School me on Coil-Overs

[vermilion]

slow^

 

[MadStang]

slow^

Slower^

 

[Dalamar]

Mad Hatter?

 

[Steven]

Mad Hatter?

Don't compliment him like that. Sheesh

 

[MadStang]

Mad Hatter?

LOL, that's not the first nor last time I'll ever be called that. Damn I love my last name xD

 

[OnyxCobra]

thanks for the info guys, I still don't know if i understand the spring sizes and rates deal. How low is low? I don't want the car tucking or anything, just lower than now.

Do i just need A arms without the spring perch, or how does it work? Also do you need an alignment every time you raise or lower the suspension on coilovers?

Currently I have Tokico Illumina struts, had no idea Bilstiens would mount different (not sure I followed what you were saying). I have a chance to get some Bilstiens off my friend's old '04 Cobra but not sure if it's worth it, I kinda like how mine are adjustable. I also have some MM camber plates awaiting install and a bumpsteer kit also...

 

[MadStang]

thanks for the info guys, I still don't know if i understand the spring sizes and rates deal. How low is low? I don't want the car tucking or anything, just lower than now.

Do i just need A arms without the spring perch, or how does it work? Also do you need an alignment every time you raise or lower the suspension on coilovers?

Currently I have Tokico Illumina struts, had no idea Bilstiens would mount different (not sure I followed what you were saying). I have a chance to get some Bilstiens off my friend's old '04 Cobra but not sure if it's worth it, I kinda like how mine are adjustable. I also have some MM camber plates awaiting install and a bumpsteer kit also...

right now the way your car sits, I would go with 10" spring. 12" is more for drag racing and stock ride heights.

I'd recommend a-arms without the perch, it'll save you some weight since they won't be used and just take up unnecessary space. Yes, anytime you adjust the ride height, an alignment is necessary.

they don't really mount differently per say, they just use different components to make the strut function correctly with the c/c and c/o kit. good to hear that you went with MM, i'd continue to use there components.

 

[2v_takeover]

I'm completely oblivious when it comes to c/o's. How do you adjust ride height, and how far can you go? Do all c/o's adjust?

 

[MadStang]

I'm completely oblivious when it comes to c/o's. How do you adjust ride height, and how far can you go? Do all c/o's adjust?

In the coilover kit will be a threaded sleeve that goes over the strut. on this threaded sleeve are two collars. To adjust the ride height you just rotate the lower collar that's located on the sleeve. Rotating it lower = lower ride height. Rotating higher = higher ride height. You can go as far as a the threaded sleeve or the underbody of the car can go. I could only go a little more than halfway down the sleeve without being too low on the street.

Not all coilovers are "adjustable". S197's technically have coilovers from the factory, aftermarket kits are mostly adjustable...

 

[ReplicaR]

A lot of people don't realize that coil-over just means coil spring over the shock/strut suspension design. It does not have to be adjustable or performance oriented at all. My mom's accord has coil overs. Guess what? Last I checked she does not race in Honda Challenge. lol

Speaking of adjustable coil overs, guess who just got some for the back of his car?

 

[MadStang]

A lot of people don't realize that coil-over just means coil spring over the shock/strut suspension design. It does not have to be adjustable or performance oriented at all. My mom's accord has coil overs. Guess what? Last I checked she does not race in Honda Challenge. lol

Speaking of adjustable coil overs, guess who just got some for the back of his car?

Exactly haha. I believe it's called the MacPherson strut design iirc.

Nice, you'll love them!

 

[ReplicaR]

I'm not gonna go as stiff as you since I'm using Koni SA, so I think I'm gonna bump spring rate 50 lbs front and back and leave it at 350-250 for now.

 

[MadStang]

I'm not gonna go as stiff as you since I'm using Koni SA, so I think I'm gonna bump spring rate 50 lbs front and back and leave it at 350-250 for now.

Good choice, for street/track that's a good setup. If it were just a track car though I'd run it and see how it reacts and just fumble around with spring rates until I found what works best for the driver style and car. Great thing about the coilovers is how easy it is to change the springs out so you can test different rates

 

[ReplicaR]

Yeah, easy and expensive. I'm gonna work with a 100 pound front rear split for now, and if I feel like I need more adjustment, I'll get an adjustable rear bar.

 

[OnyxCobra]

yeah I thought coil on strut was called a macpherson style strut. Coilovers is kind of a term that's now used to describe an adjustable height suspension and that's obviously what we're talking about.



I currently have the Tokico Illumina 5 way adjustable struts/shocks, and my friend has a set of stock 04 Cobra struts which I guess are Bilstien? Which would you guys recommend I use if I was going to buy a coilover kit for one of them since they make diff kits?

 

[Win]

Just popping in here. i went with a UPR Coilover and i am going with Bilstein Struts up front. The Upr Coilovers i have have a 12" 250lb Eibach Spring. Which will be good for a Street Driven Stang. The Steeda Springs i just picked up from rz5.0 should compliment the Bilstein Rear Shocks i just picked up from Blind. All in all I plan on going with a Tubular K and also new Tubular A arms. From my research my setup should be very street friendly but have decent traction at the the 1/4. Someone correct me or give me more insight if i am wrong.

Oh that brings me to my next point. Choose the correct Spring length for your ride height. If you're going to go LOW, 10" spring is perfect. If you're going for drag and don't need to be incredibly low you'll want 12". The last thing you want is spring preload on coilovers, it will increase the spring rate and reduce the travel of the suspension which could lead to bottoming out much quicker as well as sporadic handling characteristics (oversteer, understeer, bumpsteer, etc.). Besides this, 12" springs are meant to be run on lower spring rates, the 10" springs are meant for higher rates (stiffer coils of the 10" don't need to travel as far as the softer one's of the longer 12" and you want to make sure you DO use full suspension travel)

Yeah i am going just a little lower then Stock ride height but want it to be comfortable. Therefore i think my setup should be very well suited for the street and some runs down the track.

 

[MadStang]

Yeah, easy and expensive. I'm gonna work with a 100 pound front rear split for now, and if I feel like I need more adjustment, I'll get an adjustable rear bar.

True, but for me it was a cost that was worth the price. I have 500, 400 and 350 # front springs and 375, 275, and 225 # rear springs. I tested each to find which I liked best, and now I just keep the others for track variations where I need a different rate to help compensate for track surface.

yeah I thought coil on strut was called a macpherson style strut. Coilovers is kind of a term that's now used to describe an adjustable height suspension and that's obviously what we're talking about.



I currently have the Tokico Illumina 5 way adjustable struts/shocks, and my friend has a set of stock 04 Cobra struts which I guess are Bilstien? Which would you guys recommend I use if I was going to buy a coilover kit for one of them since they make diff kits?

Well if you want full range of adjustability I would stick with the Tokico's. You can control how stiff the dampers are on the Tokico's, the bilstein are set-valved and they're quite stiff which isn't for everybody in a street car.

Just popping in here. i went with a UPR Coilover and i am going with Bilstein Struts up front. The Upr Coilovers i have have a 12" 250lb Eibach Spring. Which will be good for a Street Driven Stang. The Steeda Springs i just picked up from rz5.0 should compliment the Bilstein Rear Shocks i just picked up from Blind. All in all I plan on going with a Tubular K and also new Tubular A arms. From my research my setup should be very street friendly but have decent traction at the the 1/4. Someone correct me or give me more insight if i am wrong.

Oh that brings me to my next point. Choose the correct Spring length for your ride height. If you're going to go LOW, 10" spring is perfect. If you're going for drag and don't need to be incredibly low you'll want 12". The last thing you want is spring preload on coilovers, it will increase the spring rate and reduce the travel of the suspension which could lead to bottoming out much quicker as well as sporadic handling characteristics (oversteer, understeer, bumpsteer, etc.). Besides this, 12" springs are meant to be run on lower spring rates, the 10" springs are meant for higher rates (stiffer coils of the 10" don't need to travel as far as the softer one's of the longer 12" and you want to make sure you DO use full suspension travel)

Yeah i am going just a little lower then Stock ride height but want it to be comfortable. Therefore i think my setup should be very well suited for the street and some runs down the track.

Yup, sounds good to me ccasion14:

 

[OnyxCobra]

Yeah I like that mine are adjustable, but some people hate on Tokico. Just curious if the Bilsteins are higher quality. I have nothing bad to say about my struts, but I also don't really have anything to compare it to.


When you switch to tubular A arms obviously you don't need the spring perch, where do the coil-overs bolt to?

 

[MadStang]

Yeah I like that mine are adjustable, but some people hate on Tokico. Just curious if the Bilsteins are higher quality. I have nothing bad to say about my struts, but I also don't really have anything to compare it to.


When you switch to tubular A arms obviously you don't need the spring perch, where do the coil-overs bolt to?

They wouldn't be worth switching over to from the tokicos IMO. I love my bilsteins, lifetime warranty for failure, and very stiff. If you already have good dampers I don't recommend changing them

For front coilovers the strut they mount on, doesn't mount to the a-arm. They mount to the stock location, i.e. the spindles. (a-arm connects to spindle via the ball joints).

In the rear the coilovers mount on the shock in the stock location. On the axle.

 

[OnyxCobra]

Do you have a pic of both your coilover and strut installed? How do they both mount to the spindle?