New springs & ride height

[DJR-TRD]

Hi guys,
I own a '95 Corolla DX. I used to have my car dropped with cutted springs for years, but yesterday I replaced them with OEM. Car now sits way too high (9" from floor, 6" front fender-tire gap, 5" rear fender-tire gap). I heard and read you need to let springs settle. How true is that? Ride quality is great apart from sitting so high. I feel almost driving my small suv

Any suggestions?

[Rip The E Brake]

The springs and new parts will have to settle, just drive around on them a bit and you'll see the change.

[PhatRoyale]

Depending on how often you drive the car, it may take a few weeks to a few months for the springs to settle.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

The OEM ones do cause the car to sit rather high even at the best of times, but a 6" fender gap does sound a little excessive, lol. There has been quite a lot of debate around the internet about whether or not new springs truly do "settle". I remember reading tonnes of sites when I got my Jamex springs installed and the argument seemed to be 50/50.

Mine did seem to come down slightly over a period of a few weeks (about 1000km or so) but only by around 1cm or so. Make sure that you tightened everything up while the tires were sitting on the ground.

Give it a couple of weeks and if there is still no change then do the job again, but this time swap the springs over from side to side (left to right, right to left).

[DJR-TRD]

Hey guys thanks for the replies. I don't drive the car too much right now since on vacation, so it may take a while. Here are some pics for you to have an idea:

[GTChink]

WOW That is HIGH even for stock LOL...here's mine on stock suspension, granted it might have settled over the years:

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/GT*****/94-Corolla/DSC_3104.jpg[/IMG]

oh You GOT to be kidding me.. "*****" is sensored? LOL look at my Username!!!!!!

Anyways, look at my sig.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Originally Posted by GT*****

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/GT*****/94-Corolla/DSC_3104.jpg[/IMG]

oh You GOT to be kidding me.. "*****" is sensored? LOL look at my Username!!!!!!

LOL, I noticed that every time someone quoted a post from you. This one will be censored too .

Anyway, here's some shots of what my Corolla used to look like at the factory ride height:

[DJR-TRD]

LOL yeah now I call it "the horse"


I see your pics, that's the height I was looking for! Are yours 17"? I'm riding on stock 13"

Now, these are generic springs from what I was told from a friend, even though the parts store sells them as OEM. I've seen a Civic down the block that had the same problem. They were only $66.00 new all four. Junkyard wanted $100.00 used and maybe seized.

I'll let it set for a month before I change my struts. If it ain't going down then I'll grind one coil out of each

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Originally Posted by DJR-TRD

LOL yeah now I call it "the horse"


I see your pics, that's the height I was looking for! Are yours 17"? I'm riding on stock 13"

Now, these are generic springs from what I was told from a friend, even though the parts store sells them as OEM. I've seen a Civic down the block that had the same problem. They were only $66.00 new all four. Junkyard wanted $100.00 used and maybe seized.

I'll let it set for a month before I change my struts. If it ain't going down then I'll grind one coil out of each

Yep, they're 17's. The fact that the springs you are using are not "genuine" OEM could well be the reason why it's sitting so high. Admittedly, the standard springs my Corolla used to have in the photo were 17 years old so they would have sagged slightly, but I've seen other Corollas of the same age and they looked just as high. Lol at grinding out a coil from each of them, hopefully that's legal where you live. If not then you can get them compressed to the exact height you want.

[DJR-TRD]

Ok almost 3 weeks later the height was still the same.
Yesterday it started making some bad clunking noise on my front side. I took that strut apart to find the strut mount bearings have failed making the strut top loose.
Replaced my mount and with the help of some online spring calculators, cutted 1 coil and a half out of each spring. I ended with the height I was looking for. I can say ride comfort is almost stock, with just some slight stiffness. Took my window tint out too.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Originally Posted by DJR-TRD

Ok almost 3 weeks later the height was still the same.
Yesterday it started making some bad clunking noise on my front side. I took that strut apart to find the strut mount bearings have failed making the strut top loose.
Replaced my mount and with the help of some online spring calculators, cutted 1 coil and a half out of each spring. I ended with the height I was looking for. I can say ride comfort is almost stock, with just some slight stiffness. Took my window tint out too.

That looks like a much more appropriate height. You won't need a step ladder to get into it now . Good job.

[PatrickGSR94]

um wow that was crazy high! Those springs may have been meant for a different (but similar) application and the manufacturer and/or retailer just got lazy and marketed them to fit 7th gen Corollas, too.

As for springs "settling", what most people perceive as "settling" after changing a car's ride height is actually the rubber bushings tearing from being preloaded with bolts tightened while the suspension is at full droop. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS loosen all suspension bolts that have a bushing and tighten them with the suspension loaded, at "ride height".