Infinibini

Hello all,

On the BC Racing coilover dampers, the adjustment **** can be set to hard or soft.

First of all - is this adjusting the damper and rebound, or just the rebound?

Secondly - When it is set to SOFT does that mean the damper/rebound will be SLOWER and when it is set to HARD the damper/rebound will be FASTER?

Thank you

slartibartfast

iTrader: (7)

Infinibini

Thank you for the info!

So if I have it on maximum softness, the damper effect will be maximized, so if I go over a bump, instead of the shock and spring compressing, it will remain stiff and buck the car up, is that right?

And if I had it on all the way hard and went over a bump, the shock and spring would compress and absorb the bump, is that right?

slartibartfast

iTrader: (7)

Infinibini

Excuse my ignorance, but if the damper compresses faster when it is set to "hard" won't it do exactly as I say?

And if it compresses slower, and offers more resistance on "soft", won't it transfer the force up the strut rod into the body instead of compressing the strut and spring?

slartibartfast

iTrader: (7)

The damping medium is oil. It is forced through a series of holes in the damper rod and out past washers of various thickness and shape to tailor damping on piston speed and length of travel.

Hard setting = stiff, which allows less travel for a given force input, thus the force travels faster through the damper to the body.
Soft setting is the opposite.

We're basically arguing terminology, not effect. Your terminology is not what the vast majority of suspension guys would consider proper. In Einsteinian terms, you're using a different frame of reference than most.

Infinibini

The way you are describing it now is what I originally thought until I read some stuff on the internet. What you are saying makes more sense to me.

A.) Hard means more damper resistance so the damper and spring won't compress as quickly, thus transferring more force into the body of the car.

B.) Soft has less damping so the shock and spring compress more readily to absorb the bumps instead of sending them up into the body.

So whatever I was reading seemed to say the opposite. It said "hard" meant less damping and faster compression. That seemed odd, and wrong.

I agree it's a terminology thing. To make sure, are my paragraphs A and B generally true?

Thanks for the explanation, I wasn't trying to argue, I was trying to understand, especially after what I read seemed counter to what I always believed.

slartibartfast

iTrader: (7)

Infinibini

May I ask one more question, and the answer may be "you need to read more about suspension"

If I am going like 3mph and I slam the brakes on and come to a hard stop, how many times should the car rock or oscillate front to back? Zero? A few rocks?

Mine probably does 3 or 4 quick rocks before it stops. Is that normal? Is it attributable to worn bushings and other things, my damper stiffness, or other things?

I didn't consciously try this before I got the suspension, so I am not sure how it was before.

PNW_IPL

iTrader: (5)

weird question but i tried it to see.
mine does it once.
08 g35s sedan with 2013 IPL struts and sedan tein stech springs. Much much firmer than oem sport suspension.

slartibartfast

iTrader: (7)

Could be dampers, could be tires. My Dodge Dakota tires (tall sidewall) will bounce five times after hitting a sharp disturbance but the body doesn't rock, I can feel it as a quickly-damped vibration (meaning the shocks are good). My G never bobbed more than twice.

If your dampers are new, look at your tires.

Infinibini

Yesterday I tried this on a 747. I was not driving, of course, but I was a passenger. When the plane came to the gate and made the final stop, it oscillated like 10-12 times! It just kept rocking. Probably a lot of tire bounce and fuselage flexing going on

slartibartfast

iTrader: (7)

Infinibini

Then I am glad I did not notify the mechanics that their airplane needed their shocks to be replaced

Infinibini

Hello all,

I am here to give advice to anyone who wants to set their dampers correctly using my method:

1.) Drive down the freeway until you find a huge dip.
2.) Drive over the dip and see if your suspension makes a big bang noise and note which side it came from.
3.) On the side that made a bang noise, turn the damper to "Hard" a few clicks.
4.) Drive over the huge dip again.
5.) Repeat until no alarming bang noises come out of your car when you go over the dip.

And now your coilovers are tuned.