Questions for Coilovers Guru

[siir]

Hey People,

Recently purchased and installed Buddy Club N+ Coilover on my euro cl9.

Just need some clarifications:

1. Does everybody cars - passenger side sits higher than the driver side?
- Front Passenger is 11mm-16mm (1 finger gap and a half) higher than the Front Driver Side?
- Rear Passenger is 9mm-1.8cm (1 finger gap approx) higher than the Rear Driver Side?

All Springs is measured accordingly to Buddy Club Spec.
- Front Spring: 20cm & Front Grove: 12cm (top lower locking disc to base locking disc)
- Rear Spring: 24cm & Rear Grove: 12cm (top lower locking disc to base locking disc)

* Do you guys preload the springs: 2mm-5mm?

2. Do you need to install the 'washers' (that is cable tied on the rear coil overs when you 1stly open the box)?

3. Im hearing a thumping noise or something loose on the rear only on low speed & during some uneven roads or bumps etc... this happened after the coil over installation. any ideas?

Thanks heaps for your help :)

*btw which place is good for wheel alignment (incl. ingalls camber kit) also how much roughly do they charge?

[DakDak]

Give the coilovers time to settle.

Everything that is included in a kit should be installed. Unless your one of those guys who finds a couple screws free after any mechanical work and thinks "CBF"

Shouldnt be hearing any weird thumping noises. Maybe a squish noise of the coilovers compressing and decompressing but thats it. Who did the install?

[siir]

Give the coilovers time to settle.

Everything that is included in a kit should be installed. Unless your one of those guys who finds a couple screws free after any mechanical work and thinks "CBF"

Shouldnt be hearing any weird thumping noises. Maybe a squish noise of the coilovers compressing and decompressing but thats it. Who did the install?

its been 2wks.. I figured it should completely settled by now. and I have measured it from 5 different car parks - just to be sure of measurement correct and ground are leveled. Nah bro, I lean towards a perfectionist person. Installed at mechanic.

[DakDak]

Go for a 1/2 hour drive over shit roads with a full car.

I thought my Koni yellows and king springs settled. Once I did that turns out I had to get my rears rolled.

No strut should be higher than the other. Maybe the front driver side to accomodate for your own weight but thats it.
Was it a standard mechanic that did the install? Some of these f*ckers can be retarded.

[Rooster]

I have shocks and springs and my left rear is higher than my right rear. Normal. Front is pretty much the same though
You shouldn't have the loose bolt/clunk sound. I had that and heasman steering fixed it up, I think I'm actually starting to have it on my other side. It sounds like the coils are hitting each other, and sometimes it sounds like something is just loose in the suspension like a bolt.

Make sure everything is tightened first.
Coilovers could have a different sound though so not sure

[siir]

been driving it on bumpy roads, bumps, ramps. .etc for the last 2wks.. I had a search on the net and found out some cars the driver side is lower than passenger side.. and for bmw the driver side is higher.. i just need a solid confirmation and make sure theres no defects/dramas..

[siir]

I have shocks and springs and my left rear is higher than my right rear. Normal. Front is pretty much the same though
You shouldn't have the loose bolt/clunk sound. I had that and heasman steering fixed it up, I think I'm actually starting to have it on my other side. It sounds like the coils are hitting each other, and sometimes it sounds like something is just loose in the suspension like a bolt.

Make sure everything is tightened first.
Coilovers could have a different sound though so not sure

I c.. I think I have the same issue with the noise as urs... btw did u know what cause it when heasman Fix it? do pls let me know if u know what cause it & the solution. cheers

[fillit]

I've only ever had clunking on one set of coils (which I didn't install myself), and that was due to the pre load being set up incorrectly, there was massive free play on the springs.

Have you checked the pre load on the spring? If the pre load is incorrect, you may find that the spring is becoming detached on bumps and it's riding on the shock only which may cause the noise. If this is the case just tighten the spring pre load so it sits firm when there's no load and not too tight that it makes the spring deform (reasonably hard without compressors).

[philipminge]

Don't mean to steal your thread but I just installed my coilovers on my cl9 also. The right sits about 8mm lower...
But I just leveled the car off with the height adjustment. I am now within half a mm between both sides...

Maybe if people agree this is the right thing you should just level the car off like I did.
I believe when you get a car weight balanced, all the shocks are at slightly different heights to get each corner of the car correct. So I level my euro.
Can anyone confirm if this is the correct thing to do?

[Rooster]

I'm pretty sure it's normal for one side to be higher than the other, so yeah you can just level it to be the same.
@ siir, they did something to do the shock and put a rubber or something between the spring and shock or something like that...it's listed on my receipt what they did I'll have a look.

Yeah do what fillit suggested also.

[siir]

I've only ever had clunking on one set of coils (which I didn't install myself), and that was due to the pre load being set up incorrectly, there was massive free play on the springs.

Have you checked the pre load on the spring? If the pre load is incorrect, you may find that the spring is becoming detached on bumps and it's riding on the shock only which may cause the noise. If this is the case just tighten the spring pre load so it sits firm when there's no load and not too tight that it makes the spring deform (reasonably hard without compressors).

thanks for the tips bro... initially I didnt want to play around with the preload... but then I decided to have a good inspection.. re measure the spring and double check if its according to bc n+ specs.. the front is 20cm and rear 24cm.. but I noticed that the spring are a bit loose.. I can spin the spring left and right. . so I decided to preload it by 2mm all around... the result: the sound is still there but not as loud and obvious as before..

I saw youtube about this dude who drift his car and he mentioned to tighten the spring should be snug and tighten by hand and then preload 4mm...

[siir]

Don't mean to steal your thread but I just installed my coilovers on my cl9 also. The right sits about 8mm lower...
But I just leveled the car off with the height adjustment. I am now within half a mm between both sides...

Maybe if people agree this is the right thing you should just level the car off like I did.
I believe when you get a car weight balanced, all the shocks are at slightly different heights to get each corner of the car correct. So I level my euro.
Can anyone confirm if this is the correct thing to do?

hey bro..just curious..is both the front passenger & rear passanger 8mm higher? or just the front? and ur rear are both even height?

[siir]

I'm pretty sure it's normal for one side to be higher than the other, so yeah you can just level it to be the same.
@ siir, they did something to do the shock and put a rubber or something between the spring and shock or something like that...it's listed on my receipt what they did I'll have a look.

Yeah do what fillit suggested also.
dude if u dont mind me asking..where did u get it installed? also if u still have the receipt. . could u let me kn I w what they did.. thz heaps..

[fillit]

thanks for the tips bro... initially I didnt want to play around with the preload... but then I decided to have a good inspection.. re measure the spring and double check if its according to bc n+ specs.. the front is 20cm and rear 24cm.. but I noticed that the spring are a bit loose.. I can spin the spring left and right. . so I decided to preload it by 2mm all around... the result: the sound is still there but not as loud and obvious as before..

I saw youtube about this dude who drift his car and he mentioned to tighten the spring should be snug and tighten by hand and then preload 4mm...

Okay yeah, at no time should the spring ever spin "freely" on coilovers.

Have a read of this article, it's probably the best basic summary of what to do.

http://www.meganracing.com/tech/installations.asp?id=79&subject=CDK:%20%20How%20to%20set%20spring%20pre-load

[siir]

Okay yeah, at no time should the spring ever spin "freely" on coilovers.

Have a read of this article, it's probably the best basic summary of what to do.

http://www.meganracing.com/tech/installations.asp?id=79&subject=CDK:%20%20How%20to%20set%20spring%20pre-load

thanks for the link man.. its helpful :) good to know im doing it right, according to the guidelines.. I guess not all springs are the exact measurment.. perhaps mine are 2mm shorter..
:)