Installed coilovers, having issues

03DSGGT · May 28, 2016

Hey guys, I installed my coilovers the other day on the Mustang. I installed AJE tubular A arms and Strange coilovers with 12"/170# springs. I'm running Tokico Illumina 5 way drag struts. I installed everything correctly and added MM bump stops and bearings that sit on top of the spring for easier adjustment. I have 2 larger spacers (I think theyre 1/2") under the CC plates (MM) and one smaller spacer on top under the nut. Everything seems to be how it should, but I really have no adjustment with the ride height. I started off with the spring seats about halfway up the sleeve. This gave me about 3 fingers between the top of the tire and the fender. I adjusted the seats all of the way down as far as they can go and I can now fit 2 fingers in between the tire and fender. I would think that I could slam the front end more especially with 12" springs. When driving down the road, the front end is silent and takes normal bumps pretty well...its a little more bouncy but from what Ive read, that's somewhat expected with coilovers. The issue is when I hit a "hard" bump, like the uneven step going over a bridge or a pothole. When the car hits them, it sounds and feels like the front tires are solid rubber, and I would swear its bending the rims by the sound. It makes driving the car really tense and I'm not sure if this is typical or not. I'm not sure if this and the lack of adjustability is related but if so and this is typical of coilovers, I may go back to coil springs.

Here is a picture of the front end adjusted all the way down. Seems like it should be lower:

Tally_4.6 · May 28, 2016

It seems to me that part of it may be the rubber bands you have on the front, what size are those things?

03DSGGT · May 28, 2016

I was wondering if that was contributing to it as well. The front rims are 18x7 with a 215/40 tire. They are a little shorter than my 265/35s that were on the front with the 18x9s, and those had no issues at all. I put my front drag wheels on to see and I was getting the same thing with the hard bumps. Normally with the drag wheels its like riding in a Lincoln, but now it's white knuckle and cringe when I see a bump coming...not fun..

mcglsr2 · May 28, 2016

Is it possible that, as low as you are, you are bottoming out the strut? a 170# spring is not very stiff.

03DSGGT · May 28, 2016

mcglsr2 said:
Is it possible that, as low as you are, you are bottoming out the strut? a 170# spring is not very stiff.

I'm not sure, its possible though. Plus I have two tall spacers under each CC plate, which may be too much, limiting my strut travel even more. I'm just confused because if the springs are too short and soft that I'm bottoming out over bumps, I would think that I could get the car to sit lower than it is in the front...so confused...

Addermk2 · May 29, 2016

struts are bottoming out. You put your spacers in wrong.

Take the strut back out and put the small spacer UNDER the CC plate, and the larger on top. Just make sure you have enough clearance to close your hood. Ive seen people break their hood with strut tops.

03DSGGT · May 29, 2016

Addermk2 said:
struts are bottoming out. You put your spacers in wrong.

Take the strut back out and put the small spacer UNDER the CC plate, and the larger on top. Just make sure you have enough clearance to close your hood. Ive seen people break their hood with strut tops.

Ok I'll mess with the spacers some more. I started out with just a small spacer under the CC plate but the bolts on the CC plates dug into the spring hat, so said screw it and just put both large spacers under the plates. So, basically what I'm going after is the minimum spacing for the spring hat to clear the bolt heads in the CC plates, correct?

the5.ohh · May 29, 2016

I can speak on the super hard rubber bang sound on harsh bumps. I installed shorter swaybar endlinks and that issue went away! I'm on upr coilovers, strange 10 way adj struts, MM cc plates, and 12" 250lb springs. Part number is 9.8125

the5.ohh · May 29, 2016

Oh and one small spacer under the CC plate, two large up top is what I run.

03DSGGT · May 30, 2016

Thanks man. I'm going to try and rearrange my spacers and see what happens. I'm wanting to keep the front end loose with it being a street/strip car which is why I got the 170# springs. Also I'm not running a sway bar which I forgot to mention earlier. I went with a 12" spring over a 14" because I've read that the 12s won't pop and deform and rub the inner sleeves. I wonder if the 170# springs being 12" are not enough for the heavier new edge cars. Maybe if I went with a 200 or 225# 12" spring I would be better off. I just don't want to give up any weight transfer. I was 60 footing in the mid 1.5s with stock control arms and clapped out fox 4 banger springs, and the car took bumps like a Cadillac....lol

Addermk2 · May 30, 2016

I have 14-175s and I can confirm, they do indeed make a ton of noise. They've also rubbed a nice set of grooves in my sleeves, so if I ever want to run a shorter spring, I'm going to have a big headache making it work.

Side note. If you're trying to get the car to 60 well and transfer weight, slamming the front might be doing you a disservice.

03DSGGT · May 30, 2016

Addermk2 said:
I have 14-175s and I can confirm, they do indeed make a ton of noise. They've also rubbed a nice set of grooves in my sleeves, so if I ever want to run a shorter spring, I'm going to have a big headache making it work.

Side note. If you're trying to get the car to 60 well and transfer weight, slamming the front might be doing you a disservice.

Yes, I should clarify. I want to 60' at the track but slam the car with the 18s. With the fox front springs the ride height was good for the track but I wanted lower when I had it on the street. I got coilovers so I could adjust the front end for the track and street. I have a set of Team Z rear drag springs for the track and I switch to a set of cut stock rear springs for the street. So the reason for the coilovers is so I can have the best of both worlds...but right now my Ranger with a torsion bar crank and 33s is smoother...lol

Addermk2 · May 30, 2016

I don't think you quite understand how crucial your suspension geometry really is.

03DSGGT · May 31, 2016

I agree with you. I didn't realize how sensitive things are. I'm contemplating buying fox struts in addition to rearranging spacers just to maximize strut travel...

ttocs · May 31, 2016

I know of one way you can drive an extremely lowered car and fear no bridge/curb.

lwarrior1016 · May 31, 2016

ttocs said:
I know of one way you can drive an extremely lowered car and fear no bridge/curb.

But can it 60' at the track?

Addermk2 · May 31, 2016

lwarrior1016 said:
But can it 60' at the track?

Nope

lwarrior1016 · May 31, 2016

Its all fun and games until a suspension needs to function properly

Thomas_W · May 31, 2016

The strange struts are extremely noisy to!

Frank.JD.Perez · May 31, 2016

03DSGGT said:
I agree with you. I didn't realize how sensitive things are. I'm contemplating buying fox struts in addition to rearranging spacers just to maximize strut travel...

i actually took away some strut travel on my car because it was too bouncy. the steeda cc kit i have has multiple different spacers so i "shortened" the strut. when i upgrade again im probably gonna go with the strange shocks and struts and have them be the 10 ways, also most likely will get the fox length struts too