Hey guys,

I got my set. They are red. I've converted the rears into "true" form, however, the spring does not sit tight on the shock. It has room to move up and down. Is that normal? Tackling the install this saturday.

 

No theat is definitely not normal! It should fit nice and snug/tight in there.. you should've used the rubber large washers from the red metal seats of the mdu and placed 1 on top and 1 on bottom of the spring and then spin the collars up till you touch the spring and you'll have to keep tightening till the spring is compressed to 190mm..the spring is 200mm uncompressed so compress it 10mm..its not easy to do with the collars but I grabbed it by the threads and turned it to compress it more..DO not install if you can move the spring..you will not enjoy the outcomes...hope this gets you on the right path

 

And the install isn't bad at all even by yourself like I had to do..with a floor jack an oem jack..a set of 19/17/12 rathetcing wrenches and a socket set I did it on my own..and an impact gun to remove the bottom shock /sway bolts..pain in the wahoo..I strongly suggest the impact gun..I got an electrical one from harbor freight for $30 its red and after a couple tries it'll free any bolt..worth it...and I would make sure you have all the hardware before install..I was missing the rear hardware since the oem shocks have a threaded area built into the shock for the bottom bolt and the coilovers are straight thru so I had to buy 2 nuts/washers. So make sure or atleast make sure u can get a ride to the hardware store cause autoparts store won't have the right thread nut..and another thing..most ppl take the front a arma out to remove and install suspension..save yourself some trouble and use the oem jack inbetween the a arm and the top wheel well and jack it so it goes down still connected..those bolts are a pain!

 

Hmmm, I Don't remember seeing any rubber washers that I can install. I'll look tonight when I get back home.

 

Thanks for the tips.

 

Would anyone have pics of those rubber washers that need to be used to install rear's in a true form? Also, will regular clamps be enoough to compress the spring by 10 mms?

 

I don't have pics since they are on the car but the mdus came with the oem style spring metal seats..they have these rubber washers sitting on them..both bottom and top metal circular seats have the rubber in them..just pull them off and use them =)

And I guess you could use something..but I wouldn't use clams..harbor freight sells spring compressor style clams for $15..but you really don't need them..10mm isn't much..I did it by hand..and I'm only 150lbs so I know anyone can lol

 

Look back at post #49. I posted a pic of my coilovers and if you look at the spring perches on the right you can see the black rubber washers. If I recall correctly they came on the spring perches. They are thin rubber washers. I hope that helps.

 

Hey fellas,

Well, after all day wrenching on Saturday, I finally got them on along with Megan Racing camber arms. The install did not go as smooth as I planned but it is done. I lowered the car another two inches (I had 350z suspension before which is an inch drop). Now onto the questions:

1. Can someone share a fast way for adjusting dampening setting in the rear? That is without taking off the rear shock. If there is a way....
2. Can I adjust the height without taking the shocks off? I assume not, but I thought I'd ask since someone in this thread mentioned that it takes 10 mins to adjust all four sides. I cannot see how that time frame is possible.
3. I set my fronts on 8/18 setting and 6/18 in the rear. It is a bit bouncy in the back. I also get a noise when going over bumps at about 50 mph. It sounds like the shock does not extend out fast enough and catches air. Any ideas?
4. I didn't get any negative camber in the rear? I was expecting the wheels to be inside of the fender and they are still poking out as they did without a slight change. Now, I did have rear camber kit put on couple of months ago and had an alignment done. Car was put to spec. Maybe I just need to ask my alignment guy to add some negative camber when I get it realigned?


Thanks for all the help. I took pics but for some reason the camera did not save them and I am very mad about it.

 

1) Do you have reclining rear seats? If so just slide the seat back forward, remove the cover (velcro) and viola easy access. If not I think that you will need an extender, there are a few write-ups on here.
2) To adjust the front, loosen the locking rings and twist the threaded strut body to raise/lower it, then retighten the locking rings and you're done. For the rear you can adjust the shock the same way, but I've had to remove the spring (OE set-up) and perch to make height adjustments. In true form you can adjust the rear the same as the front. Just put some gloves on and grab ahold and twist. Another option is to remove the bolt on the lower shock mount, loosen the locking collars and spin the lower shock mount to raise/lower it.
3) I get that same noise on my passenger side. I plan to look into that this week when I make a few adjustments to my suspension. Did you set it up in true coilover form or OE? When I changed to true form it got rid of some of the bounce.
4) Did you just now install the rear camber arms or where they already on? You mention that you installed the coilovers along with the megan racing camber arms, but then say that you put it on a couple months ago?

 

I don't have rear reclyning seats. I'll look for write ups on the extender.

I see. I will have to play around with the height. I was hoping for an easier way to do the height adjustment. Thanks

I set them up in true form right away. I believe 6 clicks should be pretty stiff, however, I also believe that the stiffness is the reason for the sound in the rear.

Sorry, I should've been more clear. I had rear camber arms put on a couple of months ago due to having a Z suspension. I also had the car aligned at that time. On Saturday I just installed the front camber arms.

 

Weird..my back seats go forward but there's still no access to the rear damper adjustment..I'm pretty sure the only way is by extenders or cutting a hole to access by hand....here's the way I did it to adjust damper in rear on oem form..just jack the car up so have wheel gap and undo only the 2 top rear shock bolts and compress them to access the damper *****..turn accordingly and uncompress them back into the bolts..tighten and bam..don't have to take rear wheels off or anything...but in true form you can't do that since you can't compress shock by hand due to springs...in true form for all 4 corners only way to adjust damper and height is to remove everything..

 

Another issue I forgot to mention was that my rear upper mount hardware (two nuts) cannot be installed with the spring compressed. The little washer that is attached creates an edge and will not go pass the spring when trying to put on the bolt. I had to lower the spring, tighten everything in the upper mount and compress the spring again.

Also, did you guys put pre-load on the front spring as well? Springs were mounted obviously but they were not compressed at all on my front struts.

 

from my understanding, you have to drill a hole if you have a coupe.. There is no easy access.. For most people, if you want to adjust the rear, you have to take the whole shock out.

The sedans however, do have easy access..

The BC racing coil extender I've "heard" works, but I don't know how much alteration is necessary..

 

I have a sedan. What is the easy access point? I haven't had a chance to search yet.