So I replaced the stock springs and struts on my 03 Suzuki Aerio SX, she’s at 160K. I purchases KYB struts and B&G lowering springs.
The effect is way more than I I would have ever guessed. The car sits soo low now, that on every time I heard tire rubbing in the back, and almost any bump, I can hear the suspension get 100% compressed and feel the hit to the cars from, like a hard knock.
So how do I tell if they were put on right, if the springs are just too short or the struts too loose?
It is the springs. They are advertised as lowering springs so what did you expect? The car is lower. But not it rubs in the rear. Part of the strut’s job is to provide bump stops at the proper point so the car doesn’t break things when it bottoms. The lowering springs make those bump stops closer, as you have found.
Remove them and go buy stock springs if you can’t deal with the bottoming.
If you install a lowering spring on a standard strut, you may not need a strut spring compressor to install the lowering spring onto the standard strut bearing.
And if you do, it’s not going to take much force to compress spring.
Well, that’s nice it you’re willing to accept the harder ride and also willing to do the suspension stuff necessary to then get the suspension and steering geometry back where it should be,
As the wheels travel through their suspension geometry, their caster angle changes. That’s intentional in order to keep the “track” (the distance between the wheels’ centerlines) stable. This prevents tracking problems. Since the control arm(s) travel in an arc, and their associated ball joints follow the arc(s), the only way to keep the track stable is to allow the wheels to tilt. Design is often a series of tradeoffs. This is one.
In short, before messing with suspension geometry it’s wise to do the research to find out exactly what the side effects will be. They may not be acceptable to you.
As to “rolling” the fender edges, that’s great if you accept the fact that you’ll compromise their impact resistance. They’ll bend inward easier if bumped. And if there’s that little clearance to begin with, you may end up with some rubbing when doing a full turn, such as when parallel parking. Many young people use a baseball bat to roll their fenders, but if you want a good job you’ll want to consider something like this tool for rolling fenders - Bing images
There are some good textbooks on suspension geometry. I can recommend one or you can perhaps browse a few options at your local school if you have one that offers automotive technology. I like "Automotive Chassis Systems by Thomas Birch, published by Delmar, ISBN 0-7668-0001-6 (the last number may be different now). ISBN 0-8273-9099-8 “Automotive Suspension and Steering Systems” is also good.
I recommend doing some learning before messing with suspension systems. t’s too easy to mess them up and cause safety issues.
