Raising car with H&R springs

[dramsey]

I love the appearance of my car with the H&R springs, but they're turning out to be problematic in the real world.

Simply put, the car scrapes a lot. It scrapes going into parking lots or over those large speed bumps. It scraps at dips in the road and after I go too fast over a bump. I have started entering or exiting parking lots at an angle to minimize scrapes. The bottom of the car looks as if it's been rubbed with a giant piece of sandpaper.

So after a year or so with the H&R springs, I'm reinstalling the stock springs. However, I'd like to go back to the H&R springs if I can figure out some way to temporarily raise the car when needed.

Air springs would seem to be the only solution, but I've never seen a set that were designed to be installed on the front as well as the rear.

Also, the only thread I can find on air springs indicate that they'll only provide half an inch or so of height adjustment.

So, is what I want to do even possible? Suggestions welcome!

 

[EcoBrick Bob]

If you think you have a problem... how about me... with H & R's plus 2" smaller diameter tires.... I do have air bags in rear suspension, but they are only there to keep front from lifting under hard acceleration. Could be worse though as Flex is slightly shorter than SHO but has a 4" longer wheelbase. Less front overhang and about the same at the rear. To me the scraping is minor compared to the advantages of my Summer Conti DW's and the H & R's.

Someone on Flex Net has installed a full air suspension on his Flex. It has several inches of adjustment, but have no idea if it handles or rides OK..

 

[Got5onIt]

Have you considered switching to Eibachs? It's a nice drop, IMO, just not as low as the HR kit. I've had a vehicle slammed before and know exactly where you're coming from. The HR's look great, but I was too worried about scraping in everyday driving so I went with the Eibachs instead. I've only had issues entering places with very steep inclines. I've also never had any issues going over speedbumps with Eibachs....

 

[dramsey]

Interesting suggestion! According to Eibach, their SHO springs drop the front by 20mm and the rear by 27mm.

H&R says their springs lower the car by 35.7mm front and 36.75mm rear (1.4" and 1.5"), so the Eibach springs are less extreme.

Sounds like a good fallback position if I can't find a good way to raise and lower the car "manually".

 

[Got5onIt]

HR's usually drop lower than the number they list. I have no clue how accurate the Eibach's are in comparison to their listed drop. I do know, they're definitely not as low as HR and I've had zero issues with them.

 

[SHO U UP]

I have had the Eibachs and now the H&Rs. The H&Rs dropped significantly more than the Eibachs but the Eibachs do drop more than they say. The perfect stance, IMO, is Eibachs up front and H&R in the back. I have my Eibachs still just in case I decide to go back to them, but doubt I will.

Mine is rubbing at certain areas I drive plus I installed wheel apdapters all the way around to push the wheels out to the lip of the fender to have a more aggressive stance so now that can play a factor in off-camber turn approaches so I'm really cautious at I how I drive now. I just hated how the tires and wheels looked "sucked" into the wheel well with that much drop, especially in the rear.

 

[Dabbler]

H&R Springs too low?

I have been looking but can't seem to find any answers regarding the shocks/struts best suited to match the lowering springs. If you stay with stock shocks they are already compressed into their functioning range and are not properly doing their job which must contribute to this problem - no? Does anyone have any info on what they used for a good match to the H&R springs?

Thanks

 

[tewkes]

I was really bummed out that companies like AirRide or Airlift don't make any kind of setup for the taurus. I think it would be a good canidate for airbags. I'd love to be able to have adjustability in ride height depending on weather, road conditions, or for cruising.

 

[jdeprato]

Our cars are still fairly new. I think as long as the popularity continues, more vendors will come on board. I know when I had my Mazdaspeed6 it took a while for the vendors to start coming on board with products and that car was a lot more rare than the new SHO. Plus I think now that the SHO went a little more aggressive with the styling on the new model, more things will become available because I think they are going to sell more to the kind of people that will most likely look for different modifications. The only thing that sucks is they changed the way the 2013 shocks mount to the front hub assembly, so that puts a wrench into idea of interchangeability between model years for front assembly parts.