gfacter

Here are some notes from my coilover install project of my new KW suspension V-3 2-way dampers. This is not a complete write up but should give you a good idea of the project.

You should get an alignment done after installing coilovers.

The first thing you should do is measure the ride height, I used a caliper and measured the top of the wheel to the lip of the fender, write these down

With the stock dampers (2 years ago) I was 139/142mm (Left/Right) at the front and 137/136mm) at the rear. This is important to have as a reference point so you know how much you have lowered your car. My car was already lower with the JIC coilovers so I was already about 20-30mm lower.

The car needs to be off the ground on a lift or 4 jack stands.

To remove and install the front dampers, disconnect the front roll bar links and remove the inboard upper a-arm bolts this allows easy removal of the shock.

On the rear remove the roll bar links also, but you do not need to remove the upper arm bolts.

On the rear you need to push the lower arm down before you can get the shock in/out, A helper is handy here.

The front dampers have brackets for the brake lines but you need to supply the nut and bolt, I just used some I found in the garage, you could also just use a tie-wrap.

Its tricky getting access to the left rear damper from the trunk, make sure you remove the rear chassis brace beforehand. And be careful not to drop anything in the little well, I did several times.



Here are the new shocks.



These are 2-way adjustable (bump and rebound) dampers and have external reservoirs on both the front and rear shock bodies. They us a single collar with a set screw to lock it. The rebound adjustment is at the top, bump at the bottom of the damper body.



You need to use the upper brackets from the stock shocks, you will also need a spring compressor (Harbor Freight has one for less then $ 15.00)



Remove the upper bracket and large washer.



Assemble the KW damper like this, the large black washer from the stock shock goes on the end of the shaft.



Here is the completed assembly



Carefully fit the new dampers in place, and just snug the bolts. You then need to load the suspension, I used floor jacks on each end to just lift the car off the jack stands. Then torque the bolts, 36ftlbs for the upper bracket bolts, 47 for the lower bolt and 97 ft lbs for the upper a-arms. There is a specific method for the Sway bar links also, you need to hold the link in the center if its travel then torque to 28ftlbs at the bar and 22ftlbs at the A-arm. I have different end links on my car, you may want to look at a shop manual in this step.'

The critical part is to load the suspension before torquing anything



From what I could decipher from the German directions they recommend from 55mm min to 80mm max preload at the front and 40mm to 65 at the rear.

I measured this from the bottom of the spring collar to the Beginning of the threads on the damper.

You can slam your car with these dampers if you wish, since use the car for track events (road racing) I don't want to lower too much as the suspension is designed to work in a certain range.



Right now I have the preload set to 75mm at the front and 40mm at the rear. that is giving me about a 20 mm drop at the front and a 35 mm drop at the rear.



I will drop the front a little more and raise the rear as I like the car to have a little more rake. This should get me close the the existing ride height I had with the JIC coilvers and should keep the alignment somewhat close until I get it re-aligned and corner weighted this Spring.

Its a bit of a pain to jack the car remove the wheels make an adjustment, put everything back together and re-measure.

I did a shakedown drive and the car feels pretty good, after the car is re-aligned and corner weighted I can work on the damping adjustment. I just set them according to KW's recommendations for now.

xviper

Linked into FAQs. Thanks.

meth

i am not the greatest mechanic, but in this area of the install, my friend and i just blocked this area off with a piece of tape. that way if anything falls, it will be blocked from dropping in that ditch. it works like a charm, then there is no stress about dropping the bolt down there.

gfacter

Thats a great idea.

As this is my 2nd coilover job, you think I would have figured that out by now.

kitwetzler

just ordered mine. So, how hard is it to get the rebound adjustor on the left rear, under the fuel lines?

thanks for answering all the silly questions!

S2K_408

What's the price on those? And where can I get them? Oh yea, so how's the ride so far?

Ludedude

KW Coilovers: http://www.gofastlab.com/s2ki/product.php?...7&cat=12&page=1

gfacter

Hmm? I didn't try to adjust that yet, I am pretty sure the knob wont fit, but I should be able to get it there with a needle nose or my fingers.

I will take a look later in the week and see.

gfacter

The ride is firm no doubt, and well damped and there is a just bit more body roll compared the JIC shocks I had on before.

I really haven't had much time to drive the car. It's Winter here also and the colder temps don't help much in testing.

I have found that the car handles bumpy roads much better though.

Ludedude

George, try doing a search for what some of the guys have done with the adjustment knobs for their Koni shocks. If memory serves me, someone had modified one of their knobs and left it permanently in place on the drivers rear so that it would be easier to adjust.