Springs

[SiR]

Ok, here's the deal guys - advice and feedback most welcome.

My cuz lowered his Civic with Pedder's springs over a year ago and has never been totally happy with the result. The reason being is that he wanted the gap between the guards and the top of the tyres to have a one finger gap, front and rear.

Although this was achieved at the front, the rear has more like a 2-3 finger gap, hence the guard gap at the front is smaller than the rear.
I told him to take the car back to where it was lowered and tell them that he wasn't happy with the job done.

He took the car back and was given some 'expert' advice - that the civic is 'designed' to sit lower at the front hence the gap between the guard and the top of the tyres is smaller at the front, even after lowering.
My cuz was adamant that the guard gap was the same front and rear prior to the lowering and can't fathom why that isn't the case now.

The guy from Pedder's said he doesn't believe the guard gap was equal from the factory, but he can lower the rear for him, though he wouldn't recommend it. He says the nose of the car would be pointing 'upwards' as a result because the 'sill' at the rear would be closer to the ground than the 'sill' at the front. (I have no idea what this really means - just taking word from my cuz what the Pedder's guy told him).

When my cuz asked the guy how he was going to lower the rear, he said he would resize the springs at a cost of $200 inc. labour (new ones fitted would only cost $50 extra). My cuz called BS and asked if the springs were still under warranty. The reply was yes, so my cuz pressed on and said if they were still under warranty and that he wasn't happy with the job they had done, they should do it for free. The Pedder's guy obliged and said because it was under warranty, they'd fit in new springs at no charge (dodgy stuff because the pedder's guy mentioned nothing about warranty until he was asked about it).

Now that this has been sorted out, my cuz has new worries. What if they just resized his current springs and whacked them back in? Is there any truth to what has been said by the guy from Pedder's? How can he ensure that new springs have been fitted in the rear (I told him to ask for the old one's back after the new ones have been fitted in?)?

Sorry for the long post.

Advice appreciated, thanks.

[Javed]

I do not know exactly what they mean by resizing the springs, but if it involves cutting them DO NOT DO IT. Should be a new spring fitted. As for the difference in clearance and height im not too sure, somebody else will know. Good luck mate :)

[Jus-10]

By 'resizing' they mean compressing the springs.....

If they replace the springs, they won't give you the old ones. They aren't obliged to.

No idea about the whole height thing....your cuz should just do whatever he wants.

[traNce_gl]

i dont think pedders will cut them for u, and u can tell if they did

but yeh when he says resizing he prolly means compress them to the height that ur cuz can get.

I reckon if they r still on warranty just give them back to him he seems shifty, just get custom made king spring,yer they will cost a bit more but less hassel

[SPEEDCORE]

More commonly known as "resetting"

[type one]

To the best of my knowledge cutting springs or compressing them not something a "chain sussy" specialist will do, because it puts them in hot water re warranty issues.. however a smaller suspension shop will happily take your money to do this.


... the civic would have come out of the factory slightly lower at the front but two to three fingers at the back is high?? sounds a bit strange.. but would need to see the car to be sure to be sure...

[SiR]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Yep, resizing means resetting the spring(s) - no cutting involved.

However, that's been sorted out under warranty and Pedder's have agreed to replace the springs with new ones should my cuz choose to lower the rear further.

Like I said, the only thing he's worried about is how he can be sure nothing dodgy goes on behind his back and if it's true that making the gap between the guards for both front and rear to be equal would harm the car in any way.

Thanks.

[Dominik]

It wont harm the car. The sill is the sideskirt. What the guy meant is that the sideskirt wont be totally paralell to the ground if he lowers the back. This sounds very strange though, because most cars are the other way around.

It could also mean that he would be lowering the back by 2.5" whereas he lowers the front by 2". At worst this means that there is 0.5" less travel in the rear shocks before hitting the bumpstops, but that shouldnt matter.

If they lower the rear by resetting (most likely), then i am pretty sure the resetting process will harden the spring slightly anyway. This would prevent bottoming out, and also might even induce a bit of oversteer (or reduce understeer) because the rear is more likely to skip out on a hard corner.

When i had my celica, i bought secondhand front springs, which were VERY low. I installed them, and drove to a suspension place and asked them to match the rears to the front. I ended up going back twice to get the springs reset lower at no cost :)

[SiR]

Thanks Dominik.

From what my cuz tells me, there's a one finger gap at the front, and a 2-3 finger gap at the rear. If that's the case, then I'm thinking they'd need to lower the rear by another inch or so.

There's no worries with resetting the spring(s) now cos Pedder's will be replacing the existing rear ones with brand new ones.

I will let my cuz know that if he lowers the back further, the sideskirt won't be running parallel to the ground. I'm sure he won't mind that cos at the moment, the difference in the 'guard gap' between the front and rear is what's driving him nuts :D He just wants the front and rear 'guard gap' to be equal and 'look good' :)

[A'PEXi]

i lowered my civ 2" front and rear, both had about one finger space between the wheels, but because the front is heavier due to the engine/larger brake setup and what have you, the front should be sitting a tad lower, but not that much difference from the rear like you mentioned, maybe they gave u wrong size springs? :P

[luzinit]

ive also read on hondatech that the civic and maybe teg, has a larger wheel arch at the front and hence when dropped equally the front appears to be lower than the back, which is why some manufacturers such as neuspeed make springs that have a bigger drop in the front compared to the back

[SiR]

ive also read on hondatech that the civic and maybe teg, has a larger wheel arch at the front and hence when dropped equally the front appears to be lower than the back, which is why some manufacturers such as neuspeed make springs that have a bigger drop in the front compared to the back

Yep, that's very true mate. I'm sure the difference in wheel arches for the front and rear would have something to do with it too.

Once again, thanks for the replies!

[SiR]

Just wondering, do new springs need to be 'runned in' at all?

Thanks.