General Lowering Kits

[chrisunoman]

Im wondering what lowering kits people have got on there Unos?

Ive got some Apex springs on atm but i want to go lower, about 60mm. Also the front seems to be higher than the back, and this constantly bugs me. Its because the kit is designed for all the Unos, incl Turbo. Therefore id like a kit thats specifically made for a 45

There are plenty kits available but i was wondering what would people recommend? Ive got a 1.0 Uno and the GMax kit seems to be a popular choice for this model, does anyone whos fitted this kit have any opinions on it???

If anyone has fitted any other kits to a 1.0, 45 that lowers it about 60mm, id like to know what make they are and any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[MeAcHeM45]

you could just get a kit that lowers your car say 35milimeters and the cut say one or two full circles off each spring! it doesnt sound such a good idea but it does work i know someone who did this to there springs!!!

 

[F R O S T Y]

I wouldnt recommend cutting the springs whatsoever, yeh u will get the low look but you will f*ck up your car as the shocks and chassis will be under greater stresses and all the other components near the wheels etc
i wouldnt bother with that mate. Regarding the G-Max springs i had both sets on my uno when it was a 1.0 litre and the -35mm was dissappointing so i went for the -60mm springs instead. Did look much better than the -35mm drop i must say but i dont think it was a true -60mm drop cos i've seen a -60mm drop on my mates polo and it looked much better. I've now got spax springs and shocks on a -35mm drop but it looks even lower than when i had the -60mm gmax kit on the car. So if i were you i would go for a spax kit. Not only does it appear lower but the ride handles much better than it did with the Gmax kit. You'll find that the Gmax springs take far too long to settle and the ride is quite stiff and hard over the bumps. Not very comfortble to be honest. Well thats from my experience anyway. Hope that helps, u gotta remember that an uno 45 engines not too heavy and therefore the car will never really be as low as you may like. Unless you have some custom made i guess. There is a company that does em but i cant remember their name (sorry) i'll post it when i find out.
F R O $ T Y

 

[chrisunoman]

I thought the spax kit was only for the Turbo though???

Yeah, i thought the 60mm GMax springs might make the ride alot harder... but is the ride ok, ie can you live with the hardness? Or can it be a bit tedious sometimes?

Im trying to find the website for a custom springs place i found a few months ago, but im not having any joy searching for it yet. If you find it Frosty dont forget to post it up, cheers!

 

[Morty Mort]

Hei.

Just a thought about shorter springs.

In Norway springs have to be suited for a specific car, example the Uno. By this I mean the shorter springs should be delivered with a certificate from the producer that proves this. If this piece of paper isn't showed at the MOT, it will fail. So I custom made springs are noticed during the MOT and there is no certificate with them, you may not be allowed to drive from the garage.

The garage noticed my lowering springs due to the red color. He said if they were black, they'd look original and he wouldn't think it was lowered - 40 mm lowering looks normal on an Uno.

So: If you make custom springs for 60 mm lowering it may not pass the MOT (I'm not familiar with the UK mot though) - and think twice about having them sprayed in a fancy color.

And: You can't use stock shocks for 60 mm lowering - specific shocks with shorter "bars" needs to be used.

Good luck with the project Chris, and please post pictures.

Morten.

 

[chrisunoman]

Its ok Morten, UK mot laws dont forbid lowering, but if its too low then they might have something to say about it, for example if it wont go on the ramps etc...

Ill be getting the matching shocks for the springs i get, the garage i use said itd be cheaper to get a full new set of springs and shocks rather than just buy new shocks anyway.

Im still unsure about which make to get tho, i dont want to spend a fortune, atm i think GMax are the ones i will get, but theres a Jamex set and the Spax ones that Frosty recommends.....

When its done (when i get some spare cash) ill defo be posting some pics!

 

[F R O S T Y]

Hey Chris well the ride quality was extremely stiff when i had the g-max
-60mm kit on my uno. in fact if you were to drive the car over the slightest bump you would feel it! Having low profile tyres probably doesnt help the ride comfort much either. About the Spax springs i'm sure you can have em fitted to a standard uno cos my uno after all originally used to be a 1.0 litre i.e untill i did a full engine conversion last year. I used all the parts off my doner vehicle including the spax suspension. Even though my G-max springs were lower than the spax ones the garage who did my work on the car said that the spax kit was much better for handling and i guess they were right as my handling has improved a lot more and the car still sits quite low, a lot lower than the gmax -35mm kit for sure and maybe just a tad higher than the G-max -60mm kit that i used to have before. about those custom made springs i think they are made by some company called Weller in braintree or something like that. I've read it on a forum before but i need to double check to be sure.
F R O $ T Y

 

[chrisunoman]

Ive tried searching for weller on the net but nothings come up, thanks for suggesting it tho frosty, so i might not get custom springs as all i can seem to find are places in america or expensive places in the uk like leda.

Im not sure about getting the spax ones because ive only got a 1.0l and the engine will be lighter than a turbo and would make the front look higher.

So im tempted to get the Gmax ones because they have a kit specifically for the 1.0l, even though the ride will be hard im after the low look so im sure i can live with it. But i may get the Jamex.... ill have a word with my mechanic and see what he thinks too. But i may not get it relowered for a few months yet as im skint! Booooo!

 

[F R O S T Y]

Lol Thaaaaaaaaaats the one chris "Leda" their the ones i was thinking of!! dunno where i got weller from mate lol yeh ur right they are quite expensive come to mention it. Well if your gona go for the G-max kit then go for it. Just make sure you get a full -60mm kit cos some of them tend to be -60mm at the front and only -40mm at the back. Oh yeh you might have problems with your wheels rubbing against the inner arch lips on the rear arches and maybe at the front too with a drop as much as that. What size wheels you got? I had 15 x7 on 195/45 tyres and every so often on the bumps the wheels would hit the inner arch lip causing damage to the tyres. Not good at all mate. So if you do have those kind of problems best to get the arches angle grinded down. Especially if you want passengers in the back or if you got an ice install such as myself. Post up some pics when you get it done mate!
F R O $ T Y

ps i noticed u signed up 2 turbo collective nice one mate! u coming weston wheels??

 

[chrisunoman]

Hehe Leda, they seem so expensive id have to sell my Uno just to afford the suspension!

Im either going to get the GMax or the Raceland suspension. I reckon Raceland now cos they make it for the 1.0l, they lower it 60mm all round and ive heard theyre really good! and reasonably priced too!

The wheels ive got are 6x14s with 185/50s so i dont think ill have a prob witht the rubbing. If i have to get the arches rolled i think demon tweeks do it so i may go there or see what my local bodyshop can do. Thanks for telling me in advance though frosty!!

Oh i wont be able to get to weston wheels, its a bit of trek for me and wont be able to afford it with the new suspension! Doh!

 

[Chas Uno]

Regarding cutting of springs to lower a car, Fro$ty is right by saying DON'T do it. It can be done, but most springs are progressive and you'll lose ride quality. Also, the suspension is likely to bottom out.

Custom cars used to do cut springs when there were no aftermarket springs available. The biggest problem is not just cutting of a coil, but actually getting the cut coil to sit flat on the suspension mounts when it is put back. The proper way is to use a lot of heat (from a welding torch or similar) to heat the coil and the bend it so that the cut coil spring will sit flat when put back in the suspension.

It's ok if it's just for looks, but not good if you're going to drive the car hard. Heating and bending can weaken the metal of the springs which can lead to it fracturing or having a coil break off altogether. Not so much of a problem if you're just going to cruise with the top down, but if your car's going to a track day then it's totally inadvisable.....

These days there are more than enough kits available for reasonable prices, so best to go down that route!

Chas