Lowering Suspension: Pros and Cons

Lowering your car or truck so it’s closer to the ground is a popular way to customize your ride. Done right, it’s a great look that also boosts handling performance. Done wrong, it could compromise handling, drivability and traction, reduce tire tread life and even damage parts.

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Pluses and Minuses of Lowering Suspension

PROS CONS More road feel Reduced ride comfort Stiffer ride Impractical for rough roads Less roll when cornering Accelerated or uneven tire wear Better handling Chance of bottoming out Improved aerodynamics Potential rubbing on parts or tires Improved traction Can’t use a standard jack Less rollover risk Cost Great looks Warranty issues

Benefits

More Road Feel
A lowered suspension helps a driver be highly attuned to how their vehicle acts on different pavement as more of the vibrations from imperfections in the road surface come through the steering wheel.

Stiffer Ride
With this setup, you have to have more rigid springs so the front or back of your vehicle won’t bottom out over bumps or depressions. This is the driving experience many prefer, versus a cushier ride from, say, a luxury sedan.

Less Lean in Corners
The lean of a vehicle around a sharp turn is greatly reduced because the shift of weight is less due to the lower center of gravity. The part of the vehicle on the outside of a turn stays more level with the inside. This lets a car settle more quickly into a turn and act more responsively.

Better Handling
Another effect of being closer to the ground is improved responsiveness, more stability, and grip at speed. Because lowering means getting stiffer springs, there is less weight transfer when you hit the gas or brake hard. This means you’ll enjoy faster acceleration and quicker stops.

Less Air Drag
Lowered vehicles are more aerodynamic. There’s less air hitting the wheels and tires (that are not streamlined shapes). This makes these cars faster. Some owners of low-stance vehicles also notice improved gas mileage. BUT, lowering a car too much will actually increase wind drag.

Less Rollover Risk
Lowered vehicles have a lower center of gravity, which decreases rollover risk when cornering.

Improved Traction
Lowering generally means you’ll put a plus-sized tire and wheel package on the vehicle. Such tires have shorter sidewalls, a larger contact patch (that keeps more rubber in contact with the road) and less roll around corners.

Good Looks
Cars and trucks that have been lowered with custom wheels are attention-getters. It’s a more aggressive and performance-oriented look that stands out in a crowd.

Drawbacks

Less Ride Comfort
If you and your passengers are accustomed to a softer suspension that cushions impacts like bumps and potholes, you may think less of the ride comfort of a lower suspension. You may also notice increased road noise since you’re closer to the pavement.

No Go on Rough Roads
The lower clearance will not be your friend on rutted, rocky, washboard and potholed roads.

Uneven or Accelerated Tire Wear
Lowering changes the geometry of your wheel-tire fitment. If it’s done improperly, your car may have an alignment problem that results in premature or extreme wear patterns.

Bottoming Out
Even an inch-and-a-half lower suspension can cause problems around corners, with slight potholes or on speed bumps. Traveling over the lip of a parking garage or starting up a driveway or ramp could cause the front of your vehicle to hit the pavement. Contact with the ground can cause serious damage to components underneath the car, like the exhaust system and oil pan.

If you ever need a tow truck, you may require a flat bed. Otherwise, there could be a problem with the back body of the vehicle dragging on the ground.

Potential Rubbing on Parts or Tires
Poorly done or extreme lowering can cause suspension and steering parts to contact each other, the wheels or the tires. It could also cause tires to rub the body during turns or going over bumps.

Can’t Use a Standard Jack
If you get a flat tire, you may find out at an inconvenient time that there’s not enough clearance to get the unit under the vehicle’s frame.

Cost
Quality components and keeping correct alignment can get pricey. The lower you go, the more chance you’ll need additional parts. For example, if coilovers (meaning coil spring over shock) are part of your new setup, you’re likely looking at an outlay of $1,000 or more.

Warranty Issues
You should check both your owner’s manual and any manufacturer’s or aftermarket warranty to determine if 1) the manufacturer advises against lowering your car, or 2) if lowering your car will void or adversely affect any warranty coverage you currently have.

Know This Before You Modify Your Suspension

Here’s what to know before you go low.

1. If it’s higher performance you’re after, you may need to lower a lot less than you think. It’s easy to miss the mark and actually make your suspension worse. To be sure that components like struts and springs can do the work of keeping tires at the right angles, get expert help.


2. Don’t cut corners when it comes to shocks, struts or other components. You’re making changes to the structure and balance of your vehicle. You don’t want to risk failing parts.


3. If you modify your vehicle in ways that aren’t road legal, your insurer may not pay a claim for damage. Talk to your agent before you customize your ride and ask if your premiums will go up or policy terms change.


4. Installing extreme aftermarket wheel-tire setups or suspension changes can result in steering, suspension or drivetrain problems that won’t be covered by your vehicle warranty. Check to see if the modifications you’re planning will result in denied warranty claims BEFORE installation.


5. Get an alignment after you lower to ensure the best handling and tire life.


6. Take care while you get accustomed to how your new setup performs. With the much stiffer suspension, your vehicle may steer a little differently and won’t absorb road shocks as well. A sudden hard brake or tight turn on a bumpy road could cause a loss of traction.

Any time you change your vehicle’s OE (original equipment) suspension, you should be sure that you’re not creating a setup that is either unsafe or is going to cause problems with other car functions. Like with many aftermarket customizations, it’s about finding the right balance of safety, performance, looks, cost, and drivability. Stop by your local Les Schwab for help.

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Everything about suspension is up in the air, right? Wrong! There are a lot of hard facts you need to know about suspension before deciding to raise or lower yours. Read on to check out the advantages and disadvantages of lowering your suspension (we’ll look at raising your suspension, too).

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Further reading:
5 Things to Know Before Buying china second hand cars for sale

Lowered Suspension

Bringing your vehicle closer to the ground results in less air traveling underneath your car, which is good for reducing wind drag. While lowriders look amazing and come with some performance improvements, there are also some negatives to look out for (including the potential for significant detriments to performance).

If you go the lowered suspension route, keep in mind that California law prohibits any part of the car frame from being below the lowest point on your wheel’s rim. Don’t ride too low!

Advantages

The major advantage of lowering your suspension is an improvement in aerodynamics. With less air underneath your vehicle, wind drag is reduced, which leads to increased speed and acceleration. Some low-riding vehicle owners also report improved gas mileage, but your mileage on the road may vary.

You’ll also notice your ability to feel the road is increased. Different pavements and terrain will be more noticeable underneath you as more vibrations from surface imperfections travel up through the steering wheel. If you want to get in tune with your car, this is a good way to go.

With the vehicle’s center of gravity lowered, sharp turns will result in reduced leaning. Keeping your vehicle level on tight turns gives you greater control and lets your car settle into a turn faster. This goes hand-in-hand with a reduced risk of rollover when cornering, which is always a great thing to reduce.

You’re also improving handling and traction on the road, which results in better all-around responsiveness. Your car’s handling, grip at speed, and stability are all improved when you lower your suspension. With lowered suspension comes stiffer springs and less weight transfer upon hitting the gas or slamming on the brakes. This translates to speedier acceleration and the ability to make sharper stops.

Disadvantages

The first disadvantage comes from an improperly lowered vehicle or a vehicle that’s lowered too far. Lowering a car too much increases wind drag instead of reducing it. If you drop your vehicle the right amount, the increased road feel we mentioned earlier leads to less ride comfort. Your closeness to the pavement results in feeling more bumps and potholes—and the ride will be louder, too.

It’s difficult to lower your suspension perfectly, so it’s likely that your vehicle won’t be properly aligned. This leads to uneven or accelerated tire wear, meaning you could be on the hook for new tires sooner than you expect.

The closer your vehicle gets to the ground, the more you risk bottoming out. Bottoming out is when a part of the underside of your vehicle scrapes the ground, and it can happen with potholes, speed bumps, or driving up a steep ramp. This can cause significant damage to machinery under your car (such as the oil pan and exhaust system.)

A flat tire could become a much bigger deal as standard jacks may not fit underneath lowered cars. Furthermore, ensure that lowering your vehicle doesn’t void a manufacturer’s warranty (and ensure that the manufacturer doesn’t advise against lowering your car).

Raised Suspension

Suspension lift kits are designed to raise your vehicle as high as possible, which comes with a host of considerations. Body lift kits are made to raise your car a few inches without too much effect on the ride itself.

Advantages

For suspension lift kits, the biggest advantage is that you’re able to raise your vehicle a lot. It allows you to equip your vehicle with larger tires, which leads to extra ground clearance when off-roading. The larger tires themselves will also help when off-roading, as they increase your traction. All these benefits culminate in one simple advantage: raised vehicles look powerful.

Body lift kits bring your car up two or three inches, so the towering effect of suspension kits is not achieved. However, they are more affordable than suspension lift kits since you don’t need to replace your shocks. Body kits let you retain factory suspension geometry and alignment while giving your tires more clearance.

Disadvantages

Towering vehicles look great, but don’t forget the potential annoyance that comes from hoisting yourself up and into the cab. You might be able to handle it but getting kids into the vehicle can quickly become a hassle.

Ongoing upkeep is also required for suspension lift kits; you’ll need to replace support pieces every so often. The original kit itself is also a bit pricey, and many can void manufacturer warranties, just like lowering your suspension.

For body lift kits, the most common complaint is that the frame is more visible after lifting. Due to the placement of the vehicle’s body, factory bumpers don’t get raised along with the rest of the vehicle. You can take care of this with gap guards, but that is another cost to tack on.

The other disadvantage of body lift kits is that—other than increased tire clearance—no performance advantages are offered. In fact, the raised center of gravity may lead to reduced performance and more risk of rollovers.

Modifying Your Car

Whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages for lowering or raising your suspension is up to you. If you decide to join the others who feel that their vehicle isn’t at the right height, what might you do to change it?

To lower your car, you could shorten or soften your coil springs, re-bend your leaf springs, change the mounting points of your spring or torsion bar, or adjust the torsion bar key (for suspensions with torsion bars only, naturally). When lowering your car, consider adding an Integra traction bar to reduce the risk of flexing at the rear end of your vehicle.

Raising your car may sound like a simple matter with the purchase of a kit, but don’t install the kit yourself unless you’re very confident in your automotive ability. Ensuring alignment is retained is extremely important and not something to gamble with.

Armed with the advantages and disadvantages of lowering your suspension (and raising it, too), you can choose for yourself if it’s something you want to do. There’s no doubt about it: up or down, changing your vehicle’s height makes it look amazing.

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