car wont go over speed bumps

ok so iv had my toyota yaris now since last june.its one of them from the colour collection and its bout 2 years old the problem is that the guy who had it before has kitted it up and the car seems lower than other cars?is this cos of the tyres or cos of the side panels?its really annoying because when i go over certain speed bumps it scraps the bottom of the car so i have to be careful which 1s i go over.does anyone know which it is...the tyres or the panels?thanx

Reply 1

AT82

The suspension is too low. A lot of boy racers think it is cool to lower the suspension ignoring the fact there is not a enough ground clearence. I hope your cat convertor is not damaged otherwise it is going to cost a lot of money to put things right.

Reply 2

digitalparadox

1

It could be either....probably need a picture. But even if you knew what it was, would you actually take them off?

Reply 3

Né Stig

15

Both!
Fron lower spoiler may be too low. The T-sport is low enough, any lower any you may have problems.

If he's decided to get larger wheels, then most likely he has dropped the suspension by about 20mm-30mm perhaps. This all contributes. You can get the suspension back to normal by taking off the new springs and putting the old ones back on. Fairly expensive mind.

Reply 4

Kingspharm

10

Probably a lowered suspension kit as already said - they might improve the ride and make it a bit less bumpy, but in a city with speed bumps, they are a proper pain in the ass.

Reply 5

AT82

The other problem is insurance, you need to inform your insurance company of any modifications otherwise your policy is likely to be void. My dad had a punto with alloy wheels and even that put the premium up a bit.

Reply 6

Né Stig

15

AT82

The other problem is insurance, you need to inform your insurance company of any modifications otherwise your policy is likely to be void. My dad had a punto with alloy wheels and even that put the premium up a bit.

Don't tell them. I know it could all go horribly wrong, but I risk it on mine.
I have a 3.5" scorpion exhaust and the insurers want an extra monkey for that! Cheeky gits. So I don't bother informing them. If I told them about my ICE, well that gets even more ridiculous. Were looking at 3.5k for insurance in 1 year :biggrin:

If you have an accident, the insurers won't come out. If your car is a complete write off that has come off in a field, then your right in the sh*t.

Reply 7

Khadijah

OP

well bein the girl that i am i no nothing about suspension etc...could i not just pay someone somewhere to sort it out?or is it better to sell the car and buy a new one

Reply 8

lovelee-jublee

12

It makes me laugh when I see boy racers who go super fast down flat roads, but when coming to speed bumps or down a dropped kerb they drive like snails!!! :p:

Like on Top Gear when they couldn't get the cars out of the Parisian underground car park! :rolleyes:

Reply 9

Khadijah

OP

i saw that...i felt it could realte somehow...its not that bad in my area but out of nowere theyv just started putting these black square speed bumps which i wuldnt even try taking it over...

Reply 10

Né Stig

15

There is a block of private flats near me which had its underground car park all redone because the residents couldn't get there Ferarri's, Lambo's etc into the car park! So funny. Anyway:

Khadijah - If its a barry boyed Yaris - I would personally sell it anyway; regardless. You can pay someone to do it reverse the suspension. Any modification shop will do it for you, but it might look stupid the fact your car is 30mm higher and running on 17"s with enough space between the tyre and chassis to hide a football. If its just panels that are causing it - I don't really know what to suggest. Thats up to you.

Reply 11

AT82

Personaly I would sell the car, the reason being is that a lot of cars with suspension kits tend to be driven hard, if cars are driven hard it causes problems like head gasket failures due to the exessive heat the engine generates.

Providing nothing is damaged it shouldn't cost more than £300 to fix it.

Reply 12

bananas1234

13

I think it will be the suspension

Reply 13

chaoringmeister

Methinks you need to fit some hydrualic suspensions so you can give the car a boost up a couple of inches so you can get over them!

Reply 14

Ghost

20

Have you tried going over the bumps at an angle? i.e. Just before you get to the bump, turn right abit, and go over the bump slowly. It should get you a little bit more clearance. If you're only getting mild scraping, it may just be your mud flaps hitting the bumps. I have an unmodded Corsa that needs alot of care when going over bumps too!

Reply 15

Khadijah

OP

well the mud flap on 1 side is lower than the other neway iv included sum pictures incase the help.i dont think theyr very clear tho...sorry!

it was taking to long to do it....or i dont know how...

Reply 16

Pookie

1

AT82

Personaly I would sell the car, the reason being is that a lot of cars with suspension kits tend to be driven hard, if cars are driven hard it causes problems like head gasket failures due to the exessive heat the engine generates.

Providing nothing is damaged it shouldn't cost more than £300 to fix it.

This made me laugh, if driving a car hard causes excessive heat and then headgasket failure then I seriously suggest there is something wrong with the cooling system on that car. It is good to drive a car hard once in a while it clears all the crap out of them, more so on diesels than on petrols.

Most people with lowering suspension do it to improve the handling of the car.

Reply 17

Né Stig

15

Yeah, driving a car hard is OK depending on how the car is set up in my opinion. Antifreeze is also a wonderful feature.

But this is a Yaris 1.1 probably, so driving the car hard is not going to do it any favours.

Reply 18

G4ry

1

Dare i say what were you doing buy a car from someone like that? The owner most probably ragged it from cold and drove like an idiot - i'd still well clear of a car like that. Anyway, as people have said the suspension's probably too low, knowing the guy he probably didn't even put lower springs on and tried to lower it himself.