fboukari

I'm buying rims, tyres and running out of mod money. So to lower the car I'm thinking about installing new springs only and save up for some coilovers to install later. Is that a bad idea? Is the stock shocks able to handle lowering springs? Tell me what you think.
/Fredric

rominl

iTrader: (4)

yes, there are couple of "bad" effects of that.

1) by just getting springs and no shocks, your shocks will go out very fast. the shocks on the gs is very soft, using any lowering springs will put way too much stress on them
2) your ride would be very funny... you will find yourself bouncing all the time
3) if you sell your springs later and get coilover, you end up spending more, so why not wait a bit and do it right?

///MDex

Lower first, with BOTH springs and shocks or coilovers, then do the rims and tires.

Just doing the springs will likely abuse the shocks, wear them out prematurely, and may even be dangerous since the shocks will constant be under compression, which is not their intended state.

HTH

AROD

I just lowered my car with L-sportline springs when I had some 17's on it. Man I was tearing up my ground effects. I went to a Maya 18 and man it made a difference. The ride is better and you can tell the difference
in the too. I haven't noticed any problems with the struts yet. Man i hope I don't anytime soon, I'm about strap for money. The Gap is to much for me with 17. 18 is the biggest you can go with it lowered without
getting coilovers. It's like everything else you'll have there is always something better. I'm mad that I didn't see that body kit On that silver GS on the photo page. Never fails Good luck

Manaray

Coilovers - there really is no substitute. There are a few lower cost (under $1000...some in the $800 range I believe) systems out there...why not just save up and put your wheels and coilovers on all at once?

fboukari

I called Lexus Stockholm today and they told me that they recommended the “TTE lowering springs” since they are suited for the stock shocks. They also mentioned “TTE height adjustable Suspension Kit” but I don’t know if they are coilovers. Once installed I hade to return the car to Lexus if I wanted to adjust the height again. The first alternative would cost about 1000$ install included and the second would be about 3000$. If I do coilovers I would like to be able to adjust them myself. I’m going to Lexus tomorrow since they have a customers car with lowering springs. It’s so hard to find things at reasonable price for Lexus here :-(
/Fredric

fboukari

I'm willing to spend about 2000$ including install.
/Fredric

Richie

Fredric, a lot of people on the board have Tein coil overs, I think they are less than 2k, maybe you could get those installed under 2k.
Hope this helps.

AROD

I think it would be a good Idea to save money and get it all done. I'm doing step by step and getting one problem after another. You drive a Lexus enough said. Everything else is bonus.
Then again looking at all these club members pictures and you can't help to want to get there as soon
as you can. Remember if you plan to go to 20's go for the best adjustible option. I just had my rims
a month and think I should have went bigger. It well never end trust me it's a expensive hobbie.
Good luck .

cyclemax

OK, I've seen this topic discussed on several occasions, so I finally feel the need to put my .02 in and hopefully debunk what I think is a myth. I say that you can use stock shocks/struts with lowering springs with no ill effects. Now, don't get me wrong, I agree it is not an "optimal" setup, and may even be foolish to pay money to have significantly worn suspension components re-installed, but that's the owner's choice.

I've personally done this on 4 cars now. Two GS4's, a Maxima, and an Audi A4 2.8. The GS's have both logged about 40K since the installs and none of these cars have had a single problem. They did, however, demonstrate a marked improvement in handling and of course, looks. They all still ride fine.

I also question the opinion that stiffer springs put additional stresses on shocks. Although it is important to have a properly matched spring/damper combination, the damper (shock/strut) is there to control the oscillations of the suspension, and is only sensitive to suspension velocity, not "stiffness". If your springs were so stiff that the suspension rarely moved, the shocks would have nothing to do, and they would last forever.

I also don't believe that the stock struts have an "ideal" or intended range of travel that is violated by the use of moderate lowering springs. Again, they are velocity dampers, and will perform the same function throughout the range of travel. In other words, the damping is constant from top to bottom. The spring gets stiffer as it compresses, not the shock. When you put rear seat passengers and luggage in your car does that mean the shock is now "out of range"? I say no. And furthermore, the "performance" shocks that everyone recommends don't have different applications for lowered cars, so it would seem to me that if you could use those struts with either springs, then you can do the same with the stock ones.

If your car has relatively low mileage and you simply want to improve the handling/looks, then I think it's fine to use the stock struts.

whitels

cyclemax, well said-- I totally agree. My only problem with the stock shocks is the damping effect --it almost has nothing!

AROD

Thanks that makes my wallet feel better.

///MDex

Makes sense cyclemax, esp since you've had so much experience and without any negative effects.

I have a related question then too. If the stiffer, lower springs don't negatively effect OEM shocks, then why have race/stiffer shocks, or any shocks that have more dampening? I mean, using the theory above, every car on the road should be using the same shocks, and we can just change the spings to get the height and rate we want, right?

Thanks for all the worthwhile information.

whitels

I think that shocks and springs have varying siffness and rates of dampening because cars have different weights, suspension geometries, sway bars, etc.

Just a guess...