chief

I have an AU XR6 VCT and was considering lowering the ride hight of the car. I got a quote from a suspension centre of $400 for super low King springs, he said that the hight would be 20mm lower (front and rear). When I asked him if I need to replace the shock absorbers he said there was no need. He said the ride would be firmer but better.I also asked him if a camber/caster kit would be required which he said no too. After reading most of the information on this forum it seems that what he has told me and what is written here are quite different. I don’t want to use the lowered springs only, if it will cause dramas later on. Needless to say I am a bit confused at the moment. Could someone please point me in the right direction.
Thank you in advance.

v8snerlo

Hi chief.
I have an AU2 XR8 and have lowered it all round. I went for the caster camber kit to be safe. I'm not sure whether I needed but I was advised to. A couple of my friends up here in Qld have done the same. They do handle a little better because the centre of gravity is lower. Looks heaps better too. Especially when you have shows on grass. They look hot. Good luck and I hope that I have maybe solved your indecision

exodius

my suggestion
spend the money, to get the result.

KMAC Suspension (rockdale - sydney)
Selby Whiteline (www.whiteline.com.au) (Minto)

Get proper suspension, sway bars make a *HUGE* difference!!

chief

Thanks for the replies,
v8snerlo Did you purchase new shock absorbers as well? or just springs?. How much firmer (different) is the ride now?
Chief

CDM1

G'day,
I too have an AU1 XR6VCT and i have had the King super low springs fitted. It set me back around $400 but there was only a marginal increase in handling and the ride hieght barely droped by 20mm. Probably about 10mm. In my oppinion this wasn't worth it however maybe changing the shocks will make a difference as all i did was the springs. If there are any suggestions i would love to get the car even lower. Hope this helped your decision.

chief

Hi CDM1
It seems you are not happy with the outcome. Does the car bottom out over larger bumps etc? Have you any pictures of you car since it has been lowered. Did you fit a camber/caster kit? What is the tyre wear like sine the new springs? Sorry to ask all these questions.
Thank you

CDM1

No probs for the Q's. No real problems with bottoming out, however with a couple of people in the car i usually don't like to go up a steep driveway as the tow bar touches. I have not yet fitted a camber kit, but am thinking about it as i only got about 25000km of hard driving from the previous tyres which were Yoko's, running on the Tickford 17" rims. Unfortunately i have not had a chance to scan any photos of the vehicle.

Hope the info helped.

PURSUTE

to replace shocks or not......

as a mechanic with a fair bit of experience lowering cars, my suggestion is to spend the extra $$ and replace the shocks as well.

firstly, if your shocks have any significant amount of k's on them already they will most likely begin to leak soon after lowering the car. this is caused by the seals on the shaft being moved from the position they were originally bedded into to another point on the shaft.

also, when you reduce the ride hight of a vehicle you reduce the amount of suspention travel where the shock is working. shocks matched to the hight of the car will be more effective as they are designed to work in this part of the shock travel.

and finally, most major suspention parts makers make 'matched sets' which will improve the ride much more than just fitting lowered springs.

also, camber/castor kits are very important here. when you lower the car you always change these settings, and without the adjustors, tyre wear can be a real problem.

chief

Thanks for the info guys, It looks like I'll be getting the whole package. Once again thanks for your input.