Ok ok, I know I am insane.

But I want to go lower damnit.

Currently sitting on Kings SL/L.

Possible to drop another inch without changing springs?

just get your current ones compressed
but you just need to be more careful around curbs and whatnot

just get your current ones compressed
but you just need to be more careful around curbs and whatnot

Any idea on labour costs at all?

Completely ignorant when it comes to car repair/mod costs :P

i'd recommend getting ur preferred rims first (if u are deciding on getting a set) before u get them compressed, coz increasing the size of the wheels will raise ur car up slightly

my mates vx ss is still currently on the standard fe2 suspension and he had 18's on it for a bit (till we decided it was completely unsafe to drive on the rubber they're covered in) and it sat a bit higher, not a lot but it was noticeable

EDIT: give gremlin a PM, i'm pretty sure he compressed his springs in his ralliart before going to his evo9.. another person to ask may be EGO, i'm more than sure he compressed his springs before he got his coilovers

Lowering I can afford, rims/tyres I cant :( atm on superlows I only scrape the mudflaps so I know I can go a bit lower. If I can still make it up work's driveway, its too high :)

increasing the size of the wheels will raise ur car up slightly
Only correct if you buy the wrong size wheel/tyre combination.

As long as the tyre/wheel sizing matches it won't matter whether you've got 14"s or 20"s, it'll sit at the same height.

I wouldn't be going lower than that, superlows on the front already bottom out without too much effort, unless of course you don't mind it driving like the suspension is made of wood?

Only correct if you buy the wrong size wheel/tyre combination.

As long as the tyre/wheel sizing matches it won't matter whether you've got 14"s or 20"s, it'll sit at the same height.


So if you have 175/150/14's they will be the same as 245/35/20's?

Only correct if you buy the wrong size wheel/tyre combination.

As long as the tyre/wheel sizing matches it won't matter whether you've got 14"s or 20"s, it'll sit at the same height.

I wouldn't be going lower than that, superlows on the front already bottom out without too much effort, unless of course you don't mind it driving like the suspension is made of wood?
to be honest, it's not really the height being altered, just a visual perception.. for example my car: when i had the 15" wheels on the front and the 16's on the rear, it looked like the 16's pitched the rear up a bit making the car point down- i've bought a set of tyres that have almost no difference in rolling diameter than the stock wheels (i did my homework lol), but it still looked like it had been pitched slightly higher at the rear

EDIT:

So if you have 175/150/14's they will be the same as 245/35/20's?
well, using my homework on this, those profiles will never work unless u reconfigure the speedo

So if you have 175/150/14's they will be the same as 245/35/20's?
Thats a stupid thing to say, did you match the tyre/wheel sizes to generate the same rolling diameter there?

If you do it properly, you could take a car with say 195/70R14's, and provided the width of the 20"s will fit the car etc, could fit 245/25R20's without hassle, the ride would be ****house, but the ride height would be almost exactly the same, you know this surely.

Im thinking off PuffDog and his TE when he put 20's on his car you couldnt get the profile the same as the 17's he had previously... The rolling diameter was out. It did lift the car however by a substantial amount. I would say an inch.

Im thinking off PuffDog and his TE when he put 20's on his car you couldnt get the profile the same as the 17's he had previously... The rolling diameter was out. It did lift the car however by a substantial amount. I would say an inch.

i thought ui compared it to stock though, not the previuos rims?

i thought ui compared it to stock though, not the previuos rims?
You do for best accuracy. If the previous rims were spot on it won't matter though.

You do for best accuracy. If the previous rims were spot on it won't matter though.

ahk, i know you can use those online calc's for working it out, but what is the basic rules of thumb with it? like say i have my standard 15" and standard tyres, and i wanted 18's with the same rolling diameter...

ahk, i know you can use those online calc's for working it out, but what is the basic rules of thumb with it? like say i have my standard 15" and standard tyres, and i wanted 18's with the same rolling diameter...
205/65R15's you've got yeah? That'd mean 235/40R18's are the ideal. Anyway enough about tyres, we've gone totally off topic in Life's thread, sorry dude.

Does your car bottom out as is at the front? If it does you really don't want to make that any lower, handling will be all but lost for the look. Rears could be compressed, but if you really want them lower your better off getting superlows.

atm on superlows I only scrape the mudflaps

take the mudflaps off dude, will make the car look heaps cleaner.

On the compressing springs subject, there are afew threads around, but 99% are negative on the subject, just do a search, there is a good thread somewhere in which some of the guys are discussing the negative effects on the spring rates etc..... that being said, the only reason i was reading them myself is because i wouldnt mind going a half an inch or so lower again also and compressing the springs seems like a good option for the extra drop i want. Only thing i'm worried about is that I already smash the bumpstops when i hit bumps (but my shocks are totally stuffed too, KYB's soon though).

Your other options are coilovers (expensive) or keep looking for alternate springs that will be lower.


Any idea on labour costs at all?

good question. i wouldnt mind knowing this myself.

I had my rear supalows compressed 1 inch. It hasn't affected the handling at all. Cost me $135 to get done. More visually appealing than anything really.
Before
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/wollongongVerada/SL370072-1.jpg
After
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/wollongongVerada/Picture131.jpg

Ya the superlows at the front are a nice height, but the rear... it doesn't even look lowered in comparison to a commodore or something. Only looks low compared to stock height due to the stock height being around the same as a damn hilux >.<

reset the springs, my pannel beater wanted to do it to my rear, he said he would heat it with a blow torch, and sag the spring a tiny bit,

reset the springs, my pannel beater wanted to do it to my rear, he said he would heat it with a blow torch, and sag the spring a tiny bit,
isn't that kinda illegal? :confused:

reset the springs, my pannel beater wanted to do it to my rear, he said he would heat it with a blow torch, and sag the spring a tiny bit,

sounds a little dodgy! Isnt there a proper way that suspension/tyre shops compress them?

save stuffing around with springs, and just get airbags. can adjust the height to whatever you want. thats wat i've done. shouldnt be too much longer now :doubt:

simply heating up springs and sagging them is dodgy but works,

though if u can take them to sdomewhere like industrial springs where they reset them and chemically treat them or do something so as when they cool they are not brital and prone to cracks and snapping

when i was talking to the local rim shop about compressing my front springs, he said he just blow torches them, copmresses em in spring cpomressor and lets them set? wouldnt that make them stiffer?

lol i left my mudflaps on, and they haev just disentergrated over time haha, scrubs when i turn corners. full sick bro

keep you eye out for a second handset of coilovers i just got a set for 400 with 4000ks on em. i can only use the front ones, selling the other ones so i got front pair in the end for 200. tuck rim at the front aswell now. ha

I've heard that weakens them to the point where they could snap.

I've heard that weakens them to the point where they could snap.

Buy a piece of perspex. Heat a line in it, bend it then let it cool. now bend it back and forth. you're 20 times more likely to receive a shard of perspex in your eye than if it was straight. If the heat treatment is only done lightly, as in only slightly modified, then there's less chance of that hapenning, but not as good as if you buy some springs at that actusal height.

Autobarn near my place tells me that they refuse to order springs in the L/SL type anymore. they get you to measure how low you want to go (centre of hub to edge of guard) and being them the measurements and they have them specially ordered. $300 for a full set. I'd just do that.

you can also have the dead coil cut off. that should drop it another 0.5 to 1"

Autobarn near my place tells me that they refuse to order springs in the L/SL type anymore.

Kings have stopped making them. Superlows, that is. Plus the Low SPs. According to their catalogue.

Kings have stopped making them. Superlows, that is. Plus the Low SPs. According to their catalogue.

kings are still making superlows for the fronts of 3rd gens
they have a seperate catalogue for superlow and ultralow springs
http://www.kingsprings.com.au/catalogue/Kings%20Superlow%20Caralogue%20040203.pdf

you can also have the dead coil cut off. that should drop it another 0.5 to 1"
but wouldn't this make the springs top out much quicker? the springs are already lowered as is, cutting the springs now would lose the proper stiffness and handling the springs are trying to supply now

need a bit of help here but i was wondering about compressing springs, wouldn't it result in a similar factor as to cutting springs? how does compressing the springs work and are there any positives (besides visual) and negatives to compressing springs?

cutting the dead coil means exactly that. you're cutting the last 2-3" off the end of the springs that dont contribute much (if anything) to the stiffness of the spring. dont get me wrong, i wouldnt recommend either option, but if you HAD to do one, i'd go the method that does the least altering of structural integrity.... think about it..... heating then reshaping something that was cast/forged to be a specific way HAS to weaken something right?

in any event, for ultimate lowness and longevity, its coilovers all the way. airbags may have all the bling, but not at the cost of ride quality, boot space, weight, and reliability.

dont get me wrong, im all for cheap ways of doing things, but theres a cheap way, and then there's the sensible/right/safe way.