mooeys racing

just wanted to know if I'm able to use a GC top hat with my KW coilovers .It say that the GC top hat "ONLY works with GC coilovers / springs, are GC springs not the same ID or something.

Tyson

why would you want to? if the shock body doesnt go into the top hat, its not working.

im assuming the kw doesnt.

mooeys racing

i dont get what your say, i want the shock to go into the body of that car, i was under the assumption that this would be a good thing bc car would good lower and this would give me more pre load.

KW work with OEM top hats, thats what i have now, and i dont see why they wouldn't work with gc ones.

VVENOM800TT

I use oem ones with my Variant 2's and i have no problems, you can slam KWs (not recommended), so if your looking to go low you dont need extended top hats. Just stick with oem ones. But if you just want them because of whatever reason then i cant help you.

98civdx

Ground control top hats don't only fit GC's, you can use them on other coilovers.

But I honestly couldn't tell you if they will work for you.

Tyson

part of the function of how extended top hats work is that the shock body has to be able to go inside the top hat. otherwise, the shock body is just going to slam into the top hat, which makes the extended top hat pointless.

top hats were made for sleeve overs and stock shaped shocks. not aftermarket full body coilovers.

speedooo

Let's theorize using the transitive property...

If GC's use stock top hats, KY's use stop top hats, and GC's can use GC top hats without modification, I would say that KY's can use GC top hats.

Extended top hats allow the shaft to extend upwards farther, placing the piston at an optimal position inside the shock body at a lower than recommended ride for that specific shock. The shock body hitting the top hat is a side effect...I've never seen that before.

I personally had GC extended top hats on my old skunk 2 pro-series coilovers, lowered them all the way and the shock body never touched the top hat.

mooeys racing

the only way that shock would slam into the top hat would be if i had a low rate spring, and the KW have a 12mm strut shaft and GC makes top hats for 12mm. OEM honda ones are 10mm so you have to make you oem top hat center bushing pin fit the 12mm. I would think that your UCA would hit before anything, for the front anyways, and 2nd of all woulndn't you tires hit before the shock body would hit.... i might be thing about this wrong.....

ok thanks thats what i was thinking bc i had a crx with GC on KYB with OEM top hats and it worked ok..... with "the piston at omptimal position" is was i was asking about, it the GC make a big difference with the shock sitting at the omptimal position, and the fact that it lowers the car and lets you set more pre load on the spring... are all good things

ya i dont want to slam my car not at all, i was just asking about the GC, bc i was thinking that it would be "better" to have the shock sit higher on the car, and what not.... any ways thanks for you help

Tyson

there is no optimal position of a piston. it works the same in any position until it bottoms out.

this is not the point of ground control top hats.

its only meant to prevent actual bottoming out internally.

but using it with a larger diameter shock body you are more likely to bottom out the shock body to the top hat sooner.

go ahead and use it. it will fit. but its not needed or beneficial. KW were meant for stock top hats. i trust the piston length was made appropriately.

GC top hats are made to overcome the bad design of a stock type shock that can risk bottoming out internally because it wasnt designed to be lowered or used with sleeve over lowering coils.

mooeys racing

awww alright, is it beneficial to pre-load of the spring at all

Thanks for all your help so far

ronald55555

Listen to Tyson, but I don't think he emphasized the severely the bottoming out scenario enough. First it's completely pointless. Second when you bottom out, your shock bottom will SLAM into the top hat, metal to metal, destroying the shock or top hat or both. The effect of running this setup is effectively the same as running stock top hats without any bumpstops.

As for preload, you do not need preload. I am defining preload as a significant amount of force exerted onto the shock by the spring at full droop. Are you having problems with the spring coming completely off its seat in full droop? Is it having issues seating itself correctly after a full droop situation? Have you considered helper springs? Droop limiters?

mooeys racing

ok thanks thats what i was looking for, thanks for all you help

lsturbo33

I made my own top hats. I used a factory top hat for measurements and just looked at pictures online of the "gc" top hats. I cut them out of billet so they look nice. I still used bump stops so the strut would not bottom out internally. Measure the diameter of the strut body to make sure it's not bigger than an oem strut or else it could make contact with the top hat. Also you might have to modify the bore through the top hat for the shaft to fit through. Those would be the two things to worry about. I have them at all 4 corners for a year now and have been happy with them. This is a old picture but still the same suspension.