Sacrilicious
boom boom!
- :
- Cosmic Blue MS3 of hawtness!
woah...what made you go back to the stock springs, dean? you helped me through most of this anyways, so half of the content is basically yours anyways...
How-To: Install Cobb Springs + Impressions afterwards.
- Thread starter Sacrilicious
- Start date
Sacrilicious
boom boom!
- :
- Cosmic Blue MS3 of hawtness!
great to hear that it went so well for you, man... i actually just leafed through this again myself because i just put in BC coilovers in the front (only had enough time for the fronts after work tonight). they were definitely a lot easier to do after my experiences with the spring install! 
a friend and i knocked out the front suspension in about 2.5 hrs even though we were dying from getting cooked on the roof of my work parking lot after a day of work. my new apt doesn't allow me to work on my car, so i had to do a ghetto job at work...=/
i actually just leafed through this again myself because i just put in BC coilovers in the front (only had enough time for the fronts after work tonight). they were definitely a lot easier to do after my experiences with the spring install! a friend and i knocked out the front suspension in about 2.5 hrs even though we were dying from getting cooked on the roof of my work parking lot after a day of work. my new apt doesn't allow me to work on my car, so i had to do a ghetto job at work...=/- :
- 13 MX-5
Front suspension taking 2.5 hours? Got damn. I could bust it out in like an 1.5 or less.
Sacrilicious
boom boom!
- :
- Cosmic Blue MS3 of hawtness!
thanks, should i feel bad that i take an extra hour? seriously, do you feel better now?
It took me no time at all. So i win!! Actually I was a pussy because the front sway bar install at the same time sounded rough. So i had the son in law do it for me. Very easy for me. But i am going to have do my coilovers myself. Dammit. By the way the Cobbs are a damn good spring when combined with the sway bars. I would recommend to everyone. My car really handles well and tracks very consistent, the stock dampers are happy and have not suffered in the least!
Sacrilicious
boom boom!
- :
- Cosmic Blue MS3 of hawtness!
ya, the cobb springs treated me well for about a year before it became apparent that my stock shocks were slowly going...=/ by the time i put in the BCs, they were groaning like mad whenever i rolled over speed bumps at 5mph...it was baaaad...=/ now that the BCs are in, though, everything is quiet as a mouse again...
Ah, that's cool. I considered some Konis or something with adjustment but figured i would want more adjustability and much stiffer springs eventually. What spring rates are your BC's? I think the coilovers i have are almost exactly the same as yours but different color! What did you do for front camber adjustment please? i have some heavy springs on the fronts and will need to reinforce the front tower i think. Your opinion and help would be great
Sacrilicious
boom boom!
- :
- Cosmic Blue MS3 of hawtness!
i'm not quite sure what the spring rates on the BCs are, but i don't think you need to worry as much as you think you do. something like the cobb springs are plenty stiff, but our stock shocks are short on damping force. i really wanted to try the koni yellows with the cobb springs, but i ended up just going for the full setup because i knew that the konis would be just as short on suspension travel as the stock setup. the BCs came with adjustable camber plates, but i won't need to use them because i didn't slam the ride height. in fact, i am probably riding slightly higher than i did with the cobb springs because i really hate scraping the ground because of driveways, speed bumps, and dips in the road.
what do you mean by reinforcing the front tower, btw? are you afraid that really stiff springs would put too much stress on them because of all the force that gets transferred from bumps? if so, don't worry about it, because our stock shocks + cobb springs had very little suspension travel (which was my main complaint about the setup) and you ended up hitting the bump stop most of the time anyway.
what do you mean by reinforcing the front tower, btw? are you afraid that really stiff springs would put too much stress on them because of all the force that gets transferred from bumps? if so, don't worry about it, because our stock shocks + cobb springs had very little suspension travel (which was my main complaint about the setup) and you ended up hitting the bump stop most of the time anyway.
Yes, i am very worried about the stress. My Cobb springs are just under 300lbs in front if i remember correctly and i may not. But my Ksports are about 510. Also i do want to have full camber adjustment since that is part of the reason i bought them. Lots of adjustability! Although the Cobb springs are the perfect height in front, they are alittle tall in the rear as far as appearance goes. But that is not very important to me. I was going to have someone corner weight the car and start playing around with with the suspension geometry. I do not think i could go much lower in front with my crappy driveway entry, i already have to drive out at a severe angle! But i want to play with more negative camber for some hard cornering. I imagine i will find a happy place in time. haha I appreciate your input on this matter since you have more experience. I am going to learn all i can about this car. With help from folks like you.
Sacrilicious
boom boom!
- :
- Cosmic Blue MS3 of hawtness!
i know the increased spring rate will cause more stress, but my main point is just that since there's so little suspension travel, the shock is bottoming out a whole lot anyway and hitting the bump stop. a bump stop has a waaay higher "spring tension" than anything cobb and ksport springs could possibly come up with... basically, i think that you should be fine as far as the structural integrity of the front towers goes. the only thing i'd worry about is matching dampers with the springs that you use so that you don't feel like you're riding on a pogo stick...that and whether the added jolts to the car are going to make everything rattle like a baby's toy...
basically, i think that you should be fine as far as the structural integrity of the front towers goes. the only thing i'd worry about is matching dampers with the springs that you use so that you don't feel like you're riding on a pogo stick...that and whether the added jolts to the car are going to make everything rattle like a baby's toy...Hiya the Ksports coilovers are matched valving and adjustable, but that is an excellent point that a lot of people miss as they pogo down the road. as far as rattling, i will continue to tighten the car up till my vision gets blurry then take her back half a turn. ha. I get what you are saying and feel a little more confident. But i still need to access all the camber available from the pillowballs and camber plate so the hole saw is the only option. we will come up with something though. Thanks for your help and support. The key as you mention, is the proper pairing of spring to damping.
Sacrilicious
boom boom!
- :
- Cosmic Blue MS3 of hawtness!
haha...if you're willing to shell out like 1400 or so for high quality coils, you should definitely consider the MS coils...they're rebound/compression adjustable on the dampers and height adjustable as well (they're actually KW var3's). if you're not worried about comfort, they're probably the best bang for the buck out there...by quite a margin, actually.
Yes KWs are some of the best. period. Ask the beemer track guys. But i already have had these on the kitchen table for the whole summer. I wanted the MS coilers dealer installed upon receiving the car from off the boat but they did not have them yet. So i figured the aftermarket would have alot to offer soon enough. The Ksport are very similar to the BC in design with options for spring rates. I still really think the Cobb did a nice job with the matching to factory dampers and i certainly enjoy them. It was a great step up in handling.
Sacrilicious
boom boom!
- :
- Cosmic Blue MS3 of hawtness!
ya, the cobbs worked pretty darn well with the stock dampers, but the main concerns i had were suspension travel and longevity of the shocks. as it turns out, neither did as well as i had hoped, but for $250, it was pretty damn good for the months it held up...
Just used your excellent instructions to install my sportlines only took 3 hrs to do the whole car. I have to say using the jack to pull the strut loose was a good idea. It took me almost 8 hrs to do my protege 3 years back this time it was a piece of cake. I will post pictures after i get it washed one day that it doesn't decide to rain 20 min later.
Front spring alignment question?
I'm half done with my front struts/springs (yeah I know, bad time to ask), but I've read conflicting info on how to align the spring tip with the bearing. I read on some other forum that the spring tip should be aligned with the nub that sticks out on the bearing housing. I started to do this, then decided to set it into the narrowest part of the bearing housing instead (where it 'naturally' fits), because it seemed to me that with a rotating bearing, that's where the spring would eventually end up anyway. I couldn't find any 'official' directions about alignment of the spring to the bearing.
Alignment to the nub (which is at the thickest part of the bearing) also seemed to have merit because if the spring tip did remain in place, it would allow for greater spring travel as it coils into the bearing housing. However, it seems like the load on the bearing would be really high in that one spot.
So does anyone know the 'officially correct' way to do do it? The factory service manual mentions nothing about it.
I'm half done with my front struts/springs (yeah I know, bad time to ask), but I've read conflicting info on how to align the spring tip with the bearing. I read on some other forum that the spring tip should be aligned with the nub that sticks out on the bearing housing. I started to do this, then decided to set it into the narrowest part of the bearing housing instead (where it 'naturally' fits), because it seemed to me that with a rotating bearing, that's where the spring would eventually end up anyway. I couldn't find any 'official' directions about alignment of the spring to the bearing.
Alignment to the nub (which is at the thickest part of the bearing) also seemed to have merit because if the spring tip did remain in place, it would allow for greater spring travel as it coils into the bearing housing. However, it seems like the load on the bearing would be really high in that one spot.
So does anyone know the 'officially correct' way to do do it? The factory service manual mentions nothing about it.
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Take apart the other side like I did, but take a picture how it's seated (unlike I did) and post it! I took both of them apart yesterday (no pics) - I'm just waiting on a new bump stop to arrive Monday before I put the 2nd strut together. My recollection is that it was seated the way I installed it - I'm just curious about that other HOW-TO I read, because I'm not sure what the purpose of that nub is if not for alignment.
Tell ya what, I'll not be too happy if I put it together wrong, 'cause those struts are a major PITA to get in and out (as you well know).
I don't round bolts, because I always use my Metrinch sockets - they apply the load on the flat of the bolt, not on the corners. IMO, every socket should be made this way (maybe after their patents expire).
Tell ya what, I'll not be too happy if I put it together wrong, 'cause those struts are a major PITA to get in and out (as you well know).
I don't round bolts, because I always use my Metrinch sockets - they apply the load on the flat of the bolt, not on the corners. IMO, every socket should be made this way (maybe after their patents expire).
