Lowering Springs a Good Idea?

miKemoRRa · May 18, 2009, 11:02 AM

I have seen many threads concerning which lowering springs to buy. I am looking into buying a set of springs, probably either the eibach pro-kit or sportsline, not sure which yet. I happen to have a buddy of mine who is a mechanic who said they installed lowering springs on a 08 lancer at his shop. He was highly recommending that i dont buy these springs. He said the customer was having problems with his tire hitting his rear fender when going over bumps. He says the only way to do it is to flare my fenders, it doesnt matter how much drop in the end it wont be worth it. It was disappointing to hear this, but i am curious to see if any of you on this forum have experienced any problems or bad situations, or heard of anyone who has.

FYI, this is my daily driver and it is a 09 Lancer GTS. I wasnt looking to get a huge drop, but was hoping to clear the gap between my tires and possibly gain a more comfortable ride with better handling.

EngRWW33 · May 18, 2009, 11:20 AM

First of all, what size wheel/tires are you running?

miKemoRRa · May 18, 2009, 11:53 AM

my car is a stock right now

EngRWW33 · May 18, 2009, 11:55 AM

you will be fine with any choice you make. I am enjoying my works springs.

miKemoRRa · May 18, 2009, 12:14 PM

1.how much of a drop did those give you?
2.are you using a camber kit?
3.did you need to flare your fenders?
4.how long have you had them on for?

Titaztik · May 18, 2009, 12:49 PM

I would go with the RRM V.2 GRIP springs....the drop isn't all that low so you shouldn't have to worry about ruining stock components but it will get rid of the gap.
To answer your questions that you gave the other guy:
1. It gave about 1.5 all the way around
2. No camber kit
3. NO
4. I've had mine for about 4 months now and have had no issues at all.

Adam

miKemoRRa · May 18, 2009, 01:27 PM

great to hear, another detail i left out is he said i needed an alignment afterwards.
i am wondering how much the entire process had costed you (springs + alignment + labour, etc)

EngRWW33 · May 18, 2009, 01:38 PM

1.1" all around
No
No
4 months

You will definately want an alaignment as my rear toe was thrown off. This will protect from premature tire wear.

infiltrate · May 18, 2009, 05:04 PM

im in the same boat as him need to be lowerd runing 235/40/18's with 8inch rim .. any recomedations i wanta beeee lowww but not damage the car or rub

jason6g · May 18, 2009, 05:21 PM

dont know much about the lancer and droping it as this is just a daily for me

but on most every other car ive had - lowering the car will give it a harsher ride (less travel and progressively stiffer springs) so you will feel more bumps. if you commute, NOT a good idea unless you dont care about ride quality (i do)

secondly, anytime you adjust anything with the suspension, you should get the alignment at least checked (alot of tire places will CHECK for free, and charge to adjust) this way, you will know if the extra $80 or whatever is worth it

lowering a car will most likely wear your shocks faster than stock height - however up to a 2" drop we'll say the difference should be negligible. anything over a 2" drop and you should most likely look into coilovers

along with that last point, expect some issues if any warranty issues pop up - that will not be covered by the factory warranty (parts & labor can get expensive) so again.. is your car being lowered really worth it?

If my lancer was my only car.. then yes id most likely lower it so i can enjoy a nice looking car with slightly better handling. since its not.. i will prolly wait till the warranty is all but shot to change anything on it (besides lights and other easily swapped out parts)

just writing this for the n00bs out there who just want a good looking lowered car, but dont want a chewed up front end, voided warranty, extra rattles in the car from added vibration, and a harsher ride while driving all over creation.

also... DO NOT just cut coils in your springs... spend the $300 or whatever and get some nice progressive springs (start soft to help with ride quality and progressively get stiffer so when you do nail a nice bump, you at least absorb some of the hit before your travel is maxxed and the frame takes it.

if you want a faster car in the corners... lowering springs are not the best way to go. coilovers all the way. if you are on a budget, fine, but also look for stiffer sway bars to help

as far as fenders... wider tires with a nice offest will look great, but most likely need the inner lip of the fender to be bent up and out of the way - or "rolled". flaring fenders is a bit dramatic for these cars... not a muscle car or hot rod.. just roll them and call it a day. stock car as it sits, my guess is that one can probably drop the car 2.5" all the way around and not have any issues, except maybe some minor rubbing on full lock of the front wheels which is negligable.

those rrm springs someone posted earlier seem good to me, but i would prefer a bit more of a drop - maybe 2" all around.

my 2 cents on all this
2" drop
upgrade tires to something like a 255 35 18 - wider and a bit beefier sidewall to complete the "track ready" look of the lancer - and help it stick better in corners, and ride a bit nicer to make up some for the stiffer ride

also.. while the springs are being installed, may want to paint up them calipers - even in black - to try and help prevent them from gettin all nasty and rusty down the road (or at least prolong it)

Racecarzz08 · May 18, 2009, 07:54 PM

how do you know if you need a chamber kit or not? im getting the tien springs soon

and how much to chamber kits for the lancer cost?

miKemoRRa · May 18, 2009, 11:36 PM

i know that the camber kits cost about $90 on rrm, but i am wondering how much does the labour plus alignment for installing a set of springs cost. for those of you who have lowered your car, please share, was it worth it? or is my friend right saying that its not worth the hassle/troubles i'll run into in the future.

EngRWW33 · May 19, 2009, 05:19 AM

Labor was fre for me. I installed myself, and would recommend this to anyone with the right tools. Then I paid for firestone's lifetime alignment (totally worth the extra $$$) which was $130. I enjoy the ride with a 1.1" drop, not too harse but can definately feel the road more.

Also, a 2" drop or more is really not going to improve handling and might even be worse then stock, but it will look good.

jason6g · May 19, 2009, 07:01 AM

Camber kits will most likely not be needed unless you hit a curb and bent something, or are dropping really low - wont know until you go for an alignment and the guy runs out of adjustments

most any shop can install the springs for you, expect to pay somewhere around 100-150 id guess - but most people with some technical know how should be able to diy - remove everything, compress, remove spring, compress new spring, install everything in a nutshell

every car ive ever lowered it has been well worth it - im up in the air on the lancer because it looks goofy to me sitting up all high like it does - but i enjoy the smooth ride

anbuzero · May 19, 2009, 07:54 AM

i have the RRM GRIPS and have no problems. installed them myself and got an alignment on them after letting them settle. ride is much smoother at low and high speeds, and i actually feel the bumps less (other springs were shot for sum reason)