Any of you lowered guys ever bottom out pretty good?

[detroiter]

Just wondering if anyone has some funny or not so funny bottoming out/scraping stories?

I either find myself scraping the lower part of my front bumper on drops in the pavement or on part of the frame under the car behind the front wheels where it's circular and their's a big bolt that goes through it on each side of the car. Makes me cringe when it happens

[hatchbackkid82]

I never have i have the tigertec springs, i have scraped the middle tie bar though

[fnkngrv]

I haven't had any bottoming out as of yet with my AMR's. The driveway to the house I am renting is like a potato field with unplowed rows so the suspension flexes pretty good. I do have a bottoming out story with the 1983 Tercel 4x4 wagon if you are interested....that was a real hoot!

This is actually in better shape than the one I owned at the time:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v123/gearhead313/Biking/SNC00035.jpg

[toad]

i can't think of a single 'funny' scraping story as it makes me cringe everytime it happens. however, i can tell you i get lots of angry looks/honks from impatient people behind me when i have to slow down to almost a complete stop at practically every speedbump around here. i'm on df210s which aren't as low as coilovers, but are lower than practically any other spring kit out there. i've had to be creative entering/exiting some driveways with steep slopes and once last winter i was basically plowing snow with my front bumper(we had over 10" of snow in one day), but i still say it's worth it for just the major improvement in looks and slight benefit in handling.

oh...and it sounds gross, but roadkill is another thing to watch-out for! i've nailed some pretty big animals(already dead) that the cars in front of me have just cruised over and i couldn't see them until it was too late. can you say quick trip to the power-washer? yuck!

[Astroman]

I've managed to break the bolt head off on my megan mid brace. I was going to sell it once, but it's soo horribly beat up now it would probably be worth more as scrap. On a plus side it's stopped most of the bottom of the car from getting damage. I'm using sprint performance springs, dropped the car 2". Portland was a nightmare to drive it, way to many speedbumps everywhere.

[chrisj]

Jesus Christ, just these few stories are scaring me to death when I think of lowering.

[OTA'sTOY]

only the rear deflectors on parking lot speed humps

[toad]

Jesus Christ, just these few stories are scaring me to death when I think of lowering.

well, like i said it just comes down to how much you want that improvement in looks/handling vs. practicality. there are a couple options out there that provide a 'mild' drop(trd, tanabe nf) if you want the better appearance and slightly better handling, but not have to panic whenever you see a major speedbump. i've kept my wife's yaris suspension stock so she doesn't have to think about that kind of stuff, but mine is my toy and i still think lowering is the single best thing you can do appearance-wise to this car. being as small as it is, it just looks funny sitting so high up in the air imho!

[coheed]

Back when I was in high school, Id hit my frame on every speed bump every day. Tired every way I could think of for it not to hit but nothing worked. Checked it every day when I got into shop class, never caused any damage. Pulled a lil paint off but never dented the frame.
I did hit a pothole I didnt see comin in South Carolina pretty dang hard. Slammed the subframe. Took about 1/4 inch off the front of the subframe lol. Didnt screw it up too bad, no warping or anyting. Kinda like I hit it with a huge grinder at 45 haha.



Whats really bad is I only have DF's on my car and want coils. :evil:

[Astroman]

Despite not being able to get in or out of certain parts of parking lots and all, I'd still would never return my yaris to stock height. As soon as I have the $ and a good deal pops up the girlfriends stock 09 is getting lowered by at least an inch.

[edzzzzzzzzzz]

I lowered mine with sport springs retaining my stock shocks, scrapes badly all over town (jakarta) with 4 people riding in the car.. for all i can say Yaris is quite tough vehicles as no serious damage at all after all these time bottoming out and scrapping my bottom :)

for all its worth I dont think I will ever restore it to stock ride height, driving low is much more fun (arguably) :)

[detroiter]

Agreed with everyones comments on being way too fun to return to stock.

I'm curious if anyone has a tire that wear out faster than the others? For me
it seems like my passenger side rear tire's edges inside and out, are noticeably
more worn down than any of the other tires. That's including rotations

[TEHxFALLEN V1.2]

nope.

[.Kevin.]

LOVE stock height myself.

[alch3miss]

Can't say I have- I always try take bumps and awkward driveways slow and sideways

[YAR1S]

just found out my subframe, control arm and sway bar on my drivers side are all bent slightly backwards in comparison to passengers side.

low life problems.

car is higher now and I will not be repairing it as I was quoted just $2000 in labor.

[ilikerice]

Wow, 6 year old thread..

Might as well start it up again.

My most recent story is about 2 months ago leaving starbucks early morning on my way to autocross event. I was making my way around the parking lot trying to leave. There was a speed bump right before I needed to make a right hand turn, so I was taking it slow with my coffee in my hand. Car shook a bit more than usual and got a little bit on my pants, was still going but I took my turn a bit too sharp and front tires jumped the curb and my right pinch weld was well placed on the curb where both front and back right tires were off the ground. No traction to drive off. Had to have someone pull my off with my "i" bolt tow hook.. No damage thankfully. If I had a body kit, that would have been destroyed though.

[ern-diz]

just found out my subframe, control arm and sway bar on my drivers side are all bent slightly backwards in comparison to passengers side.

low life problems.

car is higher now and I will not be repairing it as I was quoted just $2000 in labor.

How did you find this out? Did a specific problem resulting from it get you to have it inspected, or was it just found during regular maintenance?

[47_MasoN_47]

I got high centered on the entrance to a shopping center. It's a hilly area and the entrance has a big dip between the road and the parking lot, then it drops sharply. I was creeping over the drain (scrubbing the tailpipe and the front at the same time) and got up to the top of the little rise before the drop into the parking lot. The front wheels were still touching the ground but they didn't have enough grip to drag the car over. Had to get a random guy to sit in the cab to operate the throttle/brake while I alternated bouncing on the hood and pushing from the rear. Needless to say I take my truck any time I go there nowadays.

[fnkngrv]

I had to buy my coilovers so that I can trailer the sedan. When my fuel pump crapped out a couple weeks ago it was like an act of Congress to get it on the flatbed tow truck. It actually took five of us to do it. One to stand on the tow strap wrapped around the axle (because the front bumper doesn't have the tow hook hole) and four to lift up on the fender wells. The problem with the just cutting for the tow hook hole is that the fibreglass may splinter so would take filling and most likely the whole bumper would have to be resprayed. Going to have to do it though. Also if I need to have the car put on a lift the side skirts have to be taken off because the arms are too high to fit under the skirts.

Sent from m-o-b-i-l-e

[Kalispel]

I guess this thread is a good reason why I don't want to drop my car more than 1" max. That is really all that I need to put the "wheel gap" where I want it. Cars dropped too low start looking broken to me for some reason - though certain makes/models are worse in this regard than others. :laugh: Around 1" seems to be the "sweet spot" for appearance - at least to me. Then there is the issue with "spring sag", so I might start with the 1" drop that I want, and end up with a 2" total sag drop later down the road. :cry: I might try the TRD springs and see how things go. Not like I can't keep the stock springs to put back on later if things go sideways with regards to spring sag.

[fnkngrv]

For me it isn't the suspension drop so much as the TRD Australia body Kit's bottom sits 1.5" lower than the OEM lip kits do. I got a reality check once it was installed.

Sent from m-o-b-i-l-e

[IllusionX]

I'm lowered on MI springs, and I did bottom out a few times. Once it hit the transmission, as the road work patch at a light was not properly done and had this dip...... I was trying to catch a yellow.

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[rabbito]

i switched mine to performance shock and strut which droped 1.5 all around..my tire droped an inch..so thats 2.5 all the way around...hitting curves and hills...fml

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