Dropping coilovers lower? What can I do safely?

[young-gunn]

I just put in my godspeed coilovers (I know, hold the hate for now), and the rears are exactly where I want them (3 collar turns above as low as possible), but the fronts are turned all the way down and although I have more of a drop than shocks/struts, I would still like to have the bumper a little closer to the ground, and a little less wheel gap. There is a spring meant to keep the coilover from bottoming out, I could remove that, it is about a half inch thick when compressed, but I'm worried about blowing the coilovers. I could also remove the bottom collar to drop it a bit, although I think that not having a locking collar proabably isnt the safest thing, ie. first collar slowly unturning. wat could I do here? Here's a pic I had in another thread.

[StandardProspect]

those little springs are called helper springs. leave them in.if you remove them it will greatly reduce the life of the shock.

thats what i have been told anyway.

im in the same position as you, my coils are maxed and i want to go lower.the only solution is buying fully adjustable coils.

are you still riding on stock wheels? how low is your car?

my frame rails are 4.25 inches off the ground. I am using stock teardrops with new 195/60-15's

I have roughly 1 inch of wheel gap all around (maybe slightly less in the rear)

Please post pics of your car with the coils installed

[Gabes13]

if the collars can be removed from the bottom, then i would leave the locking collar there.... obviously

I would ditch the helper spring. Ive heard of "crazy slam-nut" people with stance gr pro's or w/e they're called that remove their helper springs to get a little lower without any problems. I can't guaranty that yours wont get damaged though.

That, or you can do the good ol' pre-loaded springs route.

[StandardProspect]

^wow, never heard that beforeMaybe I'll take those out

pandapants- how close are your frame rails to the ground?

[young-gunn]

I think I will leave the helper springs in. From what I remember, my collars dont come off from the bottom. I dont want to risk it though. I sold my wheels and the car is sitting in my qounset on 205/60/15's or something like that. They are about stock size tires, on S13 7 spokes. I have Work Eurolines going on in spring. I just need to get a 4 mm spacer or so. It Just touches the coils in the front (+38 offset on a 9 inch wide rim), rears are +9 with a 4 inch lip.

[AZ89two4Tsx]

^ His is like 1" iirc. He had a picture of a quarter's thickness lol. It was in the 240sx picture thread.

[Gabes13]

pandapants- how close are your frame rails to the ground?

In my sig, frame rails were 2 1/2" from the ground.

Now, frame rails are 1 7/8" from the ground and a quarter from the exhaust.

to op- so are you going to ditch the Godspeeds or what?

[young-gunn]

No I'm not ditching them. I live in canada and the streets are pretty terrible if you dont drive careful, so I wasnt dropping $2000 into coils (plus I'm in college and trying to turbo the car as well). I only plan to use the car for a few drag runs, to learn the basics of autocross in it, (going to autocross training school this spring). If I could pull an extra half inch drop on the front I would be happy. My front lip if 4.5" from the ground, thats all I know for now.

[BMAR240SX]

Are the roads where you live good enough to be just 2 inches off the ground?

[Gabes13]

op, what about smaller tires?

I don't know if you care about wheel gap, but a smaller tire will sit you lower.

[ChampaignSilviaS14]

In my sig, frame rails were 2 1/2" from the ground.

Now, frame rails are 1 7/8" from the ground and a quarter from the exhaust.

to op- so are you going to ditch the Godspeeds or what?

PBM FTW.

[Gabes13]

PBM FTW.

[young-gunn]

2 inches, I might risk hitting railroad tracks. Tracks at 100 km/h = bad. But just to go below 4 inches on the front bumper is all I want. I will be running 225/40/ZR18 in the front in summer.

[StandardProspect]

well, when you put your summer wheels on, your car is gonna raise up a bit, however it will also fill out the wheel gap better.

Tire Size Comparison

Specification Sidewall Radius Diameter Circumference Revs/Mile Difference195/60-15 4.6in 12.1in 24.2in 76.1in 833 0.0%225/40-18 3.5in 12.5in 25.1in 78.8in 804 3.6%

if you want your front bumper to be less than 4 inches off the ground, you will have to take out the helper spring or get diff coils.

[dtowndrifter]

bump* me too. i wanna go lower on my tein ss's....i have them maxed out...i've thought of all the ideas the original poster mentioned..but i dono..i just want less wheel gap..

[Gabes13]

^do you have the collars intact?

[dtowndrifter]

yes

^do you have the collars intact?