Car springs I need help...?

[Qusai]

I came across a good deal on a set of springs(h&r). I was not sure if there was topic for this discussion so i chose off topic lol. I have been on forums specifically made for my make model vehicle but these forums were nothing like ag man. I really am in need of some knowledge and thought maybe i can get an answer here since many of you know a little more about cars than detailing.....So my question is, is it recommended to use these springs with factory shocks? These springs should be lowering my vehicle about an inch and a half. Thank you.

[bmwohio]

What kind of car? Is it strictly a daily driver or do you plan to track or autocross the car?

Are they H&R OE Sport, Sport, or Race?

[flamed03vert]

With that much drop they would definitely limit the shock travel with the factory length shaft, possibly blowing them out if the springs are allowing the suspension to bottom out. It's always a good idea to match a performance drop spring with a performance shock/ strut. For the obvious reason of getting the most from your upgrade and being able to control the suspension motion with parts that are designed to work together. i know that is pretty vague, but it's the common sense regardless of the limited info you have given.

[Qusai]

Daily driver and they are the black sport springs. I have a Nissan Altima 10 2door. What flamed was saying, this is what im trying to prevent. I understand what you mean and I didnt give enough information. So would I just need two new struts/shocks for the front only?

[Audios S6]

At a minimum you would want to go with shocks that have a much higher dampening rate than non-sport OEM, else you will blow them out eventually, and before that you will probably find the car bouncing a lot while the soft shocks try to cope with the stiff springs. You would want them at all 4 corners.

Where do you live? If it's a snowy, adjustable coilovers are the way to go (easy for me to spend your money), raise it up in the fall and lower it down in the spring. Not sure if the altima has adjustable camber, if not, you have a few options: burning through tires much faster or buy camber plates or buy adjustable control arms (I'm not familiar with any camber plates or adjustable control arms that are reasonably priced and high enough quality to trust with my life).

The springs may be cheap, but the added cost of shocks, installation and alignment will get you over $1000 pretty quick.

[bmwohio]

Why do you want to put the sport springs on the car? For performance or aesthetics?

The problem with H&R (or any other type of 'lowering' spring) is that it lowers the car with the factory dampers, thus taking away compression travel from the damper. You do have bump stops on the damper to help prevent 'blowing' the shock, but losing this 1" or 1.5" of compression travel will make for a pretty rough ride and you will possibly be hitting the bump stops quite often on deep compressions in the road or bad bumps/potholes. This is what will accelerate the life of the damper along with the stiffer ride. If you live anywhere near a city with bad roads/potholes/etc. I would definitely advise against the H&R springs.

If you want proper ride height adjustability, then a coilover suspension would be your best bet. That way you are not limited to the set ride height from the springs.

Do you know if Nissan makes a performance spring? That maybe lowers the car 15-20mm? Just a slight drop sometimes gives it more appealing look.

For a daily driver, I would pass on the springs. It will ride alot rougher, your dampers will not be able to work properly with the lost compression travel, and you will accelerate the life of the dampers.

Hope that all makes sense, let me know if you have any more questions

[RedXray]

I have a Nissan Altima 10 2door.

beat on the bump stops for a considerable amount of time... you'll have 2 wavy doors.

[Qusai]

beat on the bump stops for a considerable amount of time... you'll have 2 wavy doors.

LOL what does that mean? Im pretty slow

[Qusai]

Why do you want to put the sport springs on the car? For performance or aesthetics?

The problem with H&R (or any other type of 'lowering' spring) is that it lowers the car with the factory dampers, thus taking away compression travel from the damper. You do have bump stops on the damper to help prevent 'blowing' the shock, but losing this 1" or 1.5" of compression travel will make for a pretty rough ride and you will possibly be hitting the bump stops quite often on deep compressions in the road or bad bumps/potholes. This is what will accelerate the life of the damper along with the stiffer ride. If you live anywhere near a city with bad roads/potholes/etc. I would definitely advise against the H&R springs.

If you want proper ride height adjustability, then a coilover suspension would be your best bet. That way you are not limited to the set ride height from the springs.

Do you know if Nissan makes a performance spring? That maybe lowers the car 15-20mm? Just a slight drop sometimes gives it more appealing look.

For a daily driver, I would pass on the springs. It will ride alot rougher, your dampers will not be able to work properly with the lost compression travel, and you will accelerate the life of the dampers.

Hope that all makes sense, let me know if you have any more questions

Really im just going for the look, so would getting new shocks or performance shocks be able to withstand that much loss of compression travel for dampers? You are talking about what would happen if I were to do this with factory shocks? Correct me if im wrong

[flamed03vert]

Now, you have some home work to do to see if the springs will work for you. A comparison needs to be done. You need the factory spring rates, and if they are progressive coils or linear coils, and then the same info for the H&R springs. A higher spring rate will stiffen the ride and handling up. Progressive coils means that they get "tighter" as they compress. The spring rate will increase as they compress where as a linear coils will maintain the same spring rate through the whole compression cycle. If the "sport" springs are a higher spring rate they may keep you from bottoming out on the bump stops with the factory dampers. But you are still faced with the decreased travel, and the limited ability to dampen the oscillation of the tighter spring. Springs store energy when they compress. So when you compress it it forces its way back to original position. A performance damper has been redesigned to work with the shorter stroke of the decreased ride height. With a little research you can find dampers to match and not sacrifice too much in ride quality for increased performance. Coil overs would be nice but they can be quite expensive.
I run a drop coil on my car, but in my case for my application I did so research and matched my springs with Tokico D-Specs which are a fully adjustable damper to tune the ride and handling to my preference and the roads here in Va.
You obiviously care what the final result is going to be or you would have just cut the coils like I have seen alot of other knuckleheads do