- [Camera Man one] Sit back down.
- Oh my god.
- [Camera Man two] Who told you to stand up, boy?
- I just need to start the teleprompter.
(laughing)
All right, we're good?
All right.
One of the most integral parts of your car,
at least one of the main parts that keep you on the road,
is your suspension. (soft background trap music)
Now, naturally, as car enthusiasts
we can't leave anything alone, or stock, for that matter.
And suspension is a huge point
of modification, when it comes to modifying our cars.
Whether it be for performance, looks,
or any other reason, there are plenty
of aftermarket modifications out there.
However, just like any other aftermarket aspect
of our cars, there are just some things
that you should just probably stay away from.
I'm Gels, from Fitment Industries, wheels, tires,
and suspension, fitmentindustries.com.
And on today's episode of The Build Sheet,
we're gonna be going over a few suspension modifications
that you just, just don't do it.
(fast tempo electronic music)
Before we go ahead and get into it,
don't forget to subscribe
and if you haven't already picked up this shirt right here,
the one that says, BBS on it,
and its got the cool BMW on the back.
I don't know what you're waiting for,
because if you pick up the shirt,
you automatically get entered in, to win a free set
of BBS wheels, and now, that's no joke.
You can find the link below, head on over
to fitmentindustries.com
Anyway, up first is something
that I never thought would have existed.
Yet, here we are talking about it.
(mellow trap music) If you go to Google
and type in, how to lower your car,
one of the first products that shows up in the shopping tab
is something a little peculiar.
Now, you would probably expect something along the lines
of like, coilovers, or lowering springs,
or maybe those
coilover sleeve adjustability conversion kit things, but no.
You get these adjustable coil spring lowering clamps.
These monstrosities
are basically small U-Bolts with a clamp.
They get clamped to the coil spring and are tightened
to compress the coil spring of your car,
in turn, lowering your car.
And you're probably thinking,
that sounds a little bit sketchy.
And that's, because it is.
When you take coil springs, especially a stock coil spring
and compress it to make it shorter, you're messing
with quite a bit of stuff.
Now, the main thing is your spring rate.
With stock suspension,
the standard coil springs,
for the most part,
have a pretty soft spring rate, which allows
for a decent amount of travel of the suspension
when going over bumps and what not.
When you take that same spring rate and compress it
to make it shorter, you still keep that same spring rate,
but with a lower ride height, which can cause some issues
with potentially running your tire and your wheel
into things like fenders, other suspension components,
and things like that.
The other side, is that I would imagine these things
are not made up of the greatest quality.
I mean, they're usually around 10 to 20 bucks
for a set of these things.
And something that looks like it would just,
kind of rust after a few weeks,
with some rain, or maybe through a winter,
or something like that.
And then they're busting off
and you're wondering why your car is jumping off the ground,
when you're going down the road.
Just makes me question the strength
and reliability of these things.
Now, to go along with that,
because sometimes, you know, 20 dollars is just too much
to spend to lower your car,
so the alternative is to opt-out
for the cheaper alternative,
which is cutting your springs.
Now, please,
please don't cut your springs.
Very similar to what we just talked about,
lowering your car with the same amount
of spring rate isn't always the greatest idea.
You're still going to have a lot of travel.
If you've ever ridden in a car
with chopped springs, you know that they aren't comfortable
by any means.
They're not meant to be cut.
Stop cutting your springs,
or heating your springs,
because apparently that's a thing too.
Max had a Lexus with heated springs.
I didn't even know that was a thing.
Your best solutions to the last two modifications,
is to take the time, save up for some lowering springs
that are actually designed for that purpose.
You know, to like, make your car lower.
And they have the acceptable spring rate
for having a lower riding height.
Lowering springs start out right around $270 to $300
for a decent set of like, Eibachs, or Teins.
Which, when all said and done, is probably going
to be a lot cheaper than the hospital bed
that you're gonna end up in when you drive
with chopped springs.
Moving on, buying aftermarket parts
can get pricey fairly quick,
that's without saying.
And when buying parts, at used parts
is always a great place to start.
Classifieds pages on different car forums,
or Facebook groups can be somewhat
of a goldmine for people just wanting
to get rid of old parts
that they don't have a use for anymore.
And within that, we do see suspension parts like coilovers
pop up here and there.
Now, I'm not going to tell you, not to buy used coilovers
that wouldn't be fair, since, you know,
fitmentindustries.com.
Wheels, tires, and suspension,
might come off a little biased.
However, when you look at picking up a set
of second hand coilovers
or any suspension components, for that matter,
just be a little careful.
Be wary of things like rust and corrosion.
Take a good look at the pictures,
if you can, go look at them firsthand.
Coilovers have this really cool function
of being able to be adjusted,
as far as ride height goes.
However, if the lock rings haven't been touched in years
and have seen a winter or two,
have fun busting your knuckles
when it comes to adjusting them.
Just be cautious,
or, you know, we only have a ton
of coilover lowering springs
and air suspension options at fitmentindustries.com.
Moving on to the last topic of today,
the search for what to look out for,
stay away from, when it comes to modifying your suspension.
Something we have touched on in previous videos about cars
coming off the lot today
with some pretty decent suspension already.
Take a look at cars like the newer Cameros,
or BMWs, AMGs, and things like that,
that have adjustable damping and all
of that straight from the factory.
The truth is, there's some really good suspension coming out
of the factories on a lot of vehicles today.
And, because of that, it has happened
more often than not, that someone goes right ahead
and just rips all of that engineering
and technology right the hell out of the car.
And then they throw some other coilovers or something in
and they're like, man, this thing rides like garbage.
And what happens is that it was actually
a downgrade from the stock suspension
that was in the car.
All in the case of lowering the car.
Now, is that really a terrible thing?
Well, I guess it's really in the eyes of the owner.
If form is something more important to you, than getting
that look that your want, then by all means,
go ahead and do it.
However, the general consensus,
adding aftermarket parts to a car.
It should make the car better.
And adding aftermarket suspension
to a car will make it handle better
and feel better.
However, that's not always the case anymore.
they've actually seen a big switch from coilovers
to lowering springs in recent years,
because of the fact that you can change the spring rate
of the car,
while getting a lower ride height with lowering springs,
but maintain the use of that stock functions like
the mag ride, or adjustable damping,
or anything of that sort.
So, don't accidentally downgrade your suspension
for the sake of running something aftermarket.
Do some research, watch some more of our videos,
and then when you're all learnt up
on your suspension knowledge.
You already know.
That's gonna wrap it up for today.
Thank you, guys, so much for watching,
of course we have a huge variety
of suspension options over at fitmentindustries.com
for you to check out
and if you're interested
in joining the Fitment Industries street team,
you think you have what it takes.
We'll also drop a link down below for you to fill out
an app and see if you can make the cut.
It's a fun program and we're looking to grow it even more,
so go and check out that link down below.
Also, BBS shirt too, free BBS wheels.
Dope shirt, chance to win some wheels.
That's it.
I'm gonna go see if Steve's alive,
'cause I think I just heard something fall.
I'm Gels, we'll see you later, peace.
(slow electronic music)