Lowering

[WLD-18L]

Hey guys iam thinking about lowering my car.

i have a few questions i would like answerd befor i jump into doing it.

all i am going to do is get some KING spring lows (30-35mm) drop
and maybe a cambur kit if it is needed.

how do i know which type of cambur kit to get ?? some people say i might not even need one ??

alot of people told me that just changing the springs is no good and that if iam going to do it, do it all (springs, shocks, sways) or nothing. because the ride/handling might turn crap.

but i have also spoken with alot of people who have just changed the springs and said that it is excellent.

anther issue is scrubbing. i have 17x7 rims and 215/45/17 series tyres. due to my offset it looks like my wheels are sitting directly levle with the arches.

some pics.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a360/v3LaRdi/getcrazy.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a360/v3LaRdi/Image091.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a360/v3LaRdi/Image101.jpg

as you can see i currently only have about 40mm of travle with no weight in the car !!!!!!!! so once i put in the new springs creatiing a 30 to 35mm drop this obviously means i may only end up with 5mm of travle befor i start to experience scrubbing.

thanks for the help.

[Wraith]

Go for it, lower it and it'll look great with the wheels, but if you can steer clear of using king springs, I'm sure you've heard they're not very good at all.

[WLD-18L]

hello wraith. once more i turn to your for assistance :)

ive herd alot of differant things about King springs. i can get a set for $230 which is good for me coz i realy dont want to spend much more cash on the car. altho the old saying goes you get what you pay for......

What type of spring do Eibach sell for a drop of 30-35mm ?

plus i dont know the offset of my wheels....which could be a peoblem is there anyway i can measure the ET ?

thanks.

[JR]

i've dropped my car 30mm using king springs, and to be honest with u - i wish hadn't. cause over time, the lowered springs n standard factory shocks don't work well with each other :(

i should've got a full set - like eibach, h&r or whiteline. that way the shocks recoil rate match the springs its attached to. this ensures a nice smooth ride.

at the moment, my car is bouncy azz - u feel every single bump on the road.

hence why i'm saving up for a full set of whitelines. i already got the swaybars n braces - might aswell complete it with the shocks n springs.

oh...n the wheels r 17x7 with 215/45/17. no scrubbing issues - even with a full car load. then again, i haven't changed/altered my offset.

before lowering
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e122/jrappai/Da%20Car/nokit02.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e122/jrappai/Da%20Car/back.jpg


after lowering
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e122/jrappai/Da%20Car/Shoot02.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e122/jrappai/Da%20Car/Shoot01.jpg


.

[WLD-18L]

hrm this type of thing is putting me off. thanks for the reply JR

[auzvectra]

i've had no issue at all with kings and stock setup.
mine you i have the turbo shocks which are slightly stiffer.
i do have my set of kings for sale for $150 plus postage but if ya want.
we have recently put new shocks in vectraguy01's veccy using kyb shocks and the king springs, it handle heaps better now, n the shocks dont cost that much.

[MatsHolden]

Keevers has Kings on his mate and not had a problem with them and he says they're a good product. And he would know, he knows his stuff being involved in automotive engineering and being a race engineer...

[SKM_87]

theres nothing wrong with king springs, they are a great value for money. even the koni national distributor agrees. how you are best with shocks that are matched to the springs for best results. most off the time springs will make the car better, though i have heard of a couple exceptions. there always will be a few.

[auzvectra]

and the kings lower the car to about 320mm from wheel centre to the lip on the wheel arch.
ur tyres are oversize also, they should be 215/40/17's as the sri-t is.

[Brian]

I just got my car lowered about 6 months ago with Eibach springs with Koni shocks.

Apparently, the difference between the aftermarket shocks and the standard ones are the length. If you have standard shocks with lowered suspension there is a posibility that the spring can pop out due to the different recoil (or something like that). Because the aftermarket ones are shorter, this won't occur.

The thing about the travel too is that your new springs will be harder than the standards so the car won't go down as much with weight in the back.

With only a 30mm drop I don't think you would need a camber kit, I don't.

The other thing, I have 17 X 7.5 inch Konig rims and I have no scrubbing whatsoever. I think I have the same tyre size as you too but not 100% sure. Just make sure your total wheel diameter is the same as stock.

As I said, I've had my springs on for 6 months and I think they are great, in fact I laugh at pics of my car before it was lowered. You are also to get Eibach springs pretty cheap from Sydney Special Vehicles on ebay, or even from their website, if they still have some. Mine only cost $200. Whatever springs you get though, make sure you get the ones for the sedan as I have a felling they are different to the hatch ones.

Hope that helps!

[Wraith]

hello wraith. once more i turn to your for assistance :)

ive herd alot of differant things about King springs. i can get a set for $230 which is good for me coz i realy dont want to spend much more cash on the car. altho the old saying goes you get what you pay for......

What type of spring do Eibach sell for a drop of 30-35mm ?

plus i dont know the offset of my wheels....which could be a peoblem is there anyway i can measure the ET ?

thanks.

Hi there again, hope I can help :)

I know quite a few people personally who've used King springs, they didn't know how good or bad they were until they replaced them or tried another brand.

Of all those which went from Kings to Eibach's on a Cali or Astra, they couldn't believe how much better it was - all said the same thing, so Eibach's are without doubt the better item, but if your budget dosn't allow, I suppose a cheaper alternative will have to do :(

For a 30-35mm drop in Eibach's, on an Astra G, you'll be looking at the 'pro kit' prices vary, depending where you source them from, but I remember Carshine (of all places LOL) had a special clearance on not too long ago selling sets for around $350, which is a bargain for these :) give em a call and see how you go.

The offset of your wheels will be stamped on the inside of the rim behind one of the spokes, look for a double digit figure, it may or may not have 'ET' in front of the number.

I suspect those rims you have there are ET 43 !

You can measure it yourself, but this requires you to take precision readings, using a vernier caliper, I've got a digital one, makes this sort of thing alot easier, but first you have to determine the centreline of the rim, I still wouldn't bother doing this myself :)

If there is no marking of the ET indicated (highly doubtful) the next best thing is to go to the place you purchased your wheels from and get them to contact the supplier/manufacturer (Advanti) to find out - otherwise you could do this yourself, the contact info will be on any of their brochures :)

Let me know if you need further help :)

[WLD-18L]

Thanks for all the help guys, one minor thing just got insurance renual notice it was $1500 and i hadent yet told them about any mods, which is stupid because that gives them a reason not to insure my car in the event of an accident.

so i caled up and notified them about the changes they replied ....1850 :eek:
so now iam gonna have to do the ring arounnd and try and find the cheapst agencie which i reckon are all going to be around the 1700 dollor mark.

Is this extremly expensive or ball park for what a 19yr old would pay for an 01 astra ?

so it looks like i might put the springs off for a month.

like i said the only thing that is sort of putting my off getting sprigs for my car is the fact that it might stuff up the stock shocks. i dont want to pay money for springs and then in the end have a worse ride than befor. altho i have herd mixed reports so i might just give it a go and what ever happens happens.

[auzvectra]

damn, i paid WELL under that for the sri-t at age 22, from new, rating 1 for life and for the 1st year with just car, the 2nd year was gonna be about 700 for 12 months upfront or 900 if paid 6 months.
ur getting ripped in my opinion :(.

[MatsHolden]

Thanks for all the help guys, one minor thing just got insurance renual notice it was $1500 and i hadent yet told them about any mods, which is stupid because that gives them a reason not to insure my car in the event of an accident.

so i caled up and notified them about the changes they replied ....1850 :eek:
so now iam gonna have to do the ring arounnd and try and find the cheapst agencie which i reckon are all going to be around the 1700 dollor mark.

Is this extremly expensive or ball park for what a 19yr old would pay for an 01 astra ?

so it looks like i might put the springs off for a month.

like i said the only thing that is sort of putting my off getting sprigs for my car is the fact that it might stuff up the stock shocks. i dont want to pay money for springs and then in the end have a worse ride than befor. altho i have herd mixed reports so i might just give it a go and what ever happens happens.

Seems a little bit excessive. I would've thought around the 1500-1600 mark. Interesting that your mods have increased the premium by that much... nothing out of the ordinary; exhaust, wheels, tint and the like. I told my insurance company about my new wheels and they said it won't affect my premium at all.

[JR]

mate - i don't mean to put u off king springs or say that king spings sux.
i've got nothing against them, n like many ppl have said - they've had no issues with them.

i've had my king springs on for more than a year now - n i'm feeling it now - the bumps n bounces that is.
it may be different on ur car - u might have no issues at all, due to different road condition exporsure, different loads, different wear n tear to wat i've encountered over the year.

its just my personal opinion - if ur gonna change ur springs, change the shocks. i made the mistake.
its like putting 91 unleaded fuel in a bmw m3. it will run sure - but over time, the engine is getting damaged.
the same thing happens with ur factory shocks. it will work with the new springs, but its not designed for the 'shorter' spring travel, its not designed for the 'shorter' spring load, n not designed for the 'shorter' sping recoil rate.
it will work sure - but its not 'ideal'

then again...i could just b unlucky!! lol

[Wraith]

What you've pointed out JR is very true.

It does depend on the driving conditions, if your on smooth roads most of the time, it won't be much of a problem.

As for insurance, don't worry guys it gets better with age, provided you have a clean record - at least that's one thing to look forward to as you get older - cheaper car insurance :D

My Astra T vert is insured for 55k and costs me $420 p/a with all the mods ;)

[Miker84]

Hey Hey

After heaps of reading on both OZ and European Astra forms with regard to the best aftermarket option for a spring only upgrade I've recently purchased some Eibach Pro Kit springs from SSV in Sydney through ebay. http://ssv.com.au/

SSV had great service and don't wanna cause them any issues with people hasseling them for cheap prices on springs, but I got my kit for $150 - i think i was just really lucky on ebay...

Anyway, I live in Brisbane and am insured with RACQ - as long as my car isn't lowered more than 40mm then my premium doesn't change at all - i'm chearing! BTW i'm 22yrs.

Good luck with your lowering and insurance - I'll let you know what I think of the springs once i've had them installed.

:D

[Wraith]

That's the exact set up I have on mine ;) couldn't be happier !

There you go peoples, Eibach's are the go and if you can get em at that price, no need to consider any other options :)

[WLD-18L]

So wraith are you running your Ebiachs with your stock shocks ?

had a look inside of my rim and there is a bit of into there. i saw a 17x7 and a 5x100 (i thoght our PCD was 5x110 ?) and 560kg i presume the offset is printed behind another spoke but i couldnt be botherd rolling the car forward to have a look lol.

thanks for the info everyone realy appreciate it :)

[MatsHolden]

So wraith are you running your Ebiachs with your stock springs ?

had a look inside of my rim and there is a bit of into there. i saw a 17x7 and a 5x100 (i thoght our PCD was 5x110 ?) and 560kg i presume the offset is printed behind another spoke but i couldnt be botherd rolling the car forward to have a look lol.

thanks for the info everyone realy appreciate it :)

Offset is sometime marked on the back of the centre wheel cap... if your wheels have a removable cap.

[Wraith]

So wraith are you running your Ebiachs with your stock shocks ?

had a look inside of my rim and there is a bit of into there. i saw a 17x7 and a 5x100 (i thoght our PCD was 5x110 ?) and 560kg i presume the offset is printed behind another spoke but i couldnt be botherd rolling the car forward to have a look lol.

thanks for the info everyone realy appreciate it :)

Yes, Eibach 'pro kit' with stock shocks - so far so good, rides, handles beautifully, yours should be better, because it's the lighter hatch :)

Your wheels probably are 5 x 100 and been re-drilled to 5 x 110.

560kg is the rim load rating.

There must be another double digit number in there for the ET.

If not, contact your wheel supplier or Advanti and find out that way :)

Hope all works out - let me know how it goes :)

[WLD-18L]

Yes, Eibach 'pro kit' with stock shocks - so far so good, rides, handles beautifully, yours should be better, because it's the lighter hatch :)

Your wheels probably are 5 x 100 and been re-drilled to 5 x 110.

560kg is the rim load rating.

There must be another double digit number in there for the ET.

If not, contact your wheel supplier or Advanti and find out that way :)

Hope all works out - let me know how it goes :)


HAHA nah mate its a sedan. should handle roughly the same as yours. i will look around for eibachs and if i see em for that cheap id have to buy em !

[Wraith]

oops :o it is a sedan lol, I know that, must have been day dreaming :D

Still it should be a little better than my vert as it is a lil lighter :)

Let us know if all goes well.

[WLD-18L]

Hello Wraith seeming your the wheel guru.....

I found the ET inside one of the spokes.

I have 215/45/17 tyres with an offset of 42......... will this work with a 35mm Drop ???.

I Do Remember the guy at the place where i got my rims fitted saying if i was going to lower the car i should have a tyre with a profile of 40. But i THINK i may be ok with the 45's as it is the same rolling diameter as stock....

Thanks again.

[Miker84]

Hey All,

I'm having my 03 Astra lowered on Eibach Pro Kit springs tomorrow (Wed), so I'll post some before and after pics and my thoughts on how they ride soon.

[Wraith]

Hello Wraith seeming your the wheel guru.....

I found the ET inside one of the spokes.

I have 215/45/17 tyres with an offset of 42......... will this work with a 35mm Drop ???.

I Do Remember the guy at the place where i got my rims fitted saying if i was going to lower the car i should have a tyre with a profile of 40. But i THINK i may be ok with the 45's as it is the same rolling diameter as stock....

Thanks again.

Yes, you'll be ok with the wheel/tyre combination stated with a 35mm drop, with an ET of 42.

BUT to ensure you get no scrubbing (big road bumps) on the rear inner plastic liners, I too recommend the same advice as the guy from the wheel place, ie: 215/40/R17 tyres will be better !

A 40 series tyre will still provide the required load rating :)

BTW the Astra G turbo's use that exact same size tyre on their stock 17" rims as standard, ie: 215/40/R17 - 87.

Hope all goes well :)

Miker84 hope your install goes well too, look forward to the pics from both you guys :)

[Miker84]

Hey all

Well the springs are in. Cost me $190 to have them fitted and wheels balanced or aligned or whatever they do.

I tried to do a BEFORE and AFTER photo, but it looked crap - I'll post it when I get it right...

The car's stance looks a lot better - the back sits down now nicely, but my mechanic says that the front will take about 3weeks to settle and will probably drop up to another 10mm...it only looks like its dropped 20mm...noticeable but no as much as the back...

The ride is great - I can only compare my ride to a XR8 lowered 45mm with Pedders setup - nice ride but a little bouncy...and my mates MR2 GT that was lowered on Tein setup (pretty damn low) - VERY STIFF, suited the car but way too stiff for me ;)

I was actually driving around Bardon area last night and tested its improved cornering - noticeably better and much more comfortable...greatly reduced body roll...

I'd really like a new set of wheels for my car but in the attempt to be practical, I'm gonna wait until I need new tyres and then get a wheel and tyre package...

At this stage i'm really happy with the Eibach Pro Kit spring and will post some images very soon :dance:

[CNBLU]

sounds noice!!! cant wait for the pics! ;)

you should put on a sway bar and strut brace.... then you will notice a massive difference in body roll:eek:

[luvpsi]

The car's stance looks a lot better - the back sits down now nicely, but my mechanic says that the front will take about 3weeks to settle and will probably drop up to another 10mm...it only looks like its dropped 20mm...noticeable but no as much as the back...



it should not take 3 weeks to settle and will most likely not drop another 10mm ;) this settling and droping of new springs generaly only happens to lower quality springs like kings, peders, k-mac etc...

I have actually measured mine (H&R springs) when they were first put in, and then 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks later and no noticable difference in height (1-2mm here or there)

A qulity spring such as Eibach's will not do this and will also last much longer before starting to sag and loose it performance. Eibach's are also a progressive rate springs where the other mentioned ones are not.

[Wraith]

Hey all

Well the springs are in. Cost me $190 to have them fitted and wheels balanced or aligned or whatever they do.

I tried to do a BEFORE and AFTER photo, but it looked crap - I'll post it when I get it right...

The car's stance looks a lot better - the back sits down now nicely, but my mechanic says that the front will take about 3weeks to settle and will probably drop up to another 10mm...it only looks like its dropped 20mm...noticeable but no as much as the back...

The ride is great - I can only compare my ride to a XR8 lowered 45mm with Pedders setup - nice ride but a little bouncy...and my mates MR2 GT that was lowered on Tein setup (pretty damn low) - VERY STIFF, suited the car but way too stiff for me ;)

I was actually driving around Bardon area last night and tested its improved cornering - noticeably better and much more comfortable...greatly reduced body roll...

I'd really like a new set of wheels for my car but in the attempt to be practical, I'm gonna wait until I need new tyres and then get a wheel and tyre package...

At this stage i'm really happy with the Eibach Pro Kit spring and will post some images very soon :dance:

Sounds good, great stuff :) look forward to the pics.

However I do question the "up to 10mm drop settlement of the front springs" ?? - this dosn't sound factual to me at all...

You will get some settlement of any lowering system you adopt,but it shouldn't be anywhere near that much !

[Miker84]

Ahh ha

I had a sneaking suspicion that he was tell tales...i like my mechanic, he does good work for good $$$, i think he told me that because he himself was expecting it to look lower...hopefully they do settle a little, but even as they are, it improves the look AND the ride...i like it!



you should put on a sway bar and strut brace.... then you will notice a massive difference in body roll:eek:

Sway bars/strut braces...yeah...i'm not keen on spending too much more. I've read a bit on here about ppl fitting the bars themselves - i'm pretty handy with most car stuff...how many 'hards' would you guys rate self fitting? (4 hards...8 hards...)

Hott_For_You - what bar/brace setup do you have?

[luvpsi]

Sounds good, great stuff :) look forward to the pics.

However I do question the "up to 10mm drop settlement of the front springs" ?? - this dosn't sound factual to me at all...

You will get some settlement of any lowering system you adopt,but it shouldn't be anywhere near that much !

how about around 15mm? this is the sort of drop i got on my swift GTI (a month after the springs were put in) when the k-mac springs were installed together with koni yellows. The end result was a car that was 3'' (front) and 3.5'' (back) lower than standard and a ride quality of a bobsled and extremly nervous handling in the wet:( IMHO steer clear of k-mac suspension. As i said before this dropping of height will not be noticable on good qulity springs.

[Miker84]

how about around 15mm? this is the sort of drop i got on my swift GTI (a month after the springs were put in) when the k-mac springs were installed together with koni yellows. The end result was a car that was 3'' (front) and 3.5'' (back) lower than standard and a ride quality of a bobsled and extremly nervous handling in the wet:( IMHO steer clear of k-mac suspension. As i said before this dropping of height will not be noticable on good qulity springs.

GeezesSqueezes - that's a huge drop - and a lot of sag...15mm...I guess i'm happy that mine aren't gonna drop...:)

[WLD-18L]

great stuff man. I Still cant belive you got Eibachs for 150 :eek: :eek: :eek:

ive looked everywhere and the cheapest i have seen was $420

get those pics up pronto !

[Miker84]

great stuff man. I Still cant belive you got Eibachs for 150 :eek: :eek: :eek:

ive looked everywhere and the cheapest i have seen was $420

get those pics up pronto !

Hey dude - seriously, check out http://ssv.com.au/ - give them a call and ask for their best price...tell them you've seen them on ebay but would like to buy them directly...give it a go...

I've only got standard wheels at present, so it doesn't look as cool as it probably should...as you can see from ur car, ur wheels improve the look and stance greatly even without lowering...

Will get pics up asap...:dance:

[CNBLU]

Sway bars/strut braces...yeah...i'm not keen on spending too much more. I've read a bit on here about ppl fitting the bars themselves - i'm pretty handy with most car stuff...how many 'hards' would you guys rate self fitting? (4 hards...8 hards...)

Hott_For_You - what bar/brace setup do you have?

i have a selby brothers sway bar, not really popular but it works well with my king lows.....

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k104/Hott_For_You/DSC00168.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k104/Hott_For_You/DSC00170.jpg

[Wraith]

how about around 15mm? this is the sort of drop i got on my swift GTI (a month after the springs were put in) when the k-mac springs were installed together with koni yellows. The end result was a car that was 3'' (front) and 3.5'' (back) lower than standard and a ride quality of a bobsled and extremly nervous handling in the wet:( IMHO steer clear of k-mac suspension. As i said before this dropping of height will not be noticable on good qulity springs.

Something's definitely NOT right here.....did you go back and question them, they've done something seriously wrong, or you've had really bad component failure, or the kmacs are the worst springs around......steer clear !

BTW excellent looking result HOTT4U - car looks great :)

[luvpsi]

Something's definitely NOT right here.....did you go back and question them, they've done something seriously wrong, or you've had really bad component failure, or the kmacs are the worst springs around......steer clear !

BTW excellent looking result HOTT4U - car looks great :)

k-macs are shit:mad: and so are the guys that put them on my car (OzzyTyres in Sydney). Not only did the springs drop, but the car was also sitting on bumpstops when i picked it up:mad: they sorted it out eventually, but thats in the past and the old GTI is now no longer mine:(

[Wraith]

Yeh, sorry to hear that, always shits me to hear of cases like that, at least here other people can be warned to keep away from the same...

You could always petrol bomb their premises hahaha joke of course :D

[luvpsi]

nah wouldn't do that...:rolleyes: this has driven towards getting the higher quality springs for the astra. Lesson learnt!

[Miker84]

i have a selby brothers sway bar, not really popular but it works well with my king lows.....

Selby Bros...cheers.:)
I gonna be keeping my eyes open for sway bars and strut braces...

Looks great - you're running 18" rims right? With a 40 profile?

[CNBLU]

yep 18's on 45 profile not 40..;)

[WLD-18L]

To Gav: What is the offset of your rims ?

To Wraith: Hello mate i recently informed you about my wheels and tyres. 215/45/17 with an offset of 42. I know you said i should be ok with that setup but the more i look at my front wheel archs the more it looks like its gonna scrub :( tyre looks to be sitting levle with the gard....then take 35mm off that and it seems like its gonna scrub coz of the location of the tyre and top of arch.

[auzvectra]

it's hard to judge these things.
just have to wait n see.

[MatsHolden]

To Gav: What is the offset of your rims ?

To Wraith: Hello mate i recently informed you about my wheels and tyres. 215/45/17 with an offset of 42. I know you said i should be ok with that setup but the more i look at my front wheel archs the more it looks like its gonna scrub :( tyre looks to be sitting levle with the gard....then take 35mm off that and it seems like its gonna scrub coz of the location of the tyre and top of arch.

Suggestion mate... why don't you jack up your car, take your wheel off and hold it in the wheel arch about 35mm up to get a rough idea of the clearance. Obviously keep it as close to alligned with the hub as you can.

[MatsHolden]

Just on Selby Brothers.. they are Whiteline. :)

[Wraith]

To Gav: What is the offset of your rims ?

To Wraith: Hello mate i recently informed you about my wheels and tyres. 215/45/17 with an offset of 42. I know you said i should be ok with that setup but the more i look at my front wheel archs the more it looks like its gonna scrub :( tyre looks to be sitting levle with the gard....then take 35mm off that and it seems like its gonna scrub coz of the location of the tyre and top of arch.

Hi again, sorry for the late response, but missed this thread as of late.

Anyhow, what Matt suggested 'could' work to give you a rough idea, otherwise if it seems to be too close, you might have to indeed settle for 215/40 R17 tyres !!!

I can tell you for a fact that my vert lowered 40mm with 17" wheels with 215/40 R17 tyres had no scrubbing issues up front, only at the rear and only because my rims were ET 35 offset, if they were ET 42 or above, it would've been ok.

Just so we know exactly what we're talking about here - the difference in size between the 215/40 series tyre and the 215/45 series tyre is: 21.5mm O/A dia. or 10.75mm bigger circumference all around.

So if you adopt the 215/40 series tyre, you'll instantly gain nearly 11mm more clearance !

Hope that helps :)

[skulless]

someone's gonna kill me for bringing this up again, i've read through alot but still a lil bit confused, i got a few questions to ask.

i've got an astra ah, should i consider just:
1) spring or
2) spring with shock

what is coil-over? do i need them? i just wanna low my car possibly at least 30mm. thanks guys:)

[auzvectra]

just spring is fine, for better handling spring and shocks, dont bother with coil overs, way too pricey, unless u plan on professional racing.