Coilovers installed. tons questions please help.

[Ren]

I have installed the MR coilovers today. TOOK 5 hours for the first timer ever. good experience tho.

OK. those lower 2 bolts for the front are pain in the A$$. I dont have air tool. that was where i spent most of the hours on.

when I removed both (driver and pass side) front old dampers, why the drive side transverse link hanged lower than the pass side one? I was not able to lift it up to the point where the the holes meet. so i used a jack to lift the transverse link up. was that ok to do it?

another quesion, I am gonna lower the car 1.75" front and rear. what is the ideal preloading for the springs? this is for the MR coilovers and daily drive weekend drift based on. for s14

thank you. I know I have a lot of questions, please be kind and spread the knowledge.


Modified by Ren at 5:01 AM 3/10/2005

[Ren]

I just did another search. I foudn out that 0 preload is better. from nismo_freak

but, How could I find out how much preload on my spring? should i could the threads on the shock body? or measure the length?

[sr20power]

well to answer the first question about using the jack to lift up the transverse link, is ok...i'm no mechanic but i had to do the same thing.

for the second question about the preload setting...my brother found out from signal auto, that if you jack up the car (w/ wheel on) and look or feel if the spring has any play in it. if it does raise the spring perch so that it doesn't hav any play in it....

i hope this helps....

[Ceptos]

yes, you dont want any preload on your spring. i guess the coilovers are already on your car, or i would tell you to hold them upside down so the spring is resting on the top perch, turn the lower perch so it just touches the spring bottom, then turn the lower spring perch one additional full turn. if they are already on your car, same idea, just cant hold them upside down =)

also, if your rear coils use helper springs, the helper spring itself should have either an ideal ending length, or the amount it should be compressed. for example, i think my helper springs are like 80mm tall, and i had to compress them 40mm or something like that. so if you have those you may want to look into that.

and for rusty bolts, along with the usual pb blaster, try a length of pipe around the end of the wrench to add leverage...ive sheered a few sockets that way tho so be careful =) good luck

oh, and i lowered my s14 about an 1.5" front and 1.25" rear, and i wouldnt want to drive it any lower than that, i avoid speed bumps at all cost. but i live on the east coast and roads are horrible, so not trying to discourage you.

[Ren]

I live on east caost 2. roads suck big time. anway, I lowered my car 1.5 front and rear. still trying get use to the new settings.

[BomexS13]

well to answer the first question about using the jack to lift up the transverse link, is ok...i'm no mechanic but i had to do the same thing.

for the second question about the preload setting...my brother found out from signal auto, that if you jack up the car (w/ wheel on) and look or feel if the spring has any play in it. if it does raise the spring perch so that it doesn't hav any play in it....

i hope this helps....

Thanks for the info. Thats what I did today. I made an error lowering my Tein HE's. The bracket and the spring seats are all the way down the shock body. I also noticed that the shock is bottomed out when the car's not jacked(when its jacked the spring has 2-3 inches off the upper spring seat. Yes I know its retarded, I'm retarded, but you learn more through reading and searching.

So I jacked my car up. Coiled the seats to make the spring have not play, at the same time coiled the bracket all the way up the spring seaT. Since its basically moving teh seat/bracket from the bottom to somewhere in the middle of the shock body, I thought the car's height is the same.....I guess not. I posted some pics in teh genearl chat so see how low the car is.

[Neejay]

well to answer the first question about using the jack to lift up the transverse link, is ok...i'm no mechanic but i had to do the same thing.

for the second question about the preload setting...my brother found out from signal auto, that if you jack up the car (w/ wheel on) and look or feel if the spring has any play in it. if it does raise the spring perch so that it doesn't hav any play in it....

i hope this helps....

Maybe thats my problem (my springs are twisting when I turn my steering wheel even though the perches and strut bolt are tightened).

So you're saying that there shouldnt be ANY space/play between the top hat and the bottom perch?

[sr20power]

hey we all learn somehow...my bro took his car to signal auto and they told him that he had it wrong too, just the way you had it.

so happy to pass on the info...

[sr20power]

i don't quite understand what you mean by twisting? when you turn the steering wheel?

but yeah there should be no space bet the spring sit and the spring sit lock...

[Neejay]

i don't quite understand what you mean by twisting? when you turn the steering wheel?

but yeah there should be no space bet the spring sit and the spring sit lock...

Its like if you grabbed around the spring and twisted it around.

I figured out my problem. I put the pillow collar in the wrong spot (under the spring hat). So there was a lot of space and spring play until I lowered the car.

When I reinstalled the spring hat and pillow collar the right way, there wasnt any spring space or play. Voila, no more spring noises.