Setting adjustable konis/king springs

chrisearl88 · Postby **chrisearl88** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 5:16 pm

Just put in a set of koni/king springs, lowered it the perfect amount. The shocks are the adjustable type. I was wondering if the norm is to have all the shocks at the same setting? Atm i have them at halfway between full hard and full soft on all four corners. Was wondering if anyone had any advice in regard to having them at different levels between front and back.

I ask this because i know that people are always mucking around with the balance b/w sway bars front and rear. Fyi i am running stock sways on an 01 model nb8b. I someone had just a good starting point, i can fine tune it for over/under steer from there.

Gotta go in for an alignment tomorrow as its running pretty aggressive camber atm due to the lowering. But initial impressions are i can take the same corners about 15kph faster entry than in the past!!

Thanks guys
all advice is appreciated.

samx5 · Postby **samx5** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 6:19 pm

Looking forward to hearing people's views and seeing any pics if you have them, I'm considering Koni's also.

chrisearl88 · Postby **chrisearl88** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 6:36 pm

Will borrow my gf's camera and take a couple pics tomorow. I can tell you that the koni +king combo sits at a perfect height. 100mm clearance, cept for one of the braces that sits a bit lower. so i can always just remove that if questions are asked and/or pump my tyres up to their max

Depending what year you got, you may or may not have all the braces.

Iv got them set at half and the ride is firmer but more comfortable that my stock setup. Just goes to show truly how rooted the original ones were!

Steampunk · Postby **Steampunk** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 7:27 pm

Apparently damper settings are contrary to anti-sway bar settings, ie. having a stiffer rear set-up will set the bias to more undertsteer and vice-versa.

I did a quick google search but couldn't confirm this, I'm sure others will.
Try setting the rear to the stiffest setting and the front the softest and if you experience considerable understeer you have your answer.

I have mine set to almost equal stiffness front and rear. If you push down with your whole weight on the very front or very back of the car, it will compress a couple of cm and rebound very slowly.

The fronts are just over 3/4 turns towards the stiffer setting, can't remember what the rear is set at because I can't get to it with the adjuster knob due to the rear strut tower brace, but I think fronts are stiffer than rear. My car handles pretty neutral as evident through even tyre-wear front and rear.

Keep in mind that I have an NA with upgraded front and rear anti-sway bars, with the front being a couple of steps stiffer than it's rear equivalent.

Locutus · Postby **Locutus** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 11:58 pm

generally speaking the softer the suspension, the more grip.
so as 1red5 said - stiffening up the rear will cause the car to understeer more.

drive the car for a few weeks for the springs to settle before going in for an alignment.

chrisearl88 · Postby **chrisearl88** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 1:02 am

Even for 2nd hand springs?

Locutus · Postby **Locutus** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 10:08 am

not so much for 2nd hand springs, but i would still wait a couple of days or a week. an alignment is precision tuning, after all.

i also just realised i contradicted myself earlier - stiffening the rear will actually reduce grip in the rear, causing the car to oversteer more.

Juffa · Postby **Juffa** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 10:15 am

Having had the Koni/king combination on a previous NA I think they are great choice. I used to run the front dampers at 1 full turn and rears at 1/2 a turn. This was with adjustable front sway bar set to hard and smaller rear sway bar.

As for allowing the car to settle. Having changed the suspension more times that I can count on 3 of my own MX-5s, and having assisted others with theirs I suggest that the suspension bolts/nuts should be tightened with the weight of car resting on the suspension. This way the car will be close to it's final ride height. I'd give it a couple days of normal driving and then take it in for a 4 wheel alignment.

J.

rob323 · Postby **rob323** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 11:57 am

There are too many variables for a one size fits all setting. It will depend on things like sway bars, tyre quality, tyre profile, alignment, lsd or no lsd, driving style/ preferences/ability etc etc.

I have the konis on my NA8 set to half way front and rear (stock sways) for everyday driving, it's my wife's daily so it set nice and predictable. It will get the tail out a little when you push it and holds it nicely and I haven't been game enough to push it hard enough to find out when it understeers. If I want a little firmer ride with more feedback from the car, then I just stiffen the fronts up as required and generally leave the rears as they are unless the roads are really smooth.

I wouldn't go full soft on the front and full hard on the rears unless at a skidpan, or unless you like snap oversteer.

My preference is to start with both fronts and rear at a comfortable setting, then slowly increase the stiffness of the fronts. Once I have the fronts where I want, then I increase the rears to the point of having the car nicely balanced. Unless you have the same piece of road/track to do continual testing on, this process can take months. My front setting are dependant on road conditions as well. Soften the fronts for bumpy corners so the tyres don't skip and cause understeer, stiffen them for smoother corners when that is not a problem.

ivan · Postby **ivan** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 3:14 pm

I just put in a set yesterday/night (took about 5 hours all up while reading how to do it). Funny thing was when I put them in it was pretty much the same height as stock. it only lowered about 30mm after I took it for a spin. I also have no idea what the perches are that i keep hearing about..i didnt really see any options when I was putting them in.

I set it at 3/4 from soft on each one and its a lot more responsive and yet more comfortable than stock. I will wind it up a bit more for the street and a fair bit more for track i think.

I also read you should tighten all the bolts after its back on the ground....but its so hard to get the wrench in there!

Locutus · Postby **Locutus** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 3:47 pm

if you look closely at the lower spring mount, you will find that it's held in place by a C clip that slots into a machined groove in the body of the shock. these grooves effectively give you multiple options for lower spring mount height, and therefore multiple options for ride height. the extra grooves may have been hidden if they were already set to the lowest setting at all corners.

i fully loaded each corner of the car's suspension with a jack while the car was still in the air on stands, before tightening bolts in the suspension. it's probably impossible to DIY yourself otherwise unless you had a pit or a hoist.

chrisearl88 · Postby **chrisearl88** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 5:04 pm

Thanks for all the help guys. I had to reread that a few times, i was confused, now it makes sense haha!

I like a little oversteer but at the same time want it to be predictable so will just keep the rears at medium and no more and just wind the front up harder slowly to fine tune it. Thats easy as the front are a breeze to change, whereas the rears take a few more minutes to take out the carpets. My ride is fairly hard but riding on rooted stock shocks i have gotten used to the bumpies and now its so much better than i dont even mind a few bumps.

What i did instead of letting the car down was have it on the jack stands and just put the trolley jack just under the lower A arm of the corner i was working on and jack it upto about where it would sit when on the ground and then tightened the bolt upto spec. Car didnt seem to settle at all really, but the springs were 2nd hand so that might have a bit to do with it.

Also if anyone gets defected i have a set of stock nb8b springs that people are more than welcome to borrow to shut QLD transport up. Also can borrow out my springs compressors if people want, save you buying a set.

ivan · Postby **ivan** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 6:30 pm

sorry to be a bit off the topic but guess installation is still related toset up right?

I'll put the car on a hoist tomorrow (its one where the tyres sit on a platform...not on the car rails) to tighten it all up properly.

Question time:
ould it matter if i loosen it while its on the ground or should I jack up each corner and loosen before I put it back down and tighten?

So I noticed the groove now. But i guess you cant change it while everythings on the car? So putting on the highest perch would compress the springs more, making the car sit lower? :oops:

Regie · Postby **Regie** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 7:33 pm

good to see the setup is working for you

they served me well on the raod and track

chrisearl88 · Postby **chrisearl88** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 8:19 pm

Yea very happy with it. I do have a few nice battle scars from the install, cuts up my arms and over my hands but got them done and was a good learning experience. Rears are easy,did them in 30 mins. But you really need two (three in my case) people to get the fronts out/in.

Will post up a review/hints and tips once i get the alignment done and tune it to my preference.

Cheers regie, i wonder how long it will take before i crave more grip and want want coilovers like you did. This mx5 is a bit of an addiction.