Lowering... without the lowering kit!, think it'll work? Options

[CelicaBuddy]

Just thinking about a lowering kit yall...

Cuz Im wanting to get 17's and well Ive heard many many times that 17's would look really messed up if the car is not lowered. Problem is, Dad wont allow the lowering kit, cuz my sister had her civic lowered and it totally screwed up the way how the car rides.... And he doesnt want that hapening to my Celica, which is understadable....

Anyways.... There's a back up plan to this little situation and itd be like lowering the car, without messing with the suspension.

Plan is.... To get 16's... With skinnier/thinner/low profile/you catch my drift Tires.... He's sayin it'd drop the car bout 2 inches (which is about how much I wanna drop it) and I wont havta mess with the suspension what so ever... He said he did it to a car he had in the past (250 Z if Im not mistaken) and he said it worked.

Sounds like itd work to me.... Whatcha think?

But back to the lowering kit.... For those of you who got em... How do your car's ride? What kit ya got? All the basics of a lowering kit... Maybe, My car will be lowered, and I'll be ridin my 17's.... But the 16's plan is looking pretty bright... Any suggestions people? Thanks

*Sabrina

This post has been edited by CelicaBuddy: Dec 25, 2004 - 8:31 PM

[turboinduction]

hey, alright, here we go

The size of the tire/rim combo and the drop will affect the ride. You cant except to be on 35 series on a 2" drop and ride like a Lexus. When dropping, go the whole sha-bang. If you do a little bit and not all, then yes, you will have a messed up ride.

Keys to a drop:
1. Springs. Obvious one here. If you go with 18's with a 40 series tire, you are safe with both TEIN and Eibach drops (both do a 1.5" drop, TEIN's only do a 1" in back) Now understand drops. A 1.5" drop is more like 2" with the body. If you want 17's go with a 45 series tire and again, either of the two are safe.

2. Struts. If you car has lots of miles or doesn't seem to ride brand spankin new anymore, it might be time to get some new struts. KYB makes OEM replacements for our car. This includes new struts (full assembly) for the rear and strut inserts for the front. Its very nice and work great.

3. Mounts. If you are upgrading struts, get new mounts. KYB will sell mounts for the back, but PLEASE get OEM ball mounts for the front from Toyota. This will help the new spring sit better and adjust properly.

4. Heres the biggie. This will define you as a ricer or a tuner. Are you ready.... I think you are. Alignment and Camber. PLEASE OH GOD PLEASE make sure you do a camber after the drop. This will aid the drop so much along with straighten those nicely tilted tires. Drive around for about a day or so, so those new springs adjust to the mounts and then drive your girl to the nearly shop.

Back to your 'idea' of dropping. I'm not knockin your dads idea, but it'll look real bad. It'll look oddly unbalanced and no it wont drop your car 2". It'll make you look like your running on fancy donuts. Not good. Go with the 17's or 18's and just make sure you do it right. Theres many people on this site that are more than willing to aid you through the purchasing and installing process (myself included) so go have fun now.

EDIT: The higher the tire, the better the ride. 17's with a 45 will ride better than 18's with a 40, but lose style points on Need for Speed. You'll be fine with either, unless you want 19's like me - oh boy, then I need to write a whole new post!

-Ti

This post has been edited by turboinduction: Dec 25, 2004 - 8:45 PM