Generally speaking, the factory tire and wheel combination does not rub on the fender lip even when using our NEUSPEED Race lowering springs, our most aggressive kit.
However, there are many different aftermarket wheel and tire combinations. If your wheel and tire combination has a more aggressive offset, or is wider than your original factory specifications, you may encounter rubbing on the wheel well or fender lip. This is not the fault of the spring kit. The only solution is to roll or cut the inside lip of the fender to provide more clearance, or to swap to a more conservative wheel and tire package.
Yes. Lowering your car changes your alignment specifications. At a minimum, you will need to have the front toe specification reset. For cars that spend a lot of time traveling in a straight line, a very small amount of toe-in (1/16" to 1/32") will help keep the car tracking straight. For performance driving, a slight amount of toe-out (1/16") will help your car turn into corners faster.
Your car may also need to have the camber and caster specifications checked and adjusted. However, not all cars have factory provisions to adjust these settings. You may need to purchase an aftermarket alignment kit. NEUSPEED recommends and carries Ingalls alignment kits. Contact a NEUSPEED representative to determine if an Ingalls kit is available for your car.
We apologize if you are experiencing any sway bar bushing noise with our NEUSPEED sway bar kits. One of the great things about polyurethane bushings is that they are firmer than rubber and offer a much longer life span than rubber. However, they sometimes make a squeaking sound when the grease you originally applied to the bar and the bushing wears off. This is the tradeoff for improved performance.
There are a few tricks you can use to reduce or eliminate the squeaking. First, support the car on jackstands or use a driveup lift to elevate the car. Next, disconnect the end links on the bar so you can rotate it up and down by hand. Does the bar rotate smoothly without much effort? If it does, you just need to put a fresh layer of grease between the bushing and the bar. Remove the bushings and apply a coating of NEUSPEED synthetic grease to the inside diameter of the bushings.
Unsprung weight (aka: unsprung mass) refers to the portion of your car that is not supported by the coil springs. Usually, this means everything outboard of where the coil spring mounts to the lower control arm. Items that make up the unsprung weight in your car include the brake rotors, brake calipers, wheels and tires.
When your car goes over a bump in the road, the unsprung mass is set into an up/down motion. It is the shock absorber's responsibility to dampen this up/down motion. That's why upgrading to performance shocks and struts (such as Bilstein or Koni) is such an important step in improving your suspension.
You can actually hurt your car's handling and ride comfort by choosing a wheel and tire combination that is too heavy. We've seen some 18" and 19" wheel and tire combos that weigh nearly 60 lbs! So remember, light weight is the way to go. We've had great results with these lightweight forged wheels:
BBS RGRSSR Type CRH Evolution CP8R and CP035Volk Racing TE37 and SE37
To give you an idea of how light you can go, the SSR Type C in a size 18x7.5" and the BFG G-Force KD tire size 225/40/ZR18 weigh a combined 38.0 pounds!
