Coilover set up ( opinions )

[Odin]

I will have to keep it off the road till next week when I can book it in to have the tracking put right .

I took it for a couple of mile drive with just the fronts on, I set the springs to 8" long. The arch to road hight is 23" at the moment well one side is lol.

But there not to harsh at all, But like I said the steering is all over the place .


rob

 

[Innovate Performance]

rob how are you getting on mate.

Rember to set the ride high using the lower mounts and not the spring platform as this will change the spring preload.

You can also run just 2 bolts in the centre if the top mounts as there are holes to do this.

If you have any problems or question give me a call.

By the way i have lost my mobile so ring the company number.( 020 8776 2775).

Regards

James

 

[Innovate Performance]

Good to hear how you're getting on Rob. I didn't realy think you needed my help

I'm still struggling to get past a deg of camber with the ride height set at 325 on the front too

remember you have a few mm of play at the hub mounts which makes a diffrence.

 

[Odin]

rob how are you getting on mate.

Rember to set the ride high using the lower mounts and not the spring platform as this will change the spring preload.

You can also run just 2 bolts in the centre if the top mounts as there are holes to do this.

If you have any problems or question give me a call.

By the way i have lost my mobile so ring the company number.( 020 8776 2775).

Regards


James

Yeah getting on ok fella, the trouble with only useing the two middle bolts it that the top mount plate can and did turn. meaning that you can now not get the other bolts in even if there was room because they'ev moved out of line .

Still got one rear to do, I don't use the spring for hight adjustment I just try and set them at the same hight as each other with what feels like a good pre load .

Then it's just a matter of turning the hub plate around to get the ride hight your after but it's a lot of trial and error as everytime you make an adjustment, You need to fit the wheel let it off the jack roll it backwards and forwards, Then get your tape messure out again :shock: .

but hey I'll get there in the end .


rob

 

[Innovate Performance]

Then it's just a matter of turning the hub plate around to get the ride hight your after but it's a lot of trial and error as everytime you make an adjustment, You need to fit the wheel let it off the jack roll it backwards and forwards, Then get your tape messure out again :shock: .

but hey I'll get there in the end .


rob

Mate thats why we charge £270 to do and corner weight it. Thake about 6 hours

 

[Odin]

And if I lived near you mate you may of been usefull lol, But up here your next to useless :lol: :lol: :lol: .

I think your doing well to get all that lot done in 6 hours so well worth the money in my opinion 8) .


When you see just how rusted some of these old pulsar's susp is :shock: , Danny fennels old shocks must of been welded on :shock: .


rob

 

[campbellju]

remember you have a few mm of play at the hub mounts which makes a diffrence.

Yeh, this was my last resort but when I've done this before its with someone else pulling on the hub. I need to think of some kind of wedge to force it out.

I'm still debating myself what the best "overall" setup will be (Height/camber) but I know from previous experience -1deg of camber doesn't cut it on track days so I want the option of up to around -1.5degs

I dug this out from the archives, gives an interesting view of the weight balance of our cars.

http://bb.gtiroc.com/viewtopic.php?t=23116&highlight=weight+balance

Notice how front heavy the nose is but also notice how well balanced it is! Even the back is borderline as to whether you'd bother fiddling with anything.

I'm assuming this was with driver, fuel, air con and battery in the right place.

Rob, out of interest, waht have you got as an equivalent of yourself in the front?

Another tip for ride height measurement. I use a metal ruler with a magnetic spirit level on top to draw a centrline from the hub. I then use a tape measure from this to the arch. I reckon I'm +/-1mm accurate with this method.

Jim

 

[Odin]

Rob, out of interest, waht have you got as an equivalent of yourself in the front?

Nothing as I don't have anything heavy enough :shock: .

I'm just trying to get it set up ok ish for now, Because at the week end my garage is getting cleared of danny fennels old 5hitter 8) , And the garage floor is a lot more level than my drive which should help a bit.


rob

 

[campbellju]

Understand. That makes sense.

Jim

 

[Odin]

Well these thing an't easy b@stards to get right thats for sure lol , Just finished my 10th go at getting the ride hight right .

I'v now wound the spring platforms nearly all the way off this give the car a lot better ride thats for sure 8) , And have now got it pretty much how I want it as far as hight goes it's about 23" 3/4" from arch to floor at the rear and 23" at the front, Seem to work well at that hight not to low and goes over speed bumps ok 8) .

Getting it tracked and cambered next thursday along with a remap to 1.5 bar :shock: :twisted: .

rob

Ps will be getting it corner weighted next year.

 

[campbellju]

I'm guessing you've got it quire low then Like I've said before, whatever works for you.

BTW, speak in mm to stop me having to convert all your measurements :lol:

Congrats on having a go at it and getting it how you like.

Jim

 

[Odin]

I'm guessing you've got it quire low then

Nope it's not low at all lol :lol: :lol: :lol: .


I think it's quite high myself really .




rob

 

[campbellju]

What's your wheel centre to arch measurement in mm then? Maybe I've got my calcs wrong

 

[Odin]

just work out 23" from arch to ground shouldn't be to hard for you numpty :lol: .

What do you think about drop links and how they effect the anti rollbar?, because i'm not to sure how much pre load to put on them .



rob

 

[CruiseGTi-R]

The rear drop links supplied with my D2 kit were much longer than the oe link / GAB set up I had previously. You noticed this?

For now I've screwed the drop link ball cups all the way down the threads so that the link is as short as poss, with the supporting collar on the coilover as high up the thread as poss.

The arb still looks more 'rotated' downwards than it was before. First I thought the arb would foul the bottom arms but seems ok.

I'm thinking of cutting off some thread on the drop link so I can rotate the arb round (upwards) more.

I've lost all sense of where the arb should ideally be now though.

 

[Odin]

I've lost all sense of where the arb should ideally be now though.

Yes I have the same problem mate , But I'v got mine set quite long at the moment :? I will be talking to the guys setting up my camber and tracking next week to see what they think.


rob

 

[CruiseGTi-R]

I assume you have the same collar which clamps round the coilover shaft which picks up the drop-link?

For anyone else with the D2 type kit, a little tip, go easy on the arb drop-link clamp bolts. The softness of the clamp means that the bolts can bind in their slots. I found this out, eventually unable to budge the bolts. I ended up shearing the head off one of them .

I have one bolt holding the clamp shut, but given that its on a threaded tube it can't go far, so should be ok.

Let me know where you end up with the arb settings.

 

[campbellju]

Ideally setup your drop links with both sides disconnected from the bar with the wheels on the ground (Emphasis on ideally here for the average garage mechanic)

Drop links should go straight down with the ARB meeting at 90deg to the drop link.

Do one side up for this then go to the other and adjust your drop link to meet the bar rather than forcing the bar to meet the drop link and pre-loading the bar.

Tighten them up to remove flex from the connection but don't overtighten as you are just pre-loading one side over the other. If you don't have adjustable drop links the old school method is to shim one side to do the same job.

 

[CruiseGTi-R]

This weekend I took off the coilovers and wound off all the pre-load on the springs, then wound back in just a couple of turns so the springs weren't loose at no load.

I cannot tell you the difference its made to the ride. I only had last night to try it out, but its so much more compliant.

The corners I took last night showed no adverse effects to the grip or roll control.

Just need to find out what effect the change has had on more commited driving.

For ref, the spring was lengthened by 8mm or so, which required the ride height to be increased by winding out the shaft from the bottom clamp.

I keep hearing people adjusting ride height via the bottom spring seat adjustment rings (even argued this out with my local 'performance' garage). I can't believe this is the way to do it given the effect the spring pre-load has on the ride and the its overlap with damping effects.

 

[Odin]

Yes much better with the load wound off 8) , I like the front I think it's pretty well perfect , But I think i'll order a set of softer springs for the rear because i find it a bit bang/crashy if you know what i mean .

But now I'v had the tracking & camber done it's a different car to drive handles very well indeed :twisted: .


rob