My garage is not even (one side up)

and Im trying to re-adjust my coilover (higher) ... but it seems that everytime I adjust one side 's height, the other side will raise up a bit as well.

Am I going crazy ? Argh !

 

That's normal...kinda the theory behind corner balancing.....

An alignment rack is a good place to do it..they are level

 

wowww what a newb question~!!!

and you wouldnt be having this problem with a strut/spring combo! ;]

 

Yeah but ...

let them do it = $$$$$

guess I have no choice ? ...

 

well, I was thinking I might be able to get it balanced ...

 

dude do you have the straw that comes with the mazda zoom zoom cleaner?

 

You should be able to find a place level enough....you can also measure the ring position on the shock and get it close from there

 

u mean that long plastic tube ?

Im pretty sure I have it. gotta look for it tho, when u need it ?

im thinking the same thing.

I spent the whole day today trying to get it higher, the idiot who swap my coilovers about a year something ago did it all wrong. he extend the height by pushing the springs ... (adding more preload) ... the result was ultra bumpy ride ... I know it long *** time ago but never had the time (lazy) to fix it ...

spent like 6 hours today trying to fix it, but damn rust and crap took me a long *** time to break them (Something to do with Autoexe, gonna post it in another thread) and finally be able to release the springs from the ultra pre-load ... ride is 100% more comfy but it dropped a lot of height ... and rear ... argh ...

Im gonna continue tomorrow ...

 

The simple truth is that a corner balanced car will not have even ride height all around - that's why you do it on scales (although the scales need to be level in order for the corner weighting to be correct).

If you are not going to corner balance the car, setting the ride height to equal on both sides (making the rear a bit higher than the front) will be a very workable solution on most garage floors. Doing it on a perfectly level surface isn't likely to make an appreciable difference from a performance perspective (unlike alignment).

If anything, set the driver's front a touch higher, since it will sag the most when you get in.

 

and while level allow the tires to move during adjustment..

beers

 

just a lot faster on a surface that moves..

and your suggestions are great!

beers

 

Thats what Im trying to do ...

I thought about corner balancing it and Im sure someone in NYC have it, but ... I just don't know where

Well, Im going to take the "ride height to equal on both sides" approach first and see what happens. ahh gonna be a long day.

 

You should be fine. Corner-balancing is about getting that last 0.5% of performance. I had mine done, since I am attempting to compete at a national level in SCCA Solo II, but I honestly can't say that I felt any difference while driving on the street after the corner-balancing.

 

I just came back from working on the car. Gotta stop because ... end links were bad.

Gonna order new ones ...

 

^You should disconnect the endlinks while leveling the suspension anyway. Then, when you are done, use adjustable links to avoid preload on the bar and get the end of the bars horizontal. Basically, you should be able to pop the links on and off the bar easily when the suspension is in full droop, on jack stands.

So, if you have the energy, go ahead and finish the ride height adjustments while you wait for new links. I use the Evo links with good results, FWIW.

 

the problem with the adjustable end link i got is that ... its all rusted after just one winter .... i had a hard time just to yank one out ... forget about adjusting it cuz its all jammed up ....

so i probably gonna go back to stock

 

Yes, NY winter, not surprising, I guess.

 

Is there anything I can "coat" the end links with? like grease it ? anti-seize it ? whatever it so it won't rust that easily ? ...

 

You do realize this contradicts the idea of avoiding preload, right? You should NOT be able to take the links out very easily when suspension is in full droop. If you can it sounds like the end links were not installed properly and were installed/tightened when in full droop. You should be able to pop them out with ease when the tires are on and the car is on the ground.

Do NOT set them up for suspension in full droop, that's doing the same thing every uneducated newbie does thinking it's unbolt and rebolt in place. IF you do this then what do you think happens when you lower the car down and the tire contacts the floor while the car settles on the coils? It adds preload to the links when you take it off the stand and even more so if you're lowered.

The idea is to have 0 preload when the car is level on the ground. To do this, you're better off measuring your ride height when you have it where you want it, jack the hub up to this ride height when on a stand and install the link. When you lower the car and it settles on the coil to the ride height, the link should then have essentially 0 preload and should be able to move around some.

 

Anti-seize the threads. Or if you're really desperate, find the anti-corrosion sprays they use on the undersides of cars and spray the end-link with it.

This is my understanding as well - the fronts may be difficult to do end-link adjustment while on the ground, but I can easily reach my rears while the car is on the ground.

 

Or, you can add the end links with tires off, put tires back on, lower the car down to a raised platform or some equal level blocks, and adjust the end links (if yours are adjustable) so that it's not binding up. If you have fixed end links, then just wait until you settle the car down on the suspension to tighten them up. Depending how low your car is from stock, if you're not using adjustable end links chances are you have some binding preload in them.

 

Yes, if the car is corner weighted, the link length should be set with the wheels properly loaded. The corner weighting is done with the links disconnected, after all.

But for a non-corner weighted car that has been set to more-or-less level ride height left-to-right, I think setting the link length while in full droop is a reasonable approach, assuming you choose a link length that results in the link being perpendicular to the arm when the car is on the ground. Sure there will be a little pre-load but it's not enough to make a difference in street driving, in my opinion.

 

For street driving, most would never notice if it was preloaded.

Setting the end link while at droop is never a good idea. Might as well just use non-adjustable end links.


-billy

 

Agreed here.


Not so sure I agree here. One of the reasons you buy adjustable links is to keep the links perpendicular to the bar. The effective spring rate of the bar changes with the angular relationship between the bar & the link. If you want to get all the roll stiffness out of the bars you bought, you want the links perpendicular to the bar.

Although I suppose you could argue that again, on the street, it's not a bif deal if your bars are 5% or even 10% softer than what they ultimately could be.

 

The main reason I use adjustable end links is to avoid pre-load, and secondly to get the bar as horizontal as possible for neutral starting point. With the height I'm at, my rear bar is not perpendicular to the sway links and won't ever be at a lower ride height w/ adjustable coilovers. At least my main concern of pre-load is eliminated so it's not imposing more stress under rolling than it should be to potentially snap them.