Setting Up Coilovers

Post by **Gayno** » Tue Mar 27, 2012 9:24 pm

Hi guys,

I've got a set of second hand coilovers I'll be fitting to my car in the next week or so.

You did me an alignment/geo setup last year, but I've been told it's best to have it done again after fitting coilovers?

Also, for mainly street use, would you recommend me having the coilovers setup properly, IE corner weights etcs?

Will I be able to alter ride height after you've set them up without it messing up too much, or do I need to choose and set the height before my visit?

Any chance of letting me know a rough guide price (I'll bring cakes/dougnuts) ??

Adam

Post by **4thgenphil** » Tue Mar 27, 2012 9:26 pm

+1 on this

toyracer69 · Post by **toyracer69** » Wed Mar 28, 2012 11:17 am

You need to set the height before getting the car set up. Also remember that you will need to let the car settle for a while after fitting them.

Plus if you change the height afterwards then you will need to get the tracking re-checked.

PerformanceAutoworks · Post by **PerformanceAutoworks** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 11:45 am

Sorry for the slow reply Adam, we don't get notification of any new topic posts and things have been very busy in the workshop so not had chance to have a proper catch up on here.

In answer to your questions, yes you will need to have a geometry setup done once the coilovers are fitted.
You should really set the ride heights at the level you want before bringing it in for the geo setup because changes to ride height will alter the geo of the car. Raising or lowering by 5-10mm won't alter things too much but really if you want the geo to be right then ride height shouldn't be altered.

As far as corner weighting - for anything other than an all out race car this is pretty much a waste of time/money. Yes, improvements to handling balance and weight distribution can be achieved with correct corner weighting but unless you plan to run the same levels of fuel, never carry any passengers or always have the same weight of passenger (such as a race car or a rally car with co-driver) any corner weight setup will be totally negated by these changes.
If the car is more or less a track day focussed car then you can corner weight a setup basing it on your weight and an "average" passenger weight if you always carry a passenger on track.

Geometry setup is £96 inc vat but we may well run a special next month

Please note that geo setup does not include ride height or corner weight setup

Rich

Post by **indigolemon** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 11:56 am

PerformanceAutoworks wrote:Sorry for the slow reply Adam, we don't get notification of any new topic posts and things have been very busy in the workshop so not had chance to have a proper catch up on here.

Sorry to go offtopic a bit - Rich, if you go here: http://www.ludegeneration.co.uk/performance-autoworks/ and then at the bottom in the black bar, just above the 'Home' link, will be an option to 'Subscribe Forum'. Will give you new topic notifications

PerformanceAutoworks · Post by **PerformanceAutoworks** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:36 pm

Ahh cool, thanks for that. Sorted

Post by **Gayno** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 1:42 pm

Thanks for the reply Rich.

The reason I asked about corner weights etc is that these are a second hand set, and it appears that in the axle pairs, one shock is about 10mm lower than the other. I've still to fit them to the car, but I don't want to fit them and find they are unbalanced and muck up the car.

I'm assuming that once they've settled, I'll be aiming to have both arches on the axle pairs at the same height, ie both fronts the same and both rears the same, not necessarily front and rear the same.

A special next month would be handy, as I'm being made redundant tomorrow, so cheaper = better

PerformanceAutoworks · Post by **PerformanceAutoworks** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 4:07 pm

TBH I wouldn't go on what they were set at previously as every car is pretty much different.
Before you fit them, set them to equal heights and preloads side to side and then adjust ride heights to suit you/your car.

Ideally you want ride height to be the same from side to side or possibly a fraction (5mm max) higher on drivers side unladen.
Top tip - measure from a flat surface to the centre point of jacking points rather than to the wheel arch. Wheel arches are very often different side to side believe it or not where as sill height (and jacking points) tend to be generally true. Aim for a slight nose down attitude (roughly 10mm) as this helps reduce lift and will actually tend to balance the front rear ride height at speed.

Supercharged 無限MUGEN BB1 Profile · Post by **nucleustylzlude** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 4:11 pm

Ooh! Valuable tips from the maestro himslef - I believe just what you were after Adam.

May have to take you up on that offer too Rich along with the tuning - Package deal?

P.S. Did you get my VERY late reply PM? Appreciate your busy, just checking.

PerformanceAutoworks · Post by **PerformanceAutoworks** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 4:18 pm

Yeah I got it.... I'm just making you sweat it out for a reply

Been mental busy this week and had no time over the weekend either. I haven't forgotten you

Lude Generation

Setting Up Coilovers

Setting Up Coilovers

Re: Setting Up Coilovers