll depend on the car. That said, cheep spring/shock kits aren't really all that 'matched' anyway. It really is a bit of a minefield. The best bet will be to decide on/find the car you want and look into it then.

[bigfella2]

Feb 12, 2013 21:25:44 GMT RobinJI said:

Feb 12, 2013 14:40:24 GMT colnerov said:

The springs are technically the shock absorbers what your'e talking about are dampers, they control the springs oscillations.

They are not under any pressure, the control comes from the foot valve on the bottom of the piston rod controlling the flow of oil or gas through it both ways.

Colin

Actually technically the damper is the shock-absorber, it's the part that absorbs the energy of impact with a bump, the spring redistributes it, but it doesn't absorb it.

I'd disagree about softer springs needing stiffer dampers and harder ones not. Definitely not the case according the both the theory and my experience. A stiffer spring will rebound with more force, so needs a stiffer damper to resist this and allow the suspension to extend at a controlled rate. Softer springs can sometimes need heavier damping to prevent bottom-out, but it all depends on the specific set-up, as well as your reasoning for changing spring rate, and what you want from the car.


To be honest we can't really answer the original question, as it could very a lot depending on what car you end up settling on. Different damper designs and suspension set-ups will react differently to lower (and probably stiffer) springs. But yeah, as a general rule, on most stuff 40mm isn't much of a big deal, and standard dampers if in good condition will manage ok, especailly if it's a sportier model with half decent dampers as standard. It likely won't be as ideal as matching ones, but it'll depend on the car. That said, cheep spring/shock kits aren't really all that 'matched' anyway. It really is a bit of a minefield. The best bet will be to decide on/find the car you want and look into it then.

Well wrote and could not agree more. Driven a CRX with lowered springs (standard shocks) - it crashed and banged and was terrible. Then drove E36 325i lowered springs, standard dampers, rode perfectly. If you keep with standard shocks make sure there new or recent atleast. An underdamped car is a horrible drive.

[rebel2cv]

best i find a car then! haha