GS300Rich

I want to adjust my TEIN CS coilovers. I did not install them, a local reputable shop installed them. They told me to wait a week because the suspension should settle. The problem is the car sits about .5" or more higher than with the Eibach springs I had on previously. I was hoping to drop the car about .5 to .75" lower than the eibachs previously. If I want to lower the ride height do I adjust the lower spring seat and seat lock upwards or downwards? There are more threads left below the spring seat than above it, so I hope it has to move downwards. I was told that if I go as low as the coilovers go the ride will be very harsh. They advised me to at least stop a few threads from the lowest setting. Are they correct in these points? I had the edfc installed also and this is quite a nice piece. Its nice to be able to adjust on the fly. I am really glad I picked up this piece. Thanks for the help in advance.

Rich

DoubleWhoosh

You will need to move the seats downwards to lower the car more.

Where you are at now, the change in adjustment on the shock should correlate fairly close enough to how much the car will drop.

Spraying some WD40 or Liquid Wrench on the threads before adjusting them will help immensely, and will help avoid any galling or thread damage when turning them. Be very careful not to let the adjusting wrench things slip, you will smack your knuckles and you won't be a happy camper.

Also, make sure that the springs are seated properly before buttoning everything up. Sometimes when you go low on the adjustment it will have to slip into place, that will happen when you drop the car back down, you might hear one clunk as it goes in.

Don't even bother doing it with the tires on, you'll just end up getting really dirty and mad plus you increase the chance of the knuckle injury.

DoubleWhoosh

Oh yeah one more helpful tip:

When you put your car back on the ground, the tires will be positively cambered, and won't allow the suspension to sit down completely. You'll have to roll the car a few feet before it can sit down correctly. The car will sit around 1/2" higher than it will end up so don't be fooled by that. The rear will drop down more too, so make your premeasurements carefully, and stick with your precalculated adjustments. Don't let the weird height change fool you into trying to readjust something without trying it out first.

Also, it is best to drop the locking adjusting ring on the spring seats all the way down, and measure the space between the two, so you are at least measuring from a good reference point. Don't try to bring the ring halfway down then measure, if you accidentally spin it a little you'll be lost in space for sure!

GS300Rich

Thanks for the help. I am going to take it back to the shop later in the week. I will give it the chance to settle and see if it goes down as far as I want it to go. How long does it take to settle in general? I know I am going to have to adjust it a few times to get it right so Im not worried about it. Thanks for the help

DoubleWhoosh

It'll settle the most during the first day or two, after that it won't change much more than around 1/8" or less. You've already had them on for a while, so it's pretty much going to sit where it's at right now.

If you have the time, you should also measure the differences from left to right, they'll probably be off around 1/8"-1/4". You can get that straightened out too when you change the height by compensating on one side or the other. Just make sure you do your checking on very level ground and on a very flat surface!

It's best to either measure from the wheel lip to the fender, or from the wheel center to the fender for this measurement.

It might take a couple tries to get the left-right dead on, as lowering or raising one side has a slight effect on the other side.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

And once you get it at the right height, you probably should go get a 4 wheel alignment.

GS300Rich

I got the alignment done today as it sits (only about 1" drop) and the tech told me that he got it within spec on everything (castor, camber, toe) but said the camber is adjusted as much as it can be and if I lower it anymore then it wont be in spec. Ideally I would like to lower the front about .5" more to close the gap with the fender to less than a finger and about 1" in the rear so I can tuck the rear wheels ever so slightly I will probably have the shop do this adjustment on Tuesday and then take it to an alignment shop to see how far off it is. I want the car to be low and dont mind sacrificing the tire tread to do it, but has anyone else had problems with the alignment being out of spec when they've done a 2" or more drop. Ive have read other members posts about being dropped 3" or more but they dont really say about the alignment. If it can be lowered as low as I want to go and still be brought into spec then I should take it to another shop. Any advice?

D-MAN63

Rich, I'm glad you went with coilovers. I have around a 2.7-3.0 inch drop. If you go as low as me your alignment would not be in spec no matter what you do unless someone made a camber kit for our cars yet???


Mine will be one negative degree off in the rear. Its not a whole lot but its not within specs.

GS300Rich

I am assuming that you have the HA or FLEX, not CS. I know with the CS you cant get that kind of drop. I am looking at going maybe 1.5" in front and 2" in rear. Since yours is so low have you noticed any excessive tire wear? I havent heard of any aftermarket caster or camber kit so I guess that is out the window. Have you had any problem with the toe at all? I think I am going to drop it and then get it aligned and see how it turns out. How much of an affect will the 1degree negative camber make? Thanks for all the help from everyone.

Neo

iTrader: (3)

I have not seen your car with the new drop but see if you can find recent pics of cong28's or LXOGOOD's car. They both run CS and they have it pretty low, or at least lower than what is spec'ed (and lower than I thougt CS can go).

GS300Rich

I was looking at LXOGOODs car and really like his drop. I talked to him about how low he went and really like his drop. That is pretty much what I am going after. Hopefully when I go to have it aligned it will come pretty close to spec.