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Lowering a civic

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  #1  
Old 12-12-2011, 10:17 AM
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Default Lowering a civic

If I put some lowering springs on my civic, will it be screwed when i drive over some railroad tracks or hit a bump?

Someone told me it will damage my car really easily and that I shouldnt do it since I live in Louisiana (Extremely crappy roads).
 
  #2  
Old 12-12-2011, 10:23 AM
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im sure with lowering springs you should do just fine... how much of a drop is it?
 
  #3  
Old 12-12-2011, 10:40 AM
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It is adjustable from 1" to 4"
 
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Old 12-12-2011, 11:14 AM
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Springs are not adjustable. Coilovers are.

It sounds like you are heading for the cheap-er "eBay style" coilovers. Do you have a link to the suspension you are looking at buying? Maybe we can help you a little more than you thought

As far as damaging your car when lowered, you can and might bottom out, possibly damaging the exhaust manifold, oil pan, front bumper, lower radiator support, or control arms in extreme cases. It all depends on how far down you go.

I was dumped on my coilovers when I first installed them, after about a year or so of scraping my exhaust kit, and my exhaust manifold, I ended up raising it up a little to about a 1.5"-2" drop. Before it was about a 3.5" drop. Car looked amazing IMO, but not exactly 100% functional lol
 

Last edited by cvcrcr99; 12-12-2011 at 11:16 AM.
  #5  
Old 12-12-2011, 05:08 PM
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Yeah here's the link:

http://www.amazon.com/Honda-Civic-Lo...3742037&sr=8-1

and ouch that sounds like it hurts. (the car)
 
  #6  
Old 12-12-2011, 06:47 PM
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Honestly, I wouldn't even think about touching those. You're talking about the devices holding up the weight of over a ton of metal; it's not something you want to cheap out on. I'd suggest looking into Skunk2 (around $300) or Ground Control (a little over $300) for quality coil-over sleeves.

As far as damaging the car, you'll go through wheel bearings a little faster than you should, but everything else is up to you. For reference, my old civic:

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I drove like that for about two years with no damage other than a few rub marks on the inner fenders up front and an axle-back that might have gotten separated from the mid-pipe (it involved leaving an extremely poorly paved parking lot). My header and oil pan never touched the ground and I never high-centered the car. And that was in rural Pennsylvania (where roads get paved every few decades).
 
  #7  
Old 12-12-2011, 07:29 PM
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yeah ive heard that the suspesnion just isnt the same. and that you'll mess up the spring really easily and quickly too...correct me if im wrong but thats what ive heard. ive been wanting to lower my 90 hatch about 2" but i think i might just add a lip to my bumper

btw nice ride reaper XD
 

Last edited by GeekNinja17; 12-12-2011 at 07:36 PM.
  #8  
Old 12-12-2011, 09:25 PM
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Thanks

I doubt you'd mess up a quality brand-name spring. If you use the stock struts they'll start leaking a lot sooner than they should, but that's about it.

Really, a 2" drop isn't too excessive. Tein's S-Tech springs lower just under 2" (1.7" in front and 1.9" in back if I remember correctly) with a relatively low spring rate (so they'll ride smoother than most other lowering springs) and they can technically be used with the stock struts due to the low spring rate. I'd still recommend at least getting new struts if not higher-performance aftermarket struts.
 
  #9  
Old 12-13-2011, 06:50 PM
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If you get the right setup, there should be no problems driving around. You may need to be a little more careful driving over stuff like rail road tracks but nothing bad should happen. If you keep a moderate drop, clearance shouldn't be much of an issue.
 
  #10  
Old 12-14-2011, 01:47 PM
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so depending on how much i spend on struts and springs and the quality of the parts. they'll be good? cuz i really wanna drop my car just a tiny bit. i have 15" rims. no low profile tires so 2" shouldnt be a problem. i think the Prev owner had the car lowered because the muffler is torn up..almost fell off once and it was scratched up. many holes=really ugly sounding car. and i dont want that to happen again lol
 


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