mx5cartalk.com

Hi, I don't know if this is just because of the shock after regaining the stock height (after being low for a few months). But... I am sitting at a very weird ride height.

To sum it up, the front arches sit pretty flush with the top of the tyres with a maybe two finger gap. Looks good. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut but the back ain't so nice!
The gap between the top of the rear tyres and the bottom of the rear wheel arch is almost two fists worth!!!!!!!! I don't remember the car sitting like this stock!!!
I found some old photos of it sitting high at the back but this is just stupid! So now the ride height is diagonal like some 70's muscle car.
I've been looking at photos of stock mx5's online and they seem to sit pretty level compared to this. It's just after 1am so I'll have to wait until midday before I upload any photos since I'm going to have to take them in the light.

I'm starting to think I put the front springs in the back etc. But the thing is, I looked online and followed what they said. See when I had the lows in, they were all the same length and the fronts were harder. On the stocks (which you'd all probably know), one set is harder than the other but the other set is almost double the height. So after googling factory springs front and back etc.. I came to the assumption that the long springs were the fronts as they would compress further and be a lot stiffer than the backs in order to hold the weight of the engine etc.
Can anyone tell me if I've put them in backwards??? I seriously can't remember which were which! Though I also rang a mate who confirmed I did it right. So I'm left wondering what is wrong??? Pics coming soon!

Btw, the springs have had time to settle and it's sitting a little lower than when I put them back in. So settling isn't the problem.

sounds like the springs ar right but are the shocks the right way round.
should be long at the front short at the back

olboy wrote:sounds like the springs ar right but are the shocks the right way round.
should be long at the front short at the back

Yeah it's longs at the front and shorts to the back. But I'll have to check the shockers tomorrow. I'm heading to my brothers to work on the speakers and stereo I might jack it up and have a look. Because it sits weird. DAMN IT! Just remembered I was going to take a pic... I'm heading out now so if I find somewhere lit up I'll snap a shot on the phone and upload it.

Sounds like you have flowered it up, I think LowMiata did a similar thing a few years back, there should be a thread if you search hard enough.

The long springs go on the short shocks and the short springs go on the long shocks.

The long shocks go on the front, short shocks go on the rear.

SPy vs. SPy wrote:Sounds like you have flowered it up, I think LowMiata did a similar thing a few years back, there should be a thread if you search hard enough.

The long springs go on the short shocks and the short springs go on the long shocks.

The long shocks go on the front, short shocks go on the rear.

See I had a long hard think about this and it still doesn't make sense to me. I can appreciate what you're saying but work this out for me. When I bought the car it sat pretty flat and seemed equally spaced front and back within the arches. Lower the car.
When we lowered the car be did the fronts first and when we had finished did the rear. When it came time to put the stock springs back in, we repeated the same process.
So in essence, the shockers have never moved. We definitely put the LONG SPRINGS on the FRONT and the SHORT SPRINGS on the REAR
So the shockers couldn't have moved. So the first thought was that the previous owner had this thing lowered and put the stockies back in after but mixed up the shocks. But that said, if it looked fine when I bought the car... That doesn't add up either.

Yet this is where I'm confused. I found another photo of the car taken the day I put the watanabe's on it. It was sitting pretty high like it is now. I know they would not have taken the suspension out just to put wheels and tyres on... So it's a major mind f**k for me...
Here are some pics: this is pretty much how it was when I got it http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/ ... ng/NA6.jpg
This is a photo of when I put the wats on http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak- ... 0825_n.jpg
I lowered it after that pic. Now it's back to stock and it's HIGHER than that!!!!!!!!!!!

You have answered the question here.

nanotech wrote:
When it came time to put the stock springs back in, we repeated the same process.

So in essence, the shockers have never moved. We definitely put the LONG SPRINGS on the FRONT and the SHORT SPRINGS on the REAR

The long springs go on the short shocks which are the rears. and vice versa.

Looks like you have a long day/night ahead of you unless you jack the whole thing up and put it on four stands and pull all the shocks out in one go. Otherwise your going to have to put the lowered springs back in so you can get the springs out so you can swap them front to rear.

and here's a picture of some NB Konis showing the long spring on the short shock.

Shouldn't be too hard. Plan is to do one side at a time. Can do the front and rear on one side of the car and see if the right ones are in. If not, swap them and repeat on other side.
But... pain in the ass...

I imagine you'll be pretty good at pulling the suspension by the end of all this
Hope you get it sorted soon but it does sound like you've got the springs back to front.