Ok as some of you have probably noticed over the past week I've been organising 17" rims and lowering of my car. Well after much stress I went ahead and got it done.
Alot of the hassles came from sticking with NRMA guidelines which isn't easy!
I ended up fitting a set of 17" lenso poke 10 rims which are 7" wide (widest your allowed) I went in expecting to get firenza rubber but this is where the first hassle occured apparently there is a stock shortage and I'd have to wait 3 weeks. I ended up settling for some marshall/kumho rubber in 235/45/17. It has a very agressive pattern and looks great the only downside is it seems to be noisier than my previous 16" tires but thats to be expected. Grip is amazing even though I've only done 30km on them I havn't spun them yet!

The other mod was getting kings lowered springs installed. I’ll be honust this was a lot for looks and less for handling as I never really had a problem with stock. I was very nervous about ride quality though I thought it was going to bumpy as hell and scrape a fair bit. When they brought the car down of the hoists it looked fantastic, heaps lower than I expected it to look. The front of the car looks really good now and I’m happy with the distance between the tire and the lip. Anyways I jumped in and took it for the first drive. I was amazed at how smooth it was it wasn’t anywhere near as bumpy as I had feared and the reduced bodyroll was a nice bonus. Basically I just have more confidence in the handling and responsiveness of the car now. I’m sure things will change over time and I’ll find areas where I’ll scrape and have troubles but for now I’m extremely happy with my decision to go with the kings lows.

Well that’s my ramble if you have any questions feel free to ask I’ll post some links to some photos incase your interested in what difference rims and lowering can make.

Pictures average around 150k each

The rim and tyre
http://users.bigpond.net.au/dcourtne/car/lenso.jpg
panoramic shots next to dad's verada
http://users.bigpond.net.au/dcourtne/car/pano4.jpg
http://users.bigpond.net.au/dcourtne/car/pano2.jpg
and all other pics of car

edit: a couple of colour coded pics
http://users.bigpond.net.au/dcourtne/car/side2.jpg
http://users.bigpond.net.au/dcourtne/car/side3.jpg
http://users.bigpond.net.au/dcourtne/car/port.jpg
http://users.bigpond.net.au/dcourtne/car/sideclose.jpg
http://users.bigpond.net.au/dcourtne/car/backright.jpg
http://users.bigpond.net.au/dcourtne/car/frontleft.jpg
http://users.bigpond.net.au/dcourtne/car/leftangle2.jpg
http://users.bigpond.net.au/dcourtne/car/leftclose.jpg
http://users.bigpond.net.au/dcourtne/car/leftside.jpg

car before lowering and rims
http://users.bigpond.net.au/dcourtne/car/before1.jpg
http://users.bigpond.net.au/dcourtne/car/before2.jpg

very tidy car mate.a really cheap mod 4 u to do is take your grey door trimmings and the bottom pieces of plastic 2 a painter to colour code them,it doesnt cost that much.and it will give your car a more finished look

If you are going to do that... (and I reckon you should as well)
also take the Mudflaps in and get them painted down to the ridge that runs around the edge.. about 2" up from the base..
This is what the Veradas Normally have as well.
Haydn

PS did you have Before Photos so we can compare before/after?

hi guys thanks for your comments.
glad you brought that up spready I was actually looking into replacement skirting or something more colour coded I didn't think of getting them painted. When you say cheap how cheap are we talking? Also having not done this before do you just walk into a paint shop or is it a more specific job?

something me and dad noticed this morning was the verada doesn't seem to have rear mudflaps? thought that was weird

TBuTcher I've just added links to 2 before photos so you can see the difference. Big thanks to you as well for your advice on lowering with NRMA as I probably would of pulled out if you hadn't of informed me better :)

something me and dad noticed this morning was the verada doesn't seem to have rear mudflaps? thought that was weird


I noticed that a few weeks back, I've got a 91 TR & Dad has a 97 KE.
As I was removing my rear mudflaps (they were warped & were starting to rub on my tyres) I noticed dads car didn't have them.
Funny part, my dad's verada has the same spray of dirt where yours seems to have. Maybe they should of had mudflaps :lol:

Hey, Slayer. That looks really nice! It's a loverly blue too. Are the spokes acually whiter than the alloy? Any idea if that wheel comes in a shadow chrome or darker chrome finish?

Also, what are the details on the springs? What was the lowering job worth? What muffler do you have? What's the size of that tip? I'm with NRMA and would like to do something that's basically the same as what you've done.

haha thats interesting lethal wonder why they aren't included

Redav I will get back to you later tonight just gotta pop out for a little while.

NP... Glad to be of help.

Can you take a pic with your car and you in te same position as Before2 ... this way it can be compared by overlay :)
Just a thought as it would look good to have them exactly the same.

Haydn

yeah no probs tbutcher will do that next time I'm there (across the road from ex gf's house) I'm interested as well to see the difference as I had it there quickly last night and it looked good but didn't have the camera on hand

Ok Redav, yeah I love the colour I was really lucky to get my first choice of colour on a second hand car! Nah the rims I have on are all the same colour i.e silver alloy its just the way the sun or flash is hitting them. I just did a quick look on lenso's website and this is what they say my rims can come in "Finish: Silver, Bright Gold, Gun Metallic, Bronze, Chrome, White, Hyper Silver, Hyper Black, Yellow, or Bright Silver Powder"
so yeah looks like it's possible but whether they are imported here I don't know. Just remember the darker coloured rims are really only nicer on a lighter car.

Ok the springs were the King Springs Low's off the top of my head I think the models are kcfl-42 and kcfr-43 that set me back $350 installed for the springs.

I have a lukey AL4-5597 exhaust and thats a 3inch round chrome tip. Personally I think it looks good without going over the top although looking at it this morning somehow I've scaped the bottom of it grrr :(

With the NRMA you can still end up with a pretty nice car you just have to be careful and know your rights. Just look at tbutchers ride and I guess mine to a degree. Having said that I havn't had to claim yet and knowing my luck they'd find something they wouldn't like

235/45's are what i've got on my TS, i've never had any noise issues but it could be anything. Hope to see them in the flesh next sunday on the cruise

i reackon about $50 to $60 for the whole lot plus the front bottom plastic parts,again to finish the look.when they painted the evo wing they painted the boot lid for free cause they already had the paint mixed,he said it takes nothing to do.so i said i was bringin in the skirts and front which he said will be a piece of piss.

You could probably try doin the bottom skirts and mud flaps urself :D
That's what i'll be doin wit sum mates saves sum other dude doin it
for ya :lol:

I just took the mudgaurds off - it was easier!! haha

and they dont scrape anymor either (my mudgaurds used to scrape on the speed humps.)

Manual

it looks more professional to get the exact colour as i have tried to do it myself,cause it ws hard to get pearl green in a can.also when i painted the mud flaps they constantly scrape over speed bumps because i had superlow king springs installed.but its up to you just get a quote first

hmm ok thanks for the info, If it's priced like that for all the plastic bits I'll deffinately get it done but I'd want to make sure they could all be safely removed from the car and put back on. Where did you get it done spready? as I wouldn't know where to start looking.

very nice car slayer. how much did you pay for it 2nd-hand and what was on the clock at that time?

All I can say about ur colour coding is go get a quote before you get all excited :)


I have been to several panel beaters and the average is around 400 (front grill and side plastics, not mirrors)

If you can get it for 50-60 watch it coz the paint qality is probably shit!

Very nice tj.. Colours good. Colour looks a bit different to what i remember seeing one in the flesh. Rims and lowering look great. Major improvement to stock. I've got king springs in my car. Front seems same height as urs. My rear appears to be lower though. Otherwise very nice :)

hey man, how much did the wheels and lowering cost you all up?

thanks for the comments guys, alf77 I bought it from a dealer a couple of months back with around 55,000 on it. Set me back $19,000 with 3 1/2 year warranty spoiler, 16" rims etc was the best valued advance we saw by far.

LiquidHotMagna, ok no worries I'll have to look around, it's not something I want to get done urgently as I'm pretty happy with how it looks atm.

GaMiSou, thanks yeah the colour changes greatly in different lights sometimes very dark and sometimes very light, I suspect the springs will still settle a bit more but I have absolutely no weight in my car atm i.e subs.

tiphareth $1400 rims+rubber $25 locknuts $350 lowering

since i live in rocky queensland it a bit hard to help with what shops to go to,but i went to a panel beater/painter which seem to be cheaper than fulltime painters.i just took the whole lot in plus the centre interior plastic to colour coded as well.pulling of isn't too hard just don't be afraid to pull hard on some bits and of course there are no screws still attached as i found out :cry: what i will say is everything i've done to my car came from these fella's on this forum :D

My brother in law is a panel beater, and I took my car to him to get everything colour coded. He charged me $60 which was only for the cost of the paint and for the time in the baking oven. I helped prepare all the plastic bits which took us several hours of rubbing it all back to get the surface perfect so that paint wont start flaking off after a few months.

If anyone quotes you $60 to do the whole job, then I'd be very suspicious. For that price they're probably just spraying the stuff without any prep work using god knows what type of paint. it might look good to start with but probably wont last like that for long. With panel beating (as I've learnt from my brother-in-law), about 80% of the job is the prep work.

With panel beating (as I've learnt from my brother-in-law), about 80% of the job is the prep work.

This goes for all painting applications!!

Manual

Amen to that.
My car used 168hours of labour for the panel beater alone!!!!. Not including the 5 days I worked there and the 2 days I had myself and My friend working... (BTW 12hr days not 7 like normal :( )
Haydn

my boot lid still seems to be alright ,i guess i was lucky to find a good tradesman who charged very little.

That looks awesome!! Looks heaps better than before. :)


You should post a pic on that OCAU photochop thread of yours, so they can see what it really looks like :)

thanks guys I will have to have a look around reguarding this painting but if anyone knows of a good place in the meantime let me know.

Thanks driver your pm reguarding lowering really helped seal the deal on wanting to get it lowered. Yeah I'm considering chucking it onto the ocau forums but didn't know if they'd care about a lil old magna :)

Yeah I'm considering chucking it onto the ocau forums but didn't know if they'd care about a lil old magna :)

I'd do it. Magna's need more respect. :D

[quote:6092ed6ca3="Slayer"]Yeah I'm considering chucking it onto the ocau forums but didn't know if they'd care about a lil old magna :)

I'd do it. Magna's need more respect. :D[/quote:6092ed6ca3]


now look what you've gone and made me do :) liked your post though

Slayer congrads on the great look mate... real happy for ya.

so wat's ur next plan?

also have u measured the new ride height to c if it is within NRMA's guidelines? dun wanna be a pain but i really want a peace of mind ..... i wouldnt wanna go Pedders.... becoz everyone on AM seems to say that Kings are the way to go.... (maybe except Booya :p )

thanks mate :)

haha next plan who knows, the guys here of got me interested in painting the grey bits, other than that maybe change the door panel indicators to clear, add some cai but really don't know. I know I'm starting to get into the area of diminishing returns but it's just so much fun modding :) mate across the road is probably getting extractors which will mean I'll end up getting them eventually grrrr. But yeah what would you guys do as a next mod or would you let it be?

I did measure it but I've forgotten them I will remeasure tonight if I get a chance. I do know it made it in with the -20mm rule that tbutcher made it but not by a huge margin so be careful. I also made them write 30mm drop on the invoice just to be safe. Mate across the road seems to be 10mm lower (pedders 50mm) than mine all round and it's very hard to see a difference but he says it scrapes where as I havn't had any problems so kings lows seems perfect

But yeah what would you guys do as a next mod or would you let it be?

Depends on "Yank" or "Wank" factor, as I like to call them :D
Yank=Power mods.... Panel/Pod Filter, CAI setup, Muffler, Extractors.
Wank=Colour coded grey bits (Sides top and bottom, front lower vents), Backside of Mirrors, Windscreen wiper arms, Colour calipers, Colour code Centre consoles and air vents. Interior and Exterior Neons. ICE......
(Pretty muck look at my car, it is more Wank than Yank :D)
Haydn

But it's good lookin wank! lol

i must be a wank as well :roll: anyway another good cheap mod is to replace the upholstery on the interior of the door.go to a spotlight and find a similiar blue upholstery fabric,it pretty easy to take off the paneling,again make sure all screw have come out and dont be afraid to pull hard.get a upholstery glue and cut the shape,too easy. :D

ntohing wrong with a good wank.. i mean good wank :P err i mean! bugger it :P

Bump on this old thread.

Slayer,
I'm just about to lower my car, and have run into the same insurance hassels as you (RACV) their guidelines are identical to the ones you posted in the other forum, namely the "no lower than 30mm from the base model"
The guy didn't tell me the heights they use but said "get them from Mitsu".
So looking at Hayden's numbers for the TE, stock is front 410 and rear 395 (+/- 20mm) so I'm thinking the kings 40mm would be spot on perfect.

(Your before and after photos are amazing.. before looks just like mine.. massive gap under the guard, and after looks sweet. Not amazingly "crazy fooya low", just "nice and low")

Anyway, the point of this post is to ask you what your ride heights are now. If you could please post your heights front and rear before, and your heights front and rear after that would be a great help so I can tell if I'll still fall within the "30mm" rule.

Every place I go seems to have a different number for how low each brand of spring is (I get alot saying "low" are 35mm and "superlow" are 55mm) It would be great to know exactly how much lower yours is - especially now it's had some tmie to settle.

Thanks very much,
-Dan

Wow this was an old thread :)

no worries mate when I get a chance I'll do some measuring for you. I know what you mean though every place I rang gave a different figure for how much lows and super actually dropped the car. To be honust I think the lows dropped it 40mm all round. Comparing to killers car across the road who has pedders super lows alround (50mm drop) I find it very hard to see any visual difference (a good thing magnas look mean when lowered even this ammount) I'm really glad I chose the lows over superlows (insurance and superlows is a big no no) but with the lows ride comfort didn't decrease much but handling improved. As mentioned the change in looks was the biggest bonus for me I've seen standard height magnas driving around which really need to be dropped :) however main reason I'm glad I stuck with lows is the scrapage issue. Even with the lows you will find spots you get nervy with. Front mudflaps scrape on most speed humps and steep gutters can be nasty on the front bar and especially the two tow hooks at the front so superlows being 10-20mm lower again must be a nightmare. You do change your driving style though even in my girls hyundai accent I slow down and hit speedhumps at an angle :)

the car has changed a bit since these photos mainly colour coding of the grey plastic which I think made a huge difference in looks so I'll try to post an updated piccy of that as well

oh yeah just remember to get the place that does the lowering to mention 30mm lower on the receipt for insurance purposes that along with the +-20mm that haydn mentioned we should hopefully be fine with insurance

hope that coevers most things just rushed this post in during work will try to get some measurements done for you.

:shock: Slayer, i have had your car as my screensaver for a couple of months now and i never knew you were on here!
NIIIIICCCCEEEE CAR! 8)

Thanks Slayer,

It's really good to hear that you mention the ride is better, and not much harsher. This sounds exactly like what I want to get.

(Talk about needs lowering!)
http://opax.swin.edu.au/~grecy/amy/Images/IMGP1192.jpg

-Dan

MagnaMad: wow man thats quite a compliment makes all the work worth it thanks mate will have to put up some new piccies with the colour coding because I think it makes it look heaps better than with grey skirting. I think there are much better looking magnas on these forums that have had alot of custom work put into them (tbutcher for example) but I'll take the compliment as I'm pretty happy with how a magna can come up with some lowering, wheels and some nice clean paint. If I wasn't with NRMA insurance I could probably take it a little further :)

yeah I've been reading your posts grecy it's coming along nicely (don't we all love vrx rims :) )

I'm mounting my sub box and amp a bit more neatly now but should be able to get some measurements done for you so sit tight!

p.s may as well mention had a bloody semi trailor run into the back of me today on the way home from work at a set of lights no damage fortunately but shows how easy it can happen

Well ther is still alot more custom stuff to do :(

So little time :(

Haydn

Slayer - got pics of your colour coding job?

hi mate

yep updated 1st post the first few piccies have colour coding done not real good shots but water restrictions down here make it damn hard to have a clean car to take pics of :( have a couple of pics of the masking and spraying as well lying around.

ahh now for the point of digging up the thread grecy I did some quick measurements not real accurate but gives you the idea. The front was around 365mm and the rear was around 360mm

hmm nice :)

What did that cost? Would a non-magna persona be able to tell that's it's aftermarket painting?

cost around $150 for materials and a day with a mate and his compressor and spray kit. sure beat the $800 quote the panel beaters gave me :)

I don't think magna owners would be able to tell the difference let alone non magna owners the finish has come up great the only difference is I painted the whole of the back of the mudflap not leaving any grey bits and I didn't do inside the doors

Thanks excellent then

Though too much work for me, so I won't copy ya :)

Slayer - you're still alive......

Pah - only white colors are good.
(I say that only cos I envy his bloody Bahama Blue Magna and I have boooriiiing bloody white with stupid grey bits.)
Then again - I don't need to wash mine so often. :)
Be careful with the new 300 W Sub - it might shake the paint off your skirts. :lol: :lol:
Sorry - sad if it would happen.

Thanks for those numbers Slayer.

Let me just look at them a little more.

You've gone down to 365front/360rear..

That means you've dropped 63 front and 35 rear (From the stock of 428 / 395 for a TJ.

Hmm.. sounds like something might be a little off there with that 63 front. 35 rear sounds about right though.

Now I know what to spend my money on, I just need the money :)

Thanks for all your help.

-Dan

Hey, Slayer. What side indicators have you installed?

no worries mate, hmm not sure took the measurements real quickly. However killer popped over yesterday as I was installing yet another new headunit (alpine 9815 yummy) and measured the height of my front out of interest. It shocked both of us to find that my front sits lower than his! I've fully deadened my front doors which would add weight but shouldn't affect it that much and my boot is fully deadened with a sub in a box in there as well so that should even lift the front a little.. can't explain it.

redav, they are the commodore ones. Went down to the local spare parts joint and asked for the clear indicators from the commodore vt series 2. They end up cheaper than the mitsu ones from memory they were around $50 with orange globes

Then come with orange globes, right? Thanks.

KKT81 fitted some Kings and they didn't drop anywhere near as far as they should have. He went and got them compressed at a truck suspension joint, I think.

yeah mate in the $50 you also get the orange globes.

not sure if the springs thing is directed at me but we were actually surprised because mines alot lower than we thought killer had a 50mm drop with pedders

Yeah, it was. Just makes me wonder if Kings have a QA issue. I'll have some Lows fitted shortly too and shall post how mine turns out too.

You have KCFL-42 on the front and KCRL-43 on the rear, correct?

According to the King Springs website they drop the car 45mm

KCFL-42SP & KCRL-43SP is for a 30mm drop apparently

I'm very interested in this as im also insured with the NRMA and im getting a TJ soon which id like to lower. Don't want to put anything in that may cause a drama though!!

yeah I'm not really sure, the car looks pretty even all round but doesn't look as low as alot of the cars on super lows, I will have to take some proper measurements vs killers again maybe my springs have just settled now and remember I'm using stock shocks although it is lower than I thought.

Gremlin as for insurance it's crucial that if you purchase and get the springs installed you have 30mm specifically written on the receipt.

I checked my receipts and could not find the number for lowering size, but I recall it being 50 mm - uncertain tho. I guess Pedders do 30 and 50 mm?

Justcar inspects the vehicle in case of an accident etc and if they find something which was not included in the policy they will most likely void the insurance. What ever it says on the receipt it self might not be sufficient...... Bit scary stuff and not to be stuffed around with :(

Trot along with the measure band, Slayer. We might measure undercar clearance as well? I let u do it..... ;)




Gremlin as for insurance it's crucial that if you purchase and get the springs installed you have 30mm specifically written on the receipt.

Hmm... I have some goodies in the rumpus room here. BMR69Z, KSB592, KCRFL-42, KCRFL-43 and some KYB products. :badgrin:

In other words you have springs that will go in my new TJ when i get it!! Do you want to sell them?

In other words you have springs that will go in my new TJ when i get it!! Do you want to sell them?

What springs are you after?

You have KCFL-42 on the front and KCRL-43 on the rear, correct?

According to the King Springs website they drop the car 45mm

KCFL-42SP & KCRL-43SP is for a 30mm drop apparently

So, they have two sets of Low's but rated at different heights?

Hmmm... dunno what to do now. I specified that I was after the 25-30mm ones. Is it a blessing in disguise?

how lo also depends on how the springs are set as well!!!
there is always a compromise between comfort and handling!

i had kings low and on my 14" the tires used to be under the arches
but since i changed to 16" my tires are out and my car went up by 1 inch which i have to reset.

the last 2 Fast Fours mag had a a very nice technical section on suspension
there is a lot more than just springs and shocks!