Lower rear on NA with different shock mounts?

[smidge]

I've got an NA with Bilstein yellow struts with black springs (sorry for the description, thats all the seller could tell me!) I have an NA6 not sure if these came off an NA8 or if there is any difference anyway..

anyway, they lower the front of the car considerably - i've got about 25mm wheel to guard gap

the rear however is a good 50-60mm, i'd like to correct it without going straight to coilovers. The car has some pretty serious rake going on.

I've been doing some reading but as always when you're new, the answer is not clear...

would NB rear shock mounts bring it down to earth a little?

[lee]

are you sure the springs aren't on back to front?

[smidge]

I guess it's a possibility... The suspension came that way I've never had a car where it would be possible to get them backwards!

Any way to check?

[aka_juffa]

The shorter damer and spring should be on the back of the car. From your photo I can see a bracket on the body of the dmaper. That is for MX-5/Miatas with ABS. this another indicator that those dampers should be on the front of the car.

J

[smidge]

shorter shocks are definitely on the back, i guess there is the possibility the springs are backwards however???

i didn't take them off the shocks i just installed straight onto the car

i just measured them too:

Bilsteins: Rear - 9 coils, Front, 7 Coils. Spring wire diameter 11mm (front AND rear)
Stock: spring diameter Front: 11mm, rear 10mm (and more coils on rear)

so i'm thinking they are probably the right way around...

[hks_kansei]

From memory the Springs are arranged somewhat illogically on the shocks.

Should be:
Short shock, long spring
Long shock, short spring.

(That's meaning spring free-length, ie: not on the shock)


I'm pretty sure that's the arrangement from when I last had a set apart.

It would also explain why the front was lowered while the rear was raised.



NB mounts will do the opposite, they'll raise it.

[smidge]

you're right, and a double check looks like it's correct.. The rake might be the way it is, i'll check it again with two people sitting in it and see if it flattens out at all

i don't care about hella-flush-slamtacular i just want to make sure i'm getting the best from the suspension setup i have!

[hks_kansei]

You can't really check spring length while they're on the car, or on the shocks.

Factory springs (which those look like) are compressed to fit the shock, so any measurement of length won't be correct.


Basically, it shouldn't be sitting like that. Something is installed wrong, and since the shocks only fit one way, it's probably the springs (either on back to front, someone has mistakenly used 4 front springs, or one pair has been cut)


I would be taking them out again and swapping the springs over (or just using the springs from your old shocks, they'll be the same)

[smidge]

Okay I will investigate further and pull them out for a closer look

Pretty sure the bilstein springs aren't the same as stock as I've got my factory ones still and the springs look quite different

Thanks for the ideas!

[93_Clubman]

ADM NA6, NA8, & NA8 Clubman (with Bilsteins) all used the same spring - spring rate was 154/94 lbs/in. The way to tell if they are ADM NA factory springs is if there's two dabs of white paint (1.5cm x 0.75cm) on the outside of each spring. However, your Bilsteins may have had different springs installed.

Just had a look the Clubman Bilsteins & springs, & counted more coils on rear springs, as opposed to front springs, which means longer spring is on the shorter overall length damper, as per the differing tophat to spring perch distance.

Also, approx distance top of tyre to bottom of wheel arch is 60-70 all around. Hoever, note on some Bilsteins the spring perch can be raised or lowered as it sits on a circlip for which there may be a choice of three settings.

[smidge]

Just had a look the Clubman Bilsteins & springs, & counted more coils on rear springs, as opposed to front springs, which means longer spring is on the shorter overall length damper, as per the differing tophat to spring perch distance.

which matches my photo above and makes sense. It didn't look wrong when i put them in. Don't think my blisters have the option of different perches as i'd be able to see the cutout part around the shock body and could go down an inch or so. I imagine that would affect the performance of the shock.

[93_Clubman]

These are the stock NA6 & NA8 springs on the Clubman Bilsteins, which is how they were supplied in Aust. From the pics reckon your springs are different:

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