There are a few general threads on particular coilovers, but my question is:

Is there a rule of thumb for determining what the "max" height for a coilover system is? I had Ksport coilovers installed and the installer put the rear a little too low. I'd like it slightly higher, so I took it to another shop and he said he cannot raise it since the coils are "maxed out".

My question is: How do you determine if a coil is indeed maxed out?

There are still threads left in the sleeve to raise it, but is there a rule of thumb regarding how much threaded shock body you need to leave in the sleeve before tightening the lock ring?

 

The rear w/ these type coils drops low, my Megans at max height is about 1/4" above zero gap. I have mine at zero gap but that's what I wanted. You want enough thread below the collar so the full spring thickness is seated so about 3/8-1/2" of threads below the lock collar. You can also usually order longer springs. BC started shipping longer rear springs w/ their kits since the rear was too low for what a lot of customers wanted.

 

The rear springs are at correct preload. I'm just trying to make the coilover longer. There's still a lot (I think) of threaded monobody left inside the sleeve. I'm curious if one must leave 1/2" or a full inch of threaded monobody overlapping with the sleeve for safety purposes.

How does the spring length affect the height?

 

I have a similar situation, my coilovers wont safely adjust high enough in the rear (different ones than yours). Brad mentioned what's probably your best bet for a solution - buy slightly taller springs. I don't know of any hard and fast rule on how much thread needs to be in contact between the two parts. My opinion, less than an inch is safe. A half inch is probably safe. Beyond that I'd be concerned. For me about 3/8" or less would keep me up at night worrying. You're an engineer aren't you? You nerds have volumes of formulae to figure out just such things. Crunch some numbers. Or just spend a few bucks and buy some Swift coilover springs that are an inch longer.

 

I'm a petroleum engineer. I don't mess with any calculations I can't do with fingers and toes. Swift springs it is! Are you pursuing this route? Is Black Betty out of the shop?

 

I may simply buy different coilovers, I've got quite a few miles on mine. Depending on what I end up with I may still opt for taller springs if needed.

Yes, I've got my car back from the body shop.

 

Do you have the true coilover or the OEM setup w/ the separate spring/shock? If you have the OEM setup then the longer spring is what you'll need, for the true coilover you may be SOL but not sure, it would depend how much shock travel you have available. With the true coilover you should contact the company or see if they have some detailed install instructions online that state how much thread left in the tube is safe. The one caveat about longer springs is you need to be sure your shock (after preload is set) will have enough travel to accommodate a longer spring

 

The ksports are true coilovers, I removed the OEM spring and the bucket and perch are empty. I'll contact Ksport. Maybe they can shed some light, or sell me a longer sleeve.

 

Since I haven't dealt w/ the true rear coilover configuration I can't really say for sure but it appears by looking at the setup that about all you could do is put a spacer above the top shock mount plate (which probably wouldn't be a good idea) or try get a longer female threaded sleeve which may not be possible Much easier to modify the OEM type setup it would appear

 

That's my fear! I'll take it back to Jtran and get it diagnosed.

The shop I had my alignment at today wasn't stellar. It was just your typical local job, I asked if they worked with coilovers.

The guy said, "coilovers?"
"Yes, the car has been lowered."
"Oh, you mean adjustable coilovers"
"....yeah. 'Adjustable' coilovers"

 

Ouch!
GL w/ that.
It's too bad there's not a definite warning stripe or something of that nature on the thread body that lets you know you've gone too far
EDIT~giving it more thought I noticed on my rear shocks there's a hole in the female threaded sleeve that mounts to my spring bucket, and I've noticed this on other coilover sleeves too, I wonder if this is done so you'll know when you've gone up too far w/ the threads (or down too far w/ the sleeve, lol) you'll see through the hole rather than seeing it blocked out by the threads. That would seem to make sense as I've wondered why that hole is there.

 

Anthony, are you happy with the coils, aside from the fact that the back is too low? I found these ksports for a great price so I'm now looking at these or tanabes. From the pics, I don't think it's too low at all. It looks like even space in the front and back.

As far as alignment goes, I hope Firestone doesn't notice that I have lowered the car, which I haven't yet..

 

It does look good, there's some noise going over hard bumps, but that's endemic to all true coilover types. The rear part of the car wasn't originally intended to support it's own weight.

Haven't really had trouble with bumps or bottoming out. Just the sound, nothing being damaged, but it's alarming as hell.

 

I need to adjust the dampening in the rear coilovers. They are the top-adjusting kind, and the used coils I bought did not come with the proper flexi-hex wrenches necessary to adjust them. I purchased a pair of adjusters new, and now I need to install them. The coilovers are already on the car, so my plan is to drill (CAREFULLY) through the trunk of the car, down into the shock tower, then run the long flexi-hex wrenches into the top of the coilover and adjust them that way.

There's plenty of documentation for running the wrenches this way, however, most people do it when installing the coilovers. My question is: Can anyone post pictures of exactly where they drilled to reach the top of the coilovers?

I want to double and triple check before I go poking holes in my car for no good reason. Thanks in advance, if it matters, I have Ksport "true" coilovers, they are similar to BC and Megan coilovers, I know you sonsabitches have 'em, so help a brother out! :]

 

Should be pretty easy to remove one, or at least the top two bolts so you can push it aside and drill up from the fender well. Look forward to some pics w/ your new wheels & drop brother, don't keep us waiting too long,
ok ?