for those of you running bc racing coils i have a question. I have the rear spring seated in the spring bucket so that there is enough tension to keep the spring in place but i am almost maxed out on threads. There is no part of the black thread sleeve coming down the center of the spring. I have read that you do not want any slack on this part of the suspension because it could cause the spring to pop out and that would be a whole other set of problems. I am looking to see if any of you have pics of your rear set up installed. now for the front... I purchased these used so there were already adjustments made to the front spring compression. Are there any specs available (what the spring length is when they come from bc?). am i hurting anything if the springs have too much compression in them? basically just want to get them as close to the specs as possible without having to uninstall/reinstall them. thanks in advance guys!!!

 

im in chicago area so if anyone has any good shops that would help me out it would be greatly appreciated. thanks

 

If I'm not mistaken and if I understand you correctly, you should have a preload on the springs while the suspension is fully extended.

In other words, the adjustable length on the shocks itself should be adjusted so when fully extended, the springs should be slighty compressed and have no play on it. In other-other words, your shocks should prevent the springs to fully expand. I hope you're not saying that when you completely jack up the car, the spring comes loose in the rear. If so, that installation is wrong, no matter how high or low your ride height is.

Also if you're saying that there is no thread going down the center of your springs, im thinking that means you have the car sitting at the highest possible ride height with the gold rings threaded all the way to the edge of that black thread you speak of?

Is it possible to post a pic of what exactly you're referring to? It'll help us get a visual of the situation.

 

there is pre load on both front and back when the car is jacked up. The rear spring is at the highest height. I called bc and the tech guy told me that i twist the strut/shock to adjust height. thats why i am confused. ill try to grab some pics later on tonight. The a$$ end is touchy in the rain so i didnt know if this set up could be contributing to it. i have had an alignment adn toe is in spec. camber is .3 degrees past manufaturer specs. I dont think that my bald tires help in the rain either as they have about 1/16 of an inch in tread left. thanks again and ill get pics soon.

 

here is a pic of the rear. I played with it this morning a little and it seems if i twist the strut up anymore it starts to take the load off of the spring and i can move it a little with my hand if i put some effort into it. I set the strut back down to where there was enough pressure that i couldnt budge it when i had it up on the jack. Im pretty confident that all is well but just wanted to make sure i was safe. here is a pic.

 

^yes, that's correct, you adjust and twist the shock body to add compression to the spring. With that side of the car fully jacked up, that represents a fully extended suspension travel so it shouldn't expand longer than what you set that shock position in.

As you jack the spring bucket up to align the hole with the shock mounting bolt, that would place compression on to the spring. If you have some play or loose springs when you place that shock mounting bolt, that means you'll need to adjust that shock.


But my questions is, with that picture shown, do you really want your car sitting that high?? That's probably placing your car higher than the stock ride height?! Not to mention that it is dangerous and not what the coilover was intended to do....and yes, everytime you adjust ride height, the toe alignment will be off and you'll noticed some instability, especially in the rain.

 

I have talked to bc and they have told me that i am safe as long as i dont go higher with front/back. The rear isnt close to stock actually. I dont know whats going on but i cant get them close to stock height. The issue i have with the front is that i cant get them even close to stock. I wanted to go with about a 1.5 inch drop at the most and i feel like i am only able to get them up to a 2 inch drop min. I have around 3.2 inches of ground clearance up front. Living in IL i think thats a little low since our roads are not good. I did the proper adjustments in the front according to bc. here are the steps i took:
1. Hand tighten big ring until i cant anymore (right under spring)
2. bring lower ring up to big ring
3. use c wrench to provide 5mm of distance between big and little ring
4. Bring small ring up to big ring and use c wrench to tighten
5. then its completed with proper pre load according to bc


i did notice if i cranked them up a little past 5 mm themn i got a little more height but the ride turned harsh. I might actually sell them and go with eibachs so i can have a little less drop and run my 20mm spacers without having to worry about rubbing. just sucks bc i was so excited to get them and now i cant get them where i want them. oh and the toe issue in the rain sucked! I actually changed back to my winter tires so i could get better traction. I also think that the mechanic who did the install didnt drill out the hole in the rear enough to get the needed toe adjustment. just waiting until i get back from vacation and have the money for new rear tires to see what im going to do. thanks for your help and if you have any other advice please tell me.