Coilovesr - How tight are the springs suppose to be?

[taizon]

I've got a set of Tein Flex coilovers.

what i would like to know is.... with the springs, how tight are they suppose to be, between the spring seat lock and the upper mount?
is there suppose to be a particular measurement, or is as long as its tight enough so the spring doesnt move?

hope u guys can understand what i mean!


.. ps.. and i kno the middle seat lock is meant to be at the top..

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/8472/dsc03733editfa9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Muzz]

Dosnt matter to much, best bet would be to tighten them up so the spring is held firm from ratteling around, but not tight enough to compress the springs at all, hand tight is all thats needed.

From there adjust the height from the bottom perches.

[aaronng]

There is a proper spec for the height of the bottom spring perch for front and rear. It's in the Tein Flex instruction manual for your particular model.

For example, the Flex for the Euro has the specs of 200mm from the bottom of the damper to the lower spring perch for the front and 298mm for the rear.

[zco]

aaron. can u illustrate a picture? finding it hard to udnerstand. i've got mine set on the way user-Muzz described it. is there a noticeable difference ?

what kind of advantages would i recieve from setting it up the way you've described ?

[STTICH]

what arron mentioned will only work if u have a proper spec specifically for the model of ur coilovers. this way of setting the springs is a recommended pre-load measure set by the manufacturer.

just a quick find on sussy pic, i'll try to D2 to illustrate.

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/4476/d2shockrfgp4.jpg

the red lines indicate the distance between the bottom damper to the lower spring perch. the longer the distance, the more the springs will b compressed. so using Flex for Euro for example, recommended as quoted by arron is 200mm front, if u've actually set it so the distance is 300mm, the springs would have been compressed and increase in stiffness. if the distance is a lot shorter (ie: 100mm) it'll affect and shorthen the suspension travel.

i think the way mentioned by Muzz is done by many who doesnt have the recommended spec from manufacturer. its a good way to start off i guess since at least u'll have ur springs intact. but b aware that this might affect some models of coilovers that is designed to have reletively shorter suspension travel.

the best i find would b to actually do tat as a 1st step. 2nd step is to load it ( ie: install and drop it down) to see how much the springs will compress further after the weight of the car's been added. for example, the springs at a free-standing length = 220mm, after its loaded by the wieght of the car, it's dropped to 180mm. so u'll know that the springs will b 40mm shorter when weight of the car is added.

if u only did the 1st step, which is tighten the springs up to the point where "it is held firm, but not compress at all", when it is loaded, suspension travel might b affected from the further compress of springs by the weight of the car.

http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/6749/dsc03733editfa9fgky5.jpg

^^ say if the red lidicators are the point where the springs are 'just' held captive but not compress at all. the Travel as indicator (blue) is roughly around 2in, if the springs will compress further 40mm when loaded, u'd have virtually no/ little travel left.

i normally find out by how much the springs will be compressed after weight of car's added. then set and compress the springs a lil (depending on teh amount of travel left, shoudlnt compress the springs too much) to compensate the decrease in travel. of course if recommended spec are provided by manufacturers, by all means.. follow it :thumbsup:

hope my explanation is clear enuf for ppl to understand. :)

this is my way of understanding it, i could b wrong. pls correct me if im.

[aaronng]

aaron. can u illustrate a picture? finding it hard to udnerstand. i've got mine set on the way user-Muzz described it. is there a noticeable difference ?

what kind of advantages would i recieve from setting it up the way you've described ?

Sure, here's a screenshot directly from the manual. The adjustment for spring tightness (preload) is height "A". It's just specified by Tein. If you are using something like Tein SS, then preload changes with the amount of lowering you choose to have.

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/5686/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzjp1.jpg

[Muzz]

i think the way mentioned by Muzz is done by many who doesnt have the recommended spec from manufacturer. its a good way to start off i guess since at least u'll have ur springs intact. but b aware that this might affect some models of coilovers that is designed to have reletively shorter suspension travel.


:thumbsup: Good info there sttich +1 rep to you;)

Your on the right track, the top rings effect the preload, which is useful when there is not very much bump travel, due to lowering.

Setting the preload, with coilovers that allow height adjustments seperatly, you will either have the preload set so the springs are held firmly, or add more preload to compress the springs a little. Theres no reason for the springs to be loose in there perches (as is the case somtimes with spring perch only-height adjustable coilovers) with the seperate height adjustment seen on these units.

The sole purpose of preload, is to determine where the piston sits in the shock body at rest, determining how much bump and droop travel is availiable.
Contrary to popular belief, preload will not effect the way your suspension handles at all, unless your suspension is bottoming out or topping out.

I would try and find the manurfactures info for your coilovers and set them up as per that, but if you cant dont worry, setting them up the way i explained wont effect the handling at all unless the shocks are bottoming out.

If you set them so that the springs are just held in place, then you found they the units were bottoming out at your chosen ride height, do the following.

1. Take them out (the end of the car thats bottoming out), and raise the spring perches say 5mm so the spring is compressed (preloaded) 5mm from its natural length.

2. Doing this, you will notice the the length of the unit has not changed while out of the car, but when you place them back on the car, the car will sit 5mm higher than before. So you need to shorten the length of the unit 5mm to keep the same ride height.

Doing the above will give the shock 5mm more availiable bump travel, and reduce the amount of availiable negative shock travel.

[Muzz]

what kind of advantages would i recieve from setting it up the way you've described ?

None at all, unless your shocks are currently bottoming or topping out.

[taizon]

hey .. thanks for ur inputs..

earlier i looked up the specs specificaly for integras dc2..

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/9404/screenshottx3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


At the moment, ive just tightened the springs enough just so they're firm on the shocks.. ive been bottoming out on some pot holes.. and i have also notice its not has stiff as it should be when the damper is on full clockwise position..

SOo. to fix this.. from what you guys have mentioned.. i will have to compress the springs up a lil more than it is?

[aaronng]

Unless they are progressive springs, preloading it won't make it any stiffer.

[taizon]

is there anyway i can tell if its a progressive spring by lookin at it?

[Muzz]

Yeh, the springs coils change spacing, and/or the thickness of the springs wire changes through its length. Your coilovers are liner, the sping coil spacing is equal over its length, and the metals thickness is constant.;)

Yeh preloading wont change the stiffness, but you can use it to get more bump travel, which you need. Fix this asap as you dont wanna dammage them.



http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/9404/screenshottx3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


See the measurment 'C', screw the top rings up so that the distance grows 10mm compressing the springs. Now by adjusting the botom ring, shorten the distance 'C' back up 10mm.
This will give you 10mm more bump travel, and your spring rate wont change, your ride height wont change.

[bennjamin]

is there anyway i can tell if its a progressive spring by lookin at it?

most "coilover" setups come with linear springs as mentioned.
Most non-hright adjustable shocks come with or are suited to progessive springs :)

[taizon]

See the measurment 'C', screw the top rings up so that the distance grows 10mm compressing the springs. Now by adjusting the botom ring, shorten the distance 'C' back up 10mm.
This will give you 10mm more bump travel, and your spring rate wont change, your ride height wont change.



Thanks for the info, will fix it asap!.. but do u think compressing the springs another 10mm is enough?.. is it possible to compress alil more?.. or will that be too much?.. or should i just stick with the 10mm..

[Muzz]

Thanks for the info, will fix it asap!.. but do u think compressing the springs another 10mm is enough?.. is it possible to compress alil more?.. or will that be too much?.. or should i just stick with the 10mm..

I really couldnt say sorry, maby try 15mm theres no issues by compressing more, you just dont want the shocks to be topping out either. :thumbsup:

Compressing the shocks an extra 15mm, if the springs are 10kg/mm will take 150kg more force, since there are 2 shocks at the front of the car thats 300kg more force needed to get them to bottom out. Id say 15mm more will keep you from bottoming out.;)