[Phila36]

i really hate to start another thread about this but all previous threads contradict each other.
I have HSD Coilovers. I've been adjusting the rear height through the collars on the spring. after doing so, i've developed a pretty bad clunk whenever i go over uneven pavement or bumps.
The rear struts (in the picture, the two on the outside) also have a locking collar and lots of threading on it. What is that used for if the height is supposedly set through the spring and not the strut?

print screen

 

[GenBrah]

Did you reuse all of the rubber surroundings from the collars and stock springs that go against the top and bottom of the perch...the rear struts are your preload. With your height adjusted evenly on each side and your hub bolted back up under your rear disc. Unbolt the rlca and the strut.

Lengthen or shorten that body evenly on each side...until the base where the bolt goes through lines up on the rear lower control arm so the bolt can slide easily through all the holes. It sets the preload. Make sure both sides are even, might have to jack up hub a couple millimeters to set it best took me until all my suspension settled to get the preload perfect. When it wasn't good I was slamming the bump stops and the rear shocks were not getting their full travel

 

[Phila36]

Did you reuse all of the rubber surroundings from the collars and stock springs that go against the top and bottom of the perch...the rear struts are your preload. With your height adjusted evenly on each side and your hub bolted back up under your rear disc. Unbolt the rlca and the strut.

Lengthen or shorten that body evenly on each side...until the base where the bolt goes through lines up on the rear lower control arm so the bolt can slide easily through all the holes. It sets the preload. Make sure both sides are even, might have to jack up hub a couple millimeters to set it best took me until all my suspension settled to get the preload perfect. When it wasn't good I was slamming the bump stops and the rear shocks were not getting their full travel

ok so right now, my rear height is equal. so what i have to do is unbolt the control arm and strut (which are the two bolts next to each other?) and then the control arm should drop a little right? Then i lengthen the strut body to match the drop in the control arm, bolt the strut in, jack up the control arm, then bolt in the control arm?
and yes, i reused all the rubber isolators

 

[GenBrah]

Keep the control arm bolted up...undo the STRUT from the control arm not the hub. Set the strut to how I said making sure both are even lengths

 

[Phila36]

Keep the control arm bolted up...undo the STRUT from the control arm not the hub. Set the strut to how I said making sure both are even lengths

ohhh ok i got it. sorry i was confused.
so the hub and strut are the two bolts next to each other on the control arm. I ONLYY unbolt the strut from the control arm. When i do so, im assuming the control arm will drop a little relative to the ride height on the spring? Then i just lengthen the strut body so it reaches the drooped arm and bolt it back? Won't the connected hub keep the control arm from falling though?
Sorry for all the questions

 

[GenBrah]

Yeah exactly...you don't want the lower control arm to drop. You want the length of the strut body to be set up to how the lower control in set up when BOLTED up to the hub AND KEEPING tension on the spring. Make sure the spring isn't able to wiggle around. If you have to jack up the lower control arm a little bit to keep the spring seated tight and then finally. Lengthen or shorten the strut body so the bolt easily slides into the lower control arm to bolt it on. Do the same for each side making sure they are EVEN! Hahaha I know it's confusing man took me a good while to kind of sort it all out

 

[Phila36]

Yeah exactly...you don't want the lower control arm to drop. You want the length of the strut body to be set up to how the lower control in set up when BOLTED up to the hub AND KEEPING tension on the spring. Make sure the spring isn't able to wiggle around. If you have to jack up the lower control arm a little bit to keep the spring seated tight and then finally. Lengthen or shorten the strut body so the bolt easily slides into the lower control arm to bolt it on. Do the same for each side making sure they are EVEN! Hahaha I know it's confusing man took me a good while to kind of sort it all out

Ok thank you so much, i understand now. After reading your posts and reading other posts on G35/G37 forums, i now know what to do. Thanks buddy

 

[GenBrah]

Your welcome man glad I could help

 

[ByByCavalier]

GenBrah is exactly right. Its a bit of a process relative to the fronts, but its gotta be done right.

The reason for it is due to compression and rebound suspension travel. When you unload the rear suspension (over hills, crests, jumps :gc-wmscared0016, you don't want to over-extend the damper. When you compress the suspension, you don't want to bottom out the damper. Either or will destroy your damper, and stress the top mount.

So by having the suspension unloaded (with the spring not wiggly as mentioned) at its maximum extent and "fitting" the damper assembly back into its place, you maintain maximum allowable travel of the damper. It can't extend anymore, and neither can the suspension geometry. That should leave you in the position of having enough compression as well.

I should do a little video on this when I get my dampers back.

 

[Phila36]

GenBrah is exactly right. Its a bit of a process relative to the fronts, but its gotta be done right.

The reason for it is due to compression and rebound suspension travel. When you unload the rear suspension (over hills, crests, jumps :gc-wmscared0016, you don't want to over-extend the damper. When you compress the suspension, you don't want to bottom out the damper. Either or will destroy your damper, and stress the top mount.

So by having the suspension unloaded (with the spring not wiggly as mentioned) at its maximum extent and "fitting" the damper assembly back into its place, you maintain maximum allowable travel of the damper. It can't extend anymore, and neither can the suspension geometry. That should leave you in the position of having enough compression as well.

I should do a little video on this when I get my dampers back.

Awesome explanation. I understand 100%. Thanks!

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[Phila36]

GenBrah is exactly right. Its a bit of a process relative to the fronts, but its gotta be done right.

The reason for it is due to compression and rebound suspension travel. When you unload the rear suspension (over hills, crests, jumps :gc-wmscared0016, you don't want to over-extend the damper. When you compress the suspension, you don't want to bottom out the damper. Either or will destroy your damper, and stress the top mount.

So by having the suspension unloaded (with the spring not wiggly as mentioned) at its maximum extent and "fitting" the damper assembly back into its place, you maintain maximum allowable travel of the damper. It can't extend anymore, and neither can the suspension geometry. That should leave you in the position of having enough compression as well.

I should do a little video on this when I get my dampers back.

so my car is on jack stands as im attempting to adjust this right now. The only thing i unbolted from the rear was the strut bolt on the lower control arm. When i took the bolt out, absolutely nothing move. The control arm stayed in place so if i lengthen or shorten the strut form where it sits right now, it's not going to be aligned. The endlinks are still bolted in, the hub is still bolted in, everything is still bolted in besides the strut. Does that mean that the preload is fine?
**i also forgot to previously mention that i had attempted to lower the rear height before by just screwing down the locking collar on the spring while everything was bolted in. Would that change the process of adjusting the preload?**
Also, how am i supposed to increase or decrease the length of the strut without removing it? I have the collar loose but when i go to spin the strut body, the bottom connector that the bolt goes through just hits the inside of the bracket because the entire strut is moving

 

[GenBrah]

Move the strut around first the. Adjust by unlocking the collar and spinning the whole shock body relative to the threaded mount. If it is fitting perfectly then your preload should be good. Make sure both sides are even. As long as your not bashing bump stops and it feels like you're not bouncing around everywhere then you're preload should be set. Unfortunately their isn't some golden measurement to give you it's just a feel and a process

 

[Phila36]

Move the strut around first the. Adjust by unlocking the collar and spinning the whole shock body relative to the threaded mount. If it is fitting perfectly then your preload should be good. Make sure both sides are even. As long as your not bashing bump stops and it feels like you're not bouncing around everywhere then you're preload should be set. Unfortunately their isn't some golden measurement to give you it's just a feel and a process

I don't even know what to grab onto to spin it lol. There is one collar and thats the locking one. I tried to grab it from the threading and twist but that didn't work.
I think i'm just gonna redo the rear from scratch because i know the order in which to adjust everything from there. Thanks again though!

 

[DudebuD]

I don't even know what to grab onto to spin it lol. There is one collar and thats the locking one. I tried to grab it from the threading and twist but that didn't work.
I think i'm just gonna redo the rear from scratch because i know the order in which to adjust everything from there. Thanks again though!

If its not spinning to shorten the shock anymore, then you've likely reached the max.

Here's what I did, I actually installed mine last night.

- set the spring to the desired ride height
- with the shock completely bolted in, adjust the height of the shock so that the spring is held captive but has no play at all. Don't compress the spring.
- put all your **** back on, lower the car and check your ride height.



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[seigneur_rayden]

Can someone please help me? I have searched and read countless of thread but with no success.
I lowered the rear spring perch to the max (no thread left, all collars still there). The shock is threaded all the way in but the shock is way too long to match the drop when I get the spring captive. The HSD rear shock base/mount seems really short and doesn't allow much adjustment even though the body has threads all the way up.

If I compress the shock and bolt it, when I lower the arm, the spring assembly is loose as it doesn't reach the top pocket. Is that okay? I am scared that the spring might fall off. Moreover when I lowered the jack, I have to hold the spring so it can stay straight and go in the pocket. Is that normal? This means that whenever the car is jacked up, someone will have to guide the spring to go in the pocket.

It doesn't make sense to me that the shock body cannot accommodate the height of its own spring.


I hope it makes sense.
Any help and comments will be much appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Phila36]

GenBrah is exactly right. Its a bit of a process relative to the fronts, but its gotta be done right.

The reason for it is due to compression and rebound suspension travel. When you unload the rear suspension (over hills, crests, jumps :gc-wmscared0016, you don't want to over-extend the damper. When you compress the suspension, you don't want to bottom out the damper. Either or will destroy your damper, and stress the top mount.

So by having the suspension unloaded (with the spring not wiggly as mentioned) at its maximum extent and "fitting" the damper assembly back into its place, you maintain maximum allowable travel of the damper. It can't extend anymore, and neither can the suspension geometry. That should leave you in the position of having enough compression as well.

I should do a little video on this when I get my dampers back.

Hey cav, do you think you could make the video about this soon? I really think it would help the community a lot

 

[DudebuD]

Hey cav, do you think you could make the video about this soon? I really think it would help the community a lot

I might be making one this weekend. Ill post it up here.

 

[Phila36]

I might be making one this weekend. Ill post it up here.

right on. i'm assuming that means that you've installed coilovers on your car and you're satisfied with the ride quality?

 

[DudebuD]

I actually had them set up improperly for a few months and they rode like crap. I adjusted them two weeks ago and theyre fantastic.

 

[Phila36]

I actually had them set up improperly for a few months and they rode like crap. I adjusted them two weeks ago and theyre fantastic.

Awesome. Looking forward to the video. Pleaseee make it soon though lol I've had a shitty ride for over a year now