To those who have lowered your smarts

[SMART]

Hey guys,

I'm planning on lowering the smart but have a few questions. After lowering do you find your front bumped scraping on driveway entrances, etc? How about in the rear any scraping on steep entrances or large hills from flat roads?

Thanks,
SMART

[randyzimmer]

H&R from Tire Rack.
Went on pretty EZ.
Couldn't believe I needed to compress the front springs to remove them,
I let the first one fly and had to chase all the parts down the drive.

I used a scissors jack in the back from the toe link mount on the hub to the frame rail (about 30 degrees angled) and it worked great for getting them in and out.

The ride is not bad, a little stiffer but less rocking too.
I actually think it is better all around.
The rear is 1 inch lower, the front 3/4" lower.

I know Smartster's was very low and very hard.
Made driving 10+ days painful.

This is what it looks like with the H&R and 175s on the stock front wheels.

[Smart09]

very nice. even though i will drop it a tini tiny bit more

[GHammerly]

I like the mild drop with the H&R set up, looks great and still practical for daily driving and a low enough spring rate that the stock shock absorbers can cope.

[randyzimmer]

Originally Posted by SMART

Hey guys,...
...How about in the rear any scraping on steep entrances or large hills from flat roads?
Thanks,
SMART

Sorry, didn't answer the above.
With no overhang, you'll never scrape anything.
With such a short wheelbase, the only way you'll get high-centered is if you go over a speed bump that's higher than your ground clearance.
Chances are you could get to 3-1/2" and get away with it - that's low!

[4-2NV]

Looks great! Any issues or concerns with camber? What was that special tool you used?

[artificial]

12345

[randyzimmer]

When you look at the little buggers on the front, they look like paper clips bent into a spring.
They are pretty long when installed so a compressor is needed.
The H&R are shorter but much larger dia. so those need just an inch of compression to get them on.
The rears are 1/2 way up the swing arm so they're much beefier.
I started to shorten a compressor but then thought I'd try the jack trick and that made it easy to take them in and out.
Lift the whole end you need to change, you don't want to work against the sway bar in front or the tube in back by twisting them.
The special tools are all the Torx tools and an impact swivel for the top front shock nut. You need a deep 13/16 for the second front shock nut but that's an old spark plug size so that's ez too.
Mark the wiper positions before removing them, easier to do the adjusting and removing with the cowl loose.
Camber?
Looks negative instead of positive in the front now so the A arms must be level at ride height - didn't look - but makes sense.

[jkirsch]

According to the Smart brochure, the Brabus version is lowered only 15 mm (~19/32 of an inch.) This is just for reference, and I think Randy's H&R setup looks quite nice.

Jeff