We have just bought a 2003 TJ AWD Sports with 85 000ks that is completely stock. It currently sits low in the rear (wheel rear wheel arch is almost down in line with the top of the tyre) but the front appears to be quite high. A few I have seen around the place seem to be similar (lower at the rear than the front) is this normal? If I fitted low front springs (kings or similar) would this help level out the ride height (I believe that the sports are already lower than a normal magna)?
We also kept the 18inch Wheels of our previous car that have the correct offset and stud pattern to suit however they will need new tyres soon. After doing a few searches I have found different opinions about the size/profile of tyres. I have seen widths from 225-245 and profiles of 40 and 45 series. Is there a recomended tyre size or am i better of going to bobjane or someone and asking them?
Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give us.

Assuming it is indeed stock, it won't really be lower at the rear. I have a stock TJ AWD that shows less gap at the rear guards, but they're all like that - it's simply an outcome of the guard design.

It's a good idea to upgrade the stock wheels. At 6" wide, they're a tad too narrow to properly support even the standard tyres. I've gone for 16" x 7" rims with 225/55R16 tyres, which I believe give about the best combination of ride and squeal-free cornering, but if you don't mind a harsh ride then other AMC members will doubtless suggest many versions of ultra low profile fittings. Meanwhile, welcome to the club and I hope you enjoy the delights of AWD motoring!

We have just bought a 2003 TJ AWD Sports with 85 000ks that is completely stock. It currently sits low in the rear (wheel rear wheel arch is almost down in line with the top of the tyre) but the front appears to be quite high. A few I have seen around the place seem to be similar (lower at the rear than the front) is this normal? If I fitted low front springs (kings or similar) would this help level out the ride height (I believe that the sports are already lower than a normal magna)?

Welcome to the forum.

When parked on a level surface, empty, my (then) stock AWD measured about 410mm from the centre of the wheel to the top of the wheel arch at the front, and about 375mm from the centre of the wheel to the top of the wheel arch at the rear (these measurements are sometimes known as the eyebrow heights I gather).

All 3rd gen Magnas have a higher arch measurement at the front than the rear by about 35mm (give or take a couple of mm). The AWDs generally sit a bit lower than the others due to the extra 100+ kg, but the height reduction is fairly even.


We also kept the 18inch Wheels of our previous car that have the correct offset and stud pattern to suit however they will need new tyres soon. After doing a few searches I have found different opinions about the size/profile of tyres. I have seen widths from 225-245 and profiles of 40 and 45 series. Is there a recomended tyre size or am i better of going to bobjane or someone and asking them?

You should be aiming to keep the overall diameter of the tyres within 15mm of the stock tyres (which I seem to recall are 664mm). My car's speedo was actually under-reading by a bit over 1kmh on stock tyres, compared to 2 different GPSes, so I've decided to go with tyres slightly smaller in diameter than stock to bring the speedo into almost exact calibration. I'm currently using 225/50R17s, but considered 225/45R18 which are almost exactly the same diameter (about 658mm). Find a tyre size calculator (quite a few around the web) and investigate the options, then go talk to tyre places...

The limiting factors on width tend to be the clearance between the tyre and the rear suspension (particularly the upright from the lower to upper control arms), and the protrusion of the front tyres outside the wheel arch. 235s will fit okay with correct offset (probably in the +35 to +40 range), 225s are fine (and were std on VRXes with 17 inch rims) with the stock +46 offset. Lowering will also affect what can be achieved, as interference from the guards can become an issue.

You also want to make sure that the tyres have load and speed ratings meeting the requirements on the car's tyre placard (95 load rating, don't recall the speed rating).

Thanks for the quick replies. In order to get the front down roughly level with the rear would low springs do the job (not sure how they would compare with standard "sports" springs) or would super lows be needed? I dont really want to run super or ultra low springs if i can avoid it, as we have had them in the past in various cars and while they looked good they rode really poorly and didnt handle much better. Has anyone on here lowered they sports or VRXs, if so are they any recomendations of what works the best?

I had a look at kings springs website and they list all the magna models together, does this mean that AWD and FWD springs are the same as they dont list an AWD only spring?

The AWD uses the same springs as the FWD, but you need to allow 10-12mm extra "drop" due to the extra weight of the AWD driveline.

Do the eyebrow height measurement before you do anything, to confirm whether your rear springs have sagged (which is possible).

As noted above, the front arches are cut higher than the rear so trying to "level" the car based purely on the look of the wheel to arch clearance will actually be tilting the car forward. A better visual check is whether you have the same ground clearance underneath the car just behind the front wheels as you do just in front of the rear wheels.

I wouldn't go lower than the King SPs which are a 30mm drop, but others have. I actually ended up using std height Lovell's, which gave me eyebrow heights of 405mm front and 375mm rear, as I wasn't prepared to sacrifice any ground clearance.

I did a quick measure and the front was exactly the same as yours but the rear was a bit lower. It has a pretty serious towbar on it and electric brake control thing fitted so I assume it's done a bit of towing in it's time which probably dropped the rear down a bit. I will grab a set of kings low front springs and put them in and see how she looks

I dont really want to run super or ultra low springs if i can avoid it, as we have had them in the past in various cars and while they looked good they rode really poorly and didnt handle much better. Has anyone on here lowered they sports or VRXs, if so are they any recomendations of what works the best?
A set of Low SPs - coupled with some good shocks - will give a noticeable increase in handling. I lowered my (FWD) VR-X sensibly and it make a dramatic difference to handling.

Perhaps it'd be worth jacking up the car and seeing if you can find a part number on the rear springs? At least it'd give you some idea of what you're working with.


We also kept the 18inch Wheels of our previous car that have the correct offset and stud pattern to suit however they will need new tyres soon. After doing a few searches I have found different opinions about the size/profile of tyres. I have seen widths from 225-245 and profiles of 40 and 45 series. Is there a recomended tyre size or am i better of going to bobjane or someone and asking them?
How wide are your 18" rims? There's a couple of sizes you can pick from that retain legality. I would base your purchase in part on the width of the rim.

Wheels are 18x8 with +35 0ffset and currently have 235 40 18 tyres on them.

235/40/18s are approximately 21mm smaller than standard. That's legal in Queensland, but it's obviously a fair whack smaller. 235/45/18s are 2mm larger than standard and would be my pick. Not only does it keep your rolling diameter the same, 235s are the way to go on a 8" rim imo (although you could go 225 or 245 without issue).

The only thing with an 8" rim and 235 tyres is that your front wheels may poke out the front guards a little, depending on your camber. You may want to consider installing a camber kit (about $80 from Whiteline - forum sponsor Megatron sells them) when you put on your lowered springs.

Wheels are 18x8 with +35 0ffset and currently have 235 40 18 tyres on them.

My wheels & tyres are exactly those specs. I run about 1 degree neg camber on the front & theyre dead flush give or take a mm depending on how level the ground is. No scraping at all.
King lows, front & rear.

I'm pretty sure if the overall rolling diameter is under the original size my speedo will be out, will it read higher than it should (eg 100 on the speedo is 95 for real) or under?

Yep something like that, i havent checked for the exact diff, but will read higher.

I'm pretty sure if the overall rolling diameter is under the original size my speedo will be out, will it read higher than it should (eg 100 on the speedo is 95 for real) or under?

If you can get hold of a GPS nav unit, you can check your speed - but only use the GPS speed when you're driving at a constant speed in an area where there aren't many buildings etc to obstruct satellite acquisition - most freeways are good except if they have really frequent overpasses.

My TJ AWD on stock 215/60R16s was recording 101-102kmh on the GPS with a speedo indication of 100kmh (on new tyres). Depends a bit on how the speedo needle gets fitted I guess...

I did the test with our gps and its reading pretty much exactly the same as the speedo (possibly out by 1kmh, speedo 100 gps 99). Will put the 18s on with current 235 40's and compare the difference once we get back from holidays next week.

For what it's worth, with nearly-worn 235/40/18s on mine, my speedo reads about 118km/h while the GPS reads 112-113km/h.

I lowered my KJ2 awd rada myself. Dobinson lows all around equipped with Boge shocks. Noticeable difference, comfortable when you need it to be and stiff when you want it to be :)

Fitted front lowered kings springs today which lowered it around 40mm which has it sitting quite nicely. Fitted the 18's with 235 40 18 tyres on it (from our AU) and they fit really nicely, no rubbing or anything like that and speedo is only out by a couple of k's according to our sat nav (speedo reads 100, sat nav 97) which doesn't seem too bad considering that there isn't much tread left on the tyres. Will take some pics and put them on once I work out how to do it. Thanks for all the info guys.

Took a couple of pics with wheels on and front lowered. Tried to upload pic but I keep getting a little red cross. Is there a trick to posting photos?

www.picturestack.com

http://picturestack.com/40/186/CCOphpHjGHlvPfOw.jpg

http://picturestack.com/40/641/Azrsmall1tO4.jpg

Thanks for that, got it to work.

I'm running king springs lows on the rear for a 30mm drop and superlows on the front with around 45mm drop. KýYB shocks all round and 235/40 18's on 18x8's. no problems with clearance or scrubbing. I was surprised that the ride was still fairly comfy even though the suspention is firmer overall. A big shout out has to go to lads at my local beaurepairs for a great job and excellent set up of the wheel alignment and suspension.

Update. I have had the front end bottom out on me once while taking for a run a few Saturdays ago. Admitedly the road was very lumpy and I entered that section doing 80 km/h ;). No problems with speed humps either which is a bonus. Anyway the car is due to go back for another wheel alignment now that the suspension has settled in and freed up abit.

After a lot of research a while back I came up with the optimal tire sizes if you have 18s. 225/45R18 and 235/45R18. The original rolling diameter (RD) is 664mm with the stock 216/60R16. The 235/40R18 which you have has RD 645mm which is 19mm off what your speedometer is tuned to. The 225/45R18 is 660mm RD and 235/45R18 RD is 668mm. 235/45R18 is a little easier to find with 95 and higher load rating (which you MUST match or exceed to be legal). I run 235/45R18 on my car but with standard springs and ride height.