coil-over question HELP!

[MARK A]

I'm just about to get a set of coil-overs fitted and now I've got the them in front of me I'm a little confused as to how the height adjustment works! I know that if you wind to lower spring seat down then this lowers the car, then you lock the lock-ring against it! The thing I don't understand is that if the spring is a constant length when unloaded, then if you lengthen the disance between the top and bottom spring seat(which is what happens when you wind the lower seat down), compressing the damper is the only way to take out the slack. When the weight of the car is on it then this is kind of ok but what if the dampers extend to far while driving?, and won't it fail an MOT if the springs aren't under tension when the car is jacked up? Surely this can't be right! Is the lowest ride height the last thread before the spring is left loose? If I wind the bottom plate up further though then the sping will just compress, this must be wrong too? Do I need to lower the top seat when I lower the bottom one??? There appears to be little adjustment on this! I'm pretty confused?? They're Fk's by the way!

 

[Turkish]

If you have a main and helper spring on the car they are seperated by a spacer but this IS NOT threaded. You will usually have two threaded collars one if for the spring to sit on the other you lock against it when the height is set. Some kits have one theaded collar that is locked by a grub screw. Usually its best to set the, somewhere in the middle of the threaded part throw the wheels on drop the car then see whether you need to raise it up or down. It's worth remembering that 1cm on the strut leg will not = 1cm of ride height.

You wont be able to run the car with it set in such a way that the springs arent under at least some tension all the time whether the car is on or off its wheels as the car would bottom out. When I fitted my H&R's to my 172 the wishbones were inverted and i couldnt drive it off the ramps at work it was so low and even then the springs were under some tension when unloaded.

 

[MARK A]

That's cool, but what I'm confused about is that if the top of the strut is a fixed seat that the spring butts against, then as you wind the lower seat up and down the thread, it'll either have to compress the spring or cause slack! If you wind the collar up to raise the car, surely this will make the spring shorter, therefore lowering the car????

 

[Turkish]

Think of it as winding the strut leg up and down inside the spring as opposed to the other way and it will make more sense. Winding the collar down will wind the strut up into the body therefore lowering it and vice versa when it comes to winding the collar up. Now stop fussing and go fit them

 

[MARK A]

Think of it as winding the strut leg up and down inside the spring as opposed to the other way and it will make more sense. Winding the collar down will wind the strut up into the body therefore lowering it and vice versa when it comes to winding the collar up. Now stop fussing and go fit them

See what you mean mate!!!! They're going on tomorrow I just want to make sure they're fitted properly Cheers for the help!

 

[Turkish]

No problems. Btw DO NOT use the transport nut that has no doubt come on the front struts that can go in the bin. Use the upper spring "hat" that comes on them then just put all the other components (upper and lower top mount, bearing, brass spacer, shallow nut etc) that is currenlty on the OE strut onto the coilover in the same order as it is on the OE strut and you'll be fine.