lowered springs on stock shocks?

[dave-86]

hey guys I was just wondering if lowered springs are any good for stock shocks? I've got heavy duty monroe gas shocks, front and rear in my car and was thinking about lowering the ride height. Will lowered springs increase the wear on my shocks? If so what would you recommend?

Thanks

[LeeRoy]

Lowered springs will cause excessive wear on the shocks and eventually premature failure. The valving is probably wrong to start with and when you lower the car you reduce the travel of the shock while still requiring it to do the same job. In the end they will wear more in one spot and more than likely develop play in the shaft. The lower you go the faster the shocks will wear out although taking 1" or less out should be fine.

It's good practice to match your shocks and springs and short stroke shocks are designed to operate over less travel.

I've used standard shocks with lowered springs and while theyre ok for a while they will eventually fail and require replacing - ive done about 3 sets myself. A set of lowered shocks can be had for under 1K for all 4 so it depends on which way you want to go. Maybe 1K is to expensive and you would prefer swapping shocks over from a wreck or you might just bite the bullet and spend the coin- your call.

Keep in mind that rooted shocks do nothing for handling, braking, and acceleration, and will also increase the wear on other components in the car such as ball joints, tie rods, tyres, bushes, and so on.