Lowering Springs? Are they worth it?

Table of Contents

• Introduction to lowering your car
• What are lowering springs for your car?
• Things to think about before you buy your lowering springs
• The benefits of lowering your car
• Are Lowering springs easy to install?
• Can you lower your car yourself?
• How to install lowering springs for your car
• How do I fix the camber after lowering my car?
• Lowering springs vs. Full coil overs for lowering your car
• The drawbacks of lowering your car
• Features to look for when choosing springs
• Best brands of lowering springs
• Conclusion, and our experiences with lowering springs

Introduction to lowering your car

If you’re looking to lower your car, a set of lowering springs might be the way to go. They’ll give you the ability to adjust the ride height of your car, making it easier to get in and out, as well as improving handling and aerodynamics. They also are considerably cheaper than getting a full coilover system.

But for the lower cost, you must be giving up some features right? Well find out all about lowering your car with springs , how you do it, some of the brands that are the most recognized in the industry as well as our experiences with lowered cars.

Introduction:

What are lowering springs for your car?

Lowering your car with lowering springs can be a great way to improve the look and performance of your vehicle. But before we even get into that let’s take a look at what lowering springs are. At their core, they are exactly what their name implies, springs that you put on your car to lower the height of the vehicle.

Basically, they are shorter springs that reduce the height that your car sits at. Because of the change of length the car will be lower to the ground. You can just swap out your springs with the stock ones and the car will be lower.

Things to think about before you buy your lowering springs

First, you’ll want to consider the drop amount. This is how much lower the spring will lower your car. A larger drop may give you a more aggressive look, but it can also negatively affect ride quality and handling.

Second, you’ll want to choose a spring rate that is suited for your driving style. A higher spring rate will offer better handling but may be too stiff for some people. Conversely, a lower spring rate will provide a smoother ride but may not offer as much cornering grip.

The final thing you will want to think about is the stance that the springs will give your car. Some spring sets will lower the car the same amount for the front as the back. But other ones will lower the front of your car a bit more, giving it more of an aggressive stance. Some people like this better, so it is more of a personal preference thing than anything. Here is a great video that goes over the different stances and the driver profiles they are best for

The benefits of lowering your car

Lowering your car has many benefits. It can improve your car’s handling, give it a more aggressive look, and even make it more fuel efficient.

One of the main benefits of lowering your car is improved handling. Lowering your center of gravity makes your car more stable and less likely to roll over. It also makes your car more responsive to steering inputs, making it easier to corner at high speeds.

Lowering your car can also make it more fuel efficient. By reducing drag, you’ll be able to go further on a tank of gas. This is especially beneficial if you do a lot of highway driving. Not only will you save money at the pump, but you’ll also help reduce emissions.

If you’re looking to give your car a more aggressive look, lowering it is a great way to do so as I can’t think of any car that looks better at stock height than lowered, even just a little bit.

The final benefit of lowering springs is that they don’t cost an arm and a leg. They are pretty much the best bang for your buck when it comes to suspension modifications for your car.

Are Lowering springs easy to install?

Installing lowering springs is a pretty straightforward process that anyone with basic mechanical knowledge can do.  There are a lot of videos online that show the process, and it is pretty straightforward.

Can you lower your car yourself?

Yes, You can lower your car yourself with a few tools and some patience.

How to install lowering springs for your car

If you’re looking to lower your car, one of the best ways to do it is by lowering the springs. Lowering springs are designed to lower your car’s center of gravity, which not only makes it look better but also improves handling and performance. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to install lowering springs on your car.

1. Jack up your car and support it on jack stands. You’ll need to access the suspension, so it’s important that the car is well-supported and won’t fall on you while you’re working.

2. Remove the wheels and tires. This will give you better access to the suspension components.

3. Unbolt the shocks or struts from the vehicle body. In some cases, you may need to remove other components to get to the bolts holding the shocks in place. For instance, you may need to remove the strut brace and sway bar to get to the top shock bolts.

4. Compress the springs around the strut. This is done with a specialized tool so that it gets wound up around the strut setup.

5 Remove the compressed spring. After you have compressed the spring enough you will want to take it off the strut.

6 Put the new spring on around the strut. Most will sit easily on the struts perch, but some are unique so make sure you read the instructions as some springs will have different features.

7 Put the strut back in place and reinstall the upper strut mount. At this point, you are pretty much doing the opposite of the initial steps.

8 Re-install the strut assembly into the car and put your wheels back on the car.

How do I fix the camber after lowering my car?

While there are several ways to fix the camber after lowering your car, one of the most effective is to use an adjustable camber kit. This will allow you to dial in the perfect camber for your car, and it’s a relatively simple process.

You’ll first need to measure the camber of your car before and after the installation of the lowering springs. If the camber is off by more than a few degrees, you can then adjust it using the kit. The process is fairly straightforward and shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.

Lowering springs vs. Full coil overs for lowering your car

While lowering springs are the more popular and inexpensive option for lowering your car, full coilovers may provide a better ride. Lowering springs simply attach to your car’s existing suspension, while coilovers replace the entire system. This means that with coilovers you have more control over things like camber and rebound. Coilovers also tend to be lighter than stock suspensions, which can improve your car’s handling.

Lowering springs may be enough if you’re just looking to lower your car for aesthetic reasons. But if you want to improve your car’s performance, then coilovers may be worth the investment, which we cover in a little bit.

The drawbacks of lowering your car

There are a few drawbacks to lowering your car. One is that it can actually decrease the amount of contact between your tires and the road, which can have an impact on your traction and braking. Additionally, lowering your car can also increase wear and tear on suspension components. And finally, if you lower your car too much, you run the risk of bottoming out or scraping your undercarriage on speed bumps or steep driveways. So you have to ask yourself are you willing to change how you drive to have the stance you think looks nicer?

With lowering your car you might also have costs that creep up after the initial purchase of the springs. You might need a camber kit to correct how the tires sit on the road, and if you need a camber kit but don’t get one you might have uneven wear on the tires which will mean they need to be replaced sooner than normal. The final thing that sometimes happens is that the stock shocks cannot work with the lowered rate and break. If you get to that cost you are honestly probably going to be close to the same ballpark as with a full Coilover suspension. So if you are slamming the car you might reconsider the short-term versus long-term costs of lowering springs.

Features to look for when choosing springs

When it comes to lowering your car, one of the most important things to consider is the springs you choose. Not all springs are created equal and there are a few key features you should look for when making your decision.

One of the most important things to consider is the spring rate. This is how stiff or soft the spring is and will determine how your car handles. A higher spring rate means a stiffer spring, which is good for high-performance driving. A lower spring rate means a softer spring, which is better for everyday driving and provides a smoother ride.

Another thing to keep in mind is the height of the drop. This is how much lower your car will sit after installation and you’ll want to make sure it’s not too low for your specific car. You don’t want to scrape up your bumper on every little bump in the road!

If you lower your car too much you might also run into the camber issues that we spoke about above. Also, too much of a drop can cause too much stress on your stock shocks, so again this plays into the spring rate that you should be looking at before purchasing.

Best brands of lowering springs

Numerous brands offer lowering springs for cars, and it can be tough to choose which one is best. Some things to consider when making your decision are the quality of the product, how much lowering you want to achieve, and your budget.

Some popular brands that offer good quality lowering springs are Eibach and H&R.Both of these brands are known for manufacturing high-quality parts, and their springs will lower your car by about 1-2 inches. If you’re looking to lower your car more than that, then coilovers may be a better option for you. Another thing to keep in mind is that these two brands are on the more expensive side, so if you’re on a tight budget, you may want to look into other options.

Some less expensive brands that offer decent quality lowering springs are Megan Racing and Skunk2.

One thing to keep in mind is that although you might see some cheap options on eBay you want to consider if it is worth saving a bit of money upfront in the long run. We aren’t saying you can’t drop your car cheap, but there is a cost of saving money as well. Check out this awesome video from Donut media about lowering springs vs. coilovers

Conclusion, and our experiences with lowering springs

Lowering your car can improve its appearance and handling, but it’s important to choose the right lowering springs. There are many different types of lowering springs on the market, so it’s important to do your research to find the right ones for your car.

Lowering your car can give it a more aggressive look, as well as improve handling and performance, so there are some benefits to lowering your car. But there are also some drawbacks that we have gone over already… and even more drawbacks if you slam the car with really low-quality springs.

We have used H&R springs for the last two cars that we had, one was a 97 prelude and one was a 2014 Touring Accord. To be honest the Prelude was too low as it required us to really change how we drove and still scraped a lot… but did it ever look nice? It was lowered with the most aggressive drop, and for the year we had it we didn’t have to change the shocks.

The Accord was lowered on the H&R Sport kit and couldn’t be happier. It is about 1.5 inches total drop around, has a bit stiffer of a ride, and didn’t blow the shocks. It is a great drop if you are looking to just reduce the wheel gap so we can’t say enough good things about H&R as far as their springs go. We have also been in our friends cars that have used the Eibach kits, and they turned out great as well.

Make no mistake about it, you can’t compare springs to coilovers when it comes to the ability to control height as it just isn’t possible. But if you’re trying to save some money , getting good springs can do a good job at lowering your car and giving you better handling.