Ok, so I have recently changed shocks to TC Klines from Koni Yellows. I am using the same springs that were on the Yellow setup. They are 550F and 500R. That said I put my ride height at all 4 wheels the exact same as it was before. The only other change I made is that I cut the rear bump stops 1/4" more than the previous setup. I used my same OEM top hats.

My issue is that I went on a test drive and on a low speed right hander (1st gear flat footed) the car pitched (bounced real bad) when I hit a dip/bump. My test drive lasted about 5 miles with no other issues. When I got home to double check my final height adjustments were correct (they were) I noticed that the left rear spring had hit the threaded collar. It also raised my bump stop all the way up (I had pushed them all the way down before the test drive to check and see if my ride height might be to low) and it looks like the spring compressed more than what I would call normal as the part that hit the threaded collar is an entire coil above the threaded collar itself.

My question is why would I have a problem with these shocks but not the Koni Yellows? I also tried a set of AMR that I got from a friend. They felt good but were really bouncy in the back only. I had used my same springs on the AMR’s as well. Looking back I think that set of shocks was fine but I must have been bottoming out on them.

So why could my Koni yellows work at that height but the AMR and the TC klines will not? Any advice is much appreciated!

Thanks,

Setup: MY2000 AP1

25 1/8 ride height front and 25 ¼ in the rear.
TC Kline shocks - set 9 clicks compression from soft and ¼ turn off full stiff on rebound
4 clicks from soft compression and 1 full turn rebound in the rear
550 F and 500 R spring rates
AP2 rear bar
Camber is set at 2.5 F and 2.4 R

Let me know if you need any more details. Again thanks for any help.

 

You shouldn't have any issues with the length of the shock at that ride height.

Try removing the compression for the rear,
Run it full soft, and report back.

The springs will rub the threaded sleeves. It just happens.

 

These shocks generate a ton of force quickly, the compression knob should be used judiciously.

 

I kinda figured I had them a little stiff. I used the previous owners BS settings as a starting point. The car is putting power down much better. It almost feels like I got a new diff. Kinda hope it still feels like that once I get the shocks setup right.

Thanks and I will report back tomorrow.

 

Do you have your shocks matched for length left to right side? The only time they shouldn't be the exact same length is if you get corner balanced on a proven flat setup. Using different shock lengths (perch heights) from side to side in order to set equal ride height at the fenders is a recipe for an evil handling car. Since your issue is in one turn direction only and you bottomed one shock with stiff compression settings your shock perches are probably dorked up.

 

I'm with mLeach on the rear compression.

A year or so ago I spoke with the folks at TC Kline and they said it was normal for the springs to rub on threaded sleeves. However, mine have rubbed so much that it might be time for me to get some new ones.

-D

 

Actually all 4 corners are slightly differnet. I had the car balanced on my previous setup. When I installed the TC Klines I set the ride height to where it was before.

 

I have my first event (Autocross) tomorrow. I will report back with my thoughts on the car and the adjustments. It is just to hard to tell anything on the street and drive safely so my car has sat in the garage.

 

Ok, so my last event (1 week ago) was kinda a bust as it was raining. With just 4 runs and new shocks I figured I would leave it alone. Every run was kinda different as I was just trying to get around the standing water. However the car was much better than the event before which was also in the rain. The car put power down better and was way eaiser to place with the new shocks. With most of the r comp folks deciding not to run the event I got 2nd in our Pro class!




Now fast forward to today. With the last two events being in the rain I was happy to have perfect weather! Here is where I started with my shock settings.

Front

1/4 off full stiff rebound
6- of 12 clicks on compression

Rear
3/4 turn from soft on rebound (Out of 1 3/4)
2 clicks from soft on compression.


With this the car was really pushy my first two runs. It would push then catch and the back you jump out. After I knew the tries were good and hot I dropped 2 clicks front compression. That rerally helped and on my next run I dropped two more clicks.

That car felt really stable but still has a push on corner exit. Also, in a slalom if I put a bit to much stearing imput in it would bind (back would lose traction) until I unwound the wheel a bit. I was off pace today with this setup so I need to get it figured out, Any help would be awesome. I have searched high and low for a good shock tuning guide with no success. If anyone know a good read or has a link to something please share.

Thanks!

 

Quote:

Actually all 4 corners are slightly differnet. I had the car balanced on my previous setup. When I installed the TC Klines I set the ride height to where it was before.

When you say you set the ride height to where it was before do you mean you adjusted each shock's spring perch individually to get back to the previous setup's ride height? Even if you did that on the exact piece of ground where you did the corner balancing your new corner balance is completely screwed because as little as 1/8" in ride height difference will change the weight on that wheel by a very significant amount--you cannot corner balance by ride height.

If you documented the spring perch setting difference between left and right on your old setup you could use that to get a pretty good balance since you're using your old springs, otherwise you need to set your spring perches exactly the same left to right until you can put your car on leveled scales.

My corner balance guide

My shock tuning guide