JasinC19

Hey guys,

I've had Skunk Pro-S coilovers on my civic for a few years now.

I originally bought them to replace some TEIN springs that were just too low for the roads around here.

Unfortunately, it seems like the max height of these things puts my 15" tires less than 1" away from the fenders, which have already seen a little rub love.

Has anyone run into this before with these coilovers or similar?

Is there such a thing as a spring spacer or thicker spring perch that will add some max height? (It is ridiculous that I would even need them...)

The only way to make the car higher is to preload the spring which makes the ride even shittier than it already is. PS - I don't like these coilovers at all...

I'm hoping that I'm just missing something really simple because I can't imagine anyone wanting their car much lower than I have mine right now, and it is at its max height...

Thanks,
J

98civdx

What model Pro-s? The old verson or the 2's?

if the Tein springs were too loud you should have never gone with Skunk2 coilovers, You really should have bought them to begin with. They are junk.

JasinC19

Hey. They are the older version. The car came with the Tein's when I bought it. They weren't too loud, they were just too low.

And yeah I agree that the Skunk coilovers are bad. I will definitely never buy them again. Skunk has some nice products, but these are not one of them.

I still just find it hard to accept that this really is the max height... lol.

redm3turbo

know a few guys - both with gsr's that had the same problem....same coilovers, as far as i know its just a skunk 2 thing. I know one of them preloaded the spring, and that didnt raise it any, it just softened the ride....bc it made the spring longer...no raise tho.

98civdx

That is what I was thinking, are you sure the coilover is all the way up?

Indeed, skunk2 suspension parts really lack quality. The engine parts of the most part is ok.

98civdx

Preload is noithing, trust me.

my Skunk2 sleeves can easily get to stock height, if not higher.

Now, this also highly depends on the springs length. What are yours?

JasinC19

Yeah I just cleaned them today, which is what inspired this post.

With the wheel off the ground, they are pinched between the adjuster rings and the upper spring perch. In other words, as far up and they will comfortably go.

There are plenty of threads left on the shock body to raise them, I guess the strut is just not long enough to allow it.

JasinC19

I'm not sure, I would have to measure them.

I guess they are not a progressive spring, so maybe a little extra preload would not hurt... I only want to raise them .5-1.0"

EDIT: After thinking/visualizing I don't believe preload would raise height. I think you are right... I would just need longer springs. Or a spring spacer. New product inc... :D

98civdx

There are numbers on the springs, check them and update.

cruizinmax

iTrader: (2)

Just because the spring perch is touching the spring at full droop does not mean they are as high as they go. Use the spanner wrenches to raise the spring perch more until your car is as high as you want it. I'm not sure why people are suggesting raising the spring perch will not raise the car up.

TunerN00b

Your thinking is wrong.

Longer springs won't raise the car, since you're avoiding preload you'd need to move the perch down the same distance as the increased spring length to put the spring on. If you leave the perch in the same spot, a longer spring would have a bit of preload, and the same can be achieved with the existing springs.

JasinC19

Hey guys, thanks for the replies.

The springs I have on are 7.5" in the front. The numbers on them have mostly worn off.

As far as the preload goes, here is my line of thinking:

When the car is off the ground, the strut is at full extension.

If you lower the rings that the spring sits on, it will allow the strut to compress further before contacting the spring and settling down, thus lowering the car. Therefore, raising the spring would have the opposite effect, raising the car.

Here is where it gets weird. If you continue to raise the adjustable rings, the spring will compress (preload), but not travel higher on the strut body, since they are in contact with the upper spring perch.

So regardless of the preload, when the car is set back on to the ground, it doesn't seem like it will raise the vehicle since the spring has just been pinched.

UNLESS... the preload on the spring makes it so that the spring is "stiffer", thus not allowing the weight of the car to compress the spring as much as it normally would. I wonder if this would make the ride noticeably harsher.

I guess the only way to find out is to try it...

TunerN00b

I do believe that you're over thinking this.

Higher perch position = higher ride height

This is true up until the point where there is so much preload that the weight of the car doesn't compress the spring at all. Since this is an absurd amount of preload, and is very difficult to move the perch up that far (since you'd need to preload with as much force as the weight of the car on that corner), it isn't something that you can accidentally do or need to worry about.

My front springs are preloaded 3/4" of an inch, because I wanted the car about 1" higher than it would be without any preload (motion ratio causes the difference in distances).

JasinC19

I don't know... I have been working out lately...

cruizinmax

iTrader: (2)

Lol. Once the vehicles weight is on the spring, say it's compressed to say 5 inches (hypothetically) you raise the lower perch 1" the top of the spring is also raised that same 1", right? Make sense?

JasinC19

Hey. That actually does not make sense to me.

Assuming a preload, The spring does not elongate once the car is lowered to the ground. It is still the same length until the weight of the car forces it to compress a little more.

I think someone said earlier that it would take a LOT of preload before it would overtake the weight that the car would put on once lowered.

All that being said, I was able to raise the car 3/4" successfully and don't notice a difference in ride quality. :D