what will happen to my function forms type 2, if i release the preload. will i run any risk of ruining my setup, and if neboy knos where i can find the rebuild kit for these, at least thats what iw as informed when i bought them, that they were a rebuildable setup. thanks....f&f type 2, eg civic

 

Decreasing the pre-load will lower the ride height. It won't have any affect on the spring trate (i.e. stiffness of the spring). Conversely, increasing spring pre-load will raise the ride height and have zero affect on spring rate.

It won't affect the damper (i.e. damper life etc), unless the ride height is lowered to the point at which the suspension starts to bottom out a lot. Even so, this ought not be a major problem if you have good bump stops fitted (from the perspective of damper damage, bottoming out should always be avoided as it can cause dangerous handling).

When decreasing spring pre-load, you need to make sure that when the damper is at full extension the spring doesn't become loose in the spring seats.

Rebuilding the dampers is not a job for a home mechanic, take the dampers to a specialist.


Modified by johnlear at 4:06 PM 5/12/2008