i have GC coilovers and tokico shocks
i have just ordered 205 50 15 kuhmo supra 712s and am wondering how low should i drop my car so that my tires will last for at least 5 months.

is 3 inches really bad
i rotate my tires every 3,000 miles so that is know problem for me

 

3 inches????!?!! Screw tires NO shocks will last that low. Not to mention that will make handling worse than no suspension at all. No shock travel = understeer = plow like a tractor.

1.5"-2" get an alignment once you lower it and if you have mre than -2 degrees of camber you are too low.

 

I only have a 1.3" drop on my integra with the eibach pro kit springs and I like it a lot It handels sweet and lowers it enough to notice it plus my tires didn't change at all in wearing they are still good I have had them for around a year nwo so they shoudl be going soon. I have the yokhoma a520's

 

3" is a lot!!! I lowered my car about 2" and it looks good and handles well too ..
if you lower it about 2" get an alignment, check your air pressures and rotate your tires every 3K you should have no problem getting good treadwear/usage of your Kumho's...

at 3" your car will handle bad, your camber will be WAY off, your car especially the front, middle, and rear exhaust when coming out of driveways will all scrape badly, you'll probably blow your shocks pretty quick, and you'll be scraping all around town... might scrape/dent your header, oil pan, exhaust pipes, etc...

 

Mine has H&R sports cut one coil...

See below!

 

cutting yours springs is horrible

 

cutting aftermarket springs
cutting oem springs

 

mine is lowered 2.25 inches with koni adjustables and comptech springs had to get a front camber kit and washers in the back my kuhmo tires have about 10,000 miles and looking good have to rotate about every 3000 miles

 

what was your camber measurements? didi you really need the camber correction kit.

 

3" is way too low if you asked me. I went about 1.75" and got an alignment and everything was ok. Then, I got annoyed that the front had a lil more space between the well and tire, so I lowered the front only 1/4" and didn't get an alignment. It's looks way better, but I looked at my tires the other day after rotation and they won't last more than 10-12k because the inner part is wearing faster. The back is perfect though. It seems like anything more than 1.75 you should go for a camber kit. Oh well you learn every time you f*ck something up.

 

Why?

 

well, not always gonna happen, but the camber will likely be off enough to cause excessive tire wear if lower than that.

 

MY question was more this.

What defines enough camber to wear tires? How MUCH camber is that? Seems to me like alot of people just do camber correction cause you are supposed to or it isn't in spec.

Not picking on you but I try to question everyone that mentions camber correction kits. Negative camber to a certain degree is very good for handling and does not really wear out tires like most are led to believe. Toe however is the biggest culprit of uneven wear.

Side not we are obviously discussing negative camber.

 

I got my car lowered with skunk2 coilovers around 2" I would guess. 1 1/2 finger in the front and about 2 in the back. I got an alignment and my toe set to spec and my front camber is just a little bit out of spec like -1.86 or something and my rear camber is negative but within spec. I think if I rotate normally and I have a lifetime alignment, I should be fine.

 

Your camber is good IMO. I try to set my Integras to -2 degrees of negative camber. I have run as much as -2.2 degrees with no tire wear issues.

You are also the first person to seem to knwo what their camber measurements are.

 

i've got mine at about a 3 inch drop and it looks clean 2 inches is weak and still leaves a wheelgap 3 is right about even and if you want to tuck go 3 1/2 or 4, i had mine at 3 1/2 for 2 years and it was fine, i raise it up a bit though to save some tire.

 

haha you should see my alignment readings

Just got my car aligned again Friday, my readings were:

front camber -2.1/-2.3 L/R

rear camber -1.7/-2.1 L/R

toe-in set to exact specs on all 4 corners

No camber kit and my tires are perfectly even all the way across after 12K miles on this suspension. I'm loving it.

 

My H&R Sports leave almost no wheel gap (although I did get a bit more drop from the rear Koni spring perches):




[Modified by PatrickGSR94, 12:44 PM 7/23/2002]

 

heres mine from friday I think (when I had that argument w/ the guy at discount tire centers)

front:
-1.8 front left -2.1 front right

rear:
-1.6 rear left -1.8 rear right


I had my toe dialed in and rotate my tires every 3K..
I have no odd or bad wear on my tires or inner edges... on the rear I used the camber/washer trick.. before it was something crazy like -2.8 before I used the washers on the rear I think.. I'd have to find the old alignment papers...

 

Yes cutting aftermarket is bad but it has a great ride. Doesn't bounce at all. I was actually impressed.