5 Suspension Mods You Should NEVER Do To Your Car

The suspension of a car defines to a great degree what a smooth ride it will be. Apart from absorbing the shocks when you brake or move on an uneven road, it also dictates how much grip you may have on your car. While some modern cars have a great suspension, some car owners may feel that they need suspension mods for their relatively old cars.

But, everything that glitters is not gold. So, here we have of the craziest ideas that can actually ruin your car. Trust us because a good mechanic can give you proof during car parts inspection.

5 Crazy Suspension Mods that are a Big NO

Spring Clamps

This, by far, is the craziest. These are clamps that can hold down the spring to lower it. Clearly, it interferes with the spring itself, and thus, the car safety. It also has the ability to damage everything around it.

Here is why you must not use it. It reduces the suspension of the car but not the spring rate which will cause clearance issues, resulting in serious shock damage. It causes the suspension travel to lower, so the spring rate needs to increase if the car is lower. This, however, these clamps fail to do. The spring rate must be higher if the car is lower, else ground interference will maximize. This is why the suspensions of a hatchback and an SUV are different.

With time, it also changes the way the spring bends, rendering it ineffective. So, it is a terribly dumb idea as far a safety is concerned.

Take a great maintenance tip, and consider using coilovers.

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Lowering Springs

These help you lower the center of gravity of the car, and offer improved handling, along with better aerodynamics.

The cons however, are much more than pros. It increases the probability of bottoming out since it increases the negative camber and reduces the grip on the road. Also, these come with a set height that you cannot adjust. The spring rate, in this case, doesn’t match the damping rate.

The spring rate won’t match the damping rate. The stiffer spring with the original shock will not offer you a matching damping rate. This situation offers you less overall suspension travel. The shock, however, had been designed more travel. Thus effectiveness will be lost. The range of operation is shortened. Thus, the shock absorber will be damaged.

Camber Kit

Camber kits are used to correct the camber of a lowered car or to simply adjust the camber. A little bit of negative camber maximizes the grip on the patch as you corner through the car and it leans on to the tire.

However, when a camber kit increases the negative camber, it only works negatively for you. A lot of negative camber is a bad thing. It reduces the amount of grip and cause uneven tire wear.

Wheel Spacers

This one is not exactly a suspension mod, but has great effect on the suspension, all the same. Wheel spacers are used to widen the track of your car to achieve improved handling. It is so because you have less load transfer. The fact of the matter is that it gives only 1.2 less load transfer to the outer wheel. The shortcomings far outweigh the advantages.

It simply changes the scrub radius which can increase the amount of tire wear. Also, it changes the dynamic toe while braking or accelerating. Under braking you may lose stability. It also brings down the effective spring rate. Apart from this, it reduces the life of the wheel bearing because of the excess weight and movement against it. And, it can also damage the fenders.

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Anti Roll Bar

Anti-roll bars are used to reduce the amount of body roll for the car. It helps stiffen up the cornering feel, due to which the driver may feel more confident.

Nevertheless, it increases the likelihood of under steering or over steering depending on which axle you fix it on. The slip angle of the tires on that axle will increase. It also, reduces the independence of the suspension. In an independent suspension, each wheel acts independent of the other. Anti-roll bars make both the wheels dependent on each other. What happens to one tire, affects the other. The result – increased likelihood of the axle to slide out.

So, which one of these suspension mods is killing your car?