How To Lower Your Car? Learn It In 2 Easy Methods!
Today most car owners love to have their car modified. Well, you wouldn’t be surprised to know that lowering your car is the latest trend. This post explains to you the Nitty-gritty on how to lower your car. We are talking about lowering a car’s suspension. The cars’ suspension is usually lowered to heighten the attractiveness of a car plus the possible increase in improving the capability it might offer.
There are quite a few ways to lower a car’s suspension. The two easiest methods are: use a replacement spring kit for models with coil spring, use blocks with a lowering kit for cars that require leaf spring.
Utilize the steps that follow to know how to lower your car, for the two types of springs. Here the tools that we need are the precise lowering kits, some special tools, and ordinary hand tools.
Method 1
Lower a leaf spring suspension using a universal lowering kit.
Predominantly the older trucks and cars have leaf spring suspensions rather than spring suspensions of the coils. Leaf spring suspension needs long metal leaf springs, fixed to the axle through the U-bolts. The leaf spring is the primary suspension element that suspends the car over the ground.
Things Required
- Universal Lowering Block Kit
- Jack stands, and jack
- Wood blocks or tire chocks
- Ordinary hand tools set
Photo Credit: https://www.prettymotors.com/vehicle-lowering-effects-on-wheel-alignment/
1. Raise your Car
- Raise the car and fit a jack stand below the frame, closest to the side of the car you are working on.
- Now, add tire chocks or blocks of wood below any opposite of the adjacent cars that you are working on. These blocks help the car from rolling.
2. Remove the Bolts from the Suspension Spring
After your car is raised, time to find the two U-bolts of the leaf springs. These have shaped like a U, having threads on the ends. The thread wraps over the axle and bolts up to the lower side of the leaf springs and secures them together.
- Remove each U-bolt, by using the ratchet and the right socket.
3. Heighten the Axle
After you have removed the two U-bolts, get the jack. Now keep it below the axle adjacent to that side you are working upon. Begin to raise the axle.
Heighten the axle till there is proper room for the block to fit in the space between the axle and the leaf springs. For instance, there is a 3-inch lowering block, for which you might require heightening the axle till there is a 3-inch space in between the spring and the axle to arrive at the right fit.
4. Add Fresh U-Bolts
After the block is lowered, hold the fresh, extended U-bolts inside the lowering kit and install them into the cars’ axle. The fresh U-bolts should be lightly lengthy, to make up for the more space lost from the lowered block.
Scrutinize for any defects, and later install the nuts over the U-joints and torque them in their places.
Do the same steps for the opposite side. Now, you will notice that one side of the car is lower. Place the tire back, before lowering the car, and take the jack stand away. Repeat the steps from 1 to 4, for lowering the other side and then repeat the same at suspension in the rear. Consult an expert mechanic to ensure whether you can use car carriers smoothly after lowering your car.
Method 2
Use lowering springs for lowering the coil spring suspension.
Most cars like the compact cars need coil spring suspension, and to lower them one has to replace the stock-coil springs with smaller ones that place the car at a low height. The smaller springs are mostly tuned to become stiff as opposed to the stock ones. The springs give the suspension an added responsive and sporty appeal.
Photo Credit: https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2016/06/is-it-legal-to-raise-or-lower-your-car/
Things Required
- Impact Air Gun
- Tool for compressed air
- Ordinary hand tool set
- Jack stand and Jacks
- Group of Sockets
- Set of Tire chock or Wood block
- Lowering spring set
- Compressor for Strut springs
1. Heighten the front part of the car.
Heighten the front part of the car from the floor, and fix it over the jack stands. Add the tire chocks or wood blocks, on the back wheels, and prepare the brake for parking to help the car not to roll.
2. Take off the lug nuts.
After the car is raised using the impact gun and the right size socket, take off the nut at the lugs. Soon after that, you may take off the wheel.
3. Take away the car’s front strut network.
Take away the first strut network, by releasing the bolt that fixes it above and below through wrenches, or the drum and the precise socket. After that take off the whole strut assembly away.
4. The struts spring compression.
After the struts network is taken off, use the compressor of the strut’s spring, and start compressing the spring to take away the tension from the strut mount above and the spring.
You may notice that the spring has to be repeatedly compressed in short increments, interchanging in-between dual sides. Do this till the right tension is put over the strut mount above while removing.
5. Take away the compressed coil springs.
Once the coil springs are accurately compressed, use the air that is compressed. Now with the use the help of the air impact gun and the right socket. Next, take away the top nut that fixes the struts mount on the struts network. After this top nut is taken off, grab away the top struts mount, and take away the compressed coil springs from the struts network.
6. Add the fresh coil spring over the strut network.
Most lowering springs lie on the porch of the strut in a particular manner, so check that you place the spring precisely while installing it over the strut network. Add any of the springs rubber seat too.
7. Replace the strut mount above.
Replace the strut mount above, on the spring network, over the fresh coil spring. Now the spring needs to be compressed back before replacing the nut. That step depends on how low the fresh new coil springs are. In that situation, just try compressing the spring till you can add the nut, rotate it for some threads, and then secure it using the impact air gun.
8. Place the strut assembly again in the car.
After the struts network is reassembled using the fresh lowering spring, place the struts network again in the car. Note that order is now in the opposite direction to the removing steps.
Added Tip – Add bolts of the bottoms first to help the struts and later add the remaining hardware after fixing the struts to the car.
9. Bring the reverse side lower.
After the strut is installed in the car, torque the lugs nut and replace the wheel. Begin to bring the other side down by redoing the steps at the other strut assembly.
10. Reintroduce the back coil spring set.
After the forward spring groups are replaced, go to the front and see that the backward coil spring groups are replaced too, through the same steps.
For most cars, the back coil spring set shall usually be similar, to replace compared to the fronts. All you need is to do is raise the car fair enough to let go of the tension and grab the spring with your hands.
Lowering a car’s suspension along with installing amplifiers and sub-woofers is one of the most common modifications done today, and doing so can not only add visual appeal but may even have performance benefits if done correctly. Now you know how to lower your car. It might need the skill of special tools. Do check if everything is in order. Go to a qualified mechanic if required.
