BC Coilover Setup: Compression/Rebound Settings, Ride Height Adjustment, Camber, Etc.

[CHIEFSMS3]

Thank you Ferdball.

 

[Ferdball]

Problem solved. All I needed to do was "avoid producing ablated tooth or the distortion; further, to damage the shock absorber or endanger the traffic safety." Duh.

 

[Moxhair]

The translations really cracked me up, but I used them for a shop rag and just did the install with common sense.

 

[Ferdball]

I could not keep up with the lighter Mazda 3 ahead of me. I still need to tweak. I'm 3rd one in front of the camera car.

http://vimeo.com/4232860

 

[SallySpeed3]

Hey guys, I had never considered doing anything to the speed3's suspension but now that I read this thread and after seeing what a difference the lower stance makes, I"m considering getting the BC's. Just had a couple questions. Is this doable in your driveway? meaning is it an easy enough job for a non-mechanic to do with the right tools? And also, do you still need to get sway bars to help with body roll and such? I'm assuming yes but I don't know much about cars on the suspension end. Thanks

 

[CnoTataymo]

Hey guys, I had never considered doing anything to the speed3's suspension but now that I read this thread and after seeing what a difference the lower stance makes, I"m considering getting the BC's. Just had a couple questions. Is this doable in your driveway? meaning is it an easy enough job for a non-mechanic to do with the right tools? And also, do you still need to get sway bars to help with body roll and such? I'm assuming yes but I don't know much about cars on the suspension end. Thanks

Swapping to full coilovers is easy. You'll pretty much need 3 different size wrenchs/sockets (12,14,17,19mm) an allen wrench, floorjack, jackstands and hammer. If you've got an impact gun, taking off the nuts/bolts would be quicker.

You'll notice the car will be firmer over bumps. There will be no more weird "float" feeling and the car will handle a little more confidently.

As for sway bars, upgrading the rear will plant the rear of the car nicely. Turning response will improve. You'll definitely feel the difference.As for the front, I have no experience but I would think it will balance the car out more.

 

[SallySpeed3]

Thanks for the reply. Speaking of bumps. My biggest complaint about the stock speed3 suspension is every little bump or crack in any road sounds and feels like a huge crater. Do the coilovers help with that?

 

[RichB]

Not if you lower your ride height.

Another good way to soften the harshness of your ride is to go with tires that have a softer side wall. Without even knowing I did this when I went with Pirelli pzeros. I noticed a softer ride instantly without changing anything else.

Since I like the harshness I am going to go with tires that have stiffer sidewalls the next time around.

 

[RichB]

I sanded the edges of the the access window on the right rear side to save my arm.

So are the extenders useless for the rear even if you put them on before you install the shock absorber?

 

[Ferdball]

So are the extenders useless for the rear even if you put them on before you install the shock absorber?

they are useless because they don't fit.

 

[RichB]

thats dissapointing

 

[CnoTataymo]

If your arms aren't that big, just take off the panels that come off. But if they are, just take the whole side panels off. It's pretty easy access that way. That's if you don't mind opening the hatch and seeing bare metal.

 

[Ferdball]

Extenders don't fit adjustment knobs

So, if you have Sirius, you'll have to pull the interior.

And grind the metal around the knob.

It would be nice to get smaller knobs. The ones up front look like they would solve each of these problems. Ken was looking into this, but haven't heard back from him yet.

 

[daonly1around]

anyone know if the springs are completely symmetrical? like from up and down and right to left?

I'm hearing a lot of noise from mine, it sounds like stuff is lose, but everything is TIGHT!!!'

I'm thinking my shock my be too long for the height?

 

[CHIEFSMS3]

So, I got some new info today from BC. We covered everything I had questions on.

Rear configuration/ride height/preload adjustment:

Ok so as far as ride height, the lowest they are intended to drop the MS3 is about even with the stock tires. Some may like it, other may want more. If more drop is needed you can remove the lower collar and basically just have the spring sit on the perch and plastic washer. This will drop the rear about 1/2" more.

Rear preload is set pretty specifically. You have to unbolt both the spring perch and lower shock mount. Once everything is unbolted and loose you position the spring collar at your desired height and assemble the collar/spring/donut in the spring perches. Using a jack you compress the spring to the point where both the top and bottom are in contact with the upper and lower perch. While doing this grab the spring and try and wiggle it around. Keep compressing the spring by using the jack until the point where the spring does not move vertically or horizontally. Basically you are trying to bring the spring to max rebound without being loose. Once you are there throw in the bolt that attaches the lower spring perch to the knuckle. Now you raise or lower the shock mount to line up with the mounts on the knuckle. Once you get the shock mount and knuckle mount lined up, throw in the other bolt and tighten her up. Loosen the set nut on the shock body. By hand turn the shock body clockwise, which will shorten the shock. Continue this until you begin to feel some resistance. As you are turning it, more compression is applied to the spring. The resistance you feel is the proper preload on the spring. For me it was about 10 turns. The theory behind matching the height of the shock to the level established by the spring at max rebound is that in driving situtuations where max rebound is achieved you dont want to limit the available shock travel by having it too short. The same applies to compression. If its too short you will just hit the bump stops.

Also, worth noting is to periodically check the tightness of the supplied 19mm bolt that mounts the spring collar to the lower perch. I guess people have had it work itself loose or fall out. Torque it down pretty good (they didnt have any torque specs). I tightened mine to about 100ft/lbs. If yours keeps coming loose, just add some loctite.

The front is pretty self explanatory. They are supposed to come preloaded from the factory but in case you have to adjust yours they recommend a 5mm preload compression. Basically, raise the top adjustment collar until it secures the spring where it does not move vertically at all. Once its held in place rotate the second collar until it touches the top collar. While keeping the second collar at that same height, rotate the top collar to raise it 5mm above the second collar. Once you get the 5mm raise the second collar and lock the preload collars together. Then you can do what you want with the third height adjustment collar.

I ended up removing one of the collars from the rears and adjusted the shock 15 turns up from the lowest point. I also set the front preload and dropped it another 5mm. I'm still running 12/15 but may adjust it a little softer,maybe 9f/12r.

Once they settle and I get her aligned I'll post up some pics. Hope this helps.

^^^^Have you adjusted the rear preload?^^^^

 

[daonly1around]

^^^^Have you adjusted the rear preload?^^^^

no i didn't, but i'll do that this weekend sometime, I figured out what was causing my noise.. but thanks for that tip..

 

[Ferdball]

The rear preload would affect stiffness more than noise, I would think. Besides, do you get the noise up front or in back? I get some noise up front when going slow and turning hard.

 

[RichB]

The pre-load is so the shock won't reach its fully extended position during normal driving conditions. To put it in simple words, when you jack up your car and your wheels are hanging, the shock still has some more travel before it can't extend anymore.

As regards to the noises you are hearing have you checked your endlinks? You have to remove them in order to install the coilovers and they are known to cause low speed clunking.

 

[mrjoshyman]

so since 0 is full hard, 12f = 12 away from full hard? just making sure i got this right, b/c my fronts seems a bit stiff

 

[RichB]

I thought 30 was the hardest setting