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Will shorter shocks effect ride height??

18K views 34 replies 15 participants last post by  Walkinshaw 
#1 ·
I've installed a set of super low king springs all round with gt monroe gas shocks a few months ago. I've given it heaps of time to settle and while the arse end of my car was perfect almost straight away, the front is still very high compared to other cars with the same springs. I went down to pedders and they told me that installing shorter shocks should lower the car a further 30cm to what it is now and bring it to how it should sit. I just want to know if it will really make a difference to the ride height, as I know of many people who have kept the standard height shocks and with superlows and there ride height is waay lower than mine. It's just a biatch that I've forked out the money for these gt monroes and have barely used them (a little over a month of driving), only to haveto buy another set of shocks which may or may not make a difference to the ride height.

What should I do?? It's not such a big deal if I know it'll DEFINATELY fix the ride height, it's just that I've seen alot of evidence that contradicts what pedders have told me....
 
#2 ·
Shocks can lower a car but it's not a recommended way of doing it. I went from Kings with stock shocks to the same with lowered shocks and noticed no difference in ride height. It sounds like Pedders want to sell their ultra-expensive shortened shocks, which are probably designed to compliment super-low springs. I was quoted well over a grand for a full set-up like that.
 
#3 ·
I have another set of grey springs that was found at a wrecker. I showed both my current "superlows" aswell as the grey springs to pedders so they can tell me which of the two would sit lower, and they told me the grey ones would most likely be about 1cm lower. Here's a pic of the two side by side.



Can anyone confirm this?? Not that i'm really an expert, but would the fact that the coils are thicker on the grey springs aswell as the fact that there is one more coil than the superlows indicate that they would actually sit higher? As I said I've got little knowledge on this stuff. The springs are pretty much identical in length. Does anyone actually know what brand of springs these are by looking at them??

i've got a sneaking suspiscion in the back of my mind that tells me the origional springs I purchased are not superlows at all and are infact lows. Is there any chance at all anyone can confirm this simply by looking at the picture????

Here's a pic of the car with the springs when they were freshly installed



This really doesn't look like superlows to me. Remember that the boot has a hell of alot of weight in it aswell, which although came up quite well, would easily sit about 1cm or more higher when all the audio gear is removed. Somebody tell me this is all in my head, as I really feel like punching someone now....
 
#4 ·
If you want to know if it is all in your head, measure from the bottom of your front door to the ground and do the same at the rear. That will tell you if the car is sitting level. I have super lows in mine and I have to get the front ones reset as they don't sit right, need to come down about a half inch. I am running GT gas also, so I don't know if the shortened shocks will change anything.
When is the car going to be complete any update pics?
 
#5 ·
Gunns said:
When is the car going to be complete any update pics?
The car is slowly making progress. Once I sort out what I'm doing with the front suspesion, then the whole front of the car will come back together very quickly, but until then, it really is on halt till I figure this out and also find some good condition firewall insulation before I put the motor in. I haven't made any progress in the last week though as I had run out of money up until today, and it seems that I will be at the mercy of my paycheque for the next few weeks. I am reluctant to show "progress" pics as it looks like I haven't actually made any progress at all.
 
#6 ·
After thinking about it more after we spoke Steven, its hard for you to check how high ur car sits cos its not really in one piece lol

Try find a parts place that has the superlows in stock and do a measure up there. Those grey springs look like the might sit a bit lower, but its hard to say
 
#10 ·
did you say the motor is out of the car??? if that pic was taken with the motor out of the car then its about right, with a motor in it should sit abit lower (atleast an inch or so). shocks i believe dont make any difference to ride height just to bouncyness of the car, ive got standard shocks with kings superlows (thats what the tag reads but the back is still high, nothing three spare tyres and a full tank of gas cant fix :p) i actually asked my boss while i was a mechanic and he said that it doesnt make a difference in ride height. they most probably want to sell you expensive shocks and then take your front springs and get them reset about anoth half an inch. they could have been tagged wrong like my rears???
 
#11 ·
Steve, it looks like u have Lows in there not Superlows. The back sits higher than mine did and the front looks 1.5" higher than mine was. Id be pulling the springs out and comparing them to a fesh set of superlows.

The grey springs will more than likley sit a deal higher due to the higher rate+coils.
 
#12 ·
Those two coils may actually have a similiar installed hieght.
It is wire diameter and the number of active coils which determines the coils rate.
Thicker wire = stiffer.
Less coils = stiffer.

So the grey coil has thicker wire, however it also has more coils, so they would likely be similar.

Why don't you just lop 1/2 a coil off.

Rick.
 
#13 ·
The grey springs are Pedders superlows (50mm lower then spack height) but not sports ryder. (confirmed by a sticker we pulled off them and took to pedders to find out)
pedders sports ryder struts will lower the car about 30mm, i enquired a while back and people who had the sports ryders had said the struts made a difference.
I'd be more inclined to say they are lows.
That sits about where my EF used to sit with EL XR springs.. and i've seen cars with lows that sit lower then that!
 
#14 ·
Peddars front shocks have a lower spring seat, by about 10mm. So by changing your front struts to peddars you can give the car its horizontal plane back.

Your looks like it has lows in the front. My ED was lower than that with lows in it.

Rollin used to have peddars shocks in his EB and the wheels went up to the guard with super lows. Quite clearly your car doesn't.
 
#15 ·
Need PSI said:
did you say the motor is out of the car??? if that pic was taken with the motor out of the car then its about right, with a motor in it should sit abit lower (atleast an inch or so).
That's picture was taken before the motor was taken out.

I rummaged through all my receipts and found the one for the springs when I purchsed them. The part number is KFFL26SL for the fronts and KFRL27SL for the rears. Looking at the number it is kinda obvious that they were labelled superlows. Who actually stocks superlows so I can compare them with another set?? I asked Autobarn but they don't actually stock them unless you order a set.

I will also be taking my front shocks to pedders to compare them to there shorter shocks. I'm assuming if the spring seat is lower than they'd haveto lower the car a bit more wouldn't they??

My main concern though is about the springs as i'm majorly upset that something like this could happen. I take it from reading everyones replies that it's agreed that these are NOT superlows.
 
#16 ·
Repco carry Kings springs.. and i tend to agree, they cant be super lows.. although the part number says they are, your car is too high.. What size wheel and tyre package you running,, 17's and 235*45? The rolling diameter can make a difference to how low it looks but if they are 17's you should be nearly down to rim level not as high as it is.
 
#18 ·
You say that that picture was taken when the springs were freshly installed. When I put my superlows in and the moment of pudding tasting came along, she sat almost exactly as she did with lows in her! I was MORTIFIED but was told that it takes some time to settle. It did take a couple of weeks IIRC but now she is noticeably lower than with the lows. I can tell when I cast my eyes back over photos taken pre-spring change. It may settle. You may not have a problem. I have found however that the front of my car seems to sit higher than it should. I've also been advised from a number of sources that sports ryder struts will drop the front 20mm - 30mm
 
#19 ·
trust me, the front of that car never settled :p
 
#20 ·
hmm 16" with 60 sidewall tyres? Should look lower than that, they are still a bigger rim than factory which 'should' really fill those wheel arches

in the piccies below you can see mine with 16" and 225*60 tyres..Car has Kings superlows and needed to have the front fender rolled it sat that low

:fraz: i don't know.. there seems to be no real consitency with how the car sits... IGnitions V8 has an extra 40 odd kilos of engine over his front yet the car sits higher on the exact same springs as mine..
 

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#22 ·
tibbo your car is insanely low! I'm so jealous. Aren't you using 650,000km old stock shocks though? They may be adding some "sexy sag factor"™ but I agree that there seems to be a fair bit of variation in the characteristics of these springs. Rmyers, would you consider taking them back and asking for another set because they don't meet the advertised height?
 
#25 ·
Just because the receipt says you received superlows, doesn't mean the guy didn't grab the wrong ones off the shelf...

We know for a fact that those grey springs are lower. They are the same as my front springs (just not sportsryder), which means they are 50mm lower than spac height, or 65mm lower than standard. If it was me, I'd be chucking these straight in, since you know they're the height you want... (and it means that john and i make some money! *rubs hands together*)

AT least then you can start putting your car back together, and sort out the issue with the kings springs later (you've probably left it too late to return them, anyway).


Cheers,
Dave
 
#26 ·
Well I bit the bullet and purchased some sports ryder shocks today for the low low price of $400 :O

I went to compare my superlows with a fresh set and wouldn't you know it, I was wrong, these actually ARE superlows!!! :O I even gave king springs a call so they can tell me the measurments of both springs, and yeah did the measurements and looks like I got the right springs. In the end I decided that the only thing I could do was get the shorter shocks and hope for the best. I'll let yous know how it comes up :)
 
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