The Suspension Discussion Thread

[V-Dubstar 0]

Hi guys!

 

Im completely new to the forum, Im goin' to be picking up my very 1st 'rado soonish! (i hope!!) :mad2: Been lookin' at getting a new Dub for a while, but now insurance permits, im all over getting me a VR!!

 

Ive got a bit of 'spare' :lol: cash after the sale, and im definately looking to drop the car 40mm ish. Ive spent dedicated hours reading the entirety of this thread, viewing all of your opinions. I want a set of coilovers because Ive always wanted to adjust the height of the car, and have a budget of around 600, so I will probs be going for the KW V1's. From what Ive seen G-Werks seems to be the mutz nutz for installin' new set ups? (bearing in mind i dont know a great deal about suspension so need professionals to sort me out!!) So would everyone whos been recommend?

 

Im also thinking (into the future, a little) of getting some rims, im thinking 16" coz Ive always liked the Borbet A's. Again, not too much knowledge in this area (i know its the wrong topic!) but what does the 7.5 or 9.0 mean? And does anyone have experience with both these size rims with the ride lowered around 40mm?? Sorry for my lack of car knowledge lol!! :confused4:

 

Thanks for all help and advice!! :D

 

Chris

[Jim Bowen 1]

For that budget i would recommend the KW1's, you should be able to get them for cheaper than that, £550-£575. I had lots of bother with ride height etc when using just a -40mm spring. The KW's have a really good range of heights.

-40mm springs on the front of mine were lowering it 90mm from standard, and i tried two sets :confused4:

 

7.5 and 9.0 is the rim width in inches, (i think)

[Neil VR6 0]

The KWv1's are highly recommended. Nice and comfy and great corrosion resistance.

[V-Dubstar 0]

Ok cheers guys, appreciated.

 

you should be able to get them for cheaper than that, £550-£575.

 

Where from 3corsameal? The only thing is Id like to get them fitted down G-Werks and would feel like Ive 'cheated' them a little if i gave them a set-up to fit that they sell already!! :wink:

 

Again, thanks!!

[Neil VR6 0]

Personally, I'm not sure you could find them cheaper anywhere else

[Sean_Jaymo 0]

I've looked through this thread and can't see the answer I am after.... I am off to the ring in a few weeks time and have decided to replace my tired old knackered original setup with Koni TA's and H&R springs... Thing is, with all of the searching i've done, I cant seem to find anyone who sells the shocks and i'm not sure what specific type of springs people are using? Any help on this would be most appreciated :) Are the TA's called something else in the rest of the world??

[Jim Bowen 1]

Ok cheers guys, appreciated.

 

you should be able to get them for cheaper than that, £550-£575.

 

Where from 3corsameal? The only thing is Id like to get them fitted down G-Werks and would feel like Ive 'cheated' them a little if i gave them a set-up to fit that they sell already!! :wink:

 

Again, thanks!!

 

 

i bought mine from g-werks, and it was about £570 iirc

 

i phoned around a few places when i was buying. And gwerks were the most helpful/cheerful and the cheapest

[Jim Bowen 1]

also i notice there are two types of KW1's, the normal ones and the inox line. The inox ones are the stainless steel ones, Not sure if they make the others or not.

 

I just asked for KW1's and they came with inox line written on the box and pics of the other ones they do :confused4:

[dukest 0]

I've looked through this thread and can't see the answer I am after.... I am off to the ring in a few weeks time and have decided to replace my tired old knackered original setup with Koni TA's and H&R springs... Thing is, with all of the searching i've done, I cant seem to find anyone who sells the shocks and i'm not sure what specific type of springs people are using? Any help on this would be most appreciated :) Are the TA's called something else in the rest of the world??

 

I just bought some KW1s to replace my Koni/HRs. Would you be interested in my 2nd hand ones?? :wave: Will drop you a PM too :)

[sixpotter 0]

Anyone got these?

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/COMP-German-Coilo ... 240%3A1318

[V-Dubstar 0]

i bought mine from g-werks, and it was about £570 iirc

 

i phoned around a few places when i was buying. And gwerks were the most helpful/cheerful and the cheapest

 

Nice one 3corsameal, appreciate that mate. 8) However the quote they gave me was £675, plus £100 fitted. How long ago did you buy ur set?? Did they set up the tracking/camber adjustment for u afterwards?

 

Ive found that JKM Performance do a 10% discount on all KW products, and provide a tracking/camber adj after fitting also so i might take a cheeky visit down there instead.

 

Oh, and what does "iirc" mean? :confused4:

[Jim Bowen 1]

well they must of gone up, i'm 99.9% sure they were less than £600, unless we are talking about different things, pic of mine below. Also i fitted them myself and still got to get the camber etc setup (probably by stealth)

 

 

i've get the receipt out tomorrow

[Critical_Mass 10]

Can anyone tell me what Jamex springs are like... im after something more then a 40mm drop on springs and shocks and cant find many (if any) places that sell more then 40mm springs for a VR. G60 or valver no problem but the VR its more difficult.

 

Found these https://www.carperformanceuk.co.uk/corr ... 18720.html

[Critical_Mass 10]

Right i need a little advice with my suspension. I have Koni TAs fitted, bought off here. As far as im aware they are in perfect working order, nothing to suggest otherwise from seller.

 

I've been jacking the car up today to lower the circlip on the rear struts to their lowest setting, not a problem. But i have noticed even when jacking up to remove wheels, that the suspension seems to drop quite alot, this didnt happen with the previous suspension setup (being FK shocks). If i jack the drivers rear side of the car up, the axle on the passenger rear seems to drop quite alot (I've attached a pic). Is this normal, is it just the weight of the wheels and axle causing the strut to full extend??? Before i had the wheels fitted in the pic i had speedlines fitted and the same happened. This also happens to the front struts.

 

When the car is sat on the floor the height seems ok. I've done the 'bounce' test and each corner seems ok.

 

Also one other question related to suspension in general. Is it normal for one side of the car to sit slightly higher/lower then the other. On my current setup and on my previous FK setup i've always had one side sitting slightly higher then the other (about an inch both front and back). Have i fitted something incorrectly, or is it not really expected to get the EXACT same measurement on all four corners or rather rears and front.

[Critical_Mass 10]

Anyone....?

[Critical_Mass 10]

?? :lol:

[The_Dude 0]

 

I've been jacking the car up today to lower the circlip on the rear struts to their lowest setting, not a problem. But i have noticed even when jacking up to remove wheels, that the suspension seems to drop quite alot, this didnt happen with the previous suspension setup (being FK shocks). If i jack the drivers rear side of the car up, the axle on the passenger rear seems to drop quite alot (I've attached a pic). Is this normal, is it just the weight of the wheels and axle causing the strut to full extend??? Before i had the wheels fitted in the pic i had speedlines fitted and the same happened. This also happens to the front struts.

 

Yes, that is normal. The weight of the axle and wheels will cause the piston to fully extend before it start to lift the wheel...though yours does look a little high/extended as long it goes back to where you started at its all good.

 

No idea about the other Q tho, sorry mate. You should be able to get them level tho - is it the drivers side that sits higher?

[Critical_Mass 10]

 

I've been jacking the car up today to lower the circlip on the rear struts to their lowest setting, not a problem. But i have noticed even when jacking up to remove wheels, that the suspension seems to drop quite alot, this didnt happen with the previous suspension setup (being FK shocks). If i jack the drivers rear side of the car up, the axle on the passenger rear seems to drop quite alot (I've attached a pic). Is this normal, is it just the weight of the wheels and axle causing the strut to full extend??? Before i had the wheels fitted in the pic i had speedlines fitted and the same happened. This also happens to the front struts.

 

Yes, that is normal. The weight of the axle and wheels will cause the piston to fully extend before it start to lift the wheel...though yours does look a little high/extended as long it goes back to where you started at its all good.

 

No idea about the other Q tho, sorry mate. You should be able to get them level tho - is it the drivers side that sits higher?

 

Cheers for the reply fella.

 

well now that i have 16" wheels and the drop is only 40mm it probably looks worse then others. Need to go lower really, but can only find Jamex springs that are -60mm front and back.

 

No its the Passenger side that is slightly higher. Had this issue with the previous FK shocks before, just wondering if its me thats fitted something wrong :?

[boost monkey 0]

I wouldn't adjust them all equal off the car mate: Put them on the car and then adjust the level. Every chassis is slightly different.

[Critical_Mass 10]

Can you elaborate on that a little monkey? You cant move the circlip whilst the car is on the ground, or do you mean tighten the top mounts? When i put the top mounts back on, the ones INSIDE the boot, I lovered the car onto the ground first

 

Would it be worth raising the car again, slackening everything off and dropping the car again and retightening?

[boost monkey 0]

I think Prodigal had to keep putting his car up on stands to adjust his FKs; being an OEM monkey I wouldn't know first hand but I do know that some cars can read a few mm variation in height either side.

 

What I meant was note which side seems higher/lower and then put the car back up in the air and grab your C-spanner.

 

hth.

[Critical_Mass 10]

Sorry to sound dumb (possibly too late :lol: ) you dont mean the 'C' spanner to adjust coilovers do you, i have shocks springs? or do you mean to adjust the top mount nuts?

[boost monkey 0]

Oh.

 

Ignore all that shíte then :nuts: I was talking about coilovers.

 

Your shocks/springs should be about the same either side. Make sure the top nuts are torqued up to the correct spec (something around 80lbft IIRC) and also the 2 bolts at the bottom. Ummmm, then try bouncing on the wings again to get them settled. If they're not a matched pair (one old, one new) the older one will probably sag a little. Same with the springs - think they lose their springiness.

 

God, i'm so technical sometimes.

[Critical_Mass 10]

Oh.

 

Ignore all that shíte then :nuts: I was talking about coilovers.

 

Your shocks/springs should be about the same either side. Make sure the top nuts are torqued up to the correct spec (something around 80lbft IIRC) and also the 2 bolts at the bottom. Ummmm, then try bouncing on the wings again to get them settled. If they're not a matched pair (one old, one new) the older one will probably sag a little. Same with the springs - think they lose their springiness.

 

God, i'm so technical sometimes.

 

:lol: Cheers monkey.

 

As far as im aware the shocks and springs are all the same age/mileage. I'll loosen all the top mounts nuts both on the front and back and bounce each corner up and down and then torque them correctly. It could be that i tightened the nuts on one side more then the other etc.

[Critical_Mass 10]

Ok change of plan. Just ordered a set of KW V1's :D

 

Will have a set of koni shocks and H&R springs for sale soon!