Lowering Stuff
05-24-2012, 11:51 PM
#1
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: IN
Posts: 289
Lowering Stuff
Ok now that i am past my crisis of trading in,i am on to mods.I just purchased a set of Godspeed Omega wheels Black machined face
20x8.5 +30mm Offset and 20x10 +45mm Offset on NEXEN N3000 Front 255/35/20 Rear 285/30/20.Currently still running the stock 19's with bullits which i can hopefully sell.I think a machined face wheel will really go with the black,not quite as blingly as the chrome.
So this leads to another mod that i am going to have to do because of the 20's.I was on the fence over the 20's versus 18's but they had a stupid sale,the 20's package was $275 cheaper than the 18's.Wha?!To good of a deal to pass up.Full set of 20's and wheels for $1500 +200 for TPMS.I have been wanting these for quite some time and have looked at so many different wheels,always come back to this one.
So lowering... On the fence as usual.I'm like a virgin on prom night trying to give my stuff away
Measuring from bottom lip to top of the tire,i am at 2 1/2 inches in rear and 1 1/2 inches in front.Leaning toward Ford Racing Lowering P-Springs,they have a 1" drop front/rear.Really like the K series that do a 1 1/2 drop at both ends but don't want to spend all the extra $ for upper strut mounts and dampers,most likely a panhard bar as well.
Does anyone have some pics close up of tire fender gap to compare to,before/after?
Will a 1 inch be really noticeable in looks?I guess the farther i go down,the stiffer the ride gets and this is a daily driver.1" just doesn't sound like a whole lot and were still talking a couple hundred bucks.
I am only going to start with springs,so i guess 1" would be a safer bet in the wallet dept.Seems like the rear should drop more than the front being as the front is already an inch closer to the tire?
Any other alternatives,kind of wanting to stay with Ford,i have heard good things about them.Also kind of worried about having a suspension issue and getting denied warranty for the aftermarket springs.Thinking if they were at least Ford brand,it might help.It's always tough ripping new parts off a car to put new parts on....
Really hoping this combo comes together.
Here are pics of current measurements,btw the new 20's will be 1 inch shorter than the stock tires,won't this make the gap even larger than 2 1/2?Fronts will be 1/2" shorter.So i'm thinking the car is already going to be an inch lower to ground and with a 1" drop from springs,that's gonna be 2" if my thinking is right?I want to be carefuls not to slam the car.
Rear
Front
Wheels Bottom set are the ones i got
20x8.5 +30mm Offset and 20x10 +45mm Offset on NEXEN N3000 Front 255/35/20 Rear 285/30/20.Currently still running the stock 19's with bullits which i can hopefully sell.I think a machined face wheel will really go with the black,not quite as blingly as the chrome.
So this leads to another mod that i am going to have to do because of the 20's.I was on the fence over the 20's versus 18's but they had a stupid sale,the 20's package was $275 cheaper than the 18's.Wha?!To good of a deal to pass up.Full set of 20's and wheels for $1500 +200 for TPMS.I have been wanting these for quite some time and have looked at so many different wheels,always come back to this one.
So lowering... On the fence as usual.I'm like a virgin on prom night trying to give my stuff away
Measuring from bottom lip to top of the tire,i am at 2 1/2 inches in rear and 1 1/2 inches in front.Leaning toward Ford Racing Lowering P-Springs,they have a 1" drop front/rear.Really like the K series that do a 1 1/2 drop at both ends but don't want to spend all the extra $ for upper strut mounts and dampers,most likely a panhard bar as well.
Does anyone have some pics close up of tire fender gap to compare to,before/after?
Will a 1 inch be really noticeable in looks?I guess the farther i go down,the stiffer the ride gets and this is a daily driver.1" just doesn't sound like a whole lot and were still talking a couple hundred bucks.
I am only going to start with springs,so i guess 1" would be a safer bet in the wallet dept.Seems like the rear should drop more than the front being as the front is already an inch closer to the tire?
Any other alternatives,kind of wanting to stay with Ford,i have heard good things about them.Also kind of worried about having a suspension issue and getting denied warranty for the aftermarket springs.Thinking if they were at least Ford brand,it might help.It's always tough ripping new parts off a car to put new parts on....
Really hoping this combo comes together.
Here are pics of current measurements,btw the new 20's will be 1 inch shorter than the stock tires,won't this make the gap even larger than 2 1/2?Fronts will be 1/2" shorter.So i'm thinking the car is already going to be an inch lower to ground and with a 1" drop from springs,that's gonna be 2" if my thinking is right?I want to be carefuls not to slam the car.
Rear
Front
Wheels Bottom set are the ones i got
05-28-2012, 07:51 PM
#4
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,792
If the wheels are 1 inches shorter in height than stock, it will make the gap .5 inch larger, and your chassis be .5 inch lower to the ground also. I went with tires that were .7 inches smaller than my stock so my wheel gap was .35 inch more. I lowered it 1 inch but it only looks like .65 inch less wheel gap than the stock setup because of the smaller height tires.
Smaller tires will be lighter and possibly slightly better performance, larger tires will make the wheel gap less and look better most likely.
gap on stock suspension with the 1 inch shorter tires will be 3 inches.
If you go up in sidewall height you can decrease this.
lowering your car 1 inch will only remove .5 inch of wheel gap if you are also putting 1 inch smaller tires on.
I kind of wish i went with taller sidewall tires, i know it would look slightly better, but the smaller tires are lighter and lower your gearing slightly. So it depends on if you value an improved look or a small increase in performance.
Rims look good btw. 5.5 inch deep dish? is that offset even possible? Id like to see how these will look.
Smaller tires will be lighter and possibly slightly better performance, larger tires will make the wheel gap less and look better most likely.
gap on stock suspension with the 1 inch shorter tires will be 3 inches.
If you go up in sidewall height you can decrease this.
lowering your car 1 inch will only remove .5 inch of wheel gap if you are also putting 1 inch smaller tires on.
I kind of wish i went with taller sidewall tires, i know it would look slightly better, but the smaller tires are lighter and lower your gearing slightly. So it depends on if you value an improved look or a small increase in performance.
Rims look good btw. 5.5 inch deep dish? is that offset even possible? Id like to see how these will look.
Last edited by Andy13186; 05-28-2012 at 07:58 PM.
05-29-2012, 01:48 AM
#5
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: IN
Posts: 289
If the wheels are 1 inches shorter in height than stock, it will make the gap .5 inch larger, and your chassis be .5 inch lower to the ground also. I went with tires that were .7 inches smaller than my stock so my wheel gap was .35 inch more. I lowered it 1 inch but it only looks like .65 inch less wheel gap than the stock setup because of the smaller height tires.
Smaller tires will be lighter and possibly slightly better performance, larger tires will make the wheel gap less and look better most likely.
gap on stock suspension with the 1 inch shorter tires will be 3 inches.
If you go up in sidewall height you can decrease this.
lowering your car 1 inch will only remove .5 inch of wheel gap if you are also putting 1 inch smaller tires on.
I kind of wish i went with taller sidewall tires, i know it would look slightly better, but the smaller tires are lighter and lower your gearing slightly. So it depends on if you value an improved look or a small increase in performance.
Rims look good btw. 5.5 inch deep dish? is that offset even possible? Id like to see how these will look.
Smaller tires will be lighter and possibly slightly better performance, larger tires will make the wheel gap less and look better most likely.
gap on stock suspension with the 1 inch shorter tires will be 3 inches.
If you go up in sidewall height you can decrease this.
lowering your car 1 inch will only remove .5 inch of wheel gap if you are also putting 1 inch smaller tires on.
I kind of wish i went with taller sidewall tires, i know it would look slightly better, but the smaller tires are lighter and lower your gearing slightly. So it depends on if you value an improved look or a small increase in performance.
Rims look good btw. 5.5 inch deep dish? is that offset even possible? Id like to see how these will look.
Decided to continue with the wheels,i seen em and i love em.Like i said,i currently have 19's with 45mm sidewall and was going to go with the 20's and 30mm sidewall in the rear.
Completely changing it up after doing a lot of looking around and decided to go with 18's.Going to do 295/45/18 in rear on 18x10 and 275/40/18 on front with 18x9.Offsets in front are 30mm and rear is 40mm.I think they get away with calling it a 5" lip but i think the way the spokes curve out just give it that look.With the 18's i will fill out the wheelwell by extra 10 mm,stick out an extra 1.2 inches and be .8 inches closer on the inside which should be fine from what i have measured.
With this set up i know i lose a little performance,pretty negligible from what i have read and speedoo will need a recal.
I should be able to go with the original drop springs i was look at as well but i did decide to go ahead and do that as a pkg with struts and shocks.Seems to be the wise decision.
Looked at staying with my original plan and just going to a bigger drop spring but since my carriage was already going to be lower because of shorter tires then trying add more lowering with springs,just wasn't practical.I like to ride in the thing with a little comfort!
Thanks again for the input!
05-29-2012, 07:24 AM
#6
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Palm Beach to South Carolina
Posts: 1,567
Glad you decided to go with the 18s... but you might want to rethink your tire sizes.
According to the sizes you indicated above, your front tires will be 26.7" tall while your rear tires are 28.5" tall. That is a 6.8% difference (you may want to research if that will affect your traction control system). The OEM 18's are 27.3" tall, so you are way shorter in the front and way taller in the rear. The taller tire in the rear will reduce your gear ratio and noticeably slow your acceleration. It is best to stay around your stock tire height (27.0" - 27.7") IMO.
According to the sizes you indicated above, your front tires will be 26.7" tall while your rear tires are 28.5" tall. That is a 6.8% difference (you may want to research if that will affect your traction control system). The OEM 18's are 27.3" tall, so you are way shorter in the front and way taller in the rear. The taller tire in the rear will reduce your gear ratio and noticeably slow your acceleration. It is best to stay around your stock tire height (27.0" - 27.7") IMO.
05-29-2012, 08:24 AM
#7
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Palm Beach to South Carolina
Posts: 1,567
One thing to consider when thinking about lowering is the sidewall height to wheel well gap ratio (sidewall height should be greater than the wheel well gap). People who get 20s must lower as their sidewall height is extremely low. Having a wheel well gap that is larger than the sidewall height gives the car the 4x4 look that just looks terrible IMO. Going with 18s should keep your sidewall height > 4", which should reduce the 4x4 look without lowering.
Since I couldn't lower due to my driveway entrance at my SC house, I decided to research tire and wheel sizes to get the look I wanted without lowering. I ended up with the following set up:
18x9 fronts with 255/45/18s... 27" diameter, 4.5" sidewall height
19x10 rears with 275/40/19s... 27.7" diameter, 4.35" sidewall height
I think that my car looks balanced and the ride is perfect for my DD(also installed Koni STR.Ts). It is hard to tell visually that my sidewall on the rear is less than the sidewall on the front (3.3% shorter), and the increased size of the rear has helped with hooking up on WOT launches. So it is a win-win!
Since I couldn't lower due to my driveway entrance at my SC house, I decided to research tire and wheel sizes to get the look I wanted without lowering. I ended up with the following set up:
18x9 fronts with 255/45/18s... 27" diameter, 4.5" sidewall height
19x10 rears with 275/40/19s... 27.7" diameter, 4.35" sidewall height
I think that my car looks balanced and the ride is perfect for my DD(also installed Koni STR.Ts). It is hard to tell visually that my sidewall on the rear is less than the sidewall on the front (3.3% shorter), and the increased size of the rear has helped with hooking up on WOT launches. So it is a win-win!
05-29-2012, 09:22 AM
#8
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: IN
Posts: 289
wow this stuff drives me nuts!
As i said currently i have 245/45/19 on 8.5 bullits all around.
How about same wheels 18x9 and 18x10 with,tires 285/40/18 rear. That will be .7" shorter than my current and fronts 255/45/18 on front which will also be .7 shorter.Sounds like a good compromise
As i said currently i have 245/45/19 on 8.5 bullits all around.How about same wheels 18x9 and 18x10 with,tires 285/40/18 rear. That will be .7" shorter than my current and fronts 255/45/18 on front which will also be .7 shorter.Sounds like a good compromise
05-29-2012, 09:51 AM
#9
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Palm Beach to South Carolina
Posts: 1,567
Yes, those sizes will both be 27" in diameter and will look great if you lower. But you will be increasing the wheel well gap while keeping the sidewall height nearly the same, so it might appear to have more of the 4x4 look than you did stock. Of course this is a non-issue if you lower it.
05-29-2012, 11:42 AM
#10
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: IN
Posts: 289
Yes, those sizes will both be 27" in diameter and will look great if you lower. But you will be increasing the wheel well gap while keeping the sidewall height nearly the same, so it might appear to have more of the 4x4 look than you did stock. Of course this is a non-issue if you lower it.
Like i said it is a pretty big investment.Appreciate all the help.
