I have bought Canuck Motorsports 2 inch lowering springs and after changing the rears, I noticed that the stock spring had tension holding it in place even with the axle lowered to its lowest position, and now that I put in the lowering springs I have about 2 1/2 inch's of slack that has to be made up before the springs have any tension on them to hold them in place.

The problem I forsee is that I am a VERY spirited driver and going through hills and such, the car often gets VERY light if you catch my drift. Now that I have the shorter springs I am fearful that the cars going to get too light and the springs are going to fall out at the worst possible moment.

I looked through my Summit catalog and didnt see anything to solve this problem. So I'm hoping someone here has ran into this issue with their lowering springs and can tell me how they fixed the issue or the best way to do so. I know they make suspension limiting cables for off road vehicles, but do they also make them for our cars? I was thinking of using u-bolts and drilling a couple hole in the spring tower to secure it at the top(but fearful the u-bolt would be hit by collapsing spring and the spring could get broke), and then use a large hose clamp to secure bottom to axle, but it just seems like theres gotta be a better way.

I dont think I'll have the same problem on front of car thank god, but the back worries me.

 

I'd reassemble the car with the new springs in place and with the car in the air and the rear at full droop and see if they have the potential to come out. I know with Sportlines you car remove the rears with a little effort by hand but have never heard of one coming out on it's own.

 

I replaced the shocks at the same time with KYB GR2's and at full droop the springs have about 2 1/2 inch's space to move up and down between spring pouch and axle mount. At full droop these springs could EASILY FALL off the perch. I have to raise rear end about 3 inch's before the springs contact and have pressure on them. Here is a pic showing the difference in height from stock:

 

i have sportlines, and its the same way, i dont see any driving condition where the rear will reach full drop. and if you do find a condition where the rear is at full drop, you have more to worry about than the springs falling out cause you are probably falling off a cliff

 

I guess I have a lot to worry about then, cause I go down certain roads a lot that have great hills to launch from. I love that weightless feeling. I dont actually go airborne, but damn close to it, and I know I definitely wouldnt wanna do that with the car the way it is now.

Plus that, I dont think its safe. Theres no way to know what your going to run into down the road, and I'd hate to total out my Bird cause the damn springs came out. That would be a bit tough to answer to the insurance company or police about.

 

I've got Sportlines and even at full droop they still require a modest bit of effort to get them out. You did put the spring insulators back in with the new springs, right? I'd look seriously at sending them back.

 

could you fab up some guards to hold them from falling out?

 

at full drop, i have about 1.5 inches of free spaces above the springs, they will just fall out, maybe they changed designs?

 

Look at a few 4 wheel drive places. They have travel limiters (nylon straps) that attach near the shocks & prevent the axle from drooping too far.

As far as your usage, if you truely intend to drive the car hard enough to catch some air, you will have many more problems when it lands. A 2" drop has very limited suspension travel & you will be smashing other suspension parts on a regular basis.

 

Yeah, unless you are jumping off ramps, it wont be a problem

Stiffer shocks will help prevent the suspension extending too far as well.

 

I am running with KYB GR2 struts and shocks and KYB strut mounts.

Yes I am using the spring insulator from original springs. I trimmed back the bump stops to about half normal thickness.

Anyone know where I can find the limiting straps on line.

 

Do your shocks have more travel than the original shocks.
I have sportlines in my car too, and they require some muscle to pull out with the suspension hanging.
Possibly a shorter shock or a shock with less travel is the solution to your problem.

 

I'm not sure if they are longer or not. Maybe in the next couple days I'll take one of the old ones to the parts store and compare.

 

The only time I've ever had a problem with the shorter springs un-seating themselves from the suspension unloading was when going to one of the local dyno places. Need to reverse up a very steep incline at an angle and transition to a level top. Its probably because of the solid rear axle design and a stiff chassis, one side of the rear suspension unloads enough to un-seat the spring. But its no big deal, just make sure everything is in right before driving off.

 

Weld a tube to the chassis side spring seat that's long enough to keep the spring captive?

Or maybe a weight jack (available from the circle track supply houses) for each rear spring would work, although you might need to lengthen any cylinders that go inside the springs? A separate benefit is that you'd get to set rear ride height where you want it and/or adjust corner weights.


Norm

 

I would contact Canuck Motorsports and get their take on this. They have probably been asked about this before. They might also be able to make suggestions etc.

http://www.canuckmotorsports.com

There is probably an email address or phone number somewhere on the site.