herrgolf

I recently had a set of H&R OE Sports installed along with Koni Yellows. They are advertised as giving ~.75" drop in ride height. Upon picking up my car, I found that the rear was indeed lower, but that the front of the car sat ever so slightly HIGHER than stock. Both the spring perches are set at stock height. I assumed that I needed to let the springs and shocks settle but it's been about 100 miles and there's been no change; adjusting the rebound damping to the softest setting makes no difference. Has anyone had this experience and if so, how can I correct the issue so that the front of my car isn't sitting up so high?

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

<p>Either you ordered the wrong hardware, or the fucktard who installed your suspension installed it backwards.</p>

herrgolf

The rear springs are marked with an R, and the fronts marked with an F. And I doubt they'd fit upside down.

24TEN

iTrader: (2)

Check to make sure the front forks are installed correctly.

herrgolf

In what way would incorrectly installed forks raise the front of the car? The way the car drives actually feels fine, other than it being less firm up front than expected. I'd assume improperly installed forks would affect the way the car goes down the road (right?). What should I look for?

burnoutboy

iTrader: (22)

A picture is worth a thousand words...

herrgolf

Good idea. I'll dredge something up and will post.

herrgolf

Here is the front fork (left side pictured):

free image uploader

Here is a side shot of the car... the front sits at slightly higher than stock height (it sat lower than on the very old but unbroken stock springs). The rear sits lower than it did. I was supposed to get a .75" drop all around, but it's only evident at the rear.

upload image online

tony_2018

Look like type R ride height to me....

.75 inches

wk9k

Looks like it didn't hardly make a difference at all..what's the point of lowering just to get a small .75 of a drop. Still that horrible gap there. Should've went big and dropped it 3" or 4"

eHMxhACk

iTrader: (17)

I've got a '92 hatchback with Koni Orange and H&R OE sport springs. I figured the .75" drop would be enough, it wasn't. My car sits level all the way around at 25" top of the wheel well measured through the center cap.

I've ordered Bilstein B8 and H&R Sport Spring as I'd like at least a 2" drop. Ultimately I'd like the tops of the wheel well at 23" with 22" tires.





eH.

SidPM-EG6

Buy Adjustable Coilovers it will do the job

eghatch9295

iTrader: (1)

ground control sleeves. /thread.

24TEN

iTrader: (2)

Given that the Koni "yellows" only have a detent for the pinch bolt to pass through its possible that who ever had installed them missed the mark. Most other replacement struts have a ring that you push the fork up against to find its correct position. For the record it appears that they are installed correctly but I couldn't be positive without taking it apart myself. With that said you can move the spring perch down and solve all of this OR do the DIY method and add a new detent to move the fork up, just make sure you don't go so far as to make the bottom of the strut hit the axle. You can also wait longer for the springs to settle. I've never heard 100 miles for a "settling" period, a couple of decades ago my understanding was that it was more like 2-3 months of varied road and driving conditions. Maybe this break in period has changed? I really don't know but I'd imagine 100 miles of freeway driving wouldn't do much to break in the springs (not saying that's what you did but just making the point clear).

I personally had the same issue with the the front of my car (92-95 Civic) using Tanabe GF210 and DF210 springs. I had a direct connection to the company in Japan and he even went as far as trying to have their engineers (when they were stateside) see what was going on but they never had a solution for me. Not saying you should do as "wk9k" suggested and go big but ultimately I ended up swapping my front springs for something that suited my tastes a little better.

98civdx

If you aren't happy with the ride happy height you can always put the shock mounts on the lower position on the shocks. IIRC you can get a half inch out of them.

And this "settling" stuff, is bullshit...

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

<p>&quot;Hey guys, what causes X?&quot;</p><p>&quot;Well, [answer 1] [answer 2] [answer 3]&quot;</p><p>&quot;No, you're all wrong.&quot;</p><p>Why did you even waste our time?</p>

B serious

iTrader: (1)

Lowering the perch is bigger than a 0.5" drop. Its closer to 1", depending on a few things.

And springs do settle. Who told you it was bullshit?

I wonder if the installer clocked the OP's bushings. If not...they'll create some lift.

OP...if the installer didn't clock the bushings, that'd be worth likely 0.25" by itself. I think the springs will settle. And damper adjustments will never alter ride heights.

If the ride is soft, try adjusting the damper ****. That's what its there for.

98civdx

I can't find the post, but it was someone from Koni NA. Not to mention many others have posted about it over the years.

For what's it worth I saw no settling with any of my suspensions over the years, and I'm sure I wont see any when I get my AMR's. If I'm, I will happily stand corrected though.

theYBLEGAL

I agree, settling is BS. Never seen a set settle lower than when it was installed. Else we'd be re-aligning because toe would be off.

Can you tell us part #s? Maybe you bought the wrong stuff. Else, you should measure things, and compare to factory specs (Koni and HR's). People ship wrong stuff all the time. Password JDM sent me 96-98 sir headlights when I ordered 99-00 ctr headlights. Stuff happens even from 'good' companies.

Verify parts. If they verify, check for proper installation. If your knowledge doesn't let you, post more pics, tophat too, or ask your mech to double check his work.

tony_2018

.75 of an inch is not going to be noticable....you want a drop than buy springs that have at least a 1.5 inch drop.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

I've always had suspensions settle and had to realign for toe (and other angles, depending on the car). KW's, Teins, GC's, H&R's, and all the countless springs/suspensions I've used/installed over the years have all settled.

Its in KW's literature that it is normal for springs to settle up to about 1/2" or so. I'll try and find the pamphlet and snap a shot of it.

My GF's daily is on STX's...and it definitely settled about that much up front (about 1/4" in back). The tires ended up cupping because they settled while on a road trip lol. I had to raise and re-align it. And buy new tires to replace the brand new tires that got cupped. :'(

Its incredibly prevalent for springs to settle. I've never seen a set NOT settle. It takes anywhere from 500-2000 miles in my experience. That's why I buy lifetime alignments.

And yes...I always clock my bushings meticulously. I've been telling the whole internet to clock bushings since like 2002. So its not the bushings taking a set on my car(s).

98civdx

I guess I'll pay extra close attention to my AMRs and see what happens.

theYBLEGAL

Not to be rude, but you sure she didn't put on weight? Totally jussst kidding!

But really, sure the car is same weight? I've never ever had a set settle. Most people drive around with subs and bullshit that weighs you down, stuff that wasn't in the car when it was being worked on.

If that was the case tho, all springs would be suseptable to loss of resistance. Scientifically speaking, springs are generally made of a high strength steel that would rather break apart than bend to a new shape. The bonds are tempered to a specific orientation that won't be changed unless the steel is reheated. Hence, heating springs to lower a car ghetto style. But ya, it will snap before going to a new shape, or losing resistance.

But, I'm still in search of evidence that suspension springs settle. I've never seen proof or experienced it. All I can find is people making claims. My mild knowlege of metallurgy is what justifies what I've seen to me.

My .02

B serious

iTrader: (1)

Lol. We are both skinny *** *****.

I think if you have extremely stiff springs on a relatively light car...the settling effect will not be as noticeable.

Spring steel is hardened...but it bends and deforms all the time. It just retains shape better than other materials. It will also take a set. Springs all take sets.

Clutch damper springs take a set. Then you get the rattles. I'm sure you've heard of clutch buzz if you've ever met a S2000 owner.

Extension springs take a set. Then your porch door doesn't close as hard.

Leaf springs take a set. Then your truck looks like its always flooring it.

They aren't wound into their permanent shape. I have never installed a suspension that hasn't settled.

Reputable companies like KW and Öhlins have literature with their kits that says that the springs will settle after use.

slowDB7

Not sure if this would really affect ride height, but did the shop preload the suspension when installing it, or just impact everything together at full extension.