need coilover help ASAP (pics)

[eastcoastS14]

ok before i post check out this link http://www.jic-magic.com/Files/33-FLT-A2%20instruction%20(distro).pdf

Now that is how pretty much everyone adjusts their coilovers correct? Loosen the bottom nut and then spin both top nuts (as if they were one) clockwise correct? I just installed my rear tanabes and did this and the car is sitting really low...I have stock wheels on so that may add to it but my car is sitting about 4inches lower than stock.

If you look at that link I posted I turned "b2" clockwise until it couldnt go anymore but its still ridiculously low:confused:

help me out I need to drive back to school soon

[eastcoastS14]

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w166/maxlopes/tanabe.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w166/maxlopes/tanabe2.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w166/maxlopes/tanabe3.jpg

[SHIFT_Slide]

Turning the two upper collars are only going to add preload, you have to move the lower part, where it mounts to the rear knuckle, up. Lol @ that rear spring, I haven't seen any Tanabes in person but damn that rear spring looks compressed as fuck. I suggest taking the entire coil off, unscrewing the top two collars untill the spring is barely tight, then loosening bottom collar, and threading the shock mount up the threaded body.

[m91silvia]

try not to add too much preload though, you probably should adjust the bottom bracket more than the preload.
just add enough preload so you dont have the spring jumping around on the shocks.

it also looks like he has helper springs on there.

you want to keep the preload at a minimum and adjust the mounting point, like ^ said. but coilovers are going to be lower than shocks by default.
its just how they're made.

[eastcoastS14]

so youre saying move the very bottom collar up then spin the whole bottom piece up?

fuck if i turned the top collars and changed the factory preload will i still be alright driving on them?

[aznpoopy]

alright i think i see where you are getting confused

these guys are right in that you want to adjust height via shock body length instead of by preload

these guys are missing the fact that by locking the spring perch against its locking collar (b1 and b2), you spin the entire coilover body by turning the two locked collars. this in turn adjusts height by moving the entire coilover up and down relative to the bracket without changing preload. preload will only change if b1 spins independently of the coilover body. preload does not change if b1 spins with the coilover body.

hope that wasn't too confusing

if its sitting too low, you want to make sure
#1 you're spinning the right way. obviously the threads should be 'emerging' from the lower mounting bracket.

#2 you are not running any spring droop. with the coilover completely unloaded the spring should be firmly in place between the upper mount and the spring perch (b1).

#3 if thats max and you can't go any higher, your only choice is to add preload. spin b1 'upwards' and compress the spring slightly.

btw, since you're from our coast, i suggest adding teflon tape or using anti seize on the threads. or else you're going to have a hell of a time readjusting in the future.

[m91silvia]

^said was true.
you just loosen the bottom mount and spin it so it gets longer.

simple as that.

preload shouldn't matter a whole lot, i dont think coilovers come hardly any preload out-of-box.
add like 1/4 to 1/2 in of preload, that should be sufficient, imo.

thats what i added to my pbm, no clunking sounds.

[eastcoastS14]

ok this is the problem, while I was turning the collars it didnt seem like the threads were emerging...this is the problem. I talked to the gys at tanabe and they said that the bottom piece (that bolts to the knuckle) should be able to spin freely so I should be able to unbolt it and spin the very bottom piece to adjust the height. Im having no luck with this at all...any suggestions

also second part of the question....apart from obvious scraping how bad is it to drive around on dumped coilovers? I dont mind throwing the fronts on and driving around slammed for a bit til i get this straightened out....anybody have experience with driving on coilovers as low as they can go? (Im not sure if these actually are all the way down) seems like they are just stuck not moving up much. I see some pretty low cars on here so let me know what you think

[aznpoopy]

were they used? shouldn't do that brand new. make sure the lower bracket locking collar is loose, labeled (a) in your link.

if they are seized its damn near impossible to get the leverage you need to spin the lower bracket independently of the coil body with the bracket unbolted because the damn thing spins in the upper pillowball mount. so, you will want to leave that bottom bracket bolted in and use the spanner wrench on the locked b1/b2 collars for leverage to spin the coil body.

spray pb blaster onto the collar near the threading, and let it seep into the threads. this WILL work. trust me. with a little vibration from a bfh, i've used it to break free rusted out RMA8s.

as for your second question, it depends on how they are dumped. dumped using a lot of droop is bad. spring can come loose if you catch a little air, and the shock may not be where it likes to be. if its just dumped because of the shock body height, its not that bad. you'll just scrape ur exhaust alot, or maybe the body if its real low. lol.

[eastcoastS14]

coilovers are fresh out the box......Ill try that and see what happens

didnt see the second part of that....the spring is pretty tight in there.....I dont think I could move it around by hand if i tried. So should I be good until I can get this fixed?

[aznpoopy]

didnt see the second part of that....the spring is pretty tight in there.....I dont think I could move it around by hand if i tried. So should I be good until I can get this fixed?

if its tight it won't flop around.

[eastcoastS14]

yeah its like if I reach up i can push the spring down maybe 1/4 an inch by hand...so it doesnt seem too tight...at the same time its not flopping around either so I guess its somewhere in the middle....I guess I have no choice but to throw the fronts on and drive it till I can get it to a shop or somethin to deal with these rears...i just hope I dont break anything :ugh:

[SHIFT_Slide]

If the bottom collar that is against the mount is stuck, use the same type of technique that you'd use if you pulled an exhaust stud out of the head. Tighten the top two collars against each other very tight and use the top of the 2 upper collars as leverage, holding it by another spanner wrench or something similar. Then try to loosen the bottom collar so that the threaded body can break free from the mount. You should be safe running the way it is though, it's not TOO low. Just take your time where ever you're going.

[azndummie]

those are tanabe seven's i have them and they sit low. if you have to have it higher just add a little preload but not too much.

[240on430]

yeah its like if I reach up i can push the spring down maybe 1/4 an inch by hand...so it doesnt seem too tight...at the same time its not flopping around either so I guess its somewhere in the middle....I guess I have no choice but to throw the fronts on and drive it till I can get it to a shop or somethin to deal with these rears...i just hope I dont break anything :ugh:

sounds like the springs aren't pre-loaded, they're sagging.

[4bangers]

sorry to revived this thread, but I have similar problem. So the top of the 2 upper collars is stuck due to sand/rock trapped. I tried to loosen it w/ a spanner wrench but the whole shock body turns too. So is there anyway that I could loosen the top collar (red ring).
http://photos-o.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v213/222/77/732751950/n732751950_676062_7502.jpg

[5t341tH]

sorry to revived this thread, but I have similar problem. So the top of the 2 upper collars is stuck due to sand/rock trapped. I tried to loosen it w/ a spanner wrench but the whole shock body turns too. So is there anyway that I could loosen the top collar (red ring).
http://photos-o.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v213/222/77/732751950/n732751950_676062_7502.jpg
u can put down your purse :drool:
are u using both spanner wrenches on the top perches?

[EDacIouSX]

yea spray the thread/collar perch thingy with wd40 (the thing marked red and blue and the thread on the actual shock body....after u do that it should loosen up with the spanner wrench. then dry off the thread with a paper towel and lock it back in place. shouldn't have to worry about the wd40 lubing it up since wd40 evaporates and when it evaps there's no more lube...

[4bangers]

yeah, I tried using both wrench on the 2 upper collars. But the thing is I can turn it if I try hard enough, but the whole shock body will also turn too which doesn't loosen the ring. So I was wondering if there's a way I can keep the shock body still and turn the ring w/ spanner wrench.

[R33GTS-T]

hit it with some Liquid Wrench, wait a few minutes, then throw a persuasion bar over the spanner wrench (more leverage) and gently try to turn the collar.
if that doesn't work, some VERY minimal heat may be needed....

[chuonthis]

You turn the collars in opposite directions. The top (red) one goes up and the bottom (blue) one goes down so that they'll unlock from each other.

[serturbo]

The shock body shouldn't be moving. You're applying force in one direction to one collar and a force in the opposite direction to the other collar.

Besides cleaning the threads as best you can and lubing, the best advice I can give you is spanner wrench position. I found it best to position them close together, so you can get your hands around both handles. Hard to explain, but I'll do my best. Position the bottom collar wrench, so the handle is facing toward you or maybe a little to your right. Position the top collar wrench, so the handle is facing toward you or a little to the left. Grip both wrenches with both hands wrapped around the handles and squeeze together. Position the wrenches in the opposite way to lock the collars. I find this is the best technique to use. If any wrench slips, you won't be hitting your knuckles or elbows against anything.

[5t341tH]

You turn the collars in opposite directions. The top (red) one goes up and the bottom (blue) one goes down so that they'll unlock from each other.
just do what he says. thats ur problem right there.

[4bangers]

thanks for all the tips. But what I'm trying to do is move the red collar down, I can get the blue collar down fine, but I want to lower the preload so I need to lower the red collar down too. However, when I tried to move the red collar down, it got stuck and the whole shock body turn with the collar.

[serturbo]

If you have both collars unlocked and one is jammed, then you have something stuck in the threads. You need to clear it. I think I see your problem now. You need to clear the jammed collar by working it back and forth, but you can't move it back and forth because the shock body turns.

I would thread the blue collar all the way down to the green collar and jam those two collars together. Once jammed together, they should be positively locked to the shock body. You can then used the blue and green collars to hold the shock body in place. Turn the green one to the right while you turn the red to the left. Turn the blue to the left while to turn the red to the right. Keep alternating until you get the red unstuck. You better hope whatever is stuck in there isn't tougher than the threads.

[4bangers]

here is the new update. Today, I fixed the coilover and learned from you all, I was able to get the spring locking ring loosen and raise the car height. Thanks all.

However, I found out that the inside of the driver front wheel is rubbing against the spring. So I used the adjustable camber plate and moved the top of the coil toward the midline of the car. I don't know if this will help?

Secondly, sometime I feel like the rear wheel is rubbing something but it didn't do that before, nor did I changed any camber. So what could have happened?

Lastly, I was able to raise my front pretty good, but the rear no matter how much I raised, it still look sagging/low. I moved the lower mount to almost at the lower tip of the shock body and it still not raise the car enough. I have about 2in of the lower mount threaded to the shock body. Can I raise it more safely? or do I have to do something else to make the rear look even w/ the front? thanks all.

mod: just coilover w/ all stock arms.

[4bangers]

anyone help please!!!!

[aznpoopy]

monkeying around with the ride height has fucked up your alignment. you need to get an alignment

as for your questions

1. when you change the camber plate setting the entire coilover + spindle + wheel moves to change camber. in other words this does absolutely nothing for wheel / spring clearance. get spacers

2. when you change ride height at one corner it affects weight (and therefore height) at other corners. figure out what is rubbing and fix it. raise it / roll it / etc whatever you need to do.

3. dunno. make sure spring isn't drooping. raise it with preload if you have to. maybe that's just how the coilover is. maybe you got s13 rears on a s14.

[4bangers]

so does normal, the car front will sit lower than the rear or are they level out?

another thing is, do you keep the shock dampening rate the same for front and rear or keep the rear less since it's lighter?