Lowering Advice Please

[Ian S]

I've just bought a set of Eibach Pro Kit springs to lower my Corolla (-30mm), and asked my neighbour, who's a mechanic to fit them for me. He replied with a puzzled look and asked why I wanted to lower my car as, he said, once you've done it, the ride is awful, and also, lowering tilts the front two wheels outwards, meaning you get excessive tyre wear on the inside rim of your tyres. Is this true at all? I'm now really not sure what to do, as I really wanted to lower my car, but have been really put off by this. Thanks.

[G6-R]

i lowered my Rolla from the start ( bought it new and in the same week i lowered it myself ) but i have now excessive tyre wear , but you have to go to a tyreshop and let your front wheels get angeld ( don,t now the exact word for it in English )

mayby he don,t want to lower your Rolla

take a look at my homepage

[bert.tsport]

hi,

mines lowered 35mm on pi springs. ive had a full geometric check done and the wheels are at there correct angles. i have no problem with tyre wear either

[OriRacer]

unless you want you car to feel and handle more like a track car don't lower it !!

You will feel more pot holes, the ride will not be as good, and if not done right you will get tyre wear because of it.

But ..... on the other hand it will corner better, look cooler and ..erm well that's the good point's ;)

I have two lowered cars and live in edinburgh, its killing them the roads are so bad here.

Next town car I buy will be a raised HILUX that i'll sort the speed bumps and pot holes out

i'll keep the cool lowered race car for the track, and crusies.

[caen fred]

I still wonder if a good set of antiroll bars woldn't be better for the "rolling" problem of the "CORONA EXTRA"??? The ride isn't bad, it's just taking too much roll so...

[rents1977]

I had 15 rolls of turf in the back of my Corolla last weekend. It dropped the car about an inch ( or 25mm ) and it certainly looked good, and I swear it felt better on the motorway. Only trouble was my mud flaps grounded going into my drive! Up until that point I had convinced myself I wanted to go straight out and get some lowering springs put on...

I think if you have the car properly set up and get the castor angles etc checked you should not get excessive tyre wear. If you just bolt on the new springs and don't tweak the geometry then I'd expect trouble.

[Richard K]

Hi,

I got mine lowered 35mm but was unaware garage I'd used could only sort toe in/toe out not camber angle.

So when I asked is the alignment done they said Yes. So it's my own fault for not specifying camber angle.

So I've now got two useless yokohama front tyres with nothing left on the inner walls (£140 gone). Plus another £98 for full bells and whistle laser adjustment this week.

I knew about adding 1.5degrees of negative camber thanks to John (AE111SR) and some other knowledgeable people on here.

The ride is bearable on urban streets, motorways are fine, Scotland and back in 1day with no sore back.

And once 14's go back on it will be a little smoother.

Richard K

[PaulT]

I've just bought a set of Eibach Pro Kit springs to lower my Corolla (-30mm), and asked my neighbour, who's a mechanic to fit them for me. He replied with a puzzled look and asked why I wanted to lower my car as, he said, once you've done it, the ride is awful, and also, lowering tilts the front two wheels outwards, meaning you get excessive tyre wear on the inside rim of your tyres. Is this true at all? I'm now really not sure what to do, as I really wanted to lower my car, but have been really put off by this. Thanks.

The E12 Corolla can be lowered 30mm and still have enough geometry adjustment so that you can avoid uneven tyre wear. However, it has to be checked and adjusted after you have fitted the springs.

I went with the TTE lowering springs and in the package they list the geometry changes that were needed. Presumably it is the same with the Eibach ones?

Paul.

[vvtl-iboy]

I had the TTE springs fitted through toyota, £280 all in, can't recommend them highly enough for the rolla. The ride is so much better, less roll, corners a lot better and you have more confidence going in to corners without it feeling like it going to tip over. I assume the Eibach ones are the same as TTE because they were 30mm too.

[Rinko]

I had the TTE springs fitted through toyota, £280 all in, can't recommend them highly enough for the rolla. The ride is so much better, less roll, corners a lot better and you have more confidence going in to corners without it feeling like it going to tip over. I assume the Eibach ones are the same as TTE because they were 30mm too.

Which dealer did you get yours done at - looking at getting mine done when I get a few spare pennies. did they do the full laser geometry setup as well for that price?

[vvtl-iboy]

I had the TTE springs fitted through toyota, £280 all in, can't recommend them highly enough for the rolla. The ride is so much better, less roll, corners a lot better and you have more confidence going in to corners without it feeling like it going to tip over. I assume the Eibach ones are the same as TTE because they were 30mm too.

Which dealer did you get yours done at - looking at getting mine done when I get a few spare pennies. did they do the full laser geometry setup as well for that price?

It was Ron Brooks in Ilkeston near Derby/Nottingham, they also have a branch in Mansfield. Not sure about the laser geometry, to be honest I'm not really up on things like that so didn't even know to ask about it when I got them done. But I do know that the tyre wear is as even as I would expect and I've had no other problems to report since having them done. It obviously makes the ride a little harsh on poor roads, but the shocks do a good job of smoothing them out. Well worth the money.

On a side note, I saw a T-Sport the other day which had stock springs and it looked like a bus. Just doesn't look like a sporty car at all. It looks and handles much better.

[rf76]

Best bet would be to get it laser aligned to compensate for the tyre wear. Cars that are dropped on their '*****' look good and handle great! Good luck wi your mission fella!

[Rinko]

It was Ron Brooks in Ilkeston near Derby/Nottingham, they also have a branch in Mansfield. Not sure about the laser geometry, to be honest I'm not really up on things like that so didn't even know to ask about it when I got them done. But I do know that the tyre wear is as even as I would expect and I've had no other problems to report since having them done. It obviously makes the ride a little harsh on poor roads, but the shocks do a good job of smoothing them out. Well worth the money.

On a side note, I saw a T-Sport the other day which had stock springs and it looked like a bus. Just doesn't look like a sporty car at all. It looks and handles much better.

Right - I got a quote from Oakmere at Northwich from a friend of a friend, just wanted to get an idea of the total cost so that I can maybe use it to get a better deal.

Wasn't a red t-sport you saw was it ... I was around and about in Staffordshire the other week :D

[Flat Pack]

I don't like lowering springs at all.

Firstly they don't make your handling better. Ok so there might be some marginal improvement on a super smooth surface because of the better roll control, but out in the rear world with bumps and potholes the increased spring rate actually means your wheels haven't got as good contact with the ground as much of the time (you're effectively skipping over holes and bumps rather than have the suspension take them up).

Secondly, everyone always feels like the handling is better because the car rolls less. That's a pretty dangerous combination... more perceived grip, less actual grip -> hedge seeking missile.

The last reason is because it knackers your shocks, they're sat in an overly compressed state the whole time and eventually the seals go. With a lot of lowering springs theres actually the chance that the spring will come off its seat and full suspension droop too, which is just downright dangerous (although you'd have to do something pretty mad to acheive that on the road).

I've just imported a mk3 Supra from Japan. Its on lowering springs, had to replace a pair of shocks as one of them had blown before I can get it through MOT. I'll be swithcing them to either standard springs or a proper set of matched coilovers asap.

Coilovers are much better as they're actually a set of springs and dampers designed to work together at the ride height you want. Rather than a shorter spring that's spring rate is botched to get a vaguely sensible ride when used with a stock damper that is itself being operated out of spec.

[ETA] Oh yeah and people tend to just bung on lowering springs without worrying about the suspension geometry too, so then they eat tyres and wreck their handling even more than if they'd had the springs fitted properly

[vvtl-iboy]

I don't like lowering springs at all.

Firstly they don't make your handling better. Ok so there might be some marginal improvement on a super smooth surface because of the better roll control, but out in the rear world with bumps and potholes the increased spring rate actually means your wheels haven't got as good contact with the ground as much of the time (you're effectively skipping over holes and bumps rather than have the suspension take them up).

Secondly, everyone always feels like the handling is better because the car rolls less. That's a pretty dangerous combination... more perceived grip, less actual grip -> hedge seeking missile.

The last reason is because it knackers your shocks, they're sat in an overly compressed state the whole time and eventually the seals go. With a lot of lowering springs theres actually the chance that the spring will come off its seat and full suspension droop too, which is just downright dangerous (although you'd have to do something pretty mad to acheive that on the road).

I've just imported a mk3 Supra from Japan. Its on lowering springs, had to replace a pair of shocks as one of them had blown before I can get it through MOT. I'll be swithcing them to either standard springs or a proper set of matched coilovers asap.

Coilovers are much better as they're actually a set of springs and dampers designed to work together at the ride height you want. Rather than a shorter spring that's spring rate is botched to get a vaguely sensible ride when used with a stock damper that is itself being operated out of spec.

[ETA] Oh yeah and people tend to just bung on lowering springs without worrying about the suspension geometry too, so then they eat tyres and wreck their handling even more than if they'd had the springs fitted properly

What you say seems to make sense, but surely if your car is more stable in the sense that it doesn't roll like a boat that the latteral force will be more even on all four tyres as opposed to forcing the cars weight on to the outer tyres.

I can understand the point about the shocks will wear out faster than usual especially if you're using non-toyota parts, but if Toyota specifically sell the TTE for the corolla then you can't go far wrong because if the lowering springs cause the shocks to wear excessively then they'll have to replace them. I guess you just have to be careful with what make you go for and how low you go (so to speak).

As well as the improvement in ride (opinions aside) it also makes the corolla look much better than on stock, because as mentioned above it looks like a bus on stock, whereas with them on it looks more like the car it should be.

Not saying I'm right on these points obviously because I'm no expert, just my two pence worth, for what it's worth. :)

[Rinko]

I certainly agree that a matched coilover set is by far the best choice, however I for one am looking at the lowering springs as a stop gap as I cannot afford to buy coilovers straight away but I don't like my CTS looking like a 4x4.

Also since mine is a e12 pre-facelift, I think that the 30mm drop that the TTE springs give me will certainly improve the car - as they are designed to work with the original shocks and even Toyota themselves have lowered the facelift and compressors straight out of the factory by ~30mm.

I will certainly be having the geometry etc checked and set accordingly when I have mine done though as I don't need to get through tyres any quicker than I do already.

[StevenM]

My face lift t-sport is dropped 20mm lower than a standard corolla and i think it handles realy well. i wouldnt want it to be any lower than this as at the moment its a great balance between comfort and handling.

that and if its any lower i cant get it on my drive without the front bumper scraping the ground.