Wanting to go 1" lower. Spring recommendations?

[Bling]

1" is nothing. You possibly have progressive bump stops. Like another spring.
Quite lucky to get away with your wofs then it seems. Either that or you measurements are off. You will sure know about it if your on the bump stops. It's a truly awful feeling

These exist?

I would have thought any contact with any type of bump stop would be a bad idea in any case. Super lows are designed for shows anyway, throw away any expectation of great handling IMO.

I pretty much never recommend adjustable suspension. However I think if you've reached the limits of the factory suspension to work correctly I think it's time to re-evaluate getting something better suited if you must have it as low as possible.

[Mr Revhead]

Yes they do, buts its relative! It doesn't mean they will feel like a suspension spring. It just means its not a sudden stop against solid rubber. Aftermarket Monroe shockss have them.

[sergei]

What is this obsession with low ride? It looks broken beyond "square fit" of the wheel in the guards.

"square fit": where the thickness of the gap is equal along the radius of the wheel.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

I'm sorry but it is dodgy. From what you have posted there is no doubt your car is unsafe. Sorry to sound harsh but thats how it is. I promise you go and drive one with stock suspension and it will run rings around yours. Do not mistake flat cornering for grip.

I can tell you right now that the car is definitely not dodgy, nor is it unsafe. I welcome you to come over and see for yourself . I appreciate your opinion and concern, but the car does not shake, vibrate, pull to one side, bounce, rub or anything else that would be deemed unsafe.

It's funny you mentioned that because my dad actually owns an AE100 SE Limited exactly like mine as a second car. His one has stock springs and suspension (not sagged or worn) and my car runs rings around it in terms of handling. Due to his ride height from the stock springs his car tends to 'roll' around corners like a boat, whereas mine almost feels like it's on rails. I've never experienced any understeer unless pushing the car to it's absolute limits around a corner, so it seems to be gripping perfectly fine as far as I'm concerned. If I felt unsafe driving this car then I'd rectify it immediately, but I seriously have no cause for concern

What is this obsession with low ride? It looks broken beyond "square fit" of the wheel in the guards.

"square fit": where the thickness of the gap is equal along the radius of the wheel.

I want the car to sit about 10mm above the guards, so nothing extreme or anything. Definitely don't want the "square" look. All I want to do is make my front ride height match the rear, but due to the bump stops being too long I have to cut them to allow to it move down about 10mm. I really can't see what all the fuss is about. People seem to think I'm trying to slam my car to the ground but that's not the case at all

[sergei]

if you have to cut bump stops then your car is not safe.
10mm of suspension play is no suspensions. Right now bump stops, tyres and bushes are doing all the work. Your shocks are in range where they do not work (even brand new shock will not work).

It is sad to see where looks are more important than the safety.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

I'm going to cut the bump stops directly in half (maybe more depending on how long they are), which is approximately an inch (25.4mm), so there will be adequate suspension travel.


Here's some photos I just took showing exactly how the left front sits in comparison to the left rear. THIS is why I'm going to cut the bump stop in half so that it sits at the same height as the rear. Right now the bump stop is stopping the front from dropping 10mm lower. Excuse the overexposure, it's the only way to properly show the wheel gap between the guard and the tyre:

[Bling]

It's sitting on the bump stops, so you're going to cut one side to drop the height.

But you said...

I can tell you right now that the car is definitely not dodgy, nor is it unsafe. I welcome you to come over and see for yourself . I appreciate your opinion and concern, but the car does not shake, vibrate, pull to one side, bounce, rub or anything else that would be deemed unsafe.

Clearly have no idea what you're talking about when it comes to suspension. You currently have NO suspension travel at all, yet that doesn't strike you as dangerous?????

[Mr Revhead]

The thing is what you are saying re the travel you have and will have just simply cannot be safe or handle how you say. I think you have your measurements well out.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

It's sitting on the bump stops, so you're going to cut one side to drop the height.

No, I'm going to cut the bump stops on both sides.

Clearly have no idea what you're talking about when it comes to suspension. You currently have NO suspension travel at all, yet that doesn't strike you as dangerous?????

From what I could tell by looking under the guard yesterday with a torch, the front is sitting on the bump stops, BUT who knows, perhaps there is suspension travel above the bump stop, it's impossible to see if there is any of the piston rod exposed as the rubber dust cover is covering it. For all we know the bump stop may have just slid to the bottom of the piston, making it appear to be sitting on the bump stops. According to you guys, the ride quality would be horrendous if it was sitting on bump stops, but the ride quality seems fine, so the only way to find out for sure will be by removing the struts. To resolve the height problem it could be as simple as just switching the front springs from left to right. I won't know until I actually remove the strut and inspect it for myself......

The thing is what you are saying re the travel you have and will have just simply cannot be safe or handle how you say. I think you have your measurements well out.

Possibly, or like I said above, the bump stop may just be sitting at the bottom of the shock's piston rod, making it appear to be sitting on the bump stops when in fact it actually might not be. There isn't enough gap between the tyre and the guard for me to squeeze my hand into and check if there is any piston rod left to move the bump stop up.

[sergei]

Looking at photo, you should have about ~5cm of travel left with the bump stops intact.

If you are going to take out shock do following:
1) measure distance between spring plates (where spring rests against) while the car is on the ground.
2) reassemble strut without spring (but with bumpstop) and compressing it fully (until it rests on the bumpstop) and measuring length between the top spring plate and bottom. This will give you a benchmark of lowest possible position. Compare two measurements.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Looking at photo, you should have about ~5cm of travel left with the bump stops intact.

If you are going to take out shock do following:
1) measure distance between spring plates (where spring rests against) while the car is on the ground.
2) reassemble strut without spring (but with bumpstop) and compressing it fully (until it rests on the bumpstop) and measuring length between the top spring plate and bottom. This will give you a benchmark of lowest possible position. Compare two measurements.

Thank you. I will do that when I take the struts out this week.

[Bling]

You'll have to try push the bump stop up while it's sitting on the ground to know bump stop position.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

You'll have to try push the bump stop up while it's sitting on the ground to know bump stop position.

I tried to get a long screwdriver up there about 10-minutes ago but there wasn't enough clearance unfortunately. Might just try jacking it up about 5 or 10mm so I can get my hand in there to try and push it up. If it only moves a fraction I'll know that it's only moving because I've got it jacked up, but if it moves at least 15mm I'll know that there is still shock travel and that it's not actually sitting on the bump stop afterall.

[.:O4AGTZ:.]

You can go as low as you want if you are wanting to spend the money, but have you considered that it is as low as it will so SAFELY by just swapping out springs? The fact that the front is sitting on the bumpstops says to me that it shouldnt go any lower with the other suspension components standard.

Like strapping a turbo on an NA motor of some sort (say just a 16V 4age?). When you make too much power, thats when it goes bang. Same principle could apply to your suspension. More legit low = more monies!

The bumpstops are there for a reason. If you are chopping them apart you are in dodgy unsafe territory.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

You can go as low as you want if you are wanting to spend the money, but have you considered that it is as low as it will so SAFELY by just swapping out springs? The fact that the front is sitting on the bumpstops says to me that it shouldnt go any lower with the other suspension components standard.

Like strapping a turbo on an NA motor of some sort (say just a 16V 4age?). When you make too much power, thats when it goes bang. Same principle could apply to your suspension. More legit low = more monies!

The bumpstops are there for a reason. If you are chopping them apart you are in dodgy unsafe territory.

Yeah the bump stops are there to protect the shock's internals inside the strut body, so by cutting them in half I'll essentially be reducing the life of the front shocks as the piston rod isn't made to constantly be positioned that far down in the strut body, but since they're only OEM front shocks and replacements can be bought from Pick-A-Part for $34 it really doesn't bother me if they only last only 6-months to a year instead of lasting several years like they would at standard height.

Ideally I'd like to run shortened shocks on the front, but at over $300 each for Monroe ones it's cheaper and easier just to use OEM shocks and replace them if/when it's needed. I was told today that you can use ST191 Corona shocks in the Corolla and that the piston rod is shorter, so I might look into getting a pair of those from Pick-A-Part at some stage. For now I'm just going to attempt to cut the bump stops in half to gain more front suspension travel (anything is better than the non-existent travel I have now, lol). If the car handles like a sack of crap after cutting them then I'll just go to Pick-A-Part and grab some OEM ones for only a couple of bucks each

[Lloyd]

Thought about the validity of your insurance policy?

If you're on the stops, its not safe. Just because you feel like it safe doesn't make it so. Suspension is something you should actually be doing properly.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Thought about the validity of your insurance policy?

If you're on the stops, its not safe. Just because you feel like it safe doesn't make it so. Suspension is something you should actually be doing properly.

That's the point of cutting the bump stops though, to gain more shock travel, therefore making it safer. When people put the words cut + suspension together they immediately assume it's going to be unsafe, but when it comes to cutting bump stops you actually have to cut them in order to make the suspension safe. Spring companies such as Eibach specify in their fitting instructions that you must cut your factory bump stops before installation of their lowering springs for this exact reason.

[Lloyd]

Yes, and those bump stops are usually fitted to the shortened shocks you fit with the lower springs.

I'm not saying don't cut the bumps stop, by all means go for it. But if you're on them, then cutting them isn't going to make things much safer. Shocks aren't actually designed to travel the full extent of what they physically can.

Go slightly lower, but do it properly. Read up a bit on springs and shocks, just because they fit doesn't mean its right. And if you're in a crash and its found you haven't done it right then your insurance company is going to just walk away from any claims.

[tsoob]

Here is an interesting post while on the topic (sorry for the non facebook dark ages folks)

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 636&type=1

Read through the comments we have posted on each picture.

[Lloyd]

Plenty of dodgy ones out there.

Haha, but that Vitz looks cool? The springs go on a massive angle on the rears, often the standard springs look like they want to pop out. One good bump and they'd have been gone in that.

I remember a Skyline coming through work that got about half way up on a 2-post hoist and then made a bang, one wheel dropped. Turned out they'd "shortened the shocks" by cutting the top section off at the step, cutting a section of the shaft out and welding the top back on... Couldn't really believe people were that stupid.