Rob.

So I just put on my Omni Street Coilovers on my 1990 Civic Si. We temporarily installed them on the car...So after a day of driving with them, the front is a lil higher than the rears. So basically I wanna adjust the front lower 1 more inch...
The rear tire is almost tucked under the 1/4 panel.

My question is, now that the coilover is on the car, what do I have to loosen, the bottom (C,D) or the Top (A,B) ... If it's (C,D) How do I adjust it without taking it off the LCA ?
Refer to Diagram...
We will call "A" the spring perch, "B" the spring perch lock, "C" the lower mount lock" and "D" the lower mount.

drives a vtec

You will loosen CD(the lower portion) and you have to remove the bolt from the strut fork and then from there you can spin the bottom part(D) up to the desired ride height. Then, use a pry bar to pry the LCA up and lift the fork as well back all the way onto the body of D


Also note: you used the rear coilover to make the diagram

Rob.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by drives a vtec &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Also note: you used the rear coilover to make the diagram</TD></TR></TABLE>

the same applies to the front ? So A,B never get touched at all ?

bc_ef8

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Rob. &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

the same applies to the front ? So A,B never get touched at all ?</TD></TR></TABLE>
Nope...you only touch A and B when you set the preload before you installed them in your car.

So yes you have to take it off the control arms.

Dirk-EG

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bc_ef8 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Nope...you only touch A and B when you set the preload before you installed them in your car.

So yes you have to take it off the control arms.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not exactly.. When you've done the above, and still think that your car isnt low enough, you can adjust the lower spring perch & lock down and you'll lower your car even more.

The downside to this is however; less damping ability on the shock & less 'preload'

KSE

Heres how i do the rears.

First make sure B is tight against A.

Then loosen and raise the 19mm top nut.

NExt, Loosen and raise C.

Take your tool that came with it and turn A clockwise. What will happen is the entire shock body will turn in the lower sleeve D thus lowering your ride.

If you want to raise it turn B counterclockwise. The entire shock body will rise in the lower sleeve D.

You can do this for the fronts too, but its just as easy to loosen the bolt of the fork and actually turn D since its not bolted down like the rear.

edit:mixedd up clockwise counterclockwise


Modified by KSE at 7:46 AM 4/28/2005

.water

cant u just loose C and turn D??

Dirk-EG

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by KSE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

You can do this for the fronts too, but its just as easy to loosen the bolt of the fork and actually turn D since its not bolted down like the rear.</TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chris DC2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">cant u just loose C and turn D??</TD></TR></TABLE>

yes, but the rears have forks, which wont allow you to turn them without lowering the LCA.

AzG35

Wait, in your initial post, didn't you say you want to lower the front? That means that you will be adjusting the other coilover that isn't marked in the picture. The easiest way to do that is, loosen the 19mm top retaining nut to the top of the threads. Loosen the 14mm bolt on the fork that holts the strut assembly to the fork. Loosen what would be "C" on the strut assembly, then adjust the "D" on the strut assembly to your desired height. Then reverse this procedure to finish.

Rob.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AzG35 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Wait, in your initial post, didn't you say you want to lower the front? </TD></TR></TABLE>

YEAH.. I just found a pic of a coilover...

drives a vtec

These people that are saying to loosen the 19mm nut are wrong, that nut is only for preload, and you do not want to touch it again! All you have to loosen is that 14 in the fork and then you're set, if you were adjusting the preload on the upper part, then you would have to mess with that stuff, but you're lowering the whole setup, which doesn't effect shock travel, so you don't need to mess with the 19

Rob.

damn, so i adjusted the fronts today, but it wont go any lower.. the front is still too high... what Am I doing wrong ??
there's still like 2" between the tire + the fender... I wanna tuck the tire !!!

AzG35

Instructions at the bottom of this page: http://www.kteller.com/news/index.php?cat=5

Rob.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AzG35 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Instructions at the bottom of this page: http://www.kteller.com/news/index.php?cat=5</TD></TR></TABLE>

it says turn the entire shock body to adjust the height ? how so ???? dont you just turn the lower collar ??
This is confusing...

slammed_93_hatch

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dirk-EG &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


The downside to this is however; less damping ability on the shock & less 'preload' </TD></TR></TABLE>

thats false, the shock has the same ability threw out its complete range of montion. lowering the spring perch INCREASES the chance that you will bottom out the shock, or run out of travel.

Tyson

rob, the omnipower coilover for the EF were designed incorrectly and they do not allow you to lower the fronts using the factory instructions. you must lower the spring perch to lower the car (A and B in your diagram), which is contrary to the instructions. kinda makes the whole preload discussion moot. i think omnipower already acknowledged this problem but continue to sell and market their product falsely.

KSE

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by drives a vtec &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">These people that are saying to loosen the 19mm nut are wrong, that nut is only for preload, and you do not want to touch it again! All you have to loosen is that 14 in the fork and then you're set, if you were adjusting the preload on the upper part, then you would have to mess with that stuff, but you're lowering the whole setup, which doesn't effect shock travel, so you don't need to mess with the 19</TD></TR></TABLE>

Sorry, but youre wrong. Recall when you first install the coilovers, the LAST Step is to tighten the 19mm nut.

So now lets loosen the 19mm nut. Then lets tighten it. What has changed? Nothing. We are at the last step of installation. Nothing changes if you loosen and tighten the 19mm nut as long as you dont change the height of your spring collars.

By loosening the 19mm nut, the entire shock body is now able to turn while the bottom collar is held stationary, having the same exact affect as if you were turning the bottom collar with the shock body stationary. This is particularly useful for the REARS since the lower collar is bolted down. The front you have your option of how you want to adjust.

This can be rather confusing at first but trust me, it does not affect preload.

KSE

douple post

Tyson

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by KSE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Sorry, but youre wrong. Recall when you first install the coilovers, the LAST Step is to tighten the 19mm nut.

So now lets loosen the 19mm nut. Then lets tighten it. What has changed? Nothing. We are at the last step of installation. Nothing changes if you loosen and tighten the 19mm nut as long as you dont change the height of your spring collars.

By loosening the 19mm nut, the entire shock body is now able to turn while the bottom collar is held stationary, having the same exact affect as if you were turning the bottom collar with the shock body stationary. This is particularly useful for the REARS since the lower collar is bolted down. The front you have your option of how you want to adjust.

This can be rather confusing at first but trust me, it does not affect preload.</TD></TR></TABLE>

ugh... no youre wrong. there is in fact a minimal change in "preload", which is all moot anyway. go sit in a corner and think about it because im not wasting my time on any thread concerning omnipower coilovers anymore.

this whole "preload" phenomenom has been given way too much attention since omnipower has come out... its meaningless in application.

azian21485

what i do with mine is:

loosen 19mm nut (i don't tighten it down anyways)

lossen c

take a glove or a gripping cloth and grab the shock body and turn it

if the below is true:

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">rob, the omnipower coilover for the EF were designed incorrectly and they do not allow you to lower the fronts using the factory instructions. you must lower the spring perch to lower the car (A and B in your diagram), which is contrary to the instructions. kinda makes the whole preload discussion moot. i think omnipower already acknowledged this problem but continue to sell and market their product falsely.</TD></TR></TABLE>

then you'll have to:

loosen b

spin "a" clockwise and it'll lower like a normal coilover

btw: are those pictures of your coilovers or just random ones?

Rob.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by azian21485 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

btw: are those pictures of your coilovers or just random ones?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Its a random pic I used.. not mine...

Anyways...so basically I have to lower A+B to get my car lower ? I did that already along with raising C+D up the shock.... Will I loose shock travel ?? The car drives fine and handles amazing.. I just dont like how it sits.. and it's still not tucking any tire in the front !!! Does the suspension have to settle first ?? how long ?
I'll try and take some pics this weekend,...

PS: If omnipower acknowledges that there is a problem with the ef's front, can i exchange or return them ??

Tyson

Lowering AB is what they have publicly said to do. and yes, you lose shock travel. which is kinda contrary to the whole reason the lower cup is there for... but whatever.

the problem arose because omni basically copied the EG design for the front shock. but EG's have longer shock bodies than EF's, thats why the lower cup bottoms out on the EF, making it pointless.

Rob.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Lowering AB is what they have publicly said to do. and yes, you lose shock travel. which is kinda contrary to the whole reason the lower cup is there for... but whatever.

the problem arose because omni basically copied the EG design for the front shock. but EG's have longer shock bodies than EF's, thats why the lower cup bottoms out on the EF, making it pointless.</TD></TR></TABLE>

So because there is a problem, can I return the Omni's ?????

PIC Performance

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ugh... no youre wrong. there is in fact a minimal change in "preload", which is all moot anyway. go sit in a corner and think about it because im not wasting my time on any thread concerning omnipower coilovers anymore.

this whole "preload" phenomenom has been given way too much attention since omnipower has come out... its meaningless in application.</TD></TR></TABLE>
IMO what he is saying is correct, unless I'm missing something. Loosening the 19mm nut on Omnipower's coilovers will not alter preload at all. What it will do is allow the shock body to be turned more easily by hand, as the shock piston is no longer being forced down into the rest of the coilover assembly by the nut.
Keep in mind that there was never any "factory" preload setting anyways, so it was never "changed". Chances are that the coilovers did not have any preload at all when you first get them. With coilovers like these, you will only get preload by raising the spring perch so much that the spring is compressed, even while the suspension is at full droop, and most of the time, nobody is going to raise their spring perch up that high in the first place; there is no point in doing so for this situation.
Some will say that, with the wider width of the shock body, you also get less shock travel when compared to the longer, skinner shocks, so there is more of a risk of bottoming out, so you need to preload the springs. In my experience, this hasn't been the case. So imo the only reason to preload your coilovers is to get rid of any up-down play in the spring.
Whats the benefit of Omni's coilovers, then? Why not just have the spring perch fixed at a point where the spring is always secured solidly between the upper mount and spring perch? The benefit is in ease of height adjustment; you can turn the shock body by hand, and since the spring perches are adjustable, you aren't preloading the springs when you are adjusting the shock body by turning it up and down. Turn the shock body clockwise to lower your car, and if the spring starts becoming compressed due to the upward motion, simply adjust the spring perch downwards. Which is why the popular selling point of this design of coilovers is "Height adjustment independent of preload adjustment."
This doesn't have much to do with the original post, since his question's been answered, but I don't feel its a waste of time to clear up issues like this when they arise.
Also, that is a diagram I created originally to help KSE with his coilover prob, those are prototypes of coilovers I am producing at the moment.

KSE

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

ugh... no youre wrong. there is in fact a minimal change in "preload", which is all moot anyway. go sit in a corner and think about it because im not wasting my time on any thread concerning omnipower coilovers anymore.

this whole "preload" phenomenom has been given way too much attention since omnipower has come out... its meaningless in application.</TD></TR></TABLE>

lol, minimal change in "preload" How? Care to explain. So youre saying when i install my coilovers the last step i tighten a 19mm nut. So now i loosen it, change nothing, and retighten it and preload changed?

Youre wrong dude, get over yourself