So I just installed a new set of Koni Yellows with Ground Control on my EM1.

The adjustability of the rear is fine, but I can't seem to get the front any higher.

With the car jacked and wheel removed, I have spinned the Ground Control perch upwards as much as I can but the springs resistance is not letting me go any higher. I still have about 2" left in the sleeve.

Right now I don't even have a 1 finger wheel gap, I don't want to be this low as I want to drive this year-round (winter in canada), not to mention the crappy roads up here. Am I overlooking something? Is there some sort of tool that can spin the perch higher? or is this the highest this setup can go on my car?

 

what height are your perches set at?

 

On the Koni Yellows, the perch is set on the top ring

 

take the top nut off. jack up the corner of the car enough the weight of the car is off the spring. raise the perch a few turns. drop the car SLOWLY back down, make sure the piston is centered. tighten the nut.

you might get another half inch from this. you can have a friend (or two) sit on the car to load the corner up a bit more and get it lower.

 

But he's trying to raise it, no?

 

"raise the perch a few turns." is that confusing to you?

ah, you mean the "load the corner up a bit more and get it lower" part is confusing to you. in order to preload the suspension in order to get the car to sit higher.

 

When you say take the top nut off, are you referring to the nut that is threaded down the very top of the piston? I haven't tried it yet but I'm not sure how that would help get the spring to compress more when I jack up the car?

Also, what do you mean by making sure the piston is centered?

Sorry, i'm quite the noob mechanically speaking.. thanks for all the help though.

 

I don't get this also

*edit* i get it know, however I think it doesn't bear on this situation.

When performing the procedure as explained by Tyson above and by me here-under then when you come to the point of lowering the car, it might be that the weight of the car is not enough to compress the spring to the desired length/ride height, and so the top of the piston doesn't get through/above the top mount, so extra weight is needed.

However, on a strut setup like GC/Koni this would mean that the strut (ie the shock) is fully extended, like when the car is jacked up, because the weight of the car is not enough to compress the spring it is fully extended and with it the shock/complete strut. Obviously this is not the ride height we seek


Yes. Or the two nuts supplied by Koni, on top of one another.

This doesn't compress the spring, but more the opposite: it takes the weight of the car off the spring so you can raise it more. It's an alternative to removing the complete strut from the car and using a spring compressor.

When you take off the top nut(s) you in fact disassemble the top mount from the strut, the top mount comes off the top of the piston. So when you lower the car afterwards back onto the strut, you must see to it that the piston finds its way back nicely through the top mount. The weight of the car acts then as a spring compressor.

Capice?

 

Gave Ground Control a call and they said the problem is because I only jacked one side of the car up at a time, leaving the sway bar to do something (forgot the exact technical reason to not allow me to adjust any higher and that jacking my front on both sides and onto axel stands would allow me to adjust higher.

Does this sound right?

I'll give this a shot first and if that doesn't work i'll try unscrewing some nuts

 

That might very well be it.

A swaybar's function is to connect L and R suspension, thus, as in your case, L holds R up.

Let us know.

 

yeah the swaybar will limit the amount you can thread up because its loading that side as the other side on the ground is taking extra weight.

jack the whole front of the car up, adjust both. that will help.

honestly, if you dont understand what im getting at at first, then dont worry about it. its honestly not worth the time to explain. it has to do with preload and its a tough conversation i dont care to have.

 

Then I'll add in the "idiots guide" version:
Use a coil spring compressor, compress the spring, raise the perch, remove compressor, repeat for other side, get car aligned, and enjoy.

That is probably closer to the "correct" way to do it, but good luck getting the compressor in there with the GC sleeve...

Tyson's method involves using the weight of the car as a spring compressor. I've done it, it works fine. The coil spring compressor Pep Boys loaned me wouldn't work on a coil over shock setup, and improvisation time arrived at the same procedure.

 

Jacking up the whole front gave me about an extra inch upwards - which was enough for me. Thanks for all the advice/explanations

 

I want to set the ideal height before I bring my car in for an alignment.

Anyone know would approx. be ideal for me?

EM1, OTS Ground Control springs (around 350F/250R??) + Koni Yellows.

Use: Just spirited daily driving (on not the best of roads might I add)

 

to compress the spring for more preload wouldnt a spanner wrench be needed as what usually comes with cheaper coilovers ???? sounds like he cant spin the collar up higher because the spring is up against the top mount but when u lower the car the spring compresses...leaving the car lower than he wants... its hard to spin the adjusting collar to preload a spring with out a tool for more leverage.....

 

[QUOTE=shoryukenz;42658889]
Anyone know would approx. be ideal for me?
QUOTE]

This is really up to you and what you like, I may like it lower then you or the next guy.
I would say just play it with it, rasie it and lower it a few times, untill you figure out just what you want.
I tuck about a inch on my dd, and i like it. From reading your posts i would say try a 2-4 finger gap and see how you like it.

 

I guess by ideal I mean function/performance as opposed to looks.

I heard that having your car slammed is all form and no function. At what point in lowering the car will the performance start to suck?

 

My car tucking about 1'' with skunk2 650lb front and 350lb rear, 26mm front sway bar and 13mm rear, handles pretty good to me, however your suspension is much better then mine so you may see different results...

From my personal experience i would say somewhere around that, if not a little higher or lower would be the lowest i would go, but there are many other things that can make your car handle good or bad.

Again i would play it with the ride height, and go put her in some corners and see how it reacts.

 

As low as possible such that you do not bottom out the suspension driving on the roads you normally use and can still make use of all driveways you need to, plus another 1/2" higher for some leeway.

With rates that low, probably a "2 to 3" finger gap up front, assuming decent road conditions.

At the point where either the geometric RC moves below ground (this is very oversimplified and debatable) or you have insufficient available suspension travel (very common for slammed Hondas). Cars don't corner very well on the bumpstops...