Adjusting coilovers ride height (not a repost)

dmad_dood · Postby **dmad_dood** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 8:29 pm

Before everyone starts saying this has been asked, please listen

Ive got my tein monoflex in my na8 and i set up the ride height and preload the other day but i noticed that each shock body was a completely different heigh front to rear and side to side. From memory the left hand rear was like 1 or 2 cm heigher then the right rear and the fronts were like 3/4cm higher then the rear??

Is this right? when i measure the guards to the wheel centres they are all even but when i jack the car up its all whack!

Thanks in advance.

Jono.

sailaholic · Postby **sailaholic** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 9:15 pm

Front and rear will generally be different as they should be different spring and body lengths. Left to right depends on how balanced your car is.

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dmad_dood · Postby **dmad_dood** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 9:24 pm

sailaholic wrote:Front and rear will generally be different as they should be different spring and body lengths. Left to right depends on how balanced your car is.

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the front to rear didn't bother me, but the fact that the rear left was pretty much bottomed out and the rear right was like +/- 2cm high really threw me.

aka_juffa · Postby **aka_juffa** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 9:36 pm

Did you tighten the suspension nuts/bolts with the full weight of the car on the suspension? This can affect the right height at rest. You also drive the car around for a a day or two and see if it settles.

j

dmad_dood · Postby **dmad_dood** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 9:46 pm

aka_juffa wrote:Did you tighten the suspension nuts/bolts with the full weight of the car on the suspension? This can affect the right height at rest. You also drive the car around for a a day or two and see if it settles.

j

Hmm when i installed them i had the whole car on jackstands and i tightened every corner up without weight so the should all be even. Ive dríven it around for a couple of weeks now and it hasn't changed.

Only thing i can think of is that maybe the preload is different on each side although i adjusted the preload on all corners so the perch is just compressing the spring snugly.

aka_juffa · Postby **aka_juffa** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 9:02 am

It is my understanding that by tightening the suspension while fully loaded means that the bushes are tensioned at the correct ride height. I believe that in your case your bushes are restricting your suspension movement.

J

project.r.racing · Postby **project.r.racing** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 9:23 am

are your wheel arches straight?

i find measuring from the jack point and more accurate point to measure from as the chassis should not be bent.

ralt · Postby **ralt** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 11:54 am

Hi.
Mx5s require more height in the back than the front. You should set the right hand side higher to compensate the drop when you sit in it. The forums here and the miata forum will give you more information by searching.

plohl · Postby **plohl** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 11:55 am

^why?

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taminga16 · Postby **taminga16** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 12:35 pm

I am with Juffa. Loosen everything wobble up and down the driveway to get it to settle and then tighten it up under the weight of the car.
Greg.

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 1:31 pm

I assume that you set the lengths according to the tein monoflex information? Just remember that it is a guide only and my require tweaking. I also assume that you do not have access to a set of scales to corner weight?

I can tell you with my car that when I'm not in it the heights look strange, however when I sit in it the balance and height is exactky as I want it.

dmad_dood · Postby **dmad_dood** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 6:47 pm

All good info, thanks. My guards are fine so i don't think measuring off there is the problem but i do like the idea of measuring off the chassis, ill look into that and i will also try loosen the bolts off and try get it to settle in although it might be very tricky with lack of ground clearance and accessibility. Is it just the bolt at the bottom of the coilover i need to worry about and just back it off a few turns?

There wasn't any paper work with my coilovers so i sorta just set them up by feel and trial and error. When i started dialling in preload it made a huuuge difference.

Im also getting knocking from the rear left???

Any ideas.

aka_juffa · Postby **aka_juffa** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 8:38 pm

This is how I tighten the suspension.

Raise the car on stands.
Remove the wheels
One corner at a time loosen the upper and lower suspension arm nuts/bolts.
Put a jack under the lower suspension arm, ensuring you choose a spot where the jack won't slip.
Raise the jack, which will raise the suspension. Do this slowly and ensure that no part of your body is under the car
At the point where the corner you are working on is starting to lift off the stand, stop.
Ensure the car is stable
Tighten the suspension components for that corner
Move to the next corner and repeat
Put the wheels back on and lower the car.

I'd also suggest getting a good wheel alignment

Here is a long thread from the big forum re adjusting flex dampers

http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=266038

Hope that helps

J

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 9:02 pm

MCA's website has a very good article on how to setup coilovers, it may help to read this and understand how to setup and make adjustments.

dmad_dood · Postby **dmad_dood** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 9:11 pm

I had a good wheel alignment before i started adjusting everything so i need to get another one but hell yeah it was the best $100.00 i've spent on my car!

Ill give the stuff you guys sent a read,

Cheers.