Coilover set-up probs!

[Sam.l 0]

Hi all,

I spent about 3 hours yesterday trying to adjust the coilovers on my C to get it to sit level on all four corners but for some reason it is sitting at diagonals with drivers side front and passenger side rear pretty much the same and the passenger side front and drivers rear pretty much the same. Though not all the same! The car obviously sits flat on the ground i.e all wheels are on the ground :) In the process I had taken measurements on the coilovers so they are all set exactly the same, and when taking the car off the jack then taken measurements from the wheel rim to arch. The two front wheels are just over a centimetre out from each other, as are the rears, and i cannot work out why. I realise the car needs to 'settle' after adjustment but not sure where im goin wrong or whether this is normal. Lastly, on braking the steering shudders, though it stops when takin my foot off the brake, is this down to the seemingly uneven way the coilovers are set or is it a tracking issue? I thought i could be the tracking. I just wondering if anyone else has experienced this kind of thing and if anyone can give me some advice on the matter! Anyones help is much appreciated and thankyou for reading all of this! :D

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

sorry i cant help but i will be interested in this thread as im on the verge of ordering some KW V1s

 

thus tryin to get as much info as possible as gona fit them myself :help: lol

[casual 0]

shuddering under braking sounds more like disk warping to me.

after adjust the coil overs jump up n down on the car ( not literally on the car :lol: )

is it possible that the wings are slightly out? tyre pressure all the same?

 

 

have u measured the same amount of threads on each shock?

[John-M 0]

I'll keep an eye on this thread too - I'm seriously considering getting some KWs in the near future.

[Sam.l 0]

That did cross my mind but have only had this car for about 4 months and the previous owner said he had replaced the front discs recently. Think i might try and fish out any proof of this in the history just to make sure. I did jump on the car on all four corners ( not literally :) ) as i heard that it does help settle the car, what did you mean by the wings slightly out? As far as i know the tyre pressure is good all round though i think ill check anyway. When i took measurements of the coilovers with the wheels off i measured them by measuring the amount of threads on each shock so that bits covered. They are all set the same. Thanks for posting mate, any othe suggestions???? :)

[casual 0]

That did cross my mind but have only had this car for about 4 months and the previous owner said he had replaced the front discs recently. Think i might try and fish out any proof of this in the history just to make sure. I did jump on the car on all four corners ( not literally :) ) as i heard that it does help settle the car, what did you mean by the wings slightly out? As far as i know the tyre pressure is good all round though i think ill check anyway. When i took measurements of the coilovers with the wheels off i measured them by measuring the amount of threads on each shock so that bits covered. They are all set the same. Thanks for posting mate, any othe suggestions???? :)

 

 

if you have access to a dial gauge you could set it up on the disk and check it that way. as long as everythings tight i cant think why it would only judder under braking from a suspension point of view.

the wings, i was thinking mayb if your car has had anything replaced it might not be exact?

only other thing i can think of is try measuring from the centre bolt hole at the bottom of the shock to the top ring rather than the locking ring.

 

prob dont help much lol

[Critical_Mass 10]

Hi mate,

 

Regarding the mismatch in height on the front, is it a VR by any chance?

 

I had this on my KWs as well as other suspension setup in the past. I was told by the good folks on here that, due to the engine in the VR sitting slightly to one side you will always get the uneven height. I simply raised/lowered the necessary side slightly to even it out. Same with the rear due to the fuel tank - though may not bad as far out as the front.

[Sam.l 0]

Casual - Its sounding like it could quite possibly be something to do with the front discs as i think i can agree that the suspension shouldn't have too much to do with that kind of problem. And as far as i know the wings are the original ones as when i got the car it didnt noticebly sit funny on the coilovers. I had to raise them about 4 inches to MOT it 'cos they couldn't get it on the ramp :) . I then lowered it again after that. Unfortunately i don't have access to a dial guage, is there any othe way of checking this?

critical_mass - Nah its a '91 g60, but am thinkin if i cant get my head around whats happenin then maybe it could be an idea to level the car by adjusting the coilovers separately like you had mentioned you did. Im worried that this could put premature wear on the tyres though, as whenever adjusting the coilovers throws the geometry out a bit so tracking is then an issue. could this be a problem or not or am i talkin rubbish :D

[Critical_Mass 10]

critical_mass - Nah its a '91 g60, but am thinkin if i cant get my head around whats happenin then maybe it could be an idea to level the car by adjusting the coilovers separately like you had mentioned you did. Im worried that this could put premature wear on the tyres though, as whenever adjusting the coilovers throws the geometry out a bit so tracking is then an issue. could this be a problem or not or am i talkin rubbish :D

 

That makes sense if you've already had the geometry set up.

[joeshaw123 0]

It is always going to be hard to get it perfect, but when you have equal amounts of thread remaining on the coils it does tend to be off due to weight distribution. Adjusting suspension does throw your geometry out so once you have it set up how you like, ie lowering the coils individually get the trackin done, sorted.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Critical mass is right.

 

All Corrados have a natural tilt to the driver's side because a) the block is a lot heavier than the gearbox and b) the bulk of the petrol tank is on the driver's side and obviously you have driver weight to consider also :wink:

 

Oh and don't adjust coilovers visually with arch gaps unless you 100% know the bodywork is true. Use the sills instead as the car's geometry relies on a straight floor, so they are more likely to be uniform around the car.

 

Solid rear axles aren't the best for tuning individual wheel height either, it sometimes needs more adjustment than you realise.

 

Oh and make sure you set the ride height on a perfectly level surface!

 

Unless you're like, raising and lowering an inch at a time, don't worry about redoing the toe and camber.

[Mawrick 0]

Soon going to install my KW's on a VR - will I have to adjust number of threads individual or should the "thread count" be the same on all the coilovers?.

(and the car "tilt" a bit, or should it be made "100%" level?)

[Critical_Mass 10]

Critical mass is right.

 

All Corrados have a natural tilt to the driver's side because a) the block is a lot heavier than the gearbox and b) the bulk of the petrol tank is on the driver's side and obviously you have driver weight to consider also :wink:

 

Oh and don't adjust coilovers visually with arch gaps unless you 100% know the bodywork is true. Use the sills instead as the car's geometry relies on a straight floor, so they are more likely to be uniform around the car.

 

Solid rear axles aren't the best for tuning individual wheel height either, it sometimes needs more adjustment than you realise.

 

Oh and make sure you set the ride height on a perfectly level surface!

 

Unless you're like, raising and lowering an inch at a time, don't worry about redoing the toe and camber.

 

It was you that told me that Kev. :lol: :)

 

What i dont understand is, i read all the time on ED38 about people adjusting their ride height all the time. So they either are constantly shelling out money on an alignment or they're knocking their geometry out???

 

Mawrick, personally id forget about thread counting, just use a tape measure.

[Mawrick 0]

Ok, will one measure from center hub to the wheel arch? (with the car standing on the tire, or can I measure it while the car is up on stands?)

 

I presume it should be "level" when measuring then.

 

thanks again.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Yeah don't thread count. There's no guarantee the threads are 100% uniform on all 4 dampers either :D

 

Use the sills as a measurement reference (providing they're not buckled over from excessive jack usage!!) and I've found setting the rear 10-15mm lower than the front gives the best handling balance, but it's all personal tastes at the end of the day.

 

You'll probably find on a VR6 that to get it level, the driver's side front will wound up a few more turns than the passenger side, and the passenger side rear needs to come down a few turns compared to the driver's side rear.

 

As for the geometry, providing you don't mess with the camber angles, the toe will stay the same. Raising or lowering up to an inch won't really alter the geometry enough to cause a problem, but obviously you can get it realigned if you really want to :D

[Mawrick 0]

Not sure I know what the "sills" means (not native english speaker)..:)

 

I'm going to have to get it re-alligned after fitting it, as everything have been off the car (subframe etc etc), but I presume I should get the hight right, before I get that done also ?

[Sam.l 0]

wow, seems like a good and informative debate has started from this thread. I think following on from everyones advice i think ill just set the coilovers individually and get it as close as i can. And measuring using the sill's certainly makes sense kevhaywire. That i didnt think of. Once i finally get the car fine tuned then off to get the wheels aligned me thinks! As far as i know i havn't messed with the camber angles :confused4: , just wound the coilovers down. Am thinkin because i had to raise the car 4 inches for the MOT and then wound them down again wheel alignment might be worth doing. I've already had to swap the front wheels for the back's as it looks like its now toeing out a bit, the insides of the front wheels have started to wear! :brickwall:

[Critical_Mass 10]

Not sure I know what the "sills" means (not native english speaker)..:)

 

I'm going to have to get it re-alligned after fitting it, as everything have been off the car (subframe etc etc), but I presume I should get the hight right, before I get that done also ?

 

Mawrick - the 'sill' is the body work that run down the lowest side of the car, from rear of the front arch (underside repeater) to front of rear arch. See pic -

 

Dont the wheels get more camber the lower they go, on the front at least? or am i talking bollards

[Mawrick 0]

ok, where/what would one measure from them?

 

From the sills to the floor?

[Critical_Mass 10]

Yes. :D

[Jim Bowen 1]

i thought that although the spring platforms may all be at the same height on shocks all round, this may not mean your suspension is level. As you aren't actually directly adjusting the height when compressing the spring..

 

 

does that make any sense at all or shall i ignore myself :wave:

[vwdeviant 0]

I've found setting the rear 10-15mm lower than the front gives the best handling balance, but it's all personal tastes at the end of the day. :D

 

 

*Opens the "reverse rake" can of worms*

 

But I'm with Kev, Level or slightly "arse down" is beat way, aids wieght transfer when accelerating, and breaking...

[Critical_Mass 10]

I've found setting the rear 10-15mm lower than the front gives the best handling balance, but it's all personal tastes at the end of the day. :D

 

 

*Opens the "reverse rake" can of worms*

 

But I'm with Kev, Level or slightly "arse down" is beat way, aids wieght transfer when accelerating, and breaking...

 

Thats another thing i keep hearing on ED38, the shunning of 'Reverse rake'.

 

Whats so bad about reverse rake, as you and Kev have said it has benefits?

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

ha ha ha & i thought i had confused myself with all the reading of the suspension thread :gag:

 

i can see im in for some setup fun & games when i make the plunge for the kw v1s......never mind the fun & learning when trying to fit em!! pmsl

[Critical_Mass 10]

Where are you based goldfinger?