How pro cars coilovers are setup for drift?

[OM3GA]

I notice more and more that pro drift cars are slammed however this must mean that there is no pre load on the spring at all and when you jack up the car you can just move the spring up and down and its all floppy I thought this was BAD lol Im afraid that im not going to be able to go low enough in the rear because the sleeve is going to bottom out in the bracket that holds it so the only thing thats left to do would be to loosen the preload collars for the spring.

What is your feedback on this? I do realize when you set the car down obviously the spring gets compressed yea but that can not be a good feeling or controllable car at all IMO what exactly do you do?

Does anyone have Tein super drifts? How low do they go in the back without taking the spring preload? Mine are simply resting on the spring so it does not flop up and down

This car is a good height how did they acheive this without unseating the spring? Or does it not matter?

and these too



Modified


Modified by OM3GA at 9:26 PM 3/22/2009

[tramp_drift240]

i have super drifts.

and i slam my car.

it handles well, in my opinion.

and, i droop.

from the get go, i said screw preload. ive drooped my coils since i pulled them out of the box.

[OM3GA]

lol and you drift it and everything? how much droop are we talkin here and also have you tried seeing how low it will go without drooping the springs?Post pics of your car please lol

[tramp_drift240]

my CURRENT car doesnt have my coilovers on it yet. it should tomorrow.

and theyre drooped a good bit. i still did my drift thing, cut through mountain roads and stuff.

my sig pic is probably the best picture ive got. it wasnt super slammed, but i really dislike wheel gap. theyll be drooped more, im sure, once i get my wheels and stuff installed this week.

[OM3GA]

hahaha damn how did the car feel slidding? Im basically trying to get it low enough to have no gap at all with 17x9.5s and 235 40 series tires i want it to barely tuck but still tuck.

[tramp_drift240]

how did it feel sliding?

uhhh stiff? hahahah

[OM3GA]

haha i know that but i mean was it controllable? lol

[tramp_drift240]

yeah id say it was. and will be again.

[Chris28]

I mean you are going to have to hit a pretty big bump and get some serious air for the no pre-load issue to be a problem. I have my coils as low as I can go and when my car is jacked up I have about of inch of up and down movement on the front and about .5 inches out back. Any quality coilover will make your car feel 100 times better while drifting since body roll is reduced significantly.

Edit: After re-reading your post I don't think you are understanding how the spring actually seats. The spring never comes out of contact with the top or bottom spring seat. When you go over a bump they are compressed more, pushing onto the collars/seats with that much more force. The seat is designed so the spring "locks" into it, it's not going to mover around the way I think you are describing to to.

[tramp_drift240]

yeah, as long as the cars weight is on the suspension, the springs not going anywhere. but youll be able to move the spring around when theres no weight on them if you droop 'em

[OM3GA]

yea i know how it works over the bumps but im saying for when pulling in places etc.. its just going to fall down and then reseat and make all kinds of horrible noises as it settles again lol

There are 2 ways to adjust the coilovers to achieve the desired ride height. One way is to move the spring perch up and down, the other is to thread in/out the lower bracket to shorten/lengthen the coilover assembly.

When you move the spring perch upwards, you are compressing the spring. As the spring compresses, it exerts a force on the upper mount of the coilover. So when the weight of the car is placed on the upper mount, the weight would have to overcome the spring tension in order to compress the spring any further. Placing the spring under tension is called "pre-loading" the spring.

Moving the spring perch upwards (preloading) raises the ride height, moving the spring perch down lowers the ride height. To adjust the spring perch, make sure lower bracket is tight (lock nut is tightened against bracket), then use spanner to rotate the perch. Put a hand on the shock body to make sure just the perch is moving, and the shock itself is not rotating. Tip: Make a mark on the spring perch so you can tell how many turns you are rotating the perch.

The other way to adjust the height is to shorten or lengthen the coilover assembly. You can do this with the coilover installed on the car as long as you do not have too much preload on the spring - loosen the lock nut on the lower bracket, then grip the shock body and twist the shock body itself. You can also place a mark on the shock body to count the number of turns you are doing. You want to make sure your left and right coilovers have the same assembly length.

Which method should you use? Preloading the spring allows more stroke/travel for the shock, which is very important; if the shock stroke/travel is too short you will be constantly hitting the bump stop. However, preloading the spring too much can create problems - it would become easier for the tire to lift off the ground when the weight transfers away from that corner, and it would also effectively increase the spring rate.

So ideally you want to preload the spring to where you get sufficient shock stroke/travel, and get your remaining ride height through the lengthening/shortening the coilover assembly.

You can use a ziptie tied around the shock piston to check the maximum stroke/travel - tie it round the bottom and when the shock compresses the ziptie will be moved upwards. If it reaches the upper mount you may not have sufficient stroke/travel.

[tramp_drift240]

was that a copy and paste job?

because im pretty sure that all involved real, true, performance.

not super sweet slammed drifting, flush or tucking sexiness.

right?

also, ive never been driving, pulling in or out of a driveway or parking lot, and had my spring unseat and clunk around as it re-settles. ever.

[Chris28]

My coils only have the collars so I adjust it that way...I guess I can only adjust pre-load. Yeah when I'm pulling into my driveway or anywhere where 1 wheel comes off the ground I guess there is the chance for movement then, but if you are going up an incline where that happens you would be going literally less than 2 mph, and as soon as the wheel gets weight on it again the spring is going to reseat itself correctly, it's not going to be like half on the perch and half off.

[OM3GA]

was that a copy and paste job?

because im pretty sure that all involved real, true, performance.

not super sweet slammed drifting, flush or tucking sexiness.

right?

also, ive never been driving, pulling in or out of a driveway or parking lot, and had my spring unseat and clunk around as it re-settles. ever.

Yeah that was on SPL's website, I know about real true performaning suspension setups thats why i am so afraid of doing things the flush slammed super stylish drift way (how i want my car)because i dont know if its actually the best setup for drifting or if it truly doesnt matter.. I suppose my knowledge of suspension geometry does not matter in driftin at all either because the geometry is so thrown off when the car is sideways it does not matter at all.

I suppose i really need to think about the coilovers that do not have any height adjustment besides the preload adjustment. Thats just the way their designs are, I suppose the coilovers with 2 different adjustments are to just further expand adjustability. So basically if it is not low enough with the spring snugged in than i guess its time to lower the spring collars.

The main concern is that I know for a fact that the fronts will go low enough with the spring snug however the back will not.. I just feel like something is going to be thrown off haha

[tramp_drift240]

dude youll be fine.

you cant adjust the body/mount in the rear since its a closed end design. im pretty sure.

just droop 'em. youll be fine.

[OM3GA]

ok cool lol i hope so i was thinking about cutting the ends off lol i dont see why they are closed end in the first place?Id probably just extend the end.. lol I have a hold design drawn up im pretty sure it would work out amazingly...

[S13Teddy]

I have my coilovers maxxed out with no collars all around. Still handles good.

[tramp_drift240]

right on teddy.

[OM3GA]

I have my coilovers maxxed out with no collars all around. Still handles good.

Yeah dude i know your car is so retarded low its hot haha im just going to have to try it and see lol i just need want it to be predictable like it is now but it needs to be wayy more sexy. Dude you better be drifting with that damn blow up doll i bought you haha.

[newdude1]

So when you go that low how do you not worry about the wiring harness in the fenders?

[ChampaignSilviaS14]

I don't think I have this problem, my coilovers in the front are set at about midway with preload, and my rears are almost all the way up with preload and my car is still slammed. I am pretty sure if you want to be like that green car up there you should get parts shop max coilovers or something of the like. I run them and they can go so low my frame can sit on the ground.

[S13Teddy]

So when you go that low how do you not worry about the wiring harness in the fenders?

You will need to pull up your wiring harness. Look in the picture above the wheel, you can see that the harness was pulled above the lip in the wheel well.

[night240]

teddy, car is sweet.

[OM3GA]

Yeah teddys car is sooo sexy! I have already tucked the harnesses and pounded the seems etc.. ready for slammage once i figure everything out haha.