Lowering issues: Winter/ Chamber/ etc...
 

Hi everyone.

I'm lowering my 5Gen Coupe with H&R sports, over my 16" rims.
Tires are 205/40/16 Dunlop GT qualifiers. Stock shocks for now.

Here are couple concerns I have:

1. Winter time, when I put my stock 13" rims back on, would I
be getting a lot of trouble going through the snow? ( I was
hoping since its about 1.6" drop that won't happen)....

2. How long would the stock shocks last with H&Rs ?

3. How much chamber wear would there be for the tires?


Any help is greatly appreciated.

My experience with the same springs on my 98 Si...

1. In the winter I never got stuck, but there were several times that I didn't leave my driveway for fear of getting stuck. The underside of my car would drag along in the deeper stuff, and the snow would pile up under the front bumper. I might put my stock springs back on this winter.

2. My stock shocks have lasted 40,000 kms so far, and still are fine. My car is alot newer then yours though.

3. I had 0 chamber wear with my 15's, and so far none with my 17's.

ditto, but with Eibachs
and i never hid from the deep stuff either :D
never got stuck once

Sounds good guys.
Now I'm relieved.

I'm having it lowered today! ;-)


Thanks for the comments. Appreciated.

what size rubber do you have on your 13"'s tho??
if the outer circumference is smaller than your 16"'s you will be lower..

I had my 97SI lowered 1.8 with Sportlines.
Winters were okay but expect your underbody (plastic protection under your front bumper to engine) will damage from all the scraping from the roads. In addition, if you are going to lower your car more than an 1 inch, you MUST need a CAMBER correction kit. Other wise, your expensive tires will only lasts you max 2 summers. Hope this helps.

this is a myth

i don't scrape..
rear camber is maybe 3 degree, been driving like a mad man this year and tires are still like brand new, no erratic wearing..

I have a 2.25" drop and only got stuck once last winter. It really helps to have Winter Tires.

probably cuz you got a proper toe alignemt, camber kits are over rated IMO, most people that have them dont really need them... just rotate the tires every oil change... A good set of tires usually didnt last more than 2 summers anyway, before lowering my car..

Most people dont know this but camber kits were designed to give more negative camber for wheel well clearance in a air ride suspension while the car is slammed, the proper way to correct negative camber problems in a regular suspension setup is to replace the lower controll arm with a shorter one to bring the bottem of the tire in therefor maintaing stock wheel well clearance...

I have no camber kit and I can barely get a coin between my tire and well, if I gave it more positive camber my wheel wells would get trashed! It all depends on the tire and rim size i guess

are you doing the spring install yourself?

yup, well aware of that..
no one is making a shorter lower tho or i'd be all over that big time..
and i'm the same way, if i pushed out the top end even a degree i'd be going thru tires every 2 days :D

my fronts are okay tho cuz of the McPherson setup..

yep :D what allot of guys do that really know their **** about camber correction is takeing the controll arm do a machine shop and have it shortened...what they do it cut it, then re weld it...It works amazing, and doesnt really cost much...Id be to chiken to do it to my originals , Im thinking about finding a set at a scrap yard and experiment with those :thumbup: no aftermarket companys makes them but if they did I wouldnt want to see the price tag...lol

I kinda like the grip in the corners tho with the negative camber, it really bites into the pavement, its just off the line not as much traction as if the tire was sitting flat...

:nods:

:drivesafe

i smile to myself everytime i'm cruizin' the highway, some guy flies by me...we come to a ramp and i'm right back on his ass cuz he has to slow down for the curve :D

:haha:

ya, i thought about getting them cut and welded, but the thought of the stress like that on a weld just gives me the heebies..
i think what i'll end up doing, if i ever do, is get a spare set i can leave with the guys at work and have them copy me a 1/2" shorter set..maybe in some super tough aluminum

man that would be tight, if they could re design a new set...If you ever do get it done, give me a shout, id be very interested in haveing a set made...

I love eating people on the ramps too, sometimes I get the urge to sneak past them on the inside shoulder..heh...

i think aluminum is to weak considering the emense stresses the control arms go through.... go for the real deal and get titanium :yummy:

although you could re weld the stock ones properly and actually make the arm stronger then it was originally if done properly

i agree

ya ok titanium control arms.....it's just a fuckign civic....:haha: ...not a skyline.... :cheers:

So I had the car lowered yesterday. The person who did it for me did a very good, proffesional job, and I learned alot too. Hopefuly I will be able to put i back to stock myself, before the nasty stuff arrives... ( I HATE the damn LONG winter)....

Car is SLAMMED guys! I love it!! Its unbelieveable. I regret I didn't do this earlier...

Ride comfort is pretty close to stock, except that on realy bumpy roads it gets bouncy...

Tires are pretty tucked in. However, you could still fit 1 finger between the fender and tire. I think there IS a tiny bit of -ve chamber, on rear tires, but nothing that would make me concerned....

Yesterday on my way back from the garage, this Integera got on my ass for 4-5 minutes. So on the 401 to 404 ramp, I smoked him at about 90Km/h. That ramp IS pretty sharp. However, even with 90 Kms on the ramp, the car handle perfectly, and stayed GLUED to the pavment.

Not a smart thing to do though.. (notice kidz!)
I was just testing the new setup. I wouldn't go over 60kms on that ramp!