I just went through the enjoyment of setting the ride height on my Buddy Club RS coil overs. I went for a 20mm drop to just remove a little of the gap, but still leave a reasonable amount of ground clearance (particularly with a Toda header hanging low...).

First, double check your preload on your coil-overs. I noticed that mine were loose. I snugged the rings to the spring, so that I had slightly less than 0 preload.

Second, even out the height on all the coil-overs. I screwed the bottom mount all the way in, took a measurement, and then unscrewed all the coil-overs a fixed amount to start. This guarantees that the car will be even from side to side.

It took me a while to figure out what the stock ride height was as 1) I forgot to measure it with my stock suspension and 2) most others I got the measurements from had some sag. But, I was able to find a good stock ride height from the Tein Manuals.

Stock Ride Height (From Tein Manuals):
Front: 364 mm
Rear: 365 mm

This is measured from the center of the wheel to the fender (ignoring the plastic). Basically, I took the measure from the lower lip of the rim to the fender, and subtracted half the diameter (radius) of the wheel. This way, the measurement can work for any rims, and is not affected by tire pressure (within reason).



Basically, take A and subtract 1/2 of B. Calculate, how much you have to move in each direction then calculate the number of turns using:

Front: 1 turn = 3 mm of ride height
Rear: 1 turn = ~4.5 mm of ride height

And the result for me... A 20 mm drop with 18's (F: 344 mm, R: 345 mm)



Dampening (clockwise):
Front: 4 clicks
Rear: 4 clicks

That works decent for the highways in Los Angeles. Doubt, I'll keep it there for the twisties and track.

 

Fantastic, thanks for the info. I have the same kit and planning to install soon. What's your honest impression of the ride, ability to adjust the dampening, etc...?

- Is it hard to adjust the rear dampening because of placement?
- At 4 clicks from soft, is it stiffer than stock?
- Is it bouncy or taut?

 

The driver side adjuster on the rear is a PITA. I actually tried taking a rubber hose about 9 inches long and zip tying it to the adjuster so that I could reach it without buying a trunk monkey to do it for me. That didn't work so well, and I've yet to buy a trunk monkey... so I get to climb in there and get my stubby hands in there... I'm going to try the hose trick again though, and see if I can get it on the adjuster more tightly this time so that it doesn't slip.

Yes, IMO it's definately stiffer than stock as the spring rate is so much higher. On some weird roads like the 118 around Northridge that has a lot of waves in the concrete, it's a kydney buster. On most roads it's fine. The overall compression is quite good on g-outs and may be a little soft, but on the small potholes it gets rough.

 

Good to know. Appreciate the quick response!

 

I was also thinking of going to a slightly softer spring rate but will need to do more research. Maybe 7 or 8k.

 

My rear strut bar makes it much easier to access the driver rear damper adjustment. Thank god.

 

Which do you have?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by JL9000

 

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[QUOTE]Originally posted by GaryRudolph