How not to lower your car

[MotF Bane]

http://jalopnik.com/5886063/how-not-to-lower-your-car

Oh. Wow. D:

 

[AdamK47]

That's hellaflush.

 

[Viperoni]

Terrible.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Can't wait until that breaks and sends his strut tower through his fake carbon fiber hood.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

He should probably stay away from being an engineer, mechanic, or doing anything with his hands.

 

[manimal]

All he needed was some washers in there

And a brace too

 

[Squisher]

Funny


Are there aftermarket lowerers that do this albeit sans nut-stack?

 

[waggy]

lol

 

[bbs lm-r]

He obviously needed to lower it ASAP to increase the handling and stability for when his v-tak kicks in y0.

 

[exdeath]

Oh to be a fly on the wall of the shop he has to take it to with the complaint of clunking and popping in the suspension...

 

[thedarkwolf]

Funny


Are there aftermarket lowerers that do this albeit sans nut-stack?

Not like that there aren't or at least I hope not.
http://users.marshall.edu/~kessler8/miata2/100_0512.JPG
Top hats are suppose to come in from underneath to distribute the force of the spring on all that thick metal.
http://users.marshall.edu/~kessler8/miata2/100_0509.JPG
A side by side pic of the stock extremely thick top hats on my miata next to my after market ones. They would lower the car a bit by themselves, maybe half an inch.

 

[exdeath]

After market lowering involves constant rate springs with adjustable lower perches to achieve the majority of lowering.

The correct way to provide additional minor lowering (and increases camber adjustment range in dedicated race cars mostly) through camber-caster plates is with a variety of single piece spacers of varying heights on the strut shaft; below the bearing sitting snug on the shoulder of the strut, and above the bearing under the strut nut.

The spacers are very strong material and the correct diameter to snug securely on the strut shaft with no play or eccentric runout. When bolted down properly, the spacers act as "one piece" with the inner bearing ring in between the strut shoulder and top nut. There is no play at all, only the bearing itself. Here there is only a clamping compression/tension force physically fixating the strut to the bearing as a solid piece, there is no opportunity for lateral or sheer type forces as those are solely between the strut shaft and bearing (much like how lug nuts and wheel studs only hold the wheel to the hub via tension, they don't bear the vehicle weight or cornering forces if torqued properly)

You do not want spacers in the mount plate, only a single washer between the tower and the bottom plate to allow it the plate to tighten down against the strut tower while allowing for minor tolerances in the sheet metal.

 

[punjabiplaya]

That's hellaflush.

herrafrush**

 

[exar333]

Wow...

 

[amdhunter]

I find that pretty damn clever myself...
lol

 

[JackBurton]

That is hilarious! Looks completely stable.

 

[ballmode]

reminds me of that RX-7 about to autocross and all 4 wheels came off

 

[manimal]

herrafrush**

I had many lolz

thx!

 

[Harrod]

I like the last comment in the thread from thier site:

This little top hat stunt this dude is trying to pull really restores my faith in natural selection..it may not be instant, but when it happens boy is it gonna be shit storm of biblical proportions. - WideFive

 

[Throckmorton]

I don't understand the picture. Shouldn't the top of the strut be pressed up on the unibody? How do you get it to go further up through the hole than it's supposed to?

 

[Squisher]

You do not want spacers in the mount plate, only a single washer between the tower and the bottom plate to allow it the plate to tighten down against the strut tower while allowing for minor tolerances in the sheet metal.

I was just wondering if he was trying to replicate something he saw or whether this was some epiphany of his. I'd say trying to think was his first mistake.

 

[AMCRambler]

I don't understand the picture. Shouldn't the top of the strut be pressed up on the unibody? How do you get it to go further up through the hole than it's supposed to?

Yeah I don't see how this drops the ride height at all unless he took the upper spring seat off and the spring is against the inside of the strut tower? It would be hell trying to turn the wheels with no strut mount and bearing though. Wtf?

 

[Harrod]

I remember some people doing something like this on Team Integra, here is a link about what it does, I don't really see why someone would do it.

http://www.team-integra.net/forum/18-suspension-brakes/192739-extended-top-hats-dummies.html

 

[hanoverphist]

I remember some people doing something like this on Team Integra, here is a link about what it does, I don't really see why someone would do it.

http://www.team-integra.net/forum/18-suspension-brakes/192739-extended-top-hats-dummies.html

after reading that, i can understand why people would use them. correctly. hes saying that when you DO lower a vehicle, the shock travel is shorter, which can make the shock body hit the top hat. the extended top hat will allow the shock to travel more and not beat the hell out of the body.

that pic is hilarious tho.

 

[JCH13]

Mad lulz.

I don't see the point in playing stupid games with the top-hat positioning when there are perfectly good bump-stop options that aren't scary as shit.