Road Obstacles and Lowered Suspension

[adam_knox]

For those who have lowered your car's suspension to return to initial designed ride height, have you found it relatively practical for daily driving? I drive much higher riding vehicles so I don't have to worry about speed bumps hitting the under carriage or those god-awful driveways that are steeper than Mt. Everest. Is it overly paranoid driving on the freeway with tire treads, branches and people's poorly secured (or inconsiderately discarded) trash in the lanes? :rollin: I love the look, and the supposed improved ride of the lowered suspension, but curious if practical daily driving to run errands and such makes it an unwise or less enjoyable experience.

[pezzonovante88]

I'm pretty careful with driveway entrances and speed-bumps, but its really no big deal.

[Rich]

Good question.

Same experience here as p-88 above. No problems from our Eibach-design-ride-height setup over normal road debris, potholes, dips, bumps.
I'm not especially careful with speed bumps, am more careful with diagonal parking into sidewalk curbs, also careful with driveway ramp approach speed, as mentioned here. Chin spoiler clears 8 inches, level with full fuel, empty car.

Have never been kept from getting anywhere we wanted the car to go. We sometimes drive it in San Francisco, speaking of steepness. It's a blast.

[David T]

It can also be difficult to jack up the car or drive it onto a lift. Especially if you also have a ground effects kit!!!!! That and/or drive in New Jersey on our well maintained roads. It doesn't drive any better lower and you have to modify the suspension so the camber is not knocked way off and adjust the toe.
David Teitelbaum

[Jacko]

It's something you get used to. I've been driving a lowered Delorean for years and to me, it's just part of it. I'm careful wherever I go and I learned early on to not straddle roadkill.

My lawn tractor cuts the grass to 3 1/2 inches ... 4915's ground clearance is a shade over 3 inches.:flamed:

[pezzonovante88]

It can also be difficult to jack up the car or drive it onto a lift. Especially if you also have a ground effects kit!!!!! That and/or drive in New Jersey on our well maintained roads. It doesn't drive any better lower and you have to modify the suspension so the camber is not knocked way off and adjust the toe.
David Teitelbaum

That's a great point, David. I can just BARELY get on my ramps. The lip just brushes along as I drive it up.

[Squall67584]

It's something you get used to. I've been driving a lowered Delorean for years and to me, it's just part of it. I'm careful wherever I go and I learned early on to not straddle roadkill.

My lawn tractor cuts the grass to 3 1/2 inches ... 4915's ground clearance is a shade over 3 inches.:flamed:

What setup do you have? Curious as to how you got it that low.

[dvonk]

What setup do you have? Curious as to how you got it that low.

here you go. (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?3740-Whats-the-difference-of-lowering-springs&p=53524&viewfull=1#post53524) :wink:

[DMCMW Dave]

Low = be careful.

10104

[adam_knox]

Low = be careful.

10104

Dave, do you see a higher frequency of undercarriage damage in the lowered suspension package vs. normal suspension in your shop?

Between the ramps and roadkill I'm almost more tempted to do Rich's Monster D suspension... :mechbull:

[Jacko]

What setup do you have? Curious as to how you got it that low.I'm running SPAX shocks. I lowered the front by grinding the springs to a free standing height of 12 1/2 inches. The car sits level and never rubs a fender or drags if I'm careful ... gotta be careful.

[DMCMW Dave]

Dave, do you see a higher frequency of undercarriage damage in the lowered suspension package vs. normal suspension in your shop?

Not particularly, most of the damage seems to be from hitting those concrete parking stops. They'll even take out a radiator. But we also don't see that many cars coming in already lowered.

I know that since I lowered my own (the one I drive most and am therefore more likely to hit things) I'm VERY concious about curbed driveways! I bent up a shackle a couple of years ago just driving into a hotel parking lot, but the trunk was extra full and there were two passengers.

The other thing you need to be careful of - if you lower the car AND run larger thatn stock front tires, you can actually knink the fender (tire hits fender) hitting a large bump while turning.

[Lenny]

The concrete parking stops SUCK. I keep trying to remember to not try and touch my tires to it. So far I've only scraped the bottom of the front air dam and it doesn't show. Also, you need to watch during a sharp turn with a small bump. I'm careful pulling in the driveway. I swing out wide so it's not a "steering wheel lock" to get in. I have had my front tire "touch" the trim around the inside of the fender and "pull it off" but no real damage.

And while we are at it, the turning radius sucks so don't try and do a uturn in a narrow road. You'll "touch" the curb with the side of your tire and scratch your rim:sad30:

I guess it's not the stops that suck since they are inanimate objects. It's my stupidity "Don't touch them"


Not particularly, most of the damage seems to be from hitting those concrete parking stops. They'll even take out a radiator. But we also don't see that many cars coming in already lowered.

I know that since I lowered my own (the one I drive most and am therefore more likely to hit things) I'm VERY concious about curbed driveways! I bent up a shackle a couple of years ago just driving into a hotel parking lot, but the trunk was extra full and there were two passengers.

The other thing you need to be careful of - if you lower the car AND run larger thatn stock front tires, you can actually knink the fender (tire hits fender) hitting a large bump while turning.

[adam_knox]

So Lenny and Dave, setting aside egos, the mantra "no regrets," and any financial incentives :wink: , would you still have expended the resources to lower the car or would you have told your younger self "looks aren't everything?"

[Lenny]

So Lenny and Dave, setting aside egos, the mantra "no regrets," and any financial incentives :wink: , would you still have expended the resources to lower the car or would you have told your younger self "looks aren't everything?"

Didn't "Pay" for it, I bought my car with it already installed. I like the way it looks but it is a rough ride.

[jawn101]

This reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask for a while. I want to get an alignment done but have recently lowered the car (new springs only, shocks are still all Girlings). What does this do to the toe, camber, caster, etc values in the tech bulletin? I know it will be difficult to get the crossmembers the required 5" and 5.5" off the ground, for one.

[vwdmc16]

Well the only thing adjustable is the toe in front and in the rear if the tech has proper shims for the Tabs. I wanna get my car on a rack too as im sure something up front is bent, you know how my car always pulls left. I bet my caster is off left to right or something.

[ssdelorean]

So Lenny and Dave, setting aside egos, the mantra "no regrets," and any financial incentives :wink: , would you still have expended the resources to lower the car or would you have told your younger self "looks aren't everything?"

Yeah it looks better but more importantly to me is that it handles so much better both in cornering and straight at highway speeds. I only lowered mine an inch and a half and it is a totally different car. Love it. Over 158,000 miles with no regrets. Just be careful over bumps, curbs and avoid dead things and New York highways :-)

[Lenny]

I don't have anything to compare mine too since it is my first Delorean. I like the way it corners, it stays flat and sticks.

My favorite is a exit ramp from I-4 to the Polk Parkway. It is a consistant turn and I'd like to really floor it to see how fast I can take it, however, I keep telling myself it's a 30 year old car and what will happen if something fails.

[DMCMW Dave]

So Lenny and Dave, setting aside egos, the mantra "no regrets," and any financial incentives :wink: , would you still have expended the resources to lower the car or would you have told your younger self "looks aren't everything?"

Definitely. If you look at the front end geometry, you will notice that on a stock car the tie rods are angled down as they go toward the wheels. This means that on any bump you are moving the front tires to more toe-out since the rack is in front of the ball joints. This is not good for handling feel.

When you lower the front, the tie rods will be nearly horizontal at rest. This means that on bumps or when raised, the tires toe in more. This is what you want, and to the driver "feels" much better and is usually discribed as "crisper" handing when hitting dips in the road while turning. It eliminates something called "bump steer" where the car seems to be steering itself on bumps while turning (you don't notice this when going straight unless you are on a heavily crowned road.

BTW - adjustable rear control arms are available if you really want to get the rear back into correct camber. Not much you can do about the front but lowering does not seem to impact front camber/caster enough to worry about.

[tgraham]

For those who have lowered your car's suspension to return to initial designed ride height, have you found it relatively practical for daily driving?

I run the Eibach/Spax setup and I think it's great. It looks better, handles MUCH better, and I've never hit a speed bump or anything of that nature. The only inconvenience that I've experienced is what David mentioned: it's a little tougher to get the car onto my lift. I have to actually jack up the sides slightly to slide the arm underneath (though sometimes just pulling it up will suffice).

Travis