Myth of blown shocks?

[Mikeez]

We are nearing the end of 2015, I know threads about this has been opened before. I like to have mine

Hello lol,

I know that a lot of people have installed lowering springs on their car. I am installing mine soon. I have the Tein-S and I know it was primarily designed for the style. It drops the car 1.3" and I was afraid that after 4000 miles+ my shocks blow.

I mean, those springs should be designed to work with the stock struts... so why people are getting blown shocks? Bad installation? Springs being too low making the compression harder on the strut?

I also have a thread running about scrapping the front bumper and other component (check it out).

[Mr.ac]

100% it's bad installation.
These springs are designed for your vehicle. And will not cause any blown struts if properly installed.

However lowering a car will make you scrape a bit more. It's the trade off with lowering springs.

If the idea of scraping is freaking you out do not lower your car. Sell them and just roll on OEM. The other option is getting TRD or STI lowering springs. They are factory made covered under warranty, and give you a nice drop.

However you'll still scrape. You can not avoid that. Just go slowly when entering and exiting driveways/speed bumps.

But really the scraping is not bad nor will it destroyed your car. They only way you can do it is driving 50 mph over driveways/speed bumps/ side walks/ etc.

[swarb]

They blow because people run springs which are soft(designed for the stock shocks), but the car is lowered to the point where it bottoms out often. The solution is better shocks, stiffer springs, and/or less lowering.

Look at RCE products, they are designed more for performance and less for looks. Their springs have a mild drop and higher spring rates than most brands.

If you drive slow on big compressions(like speedbumps) and never bottom out, I don't see why the stock shocks wouldn't last a long time on soft springs.

[Mikeez]

Originally Posted by Mr.ac

100% it's bad installation.
These springs are designed for your vehicle. And will not cause any blown struts if properly installed.

However lowering a car will make you scrape a bit more. It's the trade off with lowering springs.

If the idea of scraping is freaking you out do not lower your car. Sell them and just roll on OEM. The other option is getting TRD or STI lowering springs. They are factory made covered under warranty, and give you a nice drop.

However you'll still scrape. You can not avoid that. Just go slowly when entering and exiting driveways/speed bumps.

But really the scraping is not bad nor will it destroyed your car. They only way you can do it is driving 50 mph over driveways/speed bumps/ side walks/ etc.

Originally Posted by swarb

They blow because people run springs which are soft(designed for the stock shocks), but the car is lowered to the point where it bottoms out often. The solution is better shocks, stiffer springs, and/or less lowering.

Look at RCE products, they are designed more for performance and less for looks. Their springs have a mild drop and higher spring rates than most brands.

If you drive slow on big compressions(like speedbumps) and never bottom out, I don't see why the stock shocks wouldn't last a long time on soft springs.

Both of you are very nice to reply fast and nicely haha! Thanks. I read carefully. It does make sense what you've said and that's what I assumed. I'll try it out and keep tabs. I'll get my springs installed by a professional!

I'm ready to drive slow and low!

[jawn]

These cars are pretty bump stop active, so throwing on springs without accounting for that means you're going to be on the bump stops, a lot. Does this reduce suspension life? Maybe. But we're dealing in mods on street cars, so we don't really have clean data - we have anecdotes that don't factor every little thing that leads to suspension wear. Bad installs will blow shocks, yes. Bad roads and hard driving will also blow shocks, eventually. Will you blow shocks with your springs? Maybe. Maybe they would've blown on your OEM springs because your roads are terrible. There's not a clean way to predict how long your dampers are going to last, with or without the lowering springs. I'm sure RCE or CSG can chime in, in their suspension thread, if you'd like to learn about damper design.

If I were to do lowering springs on factory suspension, I'd probably do either the TRD/Eibach Pro-Kit or the RCE Yellows. Both come with replacement bump stops, so at the very least you get some of that bump travel back.

And yeah, scraping sucks, but it happens. More often than not you're just going to scrape the under tray or the underside of your bumper. Both are plastic. I've scraped every car I've ever owned, and most of them were at factory ride height.

[Mr.ac]

Uh.... The whole point of lowering springs are to go fast.
Just go slow when coming to/exiting a driveway/speedbumb/pot hole.

Some how I'm thinking your expecting way too much lowering springs are going to lower your car.
It's not going to be 1" off the ground. It's going to be 1" lower from your current ride hight. Your worrying way too much on simple springs.

[jawn]

Originally Posted by Mr.ac

Uh.... The whole point of lowering springs are to go fast.
Just go slow when coming to/exiting a driveway/speedbumb/pot hole.

LOL.

Well, if your goal is low and slow, then any springs will be fine.

[bfrank1972]

Dampers are a wear item, they wear out with usage. Take two cars with completely stock suspension:

Car A - commutes every day on perfectly smooth highways
Car B - commutes on pothole ridden back roads every day

Same distance, stock everything, car B will wear out their dampers much much sooner than car A - because the dampers have to work much harder with car B on rough roads.

Stock dampers are engineered to work with the stock spring rates. Whenever you lower your car, you have to go with stiffer springs (higher spring rates). When you go with higher spring rates, your suspension is more 'under-damped'. In other words it has a harder time keeping your wheel in control with these stiffer springs - the dampers have to work harder, and they will wear faster.

Thing is though - I'd bet money that car A's dampers with 1.4" extreme lowering springs on smooth roads will outlast car B's dampers with stock springs spending life on really bumpy roads. Also the difference in damper life between car A with stock springs and car A with lowering springs will probably be negligible - BUT damper life between car B with stock springs vs. car B with lowering springs will be significant.

Nothing is getting 'blown' except when someone botches the install - mainly this is when they spin the damper shaft while swapping the springs on the assembly, that damages the damper. If you DIY with springs, that is probably the single most important thing to remember (other than using a proper spring compressor so you don't kill yourself).

Make sense?

[CSG Mike]

I've seen fast drivers jump into a new BRZ, and the rear dampers go out within 5 track days.

The factory shocks just don't last very long on these cars

Fortunately, because so many people mod, OEM dampers are never in short supply.

[stugray]

It's pretty simple:
If you lower your car, you have less travel before the shock bottoms out.
If you bottom out the shock with enough force, you bend the shaft.
If you bend the shaft, the seals will begin to leak and you have a "blown shock".

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by Mikeez

I mean, those springs should be designed to work with the stock struts... so why people are getting blown shocks? Bad installation? Springs being too low making the compression harder on the strut?
(check it out).

Only from a fitment perspective.

As mentioned already, just because it fits does not mean it is designed that way. Lowering springs may be designed to fit in OE strut housings, however the OE strut is not designed with lowering springs in mind.

-alex

[bfrank1972]

Originally Posted by stugray

It's pretty simple:
If you lower your car, you have less travel before the shock bottoms out.
If you bottom out the shock with enough force, you bend the shaft.
If you bend the shaft, the seals will begin to leak and you have a "blown shock".

Possible as well with a big enough impact - curious, has anyone heard of problems with the upper mounts bending with big impacts? I know Minis used to have this problem - the metal was thin and it would 'mushroom'.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by bfrank1972

Possible as well with a big enough impact - curious, has anyone heard of problems with the upper mounts bending with big impacts? I know Minis used to have this problem - the metal was thin and it would 'mushroom'.

It really applies to any car, but I haven't seen it happen under "normal" usage with this car.

[Mikeez]

It is hard to reply to all the post, so I will reply all at once lol...

Some of you are funny and made me smile! Thanks for all the input and I considered every opinion/suggestions and facts.