Now that springs are available to lower the 2007 G35 Sedan, I have a question.

I've read many posts on this forum and others that say that if you lower your car with springs that it will kill your factory shocks pretty quickly.

If this is true, then what do you do when your shocks die? If you replace them with factory shocks, wouldn't the lower springs just kill them again?

What's the fix for this? Do people usually switch to different "shorter" shocks?

 

Keep it stock.

 

depends on how much u lower it. If u slam it 2 inches yeah u gonna pop your shocks but if its 1.1, 1.2, its not going to affect it that much. Now it also depends on what kind of roads u have around your area. Everything "depends".

 

It's a rule of thumb to fix the shocks before changing springs. The problem is there's no immediate "gratification" for doing it in the correct order (unless you do it all at once), hence alot of people do the springs first. If it's a mild lowering you'll probably be fine for awhile but don't be surprised in any case if the stock shocks give out.

By the way, there's no excuse for the wheel gaps on these cars (although the G really isn't THAT bad...look at a new Eclipse and you'll see what I mean). It doesn't take an engineering miracle to close the space while allowing adequate suspension travel.

 

It is a good idea to change your shocks to something like the adjustable Tokico D-Specs. They will work better with your new springs, whether you lower the car 1" or 2". However, if you use the H&R springs or the Eibach prokit to lower the car 1.1", your OEM shocks will work just fine.

The springs rates on both are actually a bit softer than the OEM specs, so the shocks are not taking the beating most people think they would.

I lowered my car with the Eibach prokit almost two years ago, riding on 20's and 22K miles later, the car is still perfectly fine. In short, if you don't have the budget to do both (springs & shocks), do the springs now and the shocks later.

 

dbl post

 

The reason why you ruin stock shock when running aftermarket springs on them is because the valving on the OEM shocks cannot handle the forces exerted by the new spring.

With that said, this only happens when you use an overly aggressive spring on the oem shock. Something abit firmer than stock would be ok for the time being, but it will put some premature wear on the shock. Using a hard spring with lead to much bounciness very soon as this will wreck the valving.

KYB always stressed to use matched shock and spring combo's to get the best performance.

Shorter shocks are only needed when you go beyond 2" (something I don't believe in personally) regular length aftermarket shocks will work fine up to 2"

Coil-overs seem to be a waste IMO, mostly good for bragging rights and a noisy suspension. Why a practical road going vehicle ever need all that adjustability is beyond me.

Any good spring/shock setup will work fine.

 

I wouldn't say that coilovers are a waste because properly designed ones provide all of the benefits you are talking about:

1. Shock valving properly matched to spring rate
2. Shortened shocks to allow a good amt of lowering while preserving the proper amt of suspension travel.

As for coilovers being noisy, I have never had this issue w/ the coilovers I had on my last car.

Finally, I love the adjustability of coilovers. Damping adjustments and ride height adjustments is not a detriment, but a huge benefit.

 

Well better shocks are always a good idea, but as mentioned if you go with a subtle drop via some H&R sports or something, odds are your stock shocks will be fine.

 

It's not really the lowering part that blows the shocks. It's the stiffer spring rates that usually accompany the lowering springs that does.

The fix is simply get shocks that can handle stiffer spring rates.
Stock shocks should be able to handle slight drops (slightly stiffer springs), especially sport models which come with different valved shocks.

 

I a potential argument when I see it, so I'll simply re-state my thoughts on the issue

For me, it's never been a practical idea to lower beyond 2" given the sudden weather changes and potential loss of practicality and comfort.

You can get all the benefits that you listed without going to a coil-over system. Looking at the systems from a pricing standpoint, I don't think the benefits outweigh the costs. You can get an adjustable high performance shock and spring combo that performs almost as good as a full on coil-over shock kit. Practicality? again, *I* don't drive a race car, so I don't need to fuss with all the adjustability. If you're young and have time, hell, go crazy. I enjoy the simplicity, but that's just me.

As for the noise, well, I don't know what the condition of the roads are in your area, but they're pretty poor where I live, the bouncing the the car up and down clanks the springs as they become loaded and unloaded.

Didn't mean to get your danger up and it was nothing personal, just sharing my thoughts on the issue. I'm old and lazy, so I don't have the time to tinker anymore (read: jealous of those who do)

 

Not always the case. By lowering the car with lowering springs and stock shocks, your effectively compressing the shock prematurely and the stock shock sees it as added load, (similar to having a few fat people ride with you. ) at the same time, it has reduced travel for compression, while it has more room for rebound, and the valving wasn't designed to function at that lower ride height, and it's operational range is moved, which also contribute to premature failure. So when you go romping around corners, the shocks are getting the crap squeezed out of them and depending on road conditions, are really taking a beating. No shocks live forever, Depending on driving habits the only last a few years (at least for me) even though people still drive with busted, old shocks.
as for the coilovers,
You can preload the springs or get tender springs to solve the noise issues. I've had coilovers in the past and they're much better these days. I LOVE the adjustability of coilovers, the main reason i'm getting them. I'm really picky about handling and the sport package is nice, i'd like to be able to adjust the dampening as well as ride height, I've never really liked the way most cars ride with stock shocks/lowering springs, too sloppy & mushy IMO. (may be fine for you older folk )