Does lowering the car hurt anything?

[detroiter]

I guess it was just a question I was thinking about and thought that
I would ask others what they think. Does putting lowering springs on our cars hurt anything or accelerate wear and tear significantly?

What's your thoughts?

[kimona]

Yes, it hurts that part you place on your seat.

[JumpmanYaris]

LMAO, Ass, sometimes.

It all depends on how crazy low you are, If you have lowering springs the only thing that MAY get damage is the struts at a long run

[djct_watt]

Stiffer suspension means more rattles popping up sooner. After about 50,000 miles, all that shock to the chassis and interior panels will make the car feel and sound like you did 100,000 miles.

[MUSKOKA800]

Most of the damage will be to your wallet but railing flat around the first high speed curve will quickly take that pain away and put a huge smile on your face.

I've almost 50,000 kl (~30,000 miles) on my TRD suspended sedan with no squeaks or rattles to report yet.

[detroiter]

The reason I ask is because you get those people who suggest lowering a car kills your ball joints, cv joints, yadda yadda. Just wonder if theirs any truth to that or are they blowing hot air.

[djct_watt]

Originally Posted by detroiter

The reason I ask is because you get those people who suggest lowering a car kills your ball joints, cv joints, yadda yadda. Just wonder if theirs any truth to that or are they blowing hot air.

More wear is more wear. Yes, it's like asking if driving the car faster creates more wear; yes it does. What matters is the degree of effect it has. stiffer springs means less energy is absorbed by the suspension and more is transmitted to the body.

The problem is that most people don't keep their cars long enough to tell if it's had an effect. . . ie, somebody will said they put on 5,000 miles with no problems, and state that there is no extra wear and tear, which is a pretty dumb statement. If you don't plan on keeping your car for more than 100k miles, then it shouldn't matter. But when you talk about some serious mileage (which these cars are capable of), ie 400+k miles, then yeah, there should be an effect, but I can't vouch as to how much.

The interior is held together by cheap plastic clips, and inevitably, it will rattle. I put over 120k on my xA (which is basically the same as a Yaris with a few differences in body panels). It rattled significantly more than stock vehicles of the same or greater mileage. But you have to compare side to side to notice. Because these things come gradually, it's impossible to objectively notice a difference.

But if you want performance, then increased costs are unavoidable. . . you will accelerate more, which will burn more fuel, and you will go through tires more. There is no such thing as free performance. Either you're using more fuel, more tire, more wear and tear and parts, or dropping cash on batteries and electric motors.

[detroiter]

Like my dad always says..."you buy performance, you pay performance"

[severous01]

camber, caster, toe....tires, steering axis inclination...

oh, and little bunnies and dogs crossing the street...

[alfredyeez]

At its normal ride height, the drive-shafts are parallel to the ground.

When the car is lowered, there will be an angle from the gearbox to the wheels.

This accelerates wear to the drive-shafts

[severous01]

also, the swaybar endlinks need to be shortened or lengthened to make the bar ends parallel to the ground again. and you'll need camber kits to correct geometry. and, an alignment. the paperwork should have come with new alignment specs, or you can just put it back to stock numbers.

[darkMINI]

Your axles will be just fine, your CV joints on the other hand...wear will be negligible. The angle created by the average spring drop is minimal and there is a certain amount of CV angle range factored in anyways due to different loads on the car and suspension travel. Unless your suspension angles are extreme you shouldn't need worry about shortening drive-train life.
I imagine the most important things to worry about on a typical drop is alignment, and of course speed bumps and curb transitions tearing up the front bumper valance and dragging the belly.

[nemelek]

Originally Posted by darkMINI

I imagine the most important things to worry about on a typical drop is alignment, and of course speed bumps and curb transitions tearing up the front bumper valance and dragging the belly.

There is a few huge unavoidable speed bumps at my place of work. I would like my car to be an inch higher.

[djct_watt]

^ That is accurate. If the axle angle were so sensitive, you'd never be able to ride in the car with passengers, hence why the suspension is allowed to have a certain amount of travel. And because the spring rate SHOULD be higher, you have actually reduced the movement range of the suspension. However, you should be sure that your suspension is within the tolerable range of travel, i.e. you don't hit the bump stops. Also keep in mind that max weight capacity will also be reduced. Your suspension needs to move to work properly, and if you are hitting the bump stops or are driving on cut stock spring, you will destroy the suspension much faster over time.

[TrashCan Monster]

make sure you get new shocks.struts to match the springs. OEMs will suffer soon after

[severous01]

i think i saw it on microimage...but there's poly spacers available. it stops squeeks and you can get them in up to 1" thickness.

or, you can do the cheap, not suggested at all from this guy...coil spring spacers. get them at the 'self help aisle' at autozone or o'rileys.