Lowering A Vl Commodore

[Cherrys]

i have got a 1988 VL Commodore and i want to lower it about 40mm. does any of you's know how much it would cost me to do this.

[=TUR7LE=]

go down 2 ur nearest pedders they should fix u up 4 around $500 if not, juss chop the 1's in ur car with a grinder and it costs u nothing

[hispeedvp]

advise against the chop if you handy enough to chop them you might aswell buy lowred king springs from coventries and install them yourself

[Bucket]

its a bit of work to drop the front cause you need to remove the strut tower, make sure you mark where your top bushes are in the engine bay so it goes to the same spot. You will need spring removers as well. Rears are cool to take out but you will need an adjustable panard rod otherwise the diff will shift to the left enough to scrape the a$$ out of the tyre wall.

Look on ebay for some kings springs, theyre about $60-80 a pair and you will also need shocks for a lowered car, all up you will be looking around the $500-600 mark.

My advice is to get some K-mac adjustable strut -tower top bushes, makes it easy to change camber for wheel alignment as you will need this when you have lowered the car.

[=TUR7LE=]

Yep Good Old King Springs Thats What I Got In My Vl There Great

[craigvl038]

ive just picked up some pedders springs, shocks and struts for my vl i got them from VL PROJEX'S second and but they are basicly brand new i got them for $120 and i did it my self it only took 2 and a half hours...

[AKR]

VL projex, if your in the brisbane area, this guy can be a life saver.. go check it out.. 5 stars
-you'll find alot of the wreckers around the area send their VL customers straight there...

As for cutting your springs...BAD idea... to be honest, if you are the kina guy that cant wait to save a few hundred for springs. It's more than likely your the kinda guy that will take her around a corner in excess of 70k's ...

In the process of "hacking" (cut is too delicate a word for this kind of butchery) your springs, you created a great amount of heat withing the coil, causing it to loose its 'temper'... Hope you enjoy rolling around corners ..

-Ak

[i_want_kw]

yer, i learned the hard way bout cutting springs... lol, how much does an adjustable panhard rod cost? easy to install?

[bangers]

king springs all the way. 30mm drop. you'll need lowered shocks for the front i think and leave original in the rear. or other way around just check. i think i'm right though. nolathane sell an adjustable pan hard rod to centre the diff housing and a front strut brace to go across your engine bay to stop the towers collapsing. handles excellent. don't over correct cos the car snaps back when it gets sideways. that's what i've done and i'm thinking of bigger swaybars, let you know how it goes but definately go the above, you won't regret it.

[vl-05]

hey man a cheaper option is getting you springs compressed, about $40 each, i had this done in my vl GTS and with new shocks all round she hugged the tarmack very well. People will say they sag but 5 years later she still sits nice!

[macdee]

yeah ive got superlow king springs in mine! i chopped the rears so it sits that little bit lower

[Bax]

5 years later she's probably sagged as much as it can go.

I'm about to spend a bit over 2k on my setup. Basically just going normal lowered shocks in the back, superlow springs, adj panhard rod, stock sway bar in the rear, new bushes all round. adj shocks for the front, superlow springs, upgraded sway bar for the front.

thats about it.

[jetspin_vn]

Thats what i've done, minus the beefy swaybar. Grip is certainly on tap. The panhard rod is a MUST for any lowering job, otherwise the car will crab. Always always always factor it in.

[Bax]

Yeah panhard will be done first. I think I'm going to have to leave the Sway bars and complete bush upgrade til last. I can't hit it all in one chunk just yet because I've got my paint bill coming. Along with a complete engine rebuild, turbo gear and interior gear, and a gearbox.. Yikes

[Boonz]

yeh the suspension bushes are almost the most expensive part to replace.......i got a full nolathane kit....strut hats,sway bars rubbers,stabilizer bar rubbers,panhard rod rubbers,trailing arms rubbers, and a few others........$640 later

[Bax]

Yeah I don't want all nolathane, in fact I want mostly rubber with only a few selected nolathanes. Well at least thats what I'm contemplating for now.

How do you find it with all nolathanes?

[Boonz]

worth the money

[Bax]

Alright, well I think I'll order the adj fronts and rears and springs and do those myself. Then get the suspension joint to tidy it all up with doing the adjusting and bushes and sway bars when I get it on the road.

It's bloody shocking trying to organise a car to get rwc.

Actually, screw it. I'm going to get paint done before suspension.

[Boonz]

yeh its up to you....it does make a difference but its nothing too major.... but it sure made my back end stay alot straighter/stiffer when turning

[i_want_kw]

everyone seems to talk bout struts, springs, shockers,bushes etc...
yet no1 talks about camber kits?

EVERY suspension place i've been to has insisted on camber kits when lowering... why is that? i dnt give a **** coz my tyres cost me stuff all n i dnt do a lot of driving. also a mate who installed a camber kit on his front-end told me it ruined his over-all steering when driving..

any thoughts?

[pro_gmh]

When u lower you ride, it changes your camper angle, do you know what your camper angel is?

[i_want_kw]

kinda... i know it'll wear the inside of ya tyres...
but thats bout all i know.. tell me more

pics would b good?

[GH05T]

just bought my 88 vl my mechanic said its one of the cleanest hese seen and i want to lower her. the setups stock and the strut towers have absoultly no domeing.. when their hard the tops get a dome or even cracks but this has none. if i lower her change the swaybars shoks springs make her low and tight will i start the damage? will a strut brace fix this problem?? and as the post above me was asking how low will i go b4 i need a camber kit??

[i_want_kw]

***bump***



woo hoo my first bump!
yes.. i was a bump virgin.. and not ashamed!

[Stewart1000]

how did the lowering job turn out for ya?