Lowered Suspension

[shooie811]

i am lookin to go as low as i can with my cav i have tryed cuttin springs but still not good enuf has eny one sellin springs and shocks that wud do the job i will buy soon as

cheers >chris

[simon p]

i am lookin to go as low as i can with my cav i have tryed cuttin springs but still not good enuf has eny one sellin springs and shocks that wud do the job i will buy soon as

cheers >chris

If you want to go low, have you thought about air ride?

[shooie811]

cant afford sumthin like that jst now m8 maybe in the future jst after a half decent suspensin that brings the car down to wheels am lookin 4 a 90mm drop roughly

[pat]

if your looking at a 90 mm drop i assume theres no speed bumps or bad potholes around you as i know i winced a bit when approaching them with a 60mm drop on, i know its not constructive but you will be riding inside the front speedbumps towers so you will want to shorten them for starters , if memory serves stuart k on the forums had a firm make springs for him and they could custom wind for not bad amounts so give the ride height you want but with a matched spring rate , may be worth having a chat with him about the firm

[shooie811]

if your looking at a 90 mm drop i assume theres no speed bumps or bad potholes around you as i know i winced a bit when approaching them with a 60mm drop on, i know its not constructive but you will be riding inside the front speedbumps towers so you will want to shorten them for starters , if memory serves stuart k on the forums had a firm make springs for him and they could custom wind for not bad amounts so give the ride height you want but with a matched spring rate , may be worth having a chat with him about the firm

the car has 185 70 13 8 spoke wellers wheels am jst wantin to bring the car down 2 the tire if i buy 60mm lower kit 4 a manta gte will my car be sitting even lower becoz a manta gte normally sits lower than a 78 model cav?

[pat]

yes the gte is 25mm lower than the standard b series , most of the spring kits you see will give a drop from the height of a b unless stating from a gte spec ie most 60mm drops will be 35mm lower than a gte and possibly more so once settled

if you can make it out on my pic thats a 60mm drop kit which has settled & that runs reasonably well to the standard gte wheel & tyre

Edited December 10, 2009 by pat

[shooie811]

yes the gte is 25mm lower than the standard b series , most of the spring kits you see will give a drop from the height of a b unless stating from a gte spec ie most 60mm drops will be 35mm lower than a gte and possibly more so once settled

if you can make it out on my pic thats a 60mm drop kit which has settled & that runs reasonably well to the standard gte wheel & tyre

aye thats sitn quite wat type of suspension is it is it springs and shocks u have changed and do u know roughly how much an wer to get them m8

[pat]

the ones on mine were jamex which i think are no longer available in the uk , but i'm sure someone else will do them at a 55mm/60mm drop

one thing to note is once you lower more than 30mm you will want to fit shortened dampers(shocks) and also if you do lower by 60 mm the panhard rod wants to push the rear axle to one side so you may want to alter its length to centre it again.

not a 60mm drop but how about these http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400063608352&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

or these chaps http://www.springcoil.co.uk/suspension.html

Edited December 11, 2009 by pat

[pat]

ps i know years ago when we was young and skint we used to get cars lowered by putting a block or brick under the lowest point on the suspension arms & rear axle then have a local friendly bloke with an oxy acetylene torch & gear warm the springs up until they "ahem" self lowered to a standard height , probably not recommended in these politically correct days but hey , everyone had to start somewhere and no dosh makes you look at things differently

[Kevin Abbott]

ps i know years ago when we was young and skint we used to get cars lowered by putting a block or brick under the lowest point on the suspension arms & rear axle then have a local friendly bloke with an oxy acetylene torch & gear warm the springs up until they "ahem" self lowered to a standard height , probably not recommended in these politically correct days but hey , everyone had to start somewhere and no dosh makes you look at things differently

The good old days

I remember using those horrible lowering blocks( back in 1990 ) you had to clamp in the springs and tighten down, then i caught on to the idea of just chopping springs down using a grinder and moving the rubber top mount around to suit. You can go as low as you dare doing it that way.

Go too low and you have to go way too slow

[keith1200]

Ah It was different for me I learned to weld with the wee fat dumpy red bottle and tall thin black one

I'd cut the spring then heat the end up you couldn't tell. Anyhow that's in the past, nah the same as cutting

a spring with the auld B&Q grinder then fitting it

[TJM]

Hello

If you are looking at lowering over 40mm then normally I would recommend fitting shortened dampers to go with the springs, I once made some 100mm lowering springs for a Chevette (afetr a customer insisted) but would never do again as I had no end of issues with the customer who didn't want to modify anything else, the wheels made contact with the arches of full lock, his camber angle was excessive and causing major tyre wear. In the end I got him to send them back and got the manufacturer to raise them by 40mm. He was reasonably happy with the outcome.

I would really think about it carefully before fitting lowering springs that short.

Regards

Tim

Edited December 12, 2009 by TJM