well these weekend I install my koni/gc+front tophats on my eg hatch and ive driven around for a while and I i feel that whenever i hit a pothole as small as 1 1/2" when Im going 35mph+ i feel like my car is being hit by a Sledgehammer on the side that I go over the pothole. I really think I did a few things wrong when I assembled the suspension (I couldnt follow the DIY on here because when i decided to do my suspension my comp crashed) first ill give you some info plus a pic to explain things better. first off my car has 1 finger gap between wheel and fender front and back, i have 15" wheels on 195/55 tires. i have my adjuster tabs all the way soft. and my spring rates are 350 rear 340 front. now ill give you some info on what i think i did wrong. i did cut a piece of the bumpstops that came with the top hats, for the rear I didnt remove the oem rubber top mount insulator i put the GC upper insulator under the oem one(now I know I have to remove the old one after I cheked the DIY). the other stuff i think i did wrong, you can see on the pic (note: i I do have my springs on I just didnt draw them. *just in case somebody mentions it lol). so with all these said, is it possible that all these is causing the car to hit so hard or is it that i just ordered my springs too stiff and thats just the way it feels. also when I was done i place the car on a level surface and adjust the height by measuring from the lip of my wheel to the edge of the fender. i got everything leveled but the spring perches end up on different threads on the sleve.does these matters as long as my car is leveled? i did tried counting the threads but my car ends up uneven. thanks for your help.

 

Did you put the dust covers on?

 

No i left em out. actually it was one of the things i could remember from the DIY not to use the old dust covers. you've help me before n i thank you for that and yeah i cant figure out whats causing the suspension to hit so hard when ive read that many ppl have higher spring rates and they dont complain about these happening I read that gc recommends not to cut the bumpstops, did cut a tab off them but would that make that much of a difference? I will try to turning the adjustmet tab to medium stiffness to see if it changes anything.

keep the sujestions comming thank you.

 

Take out one of the washers under the top hat and put the bumpstop under the bottom washer:

Nut
Nut
Washer - with curve edges facing up like a u
Rubber bushing
Tophat
Rubber Bushing
Flat metal washer
Bump stop
Plastic white washer

 

No kidding

You might wanna add the position of the 'welded spot', seems crucial in this case

This one is for the records, lol

Nice drawing though

 

Well in reality he can't get anything under the welded spot besides the bumpstop, so hopefully he can't mess up anymore.

 

your car isn't like super low is it?'

between that the above advice you should be able to figure it out

 

so the welded spot should be where I added it on your list right?


LMAO yup you're righ the welded spot position is crucial, i cant wait to see me quoted on someones signature lol but oh well at least im learning so i wont do it again thanks for the drawing comment too.

SOOO... the bump stop should go under the welded spot not above it? i thought nothing goes under that spot because i cant fit a washer over it and if i jam the bumpstop over it wouldnt the shock push it up again while im driving

well it has a 1 finger gap between fender and wheel and yeah now i kinda know how to assemble the suspension is just those questions I have above that I want to clarify and i think ill be set.

thanks everybody for your help and like i said im learning hope one day ill be the one giving advice to others lol

 

no no, the washer (aka bumpstop plate, analogous to the funny-shaped washer on stock shocks) has to sit on top of the welded collar. It can't go below it anyway. The bump stop goes below the welded collar and bumpstop plate. The bumpstop will go over the welded collar, just takes a little force to get the collar through the bumpstop hole.

Your problem is that you have your bumpstop encapsulated between 2 washers, all above the welded collar. This means the bumpstop can't do its job. Hopefully you haven't damaged the Koni shock housings.

Koni shocks come with 2 flat washers, one of which you really don't need with GC's since the stock dust covers aren't used. You're supposed to sandwich the top of the stock dustcover between the 2 washers, but without them you only need one.

Also remove the washer in between the 2 bushings in the top hat, and make sure the dished washer faces up like a bowl, as was already mentioned.

Check my DIY if you haven't already. Ignore the part about the rubber boots, but you can see in one pic where the bumpstop is just barely visible below the bumpstop plate washer (top of bumpstop is right on the welded collar). Then you should just replace the OEM top hat in my DIY with the GC top hat.

 

oh ok thank you. I was going to follow the DIY like I mentioned but yeah my comp crashed while i was on the process takin stuff appart and putting the new suspension together so just to make sure, i leave the bumpstop over the welded spot "not"all the way trough just like the 1st drawing am i correct? or is it like the second drawing? and do i do the same thing with my rear shocks? since i did sandwich the bumpstop with two washers too, i dont have top hats on the rear so i used the oem bumpstops. sorry if i ask too much im just want to be really sure.

 

The bumpstop plate washer must sit on the welded collar. This serves the same function as the stock shocks with the little tapered area on the shock shaft and the OEM bumpstop plate washer with matching tapered hole.

What this plate does is keep the shock piston from poking way up through the top mount. Without it, it's like you're driving with no shock on that corner.

You could install it like in Dwg 1 but when you tighten down the top jamb nuts, the bumpstop would get pushed down until the plate hits the welded collar.

So the answer is Dwg 2.

Actually the bumpstop can sit anywhere on the piston between the welded collar and the shock body. As long as its somewhere in between the upper mount components and the shock body, it will be able to do its job.

 

never mind I got it thanks for your help everybody

 

*clap* applause for the stunning drawing.

but couldnt you have just taken a picture?

 

I'd take drawings like this over pics anytime

Mean, just look at it, it's almost art.

Really.

He should draw his car, or, something.

 

Yeah I think the drawing gives a better look than a picture.

 

we post a the same time so i didnt have time to read your explanation but yeah i fugure it out guess it took a lot to get it lol. thank you very much for your help.

i did wanted to take a picture but at that time everything was installed on the car and i dint want to jack up the car, so i drew it instead (i would put a bowing down icon for your clap but i dont know how to do that lol)

lol now you are just messing with me lol, but yeah sometimes when i cant explain specific stuff i decide to draw instead, it seems like it works too

once again thanks everybody

 

glad oyu figured it out, those drawings are pretty cool though .

 

Seriously, the drawing is really nice!

It really is almost art.

 

try to soften up your compression(if its adjustable) sounds like its crankd in all the way.. my friends teg sounds like its getting hit with a sledgehammer also when he hits small pot holes, but hes **** is dumpd he can barely get over the 1.5in speed bumps at school... he says he likes the look lol

 

he already fixxed it.

 

No, I don't

Your drawings (including the 'whole picture' with texts and all) do have something.

If you like 'drawing' - and I think you do, considering the amount of detail you put into it - you should pursue it. But you need to take lessons: like how to draw a nice line