lowering ridge - bad experience

[06grnridge]

Hi folks,

After about 2,500 miles on the lower set up (Spring Tech springs) I decided to go back to stock...why?

Here are my reasons:

1. Rear camber negative offset was 1.90 degrees --- that is pretty bad guys
2. Rough ride, at times unbearable
3. With the tow hitch mounted, the front of the car is higher by about .3-.5", since the rear seems to sag a bit
4. You pretty much loose the towing ability and the cargo...only about 400 will put so much stress on the rear axle that the mufler is about 3'' off the ground.
5. No available camber kit - an none in R&D
6. ONE OF THE REAR SHOCKS STARTED LEAKING - NOT NECESSARILY LINKED TO THE LOWER SUSPENSION, BUT VERY COINCIDENTAL TO ME.

It looked awesome if you could get over the camber issue for the rear axle and you get lots of people looking at your truck like it came from Mars...

I will reconsider later an Eibach pro-kit, with a 1.5'' drop and a proper camber kit. I have a feeling that no other reputable suspension company will develop any kits for this truck...too bad the upper arm is not adjustable.

THINK VERY HARD BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO DO IT...IT ALSO COST ME ABOUT $1,000 (including 2 installations, 2 awd alignments and the spring set)

[AmazonRidge]

Originally Posted by 06grnridge

Hi folks,

After about 2,500 miles on the lower set up (Spring Tech springs) I decided to go back to stock...why?

...

THINK VERY HARD BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO DO IT...IT ALSO COST ME ABOUT $1,000 (including 2 installations, 2 awd alignments and the spring set)

...and what exactly did you expect??? There is a reason it was designed the way it is.

You shouldn't have expected any performance issues to be improved by doing this. Of course most of the truck's capabilities went out the window.

[ridgeline2006]

I would think they pay those engineer at Honda very good money to come up with a design for the Ridgeline. There is nothing wrong with the design that they came up with. Don't fight success!!!!

[fredridge]

06grn
I would like to lower mine one of these days, but to avoid some of the issues I would love to do an air suspension. Hopefully someone like air ride will come up with one.

Also, I am amazed at how so many people on this forum think that nothing can b e improved over the original engineering. Improvement is always possible, whether it is factory or aftermarket. That is why there are tuners out there for Porsche.

[mugen1]

Originally Posted by fredridge

06grn
Also, I am amazed at how so many people on this forum think that nothing can b e improved over the original engineering. Improvement is always possible, whether it is factory or aftermarket. That is why there are tuners out there for Porsche.

Absolutely agree with you. For the majority, stock is fine, but for some, like you, it is a challenge. Original engineering compromises performance for comfort and production considerations.

Too bad about the bad experience with the lowering. It looks great. If the camber had been set correctly somehow, it may have worked.

[ChrisM]

Originally Posted by 06grnridge

Hi folks,

After about 2,500 miles on the lower set up (Spring Tech springs) I decided to go back to stock...why?

Here are my reasons:

1. Rear camber negative offset was 1.90 degrees --- that is pretty bad guys
2. Rough ride, at times unbearable
3. With the tow hitch mounted, the front of the car is higher by about .3-.5", since the rear seems to sag a bit
4. You pretty much loose the towing ability and the cargo...only about 400 will put so much stress on the rear axle that the mufler is about 3'' off the ground.
5. No available camber kit - an none in R&D
6. ONE OF THE REAR SHOCKS STARTED LEAKING - NOT NECESSARILY LINKED TO THE LOWER SUSPENSION, BUT VERY COINCIDENTAL TO ME.

It looked awesome if you could get over the camber issue for the rear axle and you get lots of people looking at your truck like it came from Mars...

I will reconsider later an Eibach pro-kit, with a 1.5'' drop and a proper camber kit. I have a feeling that no other reputable suspension company will develop any kits for this truck...too bad the upper arm is not adjustable.

THINK VERY HARD BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO DO IT...IT ALSO COST ME ABOUT $1,000 (including 2 installations, 2 awd alignments and the spring set)

Did the alignment tech adjust the camber on the rear end of your RL after it was lowered? There is a way to adjust the camber about 2 degrees that is already built into the vehicle. The reason I ask this is that most if all Hondas share this camber issue when lowered and some alignment techs no nothing of how to adjust the rear camber on a Honda. I have to admit that used to do alignments when I worked as a mechanic and didn't know about the camber adjustment either because I never had to use it because I never aligned any lowered Hondas. I had this same issue when I lowered my 3rd gen Accord. It took 3 alignment techs all staring at my setup to figure out that this adjustment actually existed. The first 2 had never even used this adjustment before.

The reason they had to do a group discussion in the first place was that the suspension was so modified on my Accord that none of them alone could figure out how to align it. The front suspension on the Accord has no camber adjustment so to get around this, many of us gutted 2nd gen Preludes of their front suspensions and modified them to fit on Accords. Now, the Accord could be dropped as much as 3 inches without an alignment problem and the tech had to end up using the alignment settings for a Prelude in the front and the settings for the Accord in the back. Using this combination, the car rode literally like it was on rails. You could exit pretty much any freeway exit ramp loop at 65 plus mph without even squealing the tires.

As a side note though, you have to drive the car very very gently if you don't want to go through struts on the car. One or 2 5" deep potholes was enough to fry a strut. This is because with the lowered suspension, you are operating the strut out of it's optimal range of travel. I suspect that we might have the same problem with lowered RL's.

[06grnridge]

There is nothing wrong with lowering trucks and cars if the proper parts are available...when I called the installation shop in Anaheim, CA they failed to mention the bad camber issue for the rear axle...there is a fix for the front axle...a longer bolt for the strut...the allignment shop took care of that for about $70...the front was within normal specs.

I am having the blown strut replaced under the Honda warranty...the dealer took it out and determined that it was just a normal wear and tear issue ( and they know the truck was lowered)...so did the experts at the allignment shop that swapped it back to stock springs. There are no signs of abuse and I drove the truck very carefully, due to the rougher ride cause by the new set up...never hit a pothole.

In my mind, a truck that is supposed to withstand a cargo weight of 600lbs, should be able handle a lower spring set up, without any issues...but again, I am not an engineer.

I will definitely consider lowering again, if the proper parts will be available...also, the rear should be lowered about .5'' less than the front, since the tow package will sag the rear a bit.

Honda

[toolz_not_toyz]

It really is a shame that practically no third-party products are available for the RL. And whatever is available isn't very high quality (for the most part). We're in the second model year now and we still can't build what's in the photo thanks to no skidplate, no lightbar, no dark-colored non-glossy flares, no dark-colored non-glossy side protectors, no bigger brakes (to go with those bigger tires). At least we can do the lift kit and install the plastic bumper guard...but we still can't recalibrate the speedo/odo. Geez.



PS: And I still think those original steps look better than the nerf bars that replaced them.

[Ruffles]

Sorry to hear about your expensive learning experience but I appreciate you posting your thoughts here for others. I've got the lift on mine and between that and my 20" rims, my ride is noticeable stiffer. I've thought about taking out but I like the look so much I'll just live with the ride. It's not a bad thing mind you, just feels like your in a sports car. Is that how yours felt?

[LadyRidge]

Originally Posted by Ruffles

Sorry to hear about your expensive learning experience but I appreciate you posting your thoughts here for others.

That's what I think too. That's what this forum is all about, sharing our experiences. Now I know NOT to do that.
Thanks for saving me the heartache.