ride height question

alright.......so 3 weeks ago i got myself some new shocks, tokico hp blues. i'm lowered on arospeed coilovers, i'm lowered all the way in the front and about a half inch from completely lowered in the rear. my ride kinda seems like it got a tad bit bouncier since then and i'm concerned that my shocks are almost dead or something. i have to take inspection in march and that's still pretty far away and i'm thinking of raising my car tomorrow morning but i'm worried that my shocks are shot now. ahhhhhh. i'm freaking out.

what's the lowest i can lower my car with my coilovers without worrying about blowing my shocks. is 3 inches fine? because right now i think i'm lowered like 3.75ish. what about 2.75?

however, even though i'm lowered all the way and whatnot, it doesnt seem as low as derek's 4dr and i can still clear speedbumps without scraping and i don't scrape or bottom out really.

well dude i got the same prob.. i have my car slammed and its not giving the suspension any travel which leads the car to bounce.. i thought my tokicos were shot too but its due to having the car slammed too much.. try raising it a little and take it around the block until ur satisfied with the feel. i doubt u blew the blues dude :icon16:

alright, sweet, because i know that it's bouncy and whatnot and i expected that but when i first got them in and drove around and would hit a bump... my car would just go over it and then drop but now it goes over the same bump and drops and then rebounds one more time slightly.

should i keep it one inch from being completely lowered? cus i'm just gonna measure that inch from the bottom of my coilover sleeve because i'm totally uncertain of how low my car is right now. haha

Seeing that Tokico's are STOCK LENGTH struts not intended for lowering you can lower about 1.75" without issues. Anyone who tells you differently doesn't know suspension, especially 1PhatCX. Also you need to cut your bump stops in half tp prevent from riding on them which will turn the ride into junk.

riding on your bump stops will cause that bumpy ride

Anyone who tells you differently doesn't know suspension, especially 1PhatCX.


LMAO


But yead Vlad, you gotta raise that bad boy up. Im riding on skunk2 coil overs and I have about 2 inches before the bottom of the colars in the front and about an inch in the rear and im still almost tucking 14s, and the car has some bounce to it but not too bad. And another thing, SLEEVED COIL OVERS SUCK. I dont care what anyone says, i've always said this, and now that I finally own a pair I know for a fact that I hate them, I cant wait to get some regular lowering springs on my car.

Next time you go out to your car look up into the fender whell and look at your control arm, I bet its almost completey up in the fender, which is really bad for your ball joints.

thanks everybody. i'm gonna go raise my car up a little bit right now.

i already cut my bump stops in half so it's all gravy.

Vlad, I have the same coil overs and you definitely have to raise them back up. I have mine now set at 10 threads from the bottom all the way around and it's still about a 2" drop. That's almost 2" from all the way down. 12 threads might even be better for ride's sake.

I dont have bumpstops. You could also drop your struts down to help a little. You can drop them down about 2" in front before having axel issues, and more than that in the rear. Then you can raise up your coilovers to compensate.

what do you mean by dropping my struts down? haha, sorry, i'm still learning all this stuff

If you take the brake line bracket off, and put a new dent in the side of the strut you can lower it down, giving it more travel before it bottoms out. This also lowers your car, so you can raise your coilovers back up some.

riding on your bump stops will cause that bumpy ride
so will struts compressed too far.

If you want to "slam" your car spend the $$$$ and do it right. That can be done with true coilovers. You get what you pay for when it comes to suspension.

Hybrid I disagree. I used to think the same until installing Ground Controls on Koni yellows as recommened by CivicSiRacer on many cars. But the way I look at it, GC & Koni yellows cost about the same as an entry level true coilover setup. The key to adjustable right height is the adjustment built INTO the strut not a piece that fits between the spring & spring perch. Another thing, adjustable ride height is worthless unless you use it for what's it designed for and 75% of the people who use don't have a clue.

Jackassi, i was saying that the sleaved coilovers suck for the most part, not true coil overs with threaded shocks.

Jackassi, i was saying that the sleaved coilovers suck for the most part, not true coil overs with threaded shocks.
Right, I agree. I was just saying for sleeves GC's are decent with yellows. The best part about GC's is the Eibach springs can be custom rated per application, no generic spring rates.

By using ride hight correct you mean killing squirls right?

Right, I agree. I was just saying for sleeves GC's are decent with yellows. The best part about GC's is the Eibach springs can be custom rated per application, no generic spring rates.
Skunk2 used to offer it I had mine "B" rated little higher rates to deal with a B motor and hair tighter.

yeah full coilovers are deffinatly best and with sleeves u should expect it to bounce...a lot...but as for inspection with coilovers the suspension is so stiff that its hard to bounce the car to check the struts..it prob wont bounce...so they wont notice they are lown unless they leak!

i think u should lift the car up and tuck some 33 in tires under there an go off road....not that be a original hatchie...

hahahahahahahahha 33 inch tires. damn. i failed inspection last march cus of blown shocks and htey were stock shocks and didnt leak and yea, i failed. and now that i lifted my car up about an inch and a half i still check my struts to see if they're still good and the coilovers are so stiff taht it just rebounds back up right away. oh well, it's a much better ride now though, instead of burying myself in little bumps, i just sail over them. hah

hahahahahahahahha 33 inch tires. damn. i failed inspection last march cus of blown shocks and htey were stock shocks and didnt leak and yea, i failed. and now that i lifted my car up about an inch and a half i still check my struts to see if they're still good and the coilovers are so stiff taht it just rebounds back up right away. oh well, it's a much better ride now though, instead of burying myself in little bumps, i just sail over them. hah

Me too... and my struts are so beat. I used to off road rally my car and was pretty rough with it, now I baby it though...

ok so how or why are sleeved coilovers more bouncy then true coilovers?

ok so how or why are sleeved coilovers more bouncy then true coilovers?

It has to do with how far the strut has to travel with the spring set up when the spring is not at the factory height. Most people don't buy a combo of springs and struts that are made specifically for the application they're using. Even with aftermarket struts, adjusting the height of the coilovers is never going to be perfect. But if you get true coilovers that are made to be adjusted, you get what you pay for...

ok i understand that, i have eibach yellows springs with tokico adjustables(white) set on 4 and it feels ok to me, anyone know this setup to agree or disagree? If you disagree then suggest a better setup.

ok i understand that, i have eibach yellows springs with tokico adjustables(white) set on 4 and it feels ok to me, anyone know this setup to agree or disagree? If you disagree then suggest a better setup.

me jealous...

it has to do with the shock travel....it was already discussed before if u do a search...it has pics that go along with it that help explain it a lot better..but basically they make shocks for lowered suspension diffrent then stock shocks they are smaller..

yea, like the koni yellows. they are a shorter shock overall compared to the stock lenght shocks like illuminas, blues, and kyb agx's and gr2s and so on...

ok so how or why are sleeved coilovers more bouncy then true coilovers?
Because they are usually low grade products with generic spring rates + plus the fact people use stock length struts(stock, KYB, Tokico) lowered TOO FAR. Too much lowering also affects the angles and joints of suspension parts in a bad way. Turtle is right you get what you pay for especially when it comes to springs and struts. If you spend the money for Ground Controls and Koni sports(yellow) it will have a good ride with outstanding handling. Think of it this way, the lower you go the more you need to spend. Lower the car only 3/4" and stock struts can be used, 1.75" or less aftermarket struts are recommended, 2.5" or more aftermarket struts or true coilovers are the only option. Struts are much more important than springs when considering a good ride, they stroke about 1700 time in 1 mile on smooth roads. I always recommend the best adjustable struts you can afford or Bilsteins for no external adjusting.

True coilovers are deigned and built to work together in all ranges of setting unlike Eibach springs and tokico struts for instance. A matched spring/strut is the best way to, even when using typical lowering springs and struts. H&R Cup kit and Konis that are valve match to certain brands of springs are some of the only option besides true coilovers.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=3052/35564shockstroke.jpg

Alignments are needed EVERY time you change the height of your suspension and corner weighting should be done at the same time.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-suspension5.htm

Real men dont need struts or springs.

thats the pic i was refering too...