Help with coil-over suspension

polopowah · Post by **polopowah** » Wed Mar 03, 2004 4:06 pm

can anyone help me?
right i've received my new spax coil-over kit from demon tweeks
and am looking into fitting it myself along with my dad, the only bugger was when they arrived the spring wasnt actually on the dampers!
so i've had to ask around for a spring compression tool, got that, now hopefully if all goes well we'll be doing it next wednesday

does anyone know of any guides on the internet showing a step-by-step procedure for fitting coil-overs? just as an aid

plus how low u reckon i should drop the car? given that the kit drops 30-70mm
-Ben-

Speedlaw · Post by **Speedlaw** » Wed Mar 03, 2004 8:53 pm

IIRC, the springs on coilovers do not need to be pretensioned when fitting. The old springs (mcpherson) DO, however. In any case, when fitting the coilovers, you can try and see if they go on by hand (as mine did). There's probably not even enough room to fit the tensioners on the coilies anyway.

The coilovers are no different in fitting than the regular springs and dampers.

Important (or, I think it is anyway):

Replace ALL self locking nuts and bolts. Don't cost a fortune, will save you worries.

polopowah · Post by **polopowah** » Thu Mar 04, 2004 9:38 pm

right cheers for that, hopefully gonna do it this sunday, just gotta get a few bits from halfords
will post sum piccies when its done

obviously it aint gonna be as low as yours lowdub

Speedlaw · Post by **Speedlaw** » Fri Mar 05, 2004 7:08 pm

polopowah wrote:right cheers for that, hopefully gonna do it this sunday, just gotta get a few bits from halfords
will post sum piccies when its done
obviously it aint gonna be as low as yours lowdub

Probably will be lower. It's in 4x4 mode right now

Saved me a bit of scraping over the winter months. Well a bit anyway.

polopowah · Post by **polopowah** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 4:01 pm

well its taken us about 6 hours to finally get off the front left suspension compress one of the springs onto a damper (using various tools) never buy Spax Rsx suspension if you gonna do it D.I.Y style, because you cant get a grip when doing the lock nut up (no room for an allen key) its seriously a fukced up design and all spax makers should be shot!
so its going very slowly atm
should get both front done by tonite, hopefully
-Ben-

Speedlaw · Post by **Speedlaw** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 4:55 pm

My KW's were assembled within 30 minutes, even quicker if I didn't misplace the helper springs.

Good luck!

polopowah · Post by **polopowah** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 9:12 pm

all done

i've gone -75mm all round, but just one niggle
its kinda bumpy the ride at the mo
i've got adjustable dampers, that are set quite hard, if i set them softer will this improve the cars bouncy characteristics?
i had to take the rear mudguards off so the wheels wouldnt rub
-Ben-

Speedlaw · Post by **Speedlaw** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 9:49 am

Well... Is it firm, or bouncy? If you're dampers are set to 'hard' the ride should be firm, not really bouncy. Mine are now set to 'soft', and it made the ride somewhat more bouncy - the rebound of the dampers is less restricted so it tends to bounce up a bit more than it did.

Made any sense?

polopowah · Post by **polopowah** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 11:04 am

it was bloody firm!! feel it through my back
i had to raise the back up 10mm cos it was slightly rubbing so the backs at -65 and front -75 also i took the rear mud guards out again to stop scrubbage
obviously i cant get a comfortable ride now!
i think i've got it set just right now, im not rubbing which is good, i can go over speed bumps, but sumtimes when i slow down the springs creak a little, well its done it twice in about 20 miles of road, is that normal??
-Ben-

polopowah · Post by **polopowah** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 8:19 pm

i think i am lower than u lowdub
though not sure if its legal

low is good

jakethesnake · Post by **jakethesnake** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 8:51 pm

What size wheels and tyres you got there ? they look quite big to me.

polopowah · Post by **polopowah** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 9:00 pm

their 16's with 195,45,15 yoko tyres
-Ben-

harry · Post by **harry** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 9:56 pm

the lower the better..car is looking good.

jakethesnake · Post by **jakethesnake** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 11:33 pm

Your car does look good, I like the colour especially.
I need to get my wheels sorted, get some tyres and then get them on !.

Nelson · Post by **Nelson** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 11:39 pm

polopowah wrote:their 16's with 195,45,15 yoko tyres
-Ben-

That's quite impressive, getting 15" tyres on 16" rims!