horent135

iTrader: (10)

Most newer coilovers now have dual adjustment. One for the height and the other for the springs. I need some info if I adjust the preload springs. If I lower the springs (not car height), would it make the ride more smooth? and vice versa?

d1trainee

iTrader: (2)

Preloading the springs will make it feel harder. so yes letting the springs all the way out will feel softer.

ArodDaLob

iTrader: (14)

lowering the spring perch will give you a softer ride and a lower stance, but will put a bit more stress on the shock. I usually raise my spring perch to where the spring is immobile, then turn the perch another .5-1 rotation.

LexAnt

iTrader: (2)

should set it so that when the car is in the air, raise the spring perch until the spring is up against the top mount but can still be rotated freely. so when you lower the car back down, it is preloaded properly. this would be a good place to start if you aim to corner balance afterwards. if you're looking for a softer ride, i would look into getting a softer spring rate rather than lowering the preload. i can tell you if you lower the springs to where it's not really preloaded, the ride can be crap simply because the springs are not doing their jobs during imperfections (was too low on Tein CS).

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

No, spring preload does not affect ride quality if the spring is truly linear. Having too much or too little preload can affect ride quality, but not for the reason people are thinking.

BartleDoo

iTrader: (1)

If a spring is anti-preloaded a little bit you are gonna have to be hitting more than minor imperfections in the road (more like air travel) to experience any added harshness.

More pre-load for a given ride height (for dual adjustable setups) would reduce overall shock travel for extreme unload conditions and could then reduce ride quality during very rough conditions by having a higher impact force at reloading. It probably wouldn't have any effects in normal driving unless you preloaded it to the point where it nearly stopped any static load deflection of the springs, though.

horent135

iTrader: (10)

Is there a way you can tell if the springs is linear or progressive? I think lowering the pre-load springs wouldn't do much because it mostly depends on the spring rates.

I'll try your way LexAnt, cuz when I jack the car up, the spring is kinda tight, so I'll loosing the spring lil more freely and see the results. hopefully it be less bouncy and more soft ride.

laurante

Linear springs will look the same from bottom to top. Progressive has closely wrapped coils in one section. I'm on my phone and lazy to search for pictures but yeah.

horent135

iTrader: (10)

Ok thanks, no pics needed, i def know the difference now.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Correct. The spring rate doesn't change when you preload or unload the spring. Sure the force exerted by the spring is increased, but all that goes towards raising the car. The rate that's needed to compress the spring is still the same. Of course this is theoretical because very few springs are actually linear. Most of them are junk (Megan, JIC, Tein, etc) and are not truly linear.

I highly doubt unloading the springs will will help because chances are, your springs are not near full compression.