Never had them, and don't know anyone who does. So here are my rookie questions:

- When the shock goes bad, do you just replace the shock, or the whole coilover system? Springs part will last forever, right? Is it way more expensive overall to replace the shocks?

- To adjust the height, I stick my hand in the wheel well, or do I have to take the tire off and jack up the car?

- When I adjust the height, there are tools to turn and lock. How can I besure I'm at the exact height? What looks to the eye may not be level? Or are there clicks in the dial such as 1", 1.5", 2", etc. I saw on TV this guy was measuring it with a caliper. Do we have to go this far?

- Adjustable shock. Rebound and damp. How can I tell how to set it? There is no "Track" "Street" "Normal" "Comfort" settings, right? How do I know how to adjust it other than a test drive by the seat of my paints? Adjust, test drive, adjust, test drive.

TIA

*** 6/27/2011 - New question below on thread #16 ***

*** 7/02/2012 - New question below on thread #18 ***

 

unless you have one piece coilovers, you only have to replace the shock. depending on how you drive and the quality of the shock originally, it should last you a good many years. if ones goes bad, thats all you have to replace. better shocks ( koni yellow, tokico illumina, kyb agx, etc) usually have lifetime warranties, so send it back and they will with er rebild it or replace it for you.
springs dont appreciable wear over time, so a good set of springs should outlast the car.

for adjustable shocks, ther isnt really any guidebook for what settings are what. generally the softer settings, lower numbers etc yeild a better ride, higher settings offer better performance. its usually butt dyno/trial and error testing to find results you like. the same with spring rates, one person may like one stiffness, another person lmay like a different setting.

since i dont run coilovers i cant really comment on your other questions, but im sure someone else can give you an answer.

good luck with your setup!

 

I have coil-overs, and have had several different types/brands/models over the past years. Voyage34 was pretty accurate in his/her response. As for ride height, I don't worry about where the spring sits at on the threaded perch, as the weight of the car is not perfectly distributed. I adjust one wheel to my liking, and with the car sitting on the ground (as opposed to on jack stands) measure the gap between the center of the wheel, and a mark that I have marked on my fender. I adjust each spring until it is at the same reading as the first one (although my front and rear measurements differ from each other). I do have to remove my wheels to access the threaded adjustments on my springs. I apologize for my inability to be articulate.

 

So is it fair to say that each time we adjust the height, we have to take the wheel off.

 

Generally speaking. It really doesn't take that long, and once you have your car where you want it, you usually leave it there.

 

To expand on what Voyage said...
While a good spring should last you a long time, you need to make sure you're getting good springs. Springs made of cheaper materials, to lower quality tolerances, and/or with less stringent manufacturing processes will generally not last as long or perform as well as a well-manufactured spring. This is evidenced by sagging and widely varying non-linear rates (on a linear-rated spring). Linear = 1 rate, such as 6kg/mm, as opposed to progressive, which has 2 or more rates. While a spring will never(?) be truly linear, a consistent spring rate is expected across the spring's effective range of use (compressed .5", 1", 2", 2.5", etc). You may want to inquire with the coilover company as to how the springs are produced, and what they are made out of, how their rates are calculated, etc.
You may also want to ask about the manufacturer's warranty on their products, and what the terms of the warranty are.
There's no reason to get the height perfectly equal at all 4 corners. With a threaded shock body, there's an infinite amount of different heights that you can set each corner at really. How close you can get the heights depends on how much you are willing to do; some opt to measure with a caliper at the end. Keep in mind that when people have their car's cornerbalanced, each corner is going to be at uneven heights, since the weight of the car is not distributed equally across the four corners.

 

For a coilover with non adjustable shock, the only thing that is adjusted is ride height.

Question: So the spring and shock compression rate stays the same no matter if I drop 1" or 3". Correct? Meaning the ride quality should be the same no matter what height.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GoLowDrew &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">For a coilover with non adjustable shock, the only thing that is adjusted is ride height.

Question: So the spring and shock compression rate stays the same no matter if I drop 1" or 3". Correct? Meaning the ride quality should be the same no matter what height.</TD></TR></TABLE>

this is not true on all designs. some do not allow ride height independant of stroke. generally this will only be true on cheaper setups though(cheap as in price in a series, not overall price).

a good example is cusco coilovers. the comp-s is such a design while their zero series allows ride heigt adjustability independant of affecting the stroke length of the damper.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GoLowDrew &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">For a coilover with non adjustable shock, the only thing that is adjusted is ride height.

Question: So the spring and shock compression rate stays the same no matter if I drop 1" or 3". Correct? Meaning the ride quality should be the same no matter what height.</TD></TR></TABLE>
In theory, a linear rate spring will maintain the same spring rate as its compressed, and the valving on a damper will not change with ride height.
In reality, by lowering the car too far, you run the risk of bottoming out the suspension in a number of ways, none of which will be beneficial to ride comfort. In most cases, the result is greatly reduced available shock travel, which leads to either the shock piston bottoming out inside the damper (damage to the internals), or the damper hitting the bumpstops (a very hard bump followed by unsettled handling), or the tires rubbing, or the upper control arm impacting the shock tower, or some combination.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PIC Performance &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">or the upper control arm impacting the shock tower </TD></TR></TABLE>

I hate when this happens. I have dents in my shock tower from such an occurrence.

 

it gives the car "character"

 

If most people just adjust once, and leave it (99% of the time). It would be better to just get lowering springs & shocks. Therefore, are there any benefits to coilover shock?

I know it seem like I'm beating it to death. I just don't want to spend $1.5K when I really only need to spend $600. Or the other way around, and realize coilover shocks does that one thing better.

 

You don't need to spent anywhere near $1500. A full coilover set will have some advantages over buying shocks and springs seperately, but seperate shock/spring combos have some advantages over coilovers too. This is not even considering the quality of the components you buy. The truth of the matter is, most people who are buying coilovers don't know what they need, don't understand what they want, and for the most part don't know what they are getting, so there's a lot of bandwagon mentality floating around.
The common coilover design features a completely independent mechanism for adjusting ride height, so lower ride heights can be acheived without giving up valuable shock travel (since these are usually short-travel shocks). Also, a full coilover set usually has everything included in the package, so you don't need to re-use stock parts (bumpstops, upper mounts), so its somewhat more convenient. And with an ideal coilover package, the dampers will be properly valved for the spring rates that they are paired with. Another advantage of full coilovers (but not inherent to the coilover itself) is the bigger shock body, which can therefore use a bigger piston and hold more oil for more displacement per stroke.
How much of this is necessary for a daily driven car? And are the trade-offs (there are definitely trade-offs) worth it? In the opinion of someone who produces and sell these things, no. Which is why I do turn many people away, and down the route of simple lowering springs, or another setup that will give them 99% of what they want, and 0% of what they don't need.
If Person A and Person B both come up to me and say "I need coilovers", I will ask them if they truly need it for their applications. If both say "Yes", who am I to say whether or not they are right? Person A might really need high rates like 12k/14k, and adjustable damping, while Person B might not even know what spring rates are, but heard higher rates = better handling and thinks they need to drive like a racer on the streets. Not much I can do about that, other than provide as much info as possible. Whether or not they listen is another story, but the only person they are fooling is themselves.

 

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PIC Performance &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
How much of this is necessary for a daily driven car? And are the trade-offs (there are definitely trade-offs) worth it? In the opinion of someone who produces and sell these things, no. Which is why I do turn many people away, and down the route of simple lowering springs, or another setup that will give them 99% of what they want, and 0% of what they don't need.
If Person A and Person B both come up to me and say "I need coilovers", I will ask them if they truly need it for their applications. If both say "Yes", who am I to say whether or not they are right? Person A might really need high rates like 12k/14k, and adjustable damping, while Person B might not even know what spring rates are, but heard higher rates = better handling and thinks they need to drive like a racer on the streets. Not much I can do about that, other than provide as much info as possible. Whether or not they listen is another story, but the only person they are fooling is themselves. </TD></TR></TABLE>

All this coming from a suspension company gets a from me. Good writeup

 

Well, update. I got springs.

But this was for a car I no longer own now. So for my current car, I have a follow up question.

* I did my search and bumping up this 5+ year old thread. *

Since I never got coilovers, I'm still a newbie at it.

New Questions.

1. Some systems (Tein SS) you can adjust the rebound and damp to make is hard or soft(er). That changes to ride to one's liking. However, does it mean that it's balanced? Meaning in an emergency situation, will this "custom" setting cause the car to behave unpredictable?

2. Some systems have 16 settings. Some have 30 settings. Is there really that much difference? Sure for the track experts, every bit makes a difference. For the rest of us, does the number of setting much different?

 

1. Now if your set your car to handle how you want it to how would it be unpredictable to you?

2. If you dont understand rebound/compression dampening you (A) Dont need to have adjustable dampening because (B) You dont use your car as a track car.

The real answer is to have a matched spring and shock. Race cars dont have adjustable coilovers because they completely rebuild and revalve their shocks to match their spring choice and how the driver wants the car to react.

 

New question:

All have adjustment for height. Some have adjustment for preload. And yet, the instructions often say don't set any preload rate. If that is the case, then why even have the preload to be adjustable?

 

1. Because people love having ***** to fiddle with.

2. 'One size fits all' applications.

 

Also, some states have inspections that will fail a car that allows the springs to come unseated when the car is lifted off the ground. People living in those places need to have some preload, and would need to use a helper spring if their shock can't adjust preload.