How Can I Lower My Car

[adamlstr]

Hi to all,

I have a clio RT 1400 and i want to lower it, been told that bcoz its on torsion you have to modify the bar???

Only had it a week too!

Cheers,

Adam

 

[Dan Page]

nah, just have to move it on the splines iirc. Springs for the front.

 

[Turkish]

no you dont have to modify it, lowering springs or spring damper/coilover kit on the front and either adjust the torsion bar on std shocks or preferably uprate the shocks when you do it.

 

[Matt16v]

Yeah you need springs for the front and some one with a slide hammer and come skill to set the torsion bar a few notchs.

There is a how too guide on the home page but unless your a handy man I would pay some one to do it.

Can usually get springs suplied, fitted and torsion bad done for around £150




[Edited by Matt16v on 31 December 2004 at 12:02pm]

 

[Chris1.4RT]

Put simply:

Jack up the car on both sides, pull out the torsion bars on both sides with a slide hammer, lower the car slowly on each side with the jacks, slide the bars back in. Jobs a good un.

Never mind this spline business, I just (well a mate) did mine by a bit of trial and error.

 

[Chris1.4RT]

If you just do the back without changing the front springs, itll actually heighten the front like a see-saw effect.

 

[adamlstr]

bloody hell that was fast! cheer guys!

doesnt seem as hard as i thought now, seeing as one of my springs has snapped i figured id lower it rather than replacing like for like

ive caught the bug! lol

adam

 

[Turkish]

its worth noting that torsionbar end caps/bolts are renowned for being a complete c*nt to get off so id spray as much penetrating oil as poss on them periodically in the run up to playing with it, will save you bursting a blood vessel trying to get the f*cker off.

 

[adamlstr]

as its worth noting, it has been noted

cheers loon

 

[Chris1.4RT]

If you try my method, bear in mind you have to lower the car slowly on the jacks, but lower it so that the gap between say the edge of the rim and bottom of the arch is about 12cm, then slide the bars back in.

This might sound daft, but by the time you take the car off the jacks altogether, the car will drop further onto the suspension under the cars own weight.

 

[adamlstr]

yeh makes perfect sense m8y!

aiming for 40mm or just under, ill be running 195/45R16s will they rub?

 

[Turkish]

shouldnt do, thats assuming the wheels are the right offset

 

[adamlstr]

theyre ET45, off my old corsa

 

[Rick]

You may have a few issues with 16s. I had 15s on my lowered RT and it was a close fit. Some people get no problems it all with the wheels, others have rubbing just with 15s. At worst it should only be a case of hacking up the inner arch liner to stop them rubbing.

 

[Turkish]

will be more likely to rub on the inside than the outside IIRC clios are normally around the 38 mark. nothing that a set of spacers and longer wheel bolts cant sort if they do rub.

 

[adamlstr]

cheers guys! much appreciated!

7mm spacers then? where can i source longer wheel bolts from?

cheers

adam

[Edited by adamlister on 31 December 2004 at 4:17pm]

what does IIRC mean?????

 

[Turkish]

if i remember correctly, i would see what clearance you have before running out and buying spacers you might not need them. The bolts you will normally be able to get from whoever supplies the spacers, failing that a large alloy wheel supplier should.

 

[Chris1.4RT]

I lowered mine quite a lot (about 60mm) and had 195/45/15 rubber on and it rubbed a bit. So get this you crazy cats - I just carefully pulled the arch out by hand! Couldnt tell I had done so, it was just enough to allow another couple of mm to stop rubbing.

 

[Mondial172]

or get a very fat girlfriend

 

[stu8v]

Just lowered my 172,

With 350Kg of floor tiles

Certainly doesnt handle

 

[TomS]

So all id need is the torsion bar adjusted and front springs?

im going for 35mill on my 1.2 mk 1