TLeexus

we've all seen the "what springs should i get" topic get beaten to death .... but i dont ever see much content on the after effects of lowering one's car, 3, 6months 12 months down the line.

those of you on RSR downs and on directional 18's ....
- how often are you going through tires? any unexpected abnormal wear?
- what kind of rubbing have you all dealt with?
- i've heard conflicting intputs on whether or not we need rear camber arms after lowering the car to be able to get within spec (alignment)

davyjordi

i'm on rsr downs with the stock 18" staggered setup and i haven't seen my tire wear change at all nor do i rub at all. i had the car aligned after the springs were installed and the shop was able to align the car to within spec.

anamynous

Slightly different, but I used to be on RSR superdowns on stock wheels. 20mm spacers in the front and 15mm in the back. No rubbing issue. The last set of tires I had with them were Michelin Pilot Sport all seasons. Those only lasted about........ 18 months? Had really bad inner tire wear in the fronts only. I had no camber arms.

Flash5

It really just depends. I am on RSR Downs and have been the past 20k miles. My Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+s lasted only like 12k miles for the rears (even tire wear) and I have about half tread or so left on the fronts. I am running summer tires right now though (Falken Azenis FK510). Lowering your car with just RSR Downs shouldn't really impact your tread life unless your camber gets out of whack by a lot which would cause inner tire wear, but it shouldn't. Most people on RSR Downs are BARELY within factory spec camber on the rears and close on the fronts too. I didn't do anything for the fronts except install the stiffer RCF LCA bushings because the soft stock LCA bushings are what cause the front inner tire wear. For the rears, I didn't like how much negative camber I had so I installed SPC camber arms and lessened the camber. Your rears really should be fine even without the camber arms it just depends on how you drive. Rubbing isn't an issue unless you put too much offset on with spacers. I used 15mm spacers on the rears and 20mm on the fronts and had zero issues with rubbing and like I stated I had Michelins which are notorious for their beefy sidewall.

TLeexus

thank you, man! exactly what i needed to know!
i was actually going to do the same. . . but it was kind of hard finding threads of people lowering withOUT new wheels too.

how long have you had the setup? how often do you get alignment to be safe?
do you mind posting some pics later .... waist level side profile and then 3/4 from the rear, and shot from rear to front along side of car.


the only thing i'm on the fence about is if i want Spacers . . .

Flash5

@TLeexus I had my stock wheel with RSR down spring setup for a good year. I just did one alignment after the SPC camber arms, but never did another once I got spacers. Everything has been good.
Here are pics. I can't take new ones since I'm on my summer setup (BBS wheels).

TLeexus

thanks Flash ... impeccable information, as always. these pics, are they With spacers?

ok so you got rear camber arms .... i'm wondering if i should go ahead and plan to do that when i get and install springs , or wait if i need them.

what do you suggest?

Flash5

That’s with spacers. 20mm on the front and 15mm on the rear. You could probably do 25mm on the front and depending on tire, 20mm on the rear. I didn’t want to risk it so I went 20mm and 15mm since I was running Michelin’s. I would wait and see how you feel about the camber after springs (wait a few weeks until the springs are fully settled) then decide. It’s not hard to install the camber arms. My buddy and I did a video on installing them. Here’s the link, this is his YouTube channel.

E46CT

To answer OP's question "how often do you do an alignment just to be safe"

An alignment isn't something you need to do regularly. It is not maintenance. It is not like brushing your teeth. You do it once, not hit anything, and you're fine.

If you haven't hit anything since your last alignment and find yourself needing another alignment, you've got bigger issues to address than alignment.

Wheels and spacers make no difference to your alignment. Get the alignment, before, in between, after, or any concoction or cocktail or combination of wheels and spacers you want. Zero effect