Anyone got an idea why even after doing the pre-load procedures one side would be 1/4 inch higher than the other?

 

Is ur floor leveled ?

cuz if its not, one side will always "seems" to be higher than the other.

 

I've had my car lowered for many years, and I've tested it on many surfaces.
This thread just re-awoken the bug in my ***.

I just tried the loosening of the bolts individually (both bolts on one side of the car per ride) and took the car for a 15 minute ride while slamming the brakes several times to try and add some pressure to the front, and it is still the same.

Would not loosening the end links cause this? I tried to loosen one and the wrench started to strip the bolt so I gave up until I get to the shop for my Cobb tune.

 

I'm quite sure the Cobb tune wont fix a stripped thread or fix the suspension !

 

But I said a prayer that it would!

 

Please excuse my ignorance.... from what i hear, an alignment must be done with the suspension "preloaded." In laymens terms that simply means with the car must be sitting level in the rack under its own weight. Correct?

 

Correct.

 

i know some one is going to poke fun.. but.... do i need to preload the springs on coilovers as well?

 

"Did you know that MAZDA designed the rear multi-link suspension to be pre-loaded with more than 1g of tension to ensure that all the links always operate in tension?
This makes for more predictive performance and avoids instability caused by components transitioning from tension to compression and back again."
I read this in a "did ya know" write-up I found somewhere around here. How does this come into play when it comes time for an alignment?

 

It doesn't... Basically what they are saying is that when the suspension is not under duress, it is still preloaded as if it were. This way, you don't have a transition.

But an alignment is essentially making the wheels point the intended direction. Toe = tire pointing left or right
Camber = tilt of the tire in or out.
Caster = the relationship of the upper to lower pivot point of the wheel (upper to lower ball joint.)

Whether or not the car has a preloaded multi-link suspension, or a basic suspension, you still need a baseline of the wheels within spec.

 

weight is not distributed evenly about the car

People who set their coilovers so that the gaps are even everywhere have jacked poor weight distribution into their suspension. If you ever put put the car on corner scales and have the corner weights adjusted you will see this as well as how impossible it is to get a perfect distribution without building a full on race car with that specific purpose in mind

 

If you ever want to see what happens to the suspension when the ride height goes up and down go to you friendly local alignment with a live laser rack....just pushing up and down on the suspension causes the values to change significantly, especially the toe

It is important thet you allow the bushings to be "relaxed" when at normal ride height. This is the only " preload" that you can do on the stock suspension...

Make sure that you aren't inducing strain into the bushings by tightening them when the wheels are hanging and you will be fine

 

Yes this is true. I see it everyday when I do alignments on the rack at our shop. That is where my confusion came in. According to the "did ya know" thing I read, I was under the impression that before the alignment the car needed to be "pulled/weighted" down with 1G of force before doing the alignment.

It seems to me that bushings tightened with car sitting level under its own weight would put them into a "neutral" state. and they would transisition from tension to compression as the car enters a corner and the weight is shifted. The outboard bushing would be under positive tension and the inboard bushings would be under negative tension.

However If they are preloaded with 1G of down-force before tightened, that inside bushing will still be in a state of positive tension during the corner. Im sure a lot of configuring goes into it depending on weight and how sharp the corner is but It stands to reason that you would need over 1G of force in the corner before the bushings would transfer from positive tension to negative tension. If they are preloaded in that manner of course.

I could be totally wrong but when you consider logic and the geometry of the suspension and what it is doing while you drive it seems thats the way it should be.

I see what you are getting at here because that would create the best tire wear

 

I suppose thats why my car with the OEM stock suspension sits a little lower in the back but still retains the 51/49 weight distribution?

 

Not at all. First, that is just a general spec the depends on trim level, fuel level, driver/passenger(s) weight, etc. Second, those numbers are simply additions of the corner weight numbers I am referring to. Just as the front/rear split is not identical the side/side split is not identical, which neither is any individual corner weight identical to each other. Third, ride height is a separate topic dependent on multiple factors beyond what I was posting about.

 

Yes, and it depends on who made your coilovers as to how much tightening is required.

For example, BC coilovers. Seat the spring and tighten the two rings by hand so that they spring is tight in the up and down plane. Then tighten the large retaining ring an additional 4mm, which is the exact thickness of the wrenches, then tighten the lower ring to lock it all in pace.

If its all done right you should still be able to turn the spring by hand.

This process is best done on the bench before install, however most companies will ship their coilovers to you pre-loaded, so unless you change your springs or take them apart for some reason you should not have to do a pre-load.

 

Sorry to bump this thread.

Just got my springs installed yesterday and the fronts are so high compared to the rears and they are suppoosed to drop 1.4 front and 1.2 rear.

I have a huge meet tomorrow and i cannot stand the way the fronts look. Im trying to pre load them with the limited tools i have. I found a socket that fits the nut for the control arm.


i have a few questions.

1) how much do i need to loosen it ???

2) I was reading previous posts and it said to loosen the LEFT nut only when looking at the control arm .. do i do this for both sides (only the left side) or will it be opposite side for the other side of the car ??

Help !!

 

Loose both.

Do it on both sides.

then just tighten it.

be careful not to let that "drop" take ur arm with it.

 

thanks for the response but the socket wasnt tight enough for the bolt.

Ill get someone to help me tomorrow at the meet. Im really hoping this will drop the front more cause my rear has like no wheel gap and i hate how it looks from the side.

 

Also i dont get how you can do this with the car on the ground. Cause you can jack up the car then remove wheels... loosen bolts. Put wheels on. Lower car.

But how would you tighten the bolts once your car is on the ground .... the bolt on the left is very hard to reach to tighten with the wheel on cause its in the way even if its turned all the way.

 

I haven't done it on an RX-8, but when I did it for my Corolla GT-S, I used a lift stand and lowered the A-arm on it... Otherwise, use a sidewalk by driving up each side at a time on the curb cut to the sidewalk. Just be creative if you have limited tools.

 

I doesn't help you now for your meet today but maybe you could go to a shop with a 4 post lift and bribe them with donuts to do it. It should only take 5 mins with it in the air.

 

its alright. One of the guys at the meet is willing to help me do it there lol. Hes being bribed with beer :P

 

It's pretty easy to preload with 2 jacks;
Jack up car,
Remove tire
Loosen bolts
Use 2nd jack to lift from arm just enough to take weight off first jack
Tighten arm bolts
Remove 2nd jack
Put on tire
Lower car
Move to next corner.

That's pretty much how I did mine.

 

This is a great step by step and the most clear of the bunch, thanks!