lowering springs?

[viktord1]

You guys might remember I posted a thread a week or 2 ago about stretching tires. Well I have decided to go with 165/50/15 on a 15x7 wheel. From what I've seen on pics it looks like a decent stretch. Anyway it will look stupid if it isn't lowered. I was thinking about just cutting the springs but I think it's a bad idea. So I did some research and I'm having a hard time finding any lowering springs or coilovers for gen2's. I found out that gen5 and 6 celica suspension systems will fit but I wanted to see if anyone has done it before I start buying. Any suggestions? By the way I don't care if something needs a bit of modification to fit in correctly. I'm always willing to experiment and get my hands dirty

cheers

edit: it's a gen2

[mcx]

...i suppose you could pick up a set of cheap used springs and cut those as a experiment....not ideal but dirt cheap.

[white90dx]

Those tires are Civic sized and will look funny on a Camry... The stock size in 15" is 195/60, which means you are loosing around 1.4" of radius - the car will be lowered by 1.4" with just the wheels! Oh, and your speedometer will be about 11% off.

B&G makes springs for the gen2 Camry still, or you can probably adapt Celica coilovers. Don't use Celica lowering springs - they are noticably lighter so the ride height and handling will be off. Get new struts while you are at it (KYB GR-2 or Tokico Blue inserts if you have rebuildable struts).

-Charlie

[viktord1]

Originally Posted by white90dx

Those tires are Civic sized and will look funny on a Camry... The stock size in 15" is 195/60, which means you are loosing around 1.4" of radius - the car will be lowered by 1.4" with just the wheels! Oh, and your speedometer will be about 11% off.

B&G makes springs for the gen2 Camry still, or you can probably adapt Celica coilovers. Don't use Celica lowering springs - they are noticably lighter so the ride height and handling will be off. Get new struts while you are at it (KYB GR-2 or Tokico Blue inserts if you have rebuildable struts).

-Charlie

Hmmmm.... I'm not sure what tires I have now but the stock wheels were 14" steelies. I might go with a 16" instead of 15", it pretty much all depends on how it'll look. Anyway, I actually have new stock struts in the back that have about 1000 miles on them, is it okay to drive around with lower aftermarket springs and new stock struts? Will the struts be any less durable?

I was doin some research and came across this thread:
Celica Alltrac (ST185) coilovers installed on Alltrac Camry

This pic was posted there. I think it might be photoshoped because it looks way too crazy. It's kind of the look I'm going for but with smaller wheels and not that low.

[JMSports]

Originally Posted by viktord1

Hmmmm.... I'm not sure what tires I have now but the stock wheels were 14" steelies. I might go with a 16" instead of 15", it pretty much all depends on how it'll look. Anyway, I actually have new stock struts in the back that have about 1000 miles on them, is it okay to drive around with lower aftermarket springs and new stock struts? Will the struts be any less durable?

I was doin some research and came across this thread:
Celica Alltrac (ST185) coilovers installed on Alltrac Camry

This pic was posted there. I think it might be photoshoped because it looks way too crazy. It's kind of the look I'm going for but with smaller wheels and not that low.

Thats photoshopped.

[Wangan]

Sorry but the only way you are gonna make small wheels with stretched tire look good on a gen 2 is to slam the hell out of the car and run a minimum 8 inch wide wheel up front or a 7 with really aggressive offsets. Pulling off that look isn't cheap. I'd recommend celica coilovers and custom camberplates all around.

[Wangan]

Sorry but the only way you are gonna make small wheels with stretched tire look good on a gen 2 is to slam the hell out of the car and run a minimum 8 inch wide wheel up front or a 7 with really aggressive offsets. Pulling off that look isn't cheap. I'd recommend celica coilovers and custom camberplates all around.

[viktord1]

custom camberplates sounds rather expensive. I dont wanna take that route because I don't want to spend the money. Can anyone tell me more about the B&G springs? How much do they lower the car? I'd look them up but I'm really really busy today. I think about 2.5 inches with some spacers in the back would look decent. If the tires are close enough to the wheel arches maybe a stretch wouldn't be necessary

[Wangan]

I have b+g springs. They give a 1 inch drop initially I've had em on for 2 years now and they haven't sagged much. So basically if you run a small wheel and tire combo with these springs the car will be noticably lower but you will still have a pretty decent tire gap. You probably won't need the camber plates but you will either need to cut a coil off the lowering springs or get coilovers. Cutting one coil off of lowering springs would be your best bet to eliminate some tire gap. Also if using new springs removing a coil isn't bad. All springs have a dead coil that u can remove with no adverse effects.

[Wangan]

I have b+g springs. They give a 1 inch drop initially I've had em on for 2 years now and they haven't sagged much. So basically if you run a small wheel and tire combo with these springs the car will be noticably lower but you will still have a pretty decent tire gap. You probably won't need the camber plates but you will either need to cut a coil off the lowering springs or get coilovers. Cutting one coil off of lowering springs would be your best bet to eliminate some tire gap. Also if using new springs removing a coil isn't bad. All springs have a dead coil that u can remove with no adverse effects.

[white90dx]

Originally Posted by viktord1

I think about 2.5 inches with some spacers in the back would look decent. If the tires are close enough to the wheel arches maybe a stretch wouldn't be necessary

2.5" of lowering would give you about 1" of bump travel left before bottoming out the struts, which ruins handling. It also ruins the suspension geometry (roll center, etc.) and will cause horrible bump steer and is all around bad for handling. Lowering a McPherson strut car that far correctly takes a lot of work. The best handling will come from lowering the car 1" to 1.5" or so.

I know this from lots of research, and personal experience... The Intrax springs on my 3s-gte Camry are to weak to hold up the front of the car, so it tucks the front tire about 1 finger. It rests on the bump stops (already cut down), the tires hit the metal part (hammered out of the way already) of the inner fenders on bumps, and it doesn't handle very well. At least it looks good though!

-Charlie

[white90dx]

Or, visually:



This ride height (2.5"-3" lower) requires fairly major work to get it to be 'right'.

-Charlie

[Wangan]

What major work are you referring to charlie? Like getting other custom pieces made or something?

[Wangan]

My car sits the same as charlies except with 17 inchers on it.

[viktord1]

Originally Posted by white90dx

The best handling will come from lowering the car 1" to 1.5" or so.

I'm not very concerned about handling. I might sound like a ricer but I don't think it's worth spending $1000 on suspension on this car. Don't get me wrong, I love my car, but it wasn't a driver's car to begin with so I'm not gonna bother. I'm just trying to make it look a bit better while I still have it. I mean, if I wanted to I'd put in about $4-$5k into it for go fast goodies, but for that sort of money I'd rather buy a car that has more potential and greater aftermarket support. However if I was making enough bank I would be more than willing to spend the money on it.

Anyway, 1" drop doesn't sound like too much. I guess with 16 inchers there wouldn't be much of a gap in the wheel arches.

Charlie, could you give me some info about what size wheels, tires you are running? And are those the stock springs one there? And where can I get that front lip?