Well i just installed my Tokico Illuminas shocks on skunk2 sleeved coilovers. The ride is a lot better then what it was on blown shocks. But the thing is still pretty stiff (a bit too stiff for my taste). I know the Illuminas are 5way adjustable. I was wondering what you people out there running your settings on? My drop is about 2.5-3.0" all around. Also for fronts, how come the sleeves stop at a certain point on the shocks? And the rears go all the way down. On the front shocks there's a lip that stops the sleeve from going down all the way, anyone had experience? I mainly need help tuning the suspension better. Also the top piece where you twist the adjustment, it comes off easily, it came off but i put it back on, i'm not sure if that mixed up the numbers or anything?

 

not enough background info to say for sure, but at 3" drop i'm betting you're on your bumpstops, which makes it really uncomfortable.

as far as the rears go, i'm not sure what you're describing. the sleeve should be resting on a spring perch or circlip or some other place on the shock...got a pic?

 

pic is a good idea. im a little lost but anyway, ive got illumnia R's....have like a 2.25 inch drop, set on 3.

Dont forget, it take time for shocks to wear in..

Up you dumpage a little. Give you shocks a little breething time. Your shocks want the most suspension travel when breaking them in.

 

I bought these used for 8000 miles.

 

I'll see if I can get a picture soon. The front the sleeve sits on some kind of clip, the rear sits all the way down.

Yes i'm also on it's original bump stops.

Also you know how the top plastic piece comes off easy? The part where you adjust the shocks. When you put it back on , is it at the same number?

 

Bump, anybody else on this kind of setup?

 

skunk2 gives overly stiff springs. i wouldnt expect them to ride very well.

plus, youre also dumped too far. if youve run out of thread on the sleeve, youve gone way too far.

if youre going to "tuck", then dont expect any sort of handling.

might as well run 5 all around. it really wouldnt matter. youre on the bumpstops anyway with springs that are overly stiff.

 

I have 10 lines left on the turns on the sleeve, on the rears, and probably the same on the front. What are the sprint rates on the skunk2's? I'll see what running 5 all around drives. I'm not even sure what they're set at right now. Does anyone know if the Number Plastic Part/and the Turning thing that comes off the top, if it comes off and you put it back on, is there only 1 way it'll go back on? Cause i'm not sure if it's on the right number or not.

 

yes. the indicator is keyed so you can only install it one way.

 

Wat setup do you have tyson? What settings do you have yours on.

 

currently stock springs with a mugen rear sway bar on illuminas set to something like 4 and 3, front and back, respectively.

honestly, i just set my shocks to go over speedbumps with minimal bounce and left it that way. you should try your own testing to see what you like.

ive also had prokits, 450/900 and 300/450 springs on as well. i have chosen to just use my stock springs. i have no complaints, except im thinking of upping my front swaybar to a DA 22mm.

crx of course.

skunk2 have like 450f/336r spring rates. not really good for street in my opinion. they give out the same springs for every application anyway. so its not like they put any thought into it.

 

I'm unsure how spring rates work, stupid question but is the higher the spring rate the more stiffer it tends to be? I mean i go over bumps fine and city driving is fine, but on highways going like 70-80mph, going over bumps is OK , but it's just these stupid HUMPS that annoys me. It goes over them A LOT better then befor when i had my stock shocks on. I mean i don't really mind it, since i have better shocks and i can probably adjust them to ride better, why not? Also why did you chose stock springs? Do you know the spring rate of GC's?

 

because youre too close to your bump stops. you have too little shock travel. suspension needs distance to travel. you dont have that.

raise your car.

ground controls come with 350/250-275 typically, but you can choose whatever rates you want.

 

Raise it? I'm thinking about even lower it even more. What about cutting the bumpstomps? Are the rates for the skunk2's good?

 

sorry kid. thats all the advice ive got you for. good luck.

 

I appreciate the help though, if I can't do anything about it, I'll just deal with it. I was just trying to find advice on what to put my shocks setting on etc. If i want to be dumped i can't expect perfect ride.

 

anybody else chime in?

 

YOU'RE ON THE BUMPSTOPS. THATS WHY IT RIDES LIKE ****.

sorry kid, you've only got two options:
raise the car or make extended tophats.

 

Well first off, I didn't said it ride like ****, it was just stiffer then i wanted it to be. Thanks for your advice though. But i did put the settings on 5 for all sides. And it rides HELL of a lot better now. It's a night and day differences now, so much better on everything.

 

Sounds like to me you should've done alot more research before you spent your money, you bought stock stroke shocks not meant for that kind of drop and apparently you don't even know how spring rate works. If you lower your car more, it'll only ride and perform worse. If you are riding on your bump stops, you can trim them, but like I said I don't even think the Illuminas were designed for that kind of drop. Your car isn't designed to ride that low, live with that fact. btw, your team's name is pretty accurate.

 

Haha, thanks. And I did do research, I just needed anything but stock shocks. And i knew Tokico Illuminas and Koni Yellows were one of the top shocks out there. I thought since it was one of the top of the line shocks it'd be able to handle it. Right now it's doing alright since i fixed the adjustment. I don't think there's any shocks that were meant to be ridden on really low. And i know if i lower my car more it'll perform worse, dont have to tell me. And again i was asking for advice about the tokico settings, I didn't come here complaining about how really shitty my ride was. I said it was 'stiffer' then i expected it to be and needed some advice on adjusting the illuminas.

 

 

Tokiko only warranties less than a three inch drop or so...there is a limit they say is acceptable for those stuts. Also the plastic pieces that dial in the stiffness are notched inside they only fit onto the metal insert on the struts one way. If you raise the car a bit and set the rear at a higher number it want be as stiff.