Folks, be sure to check/torque the perches on your coilovers once in a while.

In fact, go check the locking rings right now.

Today I discovered I've done two practice events (probably 40 autocross runs) with my right front strut up .25" higher.... the locking ring was just hanging out on the threads doing nothing...

No wonder my front tires are bald... just that much change will induce enough toe out to kill your tires.

Time for another alignment. but at least Im not dead.

 

yeh i just took off my teins the locking perch was loose and the left side was loose causing it to be a lil lower....this is a good idea to check em once a month

 

what kind of coilovers are you running?

 

JICs, but I think its something that could happen to just about any coilover if you dont check it once in a while.

 

tein flex...since we have struts which turn with the frontend the shock rotates which helps in it coming loose... think about it ur driving and u take a turn....what does ur front strut do it turns the wheel....if ur collar is loose the shock body can turn in the lower part of the strut lowering or raising the height a bit throwing off the geometry....and it can that lil bit

 

And if you're doing alot of autocrossing, it puts more pressure on them, so its a good idea to inspect them after each event.

 

I think this loosening problem happend with more than one set of the JIC coilovers. Maybe it was more well known because the person was pretty pissed off about it most likely being JIC's design. And maybe others don't really check it? Glad you mentioned this because I need to double check I made my lower locks tight enough.

 

I remember one guy getting pretty steamed about this, but this is just once in 9 months for me, after I put a pretty harsh autocross beating on my car.

 

I forgot to tighten my front ones and the place wouldn't align my front because they werent tight. He said the wheel could move back and forth. How much/fast can the height adjust if the lock isnt super tight???

 

Well it can be on there, but if there is any play, then the alignement is going to change toe or caster whenever you stop, go, or turn... the same thing happens when a suspension bushing is blown out or wheel bearings are shot.

when you tighten it down, with the car jacked up, if you grab the wheel and try to wiggle it, it shoulnt have any play.

 

Now I see what he is saying since the nut was loose, and I found how much torque needs to go on the front nuts. Here is a .pdf link to the apex'i page for some type of reference on how tight the locknuts are for front and back. front, 68.6 N m and rear, 34.3 N m., and the front and rear for the spring preload locks is 34.4 N m.

http://www.apexi.co.jp/product...7.pdf

 

thanks for the reminder. greatly appreciated. i almost had a heart attack (knocks on wood), after my car started wobbling once i hit this mini jump going 70-75 mph. so try to avoid those noticeable potholes guys. will be checking this week.