How to Lower a Car

For Leaf Springs

Alter your vehicle's leaf springs. Leaf springs consists of thin strips of spring steel banded and bolted together.

Remove the leaf springs from the rear suspension of the vehicle. Take them to a spring shop and have them de-arched, or use a reverse shackle. Another option is reversing the set up by placing the axle on top of the leaf spring, which is called a flip kit. This can be done by a home mechanic with common hand tools. To get even greater or increased drop, couple the flip kit with lowering blocks. These are available online or from your local auto parts store. They come in differing heights and will enable the vehicle to drop extremely low. They can be installed by a home mechanic. Depending on how low you go, you may have to install a C-notch above your real axle. The purpose of the notch is to give you a greater clearance between your frame and axle.

For Coil Springs

Manipulate your car's coil springs. Coil springs can be found on a car's front and/or back suspension, and are attached onto the A-frame or the axles. You can remove the stock coil springs and replace them with shorter springs, or take your springs to a spring shop and have the coils softened and shortened.

You can also cut the coils yourself. Use a grinder, cutting wheel, or torch to cut them. Start with cutting in quarter- or half-coil-turn increments, because cutting a coil is a permanent action. You may have to install shorter bump stops or cut your stock ones to fit.