Alright KW guys or really any coilover guys. Need some help. My car is low to ground. No doubt about that, but I think some people are lower. I've been running KW V3s on my G for about a lil over a year (no more than 7k miles on them). I recently started having more rubbing issues in the front so I decided to check things out.

My bump stops are SHOT! My guess is that being so low as caused unusual wear on them. A few pics are at the bottom of the thread.

I'm ordering new bump stops but curious to other options to prevent this from happening again because it's not a cheap/easy fix.

Would adjusting the dampening (tighter) help? Do I just need to raise it some?

Driver Side


Passenger Side

 

Stiffening would limit travel on some road imperfections, but not all. You can either raise the height until you do not hit the stops, or live with it and order new stops once a year.

 

That was my thinking as well. Have you had similar problems, Finagle?

Any ideas on amount of labor? I assume I'll have to disassemble?

 

What are the bump stops? If I'm on S Techs should i check anything out? Of yes how would i know if something is wrong?

 

I used to cut those in half when I lowered Honda's, made a big difference in rebound. I really think you can roll without it, just my 2 cents.

 

if its too low of course they will wear , you can imagine how would be the pressure on them and with bumpy roads it will be more , yes it seems you will need to open the damper and change this "bump stops" , then raise your car little.

 

You're gonna have to take them out, take off the top plate with an impact gun, then you can replace the stop.

Since you're so low, you can see that there isn't much room for the piston to move before you hit full compression and bottom out the stop. That's the "problem" with KW, you can't adjust height independently like other brands.

With a lift and air tools, it's a 30-45 minute job at most.

 

Actually, because I have the BC coils, I have the opposite problem of NO bumpstops. I installed some urethane washers from SPC to act as bumpstops.

As for labor amount to perform the work, you're looking at a minimum of 2 hours of labor, maybe 3. The price will depend on your shop.

If you're comfortable wrenching on your own car, this actually isn't too difficult to do on adjustable coilovers. It's tougher on stock struts due to the requirement of a spring compressor.

 

That sucks. My crappy BC's dont do that. Just saying.

 

I'm confortable doing it myself. Will I need a spring compressor though?

 

It's an easy fix if you know how to remove your coil.

 

Spring compressor required on KW?

 

You can do it one of two ways.

1) use spring compressor which will not lower the collar, thus not messing with your ride height/pre-load

2) lower the top collar so that the spring is relaxed, then just unbolt the top nut. When reassembling, you'll have to readjust for pre-load and ride height.

i'd use a compressor if you have access to one.

 

offtopic question if you don't mind blackjack. Where did you order the bump stop? I have KW too and didn't think this was possible so I may need it eventually. I drive pretty low but I have mine on full stiff because I have bags

 

OH SNAP!!! If this is bound to happen to mine I might as well raise the car a tad bit lol. Thanks for this info BJ.