Slammin' the Slammers

A few weeks ago a young man in his late teens comes into my shop and asked if we could install some parts he had bought through the internet on his late model Honda Civic. Since he was the son of a good customer I said OK and asked what he had. There stuffed in the trunk and backseat were boxes with new suspension lowering parts, an air induction system and big wheels with short tires. This kid had been bitten by the bug and wanted to make his common ride look different, just like his buddies cars.

We've all seen them driving the streets of our neighborhoods. Those machines that used to resemble normal cars and trucks, but now sit unbelievably close tot the ground and are usually accompanied by an annoying, window shaking "thump-thump" noise eminating from their stereo speakers. They usually have exhaust modifications that make the 4 cylinder sewing machines under the hood sound like a full blown engine. They are known as "slammers" and their the in thing with young drivers these days.

When I was in high school the thing was to buy an old truck and raise it to the point where you needed a step ladder to get in the drivers seat. Or tinker with an old muscle car until it had enough torque to dig asphalt out of the street. Now things have gone nearly a complete 180 degree turn. Kids now by a nearly new compact car or pickup and modify the suspension until it drags the ground. Now none of these mods is an especially good idea unless done right. They can cause severe handling problem and cause a lot of wear and stress on other suspension components.

When a car or truck is improperly lowered it is generally done by Cutting the springs until they collapse or by cutting them to the desired height. This is not a good idea becauseit is nearly impossible to ensure that each side will be the same height. And trying to get a front end alignment even close to specs? Forgetaboutit. And you better double or triple your tire budget because any time your lower a vehicle this way you push the top of the tires out (called positive camber) at a drastic angle that will quickly wear the tires on their outer edge.

When a car is lowered by amateurs like this it also tends to put a lot more stress on the load carrying components of the suspension, namely the ball joints. And having a ball joint break at highway speed generally means that someones going to get hurt. When the ball joint breaks the tire-wheel assembly will either fold under the car or depending on the condition of the rest of the suspension it may come of completely.

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