Mpapadop

Just bought an s2k with fortune auto coils on it, sitting way too low. I understand you have to unbolt the bottom bolt and adjust it from there but how do you make enough room to spin it with the control arms? Does the entire assembly have to come out to adjust the height and put back in?

DefSport

Loosen locking perch that holds lower mount tight, then spin the body via the upper perches to adjust ride height up or down. Then make sure everything is snug after you add ride height.

I'm not sure what the thread pitch of Fortune Auto coilovers are, but keep in mind you'll add about 1.4-1.5 times the ride height as the shock length change. As in, add 6 mm to the shock length, you'll get roughly 9 mm more ride height.

Some people freak about spinning the body around the piston rod, but it happens millions of times in a strut just fine.

B serious

Counting from the top:

Perch1 (touches the spring)
Perch2
Perch3 (touches the bottom bracket).

Before you start:
-MAKE SURE AF that the tophat center nut is tight. Do not confuse this with the adjuster or adjuster nut (!!!!!!)
-Counter and Clockwise are referenced by looking straight down from the top of the shock.

To raise:
1.) Jam perch1 and perch2 together firmly.
2.) Loosen perch3.
3.) Put the wrench on perch2. Turn it counter clockwise. The whole shock body will spin. It will spin to EXTEND from the bottom bracket. This will raise the car.

To lower:
1.) Jam perch1 and perch2 together firmly.
2.) loosen perch3.
3.) put the wrench on perch1. Turn clockwise. The whole shock body will spin INTO the bottom bracket and lower the car.

Think of it thusly; The shock body is a screw. The bottom bracket is a nut. The perches are like jam nuts to lock or unlock a position.

Car Analogy

...and be sure to reclock all the bushings once you are done!

Upper CA
Lower CA
Shock lower mount
Rear toe arms

Be sure to do both front and rear.

freetors

Since you have Fortune Auto coilovers like I do, I will give you some model specific advice that I've learned from having mine on for a few years. First of all jack the front of your car with the wheels off. Inspect the lower mount where it connects with the lower control arm. Make sure that the shock body is not contacting with the lower control arm or the sway bar tab at any point. The FA lower shock bodies are quite large and can contact with other suspension parts if the front shock length is set too long. I would set this up as long as you can without contacting anything it shouldn't and then make the other side the same length. Next, Fortune Auto recommends not exceeding 1/8" of preload IIRC. This is bogus!!! You need much more preload than this unless you want to be hitting your bump stops all the time. The shocks only have 3" of travel before hitting the bump stops. Even with my stiffer than standard 12k springs I was using up half of that travel with just the weight of the car. You will want to increase the preload up so that the front suspension sags about 1" AT THE SHOCK, not measuring wheel travel. The rear is basically the same only there are no interference issues and the recommended preload is a little more realistic.

In summary:
The shock length determines the extremes of the wheel travel. You want to set it so that you avoid hitting hard parts.
The preload determines how far into the travel the shock rides.

Hope that helps.

B serious

3" before bumpstop is HUGE travel (for the rear shocks). So is 1.5 whole inches after the car is on the ground.

Stock shocks have about 1" or less with relatively soft stock spring rates, after the static weight of the car is on the ground.

freetors

I may be thinking of another application then with regards to shock travel. I think it was three inches but it was over a year ago when I measured it. I'll have to check my notes. Regardless, there's not that much travel left over on the front shocks when using the "recommended" preload.


Also keep in mind that the stock shocks have much longer and probably softer bump stops. The FA stops are just little 5/8" thick pucks of dense foam.

vietz0r

Using the top image as a reference. Make sure the "C" collar is loose and the "A+B" collars are locked to each other, then turning them [A/B collars] with a spanner wrench will spin the entire shock assembly with "A+B" together. Thus increasing/decreasing ride height. Then tighten "C" to keep it locked at the desired ride height