Hi,
I'm new to this website and car maintenance, so apologies if this question is a bit dim or has been asked before. I have an 05 diesal accord which i installed lowering springs front and back, then changed the stock alloys (15s) to 17s with low profile tyres. Didn't do anything else, like tracking etc as a mate said i didn't need to. Immediate difference in handling which was much crisper, though the car understeers a bit in the wet when you push on. Drove it in icy conditions for the first time this morning and the car was all over the place - was in the slow lane in the motorway correcting the back from sliding at 40mph while lorries and cars were flying past at 60+. Cars handling scared the hell out of me - any ideas whats wrong? Will have to change back to the original springs and wheels soon if i can't get a solution.
Thanks in advance.
John.

 

I read the suspensipn FAQs - should have done that first! Going straight to an alignment shop. MAy return to stock suspensiopn after reading the blown shock section - car can be a little bouncy on the back suspension on certain sections of road.

 

One big thing is that the toe changes as the suspension flexes. Stock suspension in a corner, one side compresses as the other extends; and the toe changes are designed into the suspension.

When you lower, as far as suspension geometry is concerned, BOTH sides are compressed. So your toe will be off. Camber will probably be off too but toe is likely causing your immediate problem. And if you want to keep it lowered, you SHOULD get these corrected by an alignment shop.

When you have a non-zero toe setting on dry pavement, it causes your suspension bushings to be pre-loaded in one direction which makes it feel more 'responsive'. It also puts more stress & wear on your tires. Problem is on ice, the tire traction just won't support those preload forces.

Another thing, and probably more important than all of that, is YOU CHANGED TIRES. Depending on your choice of tires, that can have a dramatic change in ice traction. And NOT in a good way. I bet if you put the suspension back to stock, & kept your low-profile 17" tires, it would still be lethal on ice.

 

Thanks for the help Jim - brought the car in to the shop and the camber was well off on the back - put the original springs back in the back this morning and visually, the camber is much better. Going to order camber adjustors online for the front and back. When they arrive, i will install with the lowered back springs and bring it straight to the shop to be setup. If it still gives me trouble at that stage, i will change back to the original alloys and tyres and see if that fixes the problem although hopefully the suspension setup will be the final fix.
John

 

Mean-time, put your old tires back on. They might help even when it's lowered.