COILOVERS INSTALLATION GUIDE AND SUGGESTED SETTINGS

 

Pre install Set Up notes: 

1.      Make sure the springs as snug up against the top perch. It does not have to be ultra tight just as long as the spring is not loose and can move up and down on the strut.

2.      Set up your starting ride height by completely unscrewing/unthreading the bottom mounting cups and separate it from the shock body. Start by re-threading on the bottom mounting cups to approximately 12-15 complete revolutions. This should give a ride height that is between 1.00 – 1.50 inches lower than stock.  

For RACE and ULTRA LITE Race coilovers – 12-15 complete revolutions 

For SPORT STREET coilovers: 8-9 complete revolutions. (This will help compensate for the compression of the helper spring.  Minimum revolutions should be no less that 5 to ensure that there is enough shock body threaded into the bottom mounting cup. Adjust the spring/helper spring position on the shock body to approximately 1.84 inches between the lock nuts on the front and 5.20 inches on the rear (see picture) 

1. 3.      Make sure to tighten down the lock nuts that hold the bottom of the spring in place and secures the bottom mounting cup. 

4.      Front Coil over installation: Make sure the longer offset of the mounting cup goes inboard as this offset was specifically design to for clearance of the larger strut and mounting cup diameter 

Install struts. Be very careful when tightening down the rear top 12mm nuts of the rear struts as they only require about 12-15 ft-lbs or torque. Tightening down by hand with a 12mm nut driver it the best way as even the slight over torque with a ratchet can snap the bolts. (These are also the stock instructed torque settings)  

Once installed on car, make sure to adjust the dampening of the struts with the top knobs. Counter Clock wise = softer, Clockwise = stiffer. Each adjustment will have a definitive “click”  make sure you do not leave the setting in between “clicks”  Start with the softest setting first and then adjust to preference. The softest setting is defined by turning the knob counter clockwise until it stops and then turning it 1 click clockwise. This is setting 1 or the softest setting. Make sure not to force the adjustment knobs as it can cause damage and can prevent proper adjustment to preferred dampening settings.  

Settings base of 1 being the softest setting and 15 being the stiffest setting. Dampening settings may vary a bit if you have SS coilovers and/or the 7k/6k spring rates. 

These are some of the dampening settings that I have used with the Race/Ultra-Lite coilovers as a starting point to finding your preferred settings depending on how you like your car set up and based on other supporting suspension equipment, tires, tire pressure etc.  

Street/Drag                           1 front - 1 rear

Autocross                              3 front – 5-6 rear

Road Coarse Track              5 front – 5-6 rear 

Access to Rear Damper Adjustment knobs:  

Measure and mark the approximate location of the top of the strut on the interior cover panel. Using a hole saw or Dremel tool, drill/cut a 1 inch hole in the panel so it will allow access to the damper adjustment knob. A smaller hole is possible if preferred however it will also require you to be more precise with the measurement, marking, and cutting of the panel.  To give this modification a clean appearance, a small length of rubber or silicone hose can be used to provide a finishing molding. Another way would be to conceal the holes when not in use with a 1 inch plastic “pop in” hole covers that can be found at any local hardware store. These covers can be easily removed and snapped into place.  Without the knob cap installed on the top of the struts, a 3mm hex head wench or T-handle can now be used to adjust the dampening of the rear coilovers.  See pictures below (installed with the Powertrix 1pc rear strut tower bar) 

 

 Drive the car around the block to make sure the suspension settles. Observe your ride height. You can adjust your ride height right on the car by loosening the jam nuts that locks down the bottom mounting cups. Once they are loose, you can grab the whole spring and strut assembly and twist either clockwise to lower or counter clockwise to raise the ride height. After you finish adjusting one side and tightening the jam nut, take a tape measure and measure the distance between the jam nut that locks down the bottom mounting cup and the jam nut that locks the bottom of the spring so you can replicate the same distance on the other side. Also check to make sure that the top 17mm center nut of the strut shaft is tight as some times it can come loose during ride height adjustment. 

My current measurements are as follows: 

Front   1.84 inches

Rear    5.60 inches 

NOTE: On the SPORT STREET COILOVERS if you need to raise the ride height, it is recommended to re position of the spring/helper spring higher on the strut body as you want to make sure you have enough threading of the shock body in the lower mounting cup. If you would like to lower the ride height, you can turn the whole assembly and thread the shock body into the lower mounting cup.  

Drive around the car the block again to see if you are satisfied with the desired ride height. 

Here are pictures of the stance of the car set up as described above. As illustrated, I personally like the front just slightly higher for weight balancing and overall handling performance however you can get a more aggressive and even look by lowering the front just a bit.    

MORE NOTES FOR SPORT STREET COILOVERS:

All SPORT STREET COILOVRS SHOULD NOW BE PACKAGED AND ASSEMBLED WITHOUT THE HELPER SPRING.

Helper springs should only be used for achieving extremely low ride heights. See Definition below *** 

If using the Helper spring:

If the ride quality seems too bumpy, it could be due to not enough strut piston travel and the top mount hitting the bump stops causing a slight pogo-ing effect. The helper spring compresses completely once the weight of the car is on it and the strut shaft compresses into the shock body approximately 1 - 1.5 inches effectively decreasing the amount downward travel before hitting the bump stops. 

There are a couple of ways to remedy this:  

1. You can cut the bump stops effectively increasing the strut shaft compression stroke, i.e. more suspension travel. The bump stops are approximately 1-1.5 inches tall and are notched. Maximum, you can cut them down all the way to one notch.  

2. If the helper spring is installed, compress the helper spring almost completely down to about an inch of height (just the helper spring length on the coil over assembly) by moving the main spring up on the strut shaft. This will decrease the amount of strut shaft compression when the car's weight is initially placed on the ground. Effectively moving the starting point of compression higher at rest and also increasing suspension travel with an un-cut bump stop. This is effectively removing the action of the helper spring from the system.  

3. "Physically" remove the helper spring completely from the coilover assemblies. You will need to remove the coilovers from the car and use a 17mm socket and impact gun to remove the top mount. Once the top mounts are removed, the helper spring and its spacer between the main spring can be removed from the top. Reassemble and tighten with impact gun. You will now have to raise the position of the main spring so that is in now firm against the top spring perch and is not loose in the assembly. You do not want the spring to be able to move up and down by hand in the assembly.

Both 2 and 3 methods will effectively raise the ride height so you will need to re-adjust the ride height by loosening the bottom mounting cup lock nut with the provided spanner wrench and twisting the whole assembly clockwise. This is moving the entire assembly lower by screwing the shock body deeper into them bottom mounting cup and is the proper way to lower/adjust ride height. This can be done while the coilovers are installed on the car. Remember to check the top 17mm mounting nut on the strut shaft as it can come loose during this adjustment. If so, use an impact gun (and hit the trigger a couple quick blasts) to make sure that it is tight. Make sure to drive the car around the block so you can get the correct visual outcome of you adjustments. This will allow the suspension to settle properly.

The helper springs are primarily used to make sure that the spring stays firm against the top and bottom spring perches in the coilover assembly on extremely lowered applications. 

***Definition of extremely lowered application:

When the shock bodies are screwed completely into and bottomed out in the mounting cups and an even lower ride height is desired. This will require the lowering of the spring on the shock body and at rest (unloaded by the weight of the car) would render the spring loose in the assembly. In this case the helper spring is effectively used to take up that gap. 

There is plenty of drop (up to approximately 2.5-3 inches) offered in the mounting cups alone for most desired applications as most will not need to go this low.  

HELPFUL INSTALLATION VIDEOS: