i forget where i saw this done . . .

basically what the guy did is take the top hat for the coil/strut on his car, and cut the part that sticks up on the top of the hat, the part that holds the bushing that holds the top of the strut. he cut it off, then welded a 1" length of steel tubing of the same diameter onto the bottom of it, then welded that onto the hat. basically what it did was raise the mounting point for the top of the strut on the vehicle by 1", thus lowering the car.

now, theoretically, since the length of the strut has remained the same, it was "safe." however, since that 1" is kind of unuseable for travel, this isn't true, now is it? furthermore, since the strut has now been shortened 1", and the spring length hasn't changed, and supposing you're using a progressive-rate spring, your spring preload will jump up. so in reality, this isn't exactly the "perfect" lowering strategy, keeping spring preload and travel optimal, is it?

i want to lower about 1", but i want to keep all my travel. i use ITR springs and Tokico Illumina dampers, and i drive on some tough, bumpy roads, so travel is a must. and height-adjustable coil-overs are not an option b/c of money. i'd like to fab something, but i wanted to know what you guys thought of this method. maybe somebody has an idea out there that would work really well. i've though of shortening the front damper forks, but what about the rear? this is a DC4 integra, BTW.

 

It seems to me that he addressed the wrong problem. The problem with lowering a MacPherson strut car is that it alters the static camber. Raising the mount point still changes the angle of the control arm, and roll center correctors would still be required.

The best way to lower a car is to actually raise the spindle. There are actually some aftermarket companies that make "lowering spindles" for classic domestic cars, though I have not seen it for sport compacts.

 

i have this going in the suspension forum, too, and the general concensus is that this method is good for getting more damper stroke on a lowered car.

 

yeah, you got the principle all wrong. that mod is to gain back some shock travel as well as making it work closer to it's intended height, it does not lower the car.

 

yeah, i forgot what i'd heard of it and just remember the vision in my head. after some quiet thoughts i realized this would have no effect on ride height. i may do it anyways to see if it helps out feel or something. hell, all it costs is some time and a small piece of steel tubing i could find in a dumpster. free mod, why not? if i don't like it i'll take it apart and weld it back like stock again.

 

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=469485