I need your opinions on lowering springs!

[Yojimbo]

Hey everyone! I'm having a bit of a dilemma here.

I recently placed an order for a set of ARK Performance GT-F lowering springs for my 2018 AWD Stinger. Initially I was all excited and happy, but after a couple of weeks I stumbled on some discussions here about people having a bunch of alignment issues with their springs. I got pretty worried and googled away, only to find more people mentioning how often the car has to be taken in for alignments and how they've had to spend even more money on suspension components since then to try and fix the issue. I even brought this up to my mechanic (cousin) who told me about a customer with the same car and same suspension and he ran into all these issues too.

My research led me to Megan racing camber/toe arms, potentially replacing sway bars and blah blah blah. These components are unfortunately not so easy to find in Canada, or at least I can't seem to find them and getting them shipped in from the US would be a huge waste of money since our dollar is garbage and we love our duty fees.

At this point, it's either I suck it up and just go ahead with it, or I cancel the order and pay a 25% restocking fee. I love the look of a lowered Stinger, but at the risk of ruining my alignment and dumping even more money into suspension components, that I am not willing to do. So I figured, maybe this is a case of those who don't have issues, will usually not talk about it, so it makes it seem like there are way more negative posts than positive ones.

If you have these on your car, please share your experience with me.

 

[Stinger GT SS]

I don’t have lowering springs for pretty much the reasons you have outlined & the fact that the issue also seems to also drastically reduce tyre life.
IMO you have chosen good springs to go with, as for camber/toe arms you may also want to consider these, although these seem expensive I believe these to be better quality than the Megan brand ones.

This is the AU website, pricing/exchange rate should be in your favour & you may have to message them to see if they ship overseas, if not try Hardrace in NA.

KIA STINGER

STINGER - KIA STINGER

www.hardracesuspension.com.au

 

[Kazz]

Get good aftermarket swaybars. They're worth it. If you want your fenders to look fuller, get larger diameter wheels and tires. Every car I've owned that I've lowered has resulted in a much rougher ride. And where I live the roads are complete crap. I would rather have the car stay composed over many bumps and corner much better with the sways. Just my $.02.

 

[Volfy]

Any time you modify your suspension geometry, you are going to have to re-align the car. On most cars, lowering tend to increase negative camber, and so will need to be adjusted back to spec. The stock adjustment range may or may not be sufficient to accommodate that, depending on the amount of lowering. This is not an inherent problem with any one lowering spring mfr. It is just the nature of the beast. You either accept it when you decide to modify your suspension, or you stay stock.

That said, if alignment can be properly done, after installing lowering springs, as long as the alignment specs are within allowable range for the car, your tire life will not be affected to any significant degree. If the lowering is mild, the increase in spring rate should also be mild. The Eibach Pro Kit we have on our G70 and Stinger is 12-14% stiffer than stock. Ride feels about the same in normal driving.

As with any tuning or modification, be it engine or suspension, there are always compromises, pros and cons. It is up to you to decide whether you are willing to live with it.

 

[Yojimbo]

So after reading your comments, I decided to cancel the order and pay the restocking fee. I guess I was more looking for someone to justify my purchase really lol.

If anything, I will go with what Kazz mentioned and go with a bigger wheel size to fill the gap. Not worth it for me to start dropping money on more suspension parts. I would rather put that money towards other things for the car.

Thank you everyone, you've been very helpful!

 

[Hawk853]

Hey everyone! I'm having a bit of a dilemma here.

I recently placed an order for a set of ARK Performance GT-F lowering springs for my 2018 AWD Stinger. Initially I was all excited and happy, but after a couple of weeks I stumbled on some discussions here about people having a bunch of alignment issues with their springs. I got pretty worried and googled away, only to find more people mentioning how often the car has to be taken in for alignments and how they've had to spend even more money on suspension components since then to try and fix the issue. I even brought this up to my mechanic (cousin) who told me about a customer with the same car and same suspension and he ran into all these issues too.

My research led me to Megan racing camber/toe arms, potentially replacing sway bars and blah blah blah. These components are unfortunately not so easy to find in Canada, or at least I can't seem to find them and getting them shipped in from the US would be a huge waste of money since our dollar is garbage and we love our duty fees.

At this point, it's either I suck it up and just go ahead with it, or I cancel the order and pay a 25% restocking fee. I love the look of a lowered Stinger, but at the risk of ruining my alignment and dumping even more money into suspension components, that I am not willing to do. So I figured, maybe this is a case of those who don't have issues, will usually not talk about it, so it makes it seem like there are way more negative posts than positive ones.

If you have these on your car, please share your experience with me.

I have H&Rs which are a little lower than the Ark GTFs and have zero issues. Tires wear evenly, handles great. Bottoms out more easily is about the only negative which should be obvious with less up travel.

There are a tremendous amount of Stingers with Eibachs installed with no issues.

I spoke with the guys who developed the Megan adjustable arms. Their purpose is to correct excessive geometries with bagged stingers driven at very low ride heights. They told me they’d be no use in my application.

I’ll try to find the email… (must have been a phone conversation that segued from an email, sorry)

 

[Snowwhite]

I had ARKs for two years with no alignment issues. yes, of course, I had to align the car after the install, but no significant changes to alignment over time. when I installed the subframe collars and took it back for an alignment, everything was still in spec except for the rear, which i'm sure I had to move around a bit to get those collars in, so I'm not surprised. front was still in spec.

the stinger is a tire shredder in the rear no matter what you've got going on suspension-wise.

I'm now on eibachs because the ARKs were designed with the AWD in mind and I'm RWD. comparing the two, the ARKs rode a bit softer, but the eibachs handle a bit better. spring rates bear that out.

 

[billy_vk]

Eibach springs and sway bars on my GT2 AWD and no issues at all. Had an alignment done right after install. Paid the extra 60 bucks for lifetime so that eliminates the future cost of a realignment. Had it looked at a second time three months after lowering and still all in spec.

 

[AdrianG]

Personally, I hate lowering springs. Too easy to bottom out, too easy to scrape on speed bumps or going in/out of driveways or parking lots.
Had some Teins on my G35 and they made the car substantially less capable, in my opinion.
That said, if you like it you should do what you want with your car.
As for shipping to Canada, if you are close enough to the border you could have it delivered to a post office in the US then go pick it up.
Can't do much about the value of your currency, though. Haha.

 

[GT Elite]

I’ve had lots of stuff shipped from the US, including 4 rotors and brake pads from Rock Auto last fall (by DHL). My experience is NEVER EVER have parts shipped by UPS from the US. I have declined to buy parts if a vendor insists on using UPS.

I much prefer USPS and have had rims and an exhaust system (for a C6 Corvette) shipped by them at a reasonable cost.

 

[Kazz]

I’ve had lots of stuff shipped from the US, including 4 rotors and brake pads from Rock Auto last fall (by DHL). My experience is NEVER EVER have parts shipped by UPS from the US. I have declined to buy parts if a vendor insists on using UPS.

I much prefer USPS and have had rims and an exhaust system (for a C6 Corvette) shipped by them at a reasonable cost.

And I will bend over backwards to avoid both the USPS and Fed Ex. UPS is the only shipping that's dependable and actually delivers dependably to the right address. LOL

 

[Yojimbo]

And I will bend over backwards to avoid both the USPS and Fed Ex. UPS is the only shipping that's dependable and actually delivers dependably to the right address. LOL

The last time I used UPS, I ordered $160 CAD part. They wanted to charge me $80 on duties

 

[GT Elite]

The last time I used UPS, I ordered $160 CAD part. They wanted to charge me $80 on duties

And that is exactly why we Canadians do not use UPS for shipping from the US to Canada. UPS in Canada is a separate entity from UPS in the US. UPS Canada has a reputation for really high fees.

 

[Yojimbo]

And that is exactly why we Canadians do not use UPS for shipping from the US to Canada. UPS in Canada is a separate entity from UPS in the US. UPS Canada has a reputation for really high fees.

I don't even know who to use now. I ordered two things with USPS before, same value. Got charged for duties once and the other time nothing. So I don't understand how the entire thing works lol

I just ship to the border now and go get it there.

 

[GT Elite]

I don't even know who to use now. I ordered two things with USPS before, same value. Got charged for duties once and the other time nothing. So I don't understand how the entire thing works lol

I just ship to the border now and go get it there.

USPS hands off to Canada Post at the border and it is Canada Post that delivers and charges the duties.

A. number of years ago the same thing happened to me. I had 4 used wheels (4 boxes) shipped to me by USPS. Two arrived one day with no duty by Canada Post. The next day the other two wheels arrived with duty applied. Go figure!

 

[G-328252]

Hey everyone! I'm having a bit of a dilemma here.

I recently placed an order for a set of ARK Performance GT-F lowering springs for my 2018 AWD Stinger. Initially I was all excited and happy, but after a couple of weeks I stumbled on some discussions here about people having a bunch of alignment issues with their springs. I got pretty worried and googled away, only to find more people mentioning how often the car has to be taken in for alignments and how they've had to spend even more money on suspension components since then to try and fix the issue. I even brought this up to my mechanic (cousin) who told me about a customer with the same car and same suspension and he ran into all these issues too.

My research led me to Megan racing camber/toe arms, potentially replacing sway bars and blah blah blah. These components are unfortunately not so easy to find in Canada, or at least I can't seem to find them and getting them shipped in from the US would be a huge waste of money since our dollar is garbage and we love our duty fees.

At this point, it's either I suck it up and just go ahead with it, or I cancel the order and pay a 25% restocking fee. I love the look of a lowered Stinger, but at the risk of ruining my alignment and dumping even more money into suspension components, that I am not willing to do. So I figured, maybe this is a case of those who don't have issues, will usually not talk about it, so it makes it seem like there are way more negative posts than positive ones.

If you have these on your car, please share your experience with me.

Should have left it alone period
.