adjusting GC coilovers accurately? question.

[dsprimal]

Hey everyone. So I decided to drop the rear about another half an inch so I would get an all around dropped even look. The rear was slightly higher than the front. So as i'm doing so. I decided to count the threads from the bottom of the coilover all the way up to where the gold plate that holds the spring was.

I counted 19 threads from the bottom of the sleeve to the bottom of the gold twist plate on the LEFT rear and 13 threads on the RIGHT rear side.

I've read up on how some people usually leave the driver side a bit higher than the passanger side cause YOU are the one sitting on the driver side at all times.

So I went ahead and measured 4 threads which roughly equaled half an inch. I twisted both sides down 4 threads.

The amount of threads left on the left side from the bottom of the thread sleeve to the bottom of the gold twist plate is now 15 threads and the left side is now down to 9 threads on the right side.

After I was done, I looked at my car on flat ground and it seems the rear is now a tad bit lower than the front! (I know i'll just raise it a tad bit or lower the front more.)

Is the only way on getting an all around "even look" trial and error and a whole lot of EYE BALLING? and is it bad to have one side slightly higher than the other?

thanks for your time guys

 

[RealRabbit]

Did you measure the car itself? I know on my lexus it can appear the rear sets lower because the arch in the front is usually larger to accomodate for the wheels turning. So even when its level the rear tucks a bit and the front does not. Counting threads is all good usually. I prefer to either measure it with a measuring tape or make a mark on the (nut? lol) and count the number of turns I do. Getting the front even with the rear has a lot to do with trial and error though. It sounds like you're going about it the right way. Don't forget that a lot of times you have a different spring rate on the front and rear. So even if its even the softer spring will drop a little more so you need to raise it a tad more to accomodate that.

Good luck

 

[203CT]

^this could not say it better

 

[dsprimal]

Did you measure the car itself? I know on my lexus it can appear the rear sets lower because the arch in the front is usually larger to accomodate for the wheels turning. So even when its level the rear tucks a bit and the front does not. Counting threads is all good usually. I prefer to either measure it with a measuring tape or make a mark on the (nut? lol) and count the number of turns I do. Getting the front even with the rear has a lot to do with trial and error though. It sounds like you're going about it the right way. Don't forget that a lot of times you have a different spring rate on the front and rear. So even if its even the softer spring will drop a little more so you need to raise it a tad more to accomodate that.

Good luck

thanks man! measuring the car? what do you mean by that? where the top of the tire meets the fender? I also thought about how making the front and rear line up properly would be a bit annoying too. also I didn't realize how raising or lowering your springs by a couple threads would make such a difference!

 

[RealRabbit]

Yea, it never seems like much while you're doing it.

 

[Mysteryemotionz]

Personally I used a tape measure. I measured from the ground to the highest point on the fender. That's how I aligned my left to right. As far as front to back it's all eye ball. I got the drivers side to sit where I wanted to. Counted threads. Set the threads the same then measured the passenger side and made all my adjustments again. Took me 3 times on each side to get the stance I wanted

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[dsprimal]

Personally I used a tape measure. I measured from the ground to the highest point on the fender. That's how I aligned my left to right. As far as front to back it's all eye ball. I got the drivers side to sit where I wanted to. Counted threads. Set the threads the same then measured the passenger side and made all my adjustments again. Took me 3 times on each side to get the stance I wanted

Sent from my LG-E739 using Tapatalk

+1 on that method. never thought of that lol.

I had to raise my driver side a bit higher cause it seemed lower than the right side even though the right side is dropped down MORE threads than the driver side.....does that make any sense? or should I just do an even drop on both sides and ignore the tricks being played on my eyes lol? but then that'll cancel out my thought of having the driver side coils slightly higher than the passanger idea. I think I might need to look over the front struts and see the stance I had set for those if thats interfering with the stance of my rear coils.

also. huge noobie question. does it matter how you install the spring on the strut? the "Eibach" print on the spring is faced upright on the right side and upside down on the driver side. does that matter?

 

[RealRabbit]

+1 on that method. never thought of that lol.

I had to raise my driver side a bit higher cause it seemed lower than the right side even though the right side is dropped down MORE threads than the driver side.....does that make any sense? or should I just do an even drop on both sides and ignore the tricks being played on my eyes lol? but then that'll cancel out my thought of having the driver side coils slightly higher than the passanger idea. I think I might need to look over the front struts and see the stance I had set for those if thats interfering with the stance of my rear coils.

also. huge noobie question. does it matter how you install the spring on the strut? the "Eibach" print on the spring is faced upright on the right side and upside down on the driver side. does that matter?

Don't worry about the print. Worry about how the spring sets on the perch. If its setting right and solid then the print may or may not be right side up. I've had this happen a few times. It makes you second guess yourself for sure though. So, not a noob question at all.

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[dsprimal]

so pretty much it wouldn't matter which way I put the spring onto the strut right? one side isn't narrower or wider then the other?

 

[dsprimal]

2nd guessing myself. has anyone else adjusted their driver side coils to be a bit higher than the passenger side coils? or do you guys usually set all coils evenly? if so is it necessarily bad to have one slightly higher than the other?

also, i know a numerous amount of things come into play when debating the lifespan of coilovers/struts. But for a daily driver how long would konis/GC's last for being lowered? Obviously it doesn't last as long as if the ride height was higher since there would be less strain on the coils right?

thanks guys

 

[grumblemarc]

You're making this waaaay harder than it needs to be.

 

[civexspeedy]

You're making this waaaay harder than it needs to be.

^lol this.

When setting the height for the car, it needs to be on level ground. I find most people I know measure height from the center of the wheel to the lip of the fender. One thing you have to consider is that the corner weight of our cars is waaay out of wack. Front left is very heavy, front right is maybe a ~100lbs or so lighter, left rear is about a couple hundred lbs lighter than the left front and the right rear is a just little heavier than the left rear.. Another thing to consider is the front and rear shock spring perc locations in relation to the shock body. the front and rear shocks don't have the same dimensions and neither do the sleeves. So even if you had equal spring rates all around, set the spring perches all at the same height AND were on level ground, each corner of the car will not measure out the same height wise.

Ok so you start making ride height adjustments. Well, say you only raise one corner at a time, you're distributing weight to the direct opposite corner. So you raise the left front, the right rear will drop.. It's a bit of a balancing act and it does take time to get things pretty close to even as possible. But basically, what you're finding when setting the height is perfectly normal.

It doesn't matter which way the spring is facing. Coilover springs for our cars have the same putter diameters for both top and bottom and the spring rate does not change if flipped one way or another esp since these rates are linear.

This setup will last you years if properly installed, used and maintained. The Koni shocks are designed to work with high spring rates and lowered cars. The GC's are designed to lower cars and hold up to the rediculous abuse of racing and street driving. They will be fine. Use spring rates within the range that the Koni's can tolerate and try to keep your GC sleeves somewhat clean esp if you see rough winters. The sleeves and springs will last a very long time. How low/high you are has zero affect on their life span. The shocks are a wear item, they will eventually fail but with use of "correct" spring rates, a moderate drop and use of a bump stop, they'll last quite a while. .