So I installed my BC Racing coilovers, PowerGrid end links, and SPC toe bolts last night. I didn't install the Cusco A arms because I didn't have the conical bushing, so I'll be going at it for round 2 this weekend hopefully.

I was wondering if people could answer some questions for me:

1) The end links just need to connect the sway and end link mount and elongated enough where the end link joints aren't twisted, correct? What I mean by twisted is that they are facing their respective surfaces without too much bend in either direction off the ball joint. After tightening the jam nuts in between the end link pieces, I don't need to do anything special to them besides this right? How do I adjust for pre-load and all that stuff? Is that basically what I am doing by adjusting the end links to a proper length?

2) I never had a sports suspension on a car before, but I've had air suspension. I am getting kind of a clunking noise coming from the back when I go over harder bumps. I remember my Denali w/ air suspension doing this too on rough patches of road, but I just wanted to make sure if this is normal as well on these types of setups. I don't think anything is loose in there, because the rear spring was definitely compressed back up in order to put all the spring arm bolts back in and etc. Maybe it's coming from the top of the shock? Which also wouldn't make sense if it were loose, since it's in there good.

Bottom line: is this noise normal when going over bumpy roads? (I have my dampers set at max hard.)

 

You'll have to get the car corner weighted to determine how much preload you have dialed in at each corner. And how much preload you have really is dependent on how you want your car to perform at the track. With no preload, the only load on spring at static is the car weight.

No the noise is not normal. I'd check all your connections. It may be the end links.

 

Would you happen to have any pics of what the end links should look like installed? That would help me the most.

(I want to see how they are adjusted, not where they get attached to )

 

go to this thread...there are pics of my power grids installed. you want the end link to be directly parallel with the sway bar and the attached arm.

with the height set the way it is now, you could remove the preload from the sway bars as is. to take full advantage of the coilover setup and adjustable endlinks, you would have to get the car corner balanced. however, if all you want to do is make sure all four corners are the same height, then you could remove the preload on the sway bars by adjusting the end links unti the adjusting rod is "loose" (meaning you could turn it by your fingers about 1/4 turn).

since the BC coils are in the OEM spot, do what Moog says and check all your nuts/bolts and make sure they are at the proper spec (and no, hand tight +1/2 turn does not count). also make sure that your endlinks are installed properly.

 

Alright. Yeah, I checked them yesterday and made sure to follow the adjustment directions properly and they are all perfect. I also took it to my mech and he suggested that the first place he would look would be the springs and shocks on the rear (where the noise is coming from), because I haven't adjusted the height and made sure that it is not giving the spring or shock some room to freefall during driving.

This knocking sound occurs when I go over bumps that cause the rear to drop down after passing the said bump. It doesn't happen on the way up, for example. His suggestion makes sense. I'll try to adjust the back today, but will get it checked out for sure tomorrow.

 

definitely adjust the rear if you suspect you are hitting the bump stop. make sure you start off at the specified reference height.

 

I don't think it's the bump stop, it's more like when the suspension arms move down, there is some free space for the shock or spring to momentarily lose touch with the car or the arm and then come back down again.

 

well that's even worse! definitely check the reference ride height. since both the spring and shock assembly are height adjustable, adjust the spring perch so that at no load (meaning the car up in the air), the spring will not slip out of the perch or "lose contact" with the car. this also ensures that you remove spring preload (meaning the spring is not compressed when the car is up in the air).

 

So for that I should just loosen the perch and rotate it higher (counter-clockwise) to unload the spring more? What about the shock though? Would I adjust the shock shorter (more the shock perch/stop higher and rotate the shock clockwise) in order to increase movement in the back?

Sorry for all the questions. I haven't had time to take it to a mech and the instructions that came with the coilovers are terrible and half are in Engrish . So basically I am trying to adjust this on my own until the car gets some mech time.

 

okay, this may sound confusing and you'll probably have to read it a couple of times. you don't have to unbolt anything.

1. raise car by rear diff
2. lower the adjustment perch on the shock - this will bring the rear arm down; at this point, the spring should start coming loose from its perches
3. loosen the spring perches with the spanner
4. raise the spring perch so that the spring makes contact with the upper perch
5. raise the adjustment perch on the shock - this will bring the rear arm up.
6. as you are raising on the shock, simultaneously lower on the spring perch. (the goal is to not load the spring - during this step, you should be able to wiggle the spring around slightly.
7. repeat step (6) until you reach the reference height specified in the manual.
8. if you ever want to adjust the ride height, you must repeat step 6. if you adjust one and not the other you will either preload the spring, or allow the spring to jump its perch.

for the front - here is a link to the adjustment for JIC FLT-A2's. you will be using the exact same thing for yours as it is pretty much the same design.

 

thanks man... no idea about where the height should be though. I like the height where it is right now, but it's making that noise.

 

well if you lift the car, and the spring wiggles around, that's most likely where the noise is coming from. if that's the case, you have to adjust the perch on the shock in order to raise the spring up (this will change your ride height). but note where you start from, and do step 6 to try and maintain the height that you want.

 

i had exact same sound after my tein basic and swap bar installed~O~. 3~4months of driving..~~ nth wrong, i dindt' worry about that much~~since many ppl got weird sound after the coilover installed~

 

I tried adjusting the stuff the other night. The spring is snug in there when the car is lifted. It doesn't wiggle, that's what is surprising. I didn't really do much except lower the spring perch an equal amount on both sides and decreased the shock length about roughly the same amount. I figured if the spring is tighter and the shock is a bit shorter then it would remove any of this possible free movement the spring might be getting. It didn't fix anything though.

Going to mech tomorrow.

 

hmmm...maybe the clunk is coming from the pillow ball mount...