Lowering Springs

About Lowering Springs

Want the fender gap gone without rebuilding the whole corner? Springs are the cheapest way there and they change the least about how your car drives. The coil is shorter and stiffer than what came off, because there's less travel left to soak up the same bump. Front and rear figures differ on nearly every kit, and they're both the maker's own numbers.

Springs go on your factory struts, which is the whole appeal and also the catch. Your dampers were valved for a taller spring, so now they're working harder with less room to do it. A mild drop on healthy dampers is fine. A deep drop on tired ones goes bouncy inside a year. Stuck between progressive and linear? Progressive rides soft over the small stuff and firms up late, and linear feels the same all the way through.

Plan on an alignment. A strut front end picks up negative camber as it comes down, a multilink rear picks up more, and toe drifts along with both. If the shop runs out of adjustment, the camber kits page is right next door. Save the drop on your car before you shop wheels and you'll see what works at the lower height.

Common questions

Do lowering springs need new shocks

Not for a mild drop on dampers that are still healthy. Yes for anything past that, or on a car with real miles behind it. Your damper has a fixed stroke and a lowering spring uses part of it before you've hit a single bump. Mild kits are built to live on the factory unit. Go deeper and you want a short body damper, which is what the lowering kits page is for.

How much will it actually drop

About what the maker says, taken at the fender lip, once the springs have settled in. They test on a car with factory wheels, so a heavier nose won't land in exactly the same place. Give it a few weeks of driving before you judge it. The wheel and tire you choose change the gap you see too, since a taller tire fills more arch at the same height.

Will the ride get rough

Firmer, not rough, as long as the drop is sensible and the kit is progressive. The rate has to climb, because a shorter coil carries the same weight in less travel. Progressive winds keep that first part close to stock so small bumps still feel familiar. Sharp hits like expansion joints get louder, since the bump stop isn't as far away as it used to be.

Do lowering springs ruin the alignment

They change it and an alignment puts most of it back. Lowering tips the top of the tire inward on a strut car and toe follows it. At a mild drop camber is usually still inside spec. Toe is the one that wears tires and any shop can set it. A camber kit turns up when the drop's deep enough to run the factory adjustment out.