Setting up coilovers properly ?
Discussion
RobPhoboS said:
I'm still not quite understanding the corner weight.(the car is a mk2 MR2 for reference)
What I was initially going to do was jack the car up, put it on axel stands, remove the standard suspension, align the coilovers to the same height ect, fix the coilovers back on via the top mounts, and lower the car by 35mm roughly (using a fixed point on the coilover to measure, count turns ect)
Then pop the wheels back on.
But I don't quite understand loading up the driver seat with weight, and how it will work with my inverted ones ?
I always like to explain corner weighting with the analogy of a table with 4 legs where they are not all the same length. The longest legs are doing all of the supporting with the shorter legs wobbling and not taking as much load as the other two ... shortening the longest legs (wheels "weighing" the most on the corner scales) will pass load towards the shorter (lighter loaded wheels) legs.What I was initially going to do was jack the car up, put it on axel stands, remove the standard suspension, align the coilovers to the same height ect, fix the coilovers back on via the top mounts, and lower the car by 35mm roughly (using a fixed point on the coilover to measure, count turns ect)
Then pop the wheels back on.
But I don't quite understand loading up the driver seat with weight, and how it will work with my inverted ones ?
The idea is to balance your car so that L-R is equally balanced, and F-R is balance as the optimum that the layout will allow. Since all of us that are not named Flemke sit to the left or right of the centre line of the car, we want the car balanced as it will be used, i.e. with the sack of spuds in the drivers seat.
mat205125 said:
RobPhoboS said:
I'm still not quite understanding the corner weight.(the car is a mk2 MR2 for reference)
What I was initially going to do was jack the car up, put it on axel stands, remove the standard suspension, align the coilovers to the same height ect, fix the coilovers back on via the top mounts, and lower the car by 35mm roughly (using a fixed point on the coilover to measure, count turns ect)
Then pop the wheels back on.
But I don't quite understand loading up the driver seat with weight, and how it will work with my inverted ones ?
I always like to explain corner weighting with the analogy of a table with 4 legs where they are not all the same length. The longest legs are doing all of the supporting with the shorter legs wobbling and not taking as much load as the other two ... shortening the longest legs (wheels "weighing" the most on the corner scales) will pass load towards the shorter (lighter loaded wheels) legs.What I was initially going to do was jack the car up, put it on axel stands, remove the standard suspension, align the coilovers to the same height ect, fix the coilovers back on via the top mounts, and lower the car by 35mm roughly (using a fixed point on the coilover to measure, count turns ect)
Then pop the wheels back on.
But I don't quite understand loading up the driver seat with weight, and how it will work with my inverted ones ?
The idea is to balance your car so that L-R is equally balanced, and F-R is balance as the optimum that the layout will allow. Since all of us that are not named Flemke sit to the left or right of the centre line of the car, we want the car balanced as it will be used, i.e. with the sack of spuds in the drivers seat.
So it all stems from the first shock that I shorten to the height I want (with weights in the driver seat), and from there I adjust the rest of the others. I presume the rear's should be the same height from ground to wheel arch?
Just hoping I can adjust the damping as I THINK it's set to the softest setting, so that's going to cause a bit of bounce isn't it?
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Sorry for all of the questions but I'm certainly learning a lot ! (and hopefully saving a few £££ accept for the alignment).
Right well they are all on now, and tomorrow I'll start to adjust them properly.
Is it best to lower the front driver side as much as I require, then load the weights into the drivers seat, and work on the rear passenger side for height next ?
Main problem I have is that there isn't a flat surface here to do it.
Is it best to lower the front driver side as much as I require, then load the weights into the drivers seat, and work on the rear passenger side for height next ?
Main problem I have is that there isn't a flat surface here to do it.
RobPhoboS said:
RobPhoboS said:
Is it best to lower the front driver side as much as I require, then load the weights into the drivers seat, and work on the rear passenger side for height next ?
Can anyone confirm that ?Items like camber / toe / damping / tyre pressure make far more difference than corner weighting, concentrate on those first.
RobPhoboS said:
RobPhoboS said:
Is it best to lower the front driver side as much as I require, then load the weights into the drivers seat, and work on the rear passenger side for height next ?
Can anyone confirm that ?The choice of whether to balance L/R by lowering the heavy corner, or raising the light corner, will depend on how you want/need to influence the F/R balance, and also your overall ride height .... Don't fall for the mistake that "in the weeds" handles best, especially on the road!
A lot of this technical lingo is going way over my head, but I'd be interested to hear how you find Buddy Club's. I very nearly had a set on my car, but it's mainly road use, and I heard they were very firm.
Ended up with a set of Teins, which are ideal.
Oh, and another
for Wheels In Motion.
Ended up with a set of Teins, which are ideal.
Oh, and another
for Wheels In Motion.mat205125 said:
RobPhoboS said:
RobPhoboS said:
Is it best to lower the front driver side as much as I require, then load the weights into the drivers seat, and work on the rear passenger side for height next ?
Can anyone confirm that ?The choice of whether to balance L/R by lowering the heavy corner, or raising the light corner, will depend on how you want/need to influence the F/R balance, and also your overall ride height .... Don't fall for the mistake that "in the weeds" handles best, especially on the road!
My one's have a separate adjustment bracket for height. And I'm not after the lowest lowest height, as obviously that can cause all kinds of problems.
The fronts are the same height as each other, and the rears are the same height as each other (at the moment).
The springs are 6k front, and 10k rear.
cocopop said:
A lot of this technical lingo is going way over my head, but I'd be interested to hear how you find Buddy Club's. I very nearly had a set on my car, but it's mainly road use, and I heard they were very firm.
Ended up with a set of Teins, which are ideal.
Oh, and another for Wheels In Motion.
Yep, this are going to be pretty hard for the road, but it's not a daily car, so it doesn't bother me at all.Ended up with a set of Teins, which are ideal.
Oh, and another
for Wheels In Motion.I definitely cannot afford to go and see Wheels In Motion at the moment, which is annoying as that is the easy solution.
The alignment isn't a problem as I can slip a good friend some money so he can do it properly (he's working on an Enzo at the mo
).Hmm actually have a potential bigger problem that just setting it up. (Typical me)
A few weeks ago when I initially took them off, I bloody well managed to break one of the damper adjustment knobs.
I WAS actually trying to be careful with it, I thought it was locked with the allen key slot, so I gently undid it, and it came off.
Bugger.
I was hoping that I could perhaps use some liquid metal to just get it connected again but it doesn't seem to want to quite touch the other end of the shaft. Will get a photo to show exactly what's up.
So before I do anything else, I'd like to try and fix this bit before attempting anything else !
I may remove that particular shock and take it to a good garage near me, they said they may be able to help me out.
me = prat
A few weeks ago when I initially took them off, I bloody well managed to break one of the damper adjustment knobs.
I WAS actually trying to be careful with it, I thought it was locked with the allen key slot, so I gently undid it, and it came off.
Bugger.
I was hoping that I could perhaps use some liquid metal to just get it connected again but it doesn't seem to want to quite touch the other end of the shaft. Will get a photo to show exactly what's up.
So before I do anything else, I'd like to try and fix this bit before attempting anything else !
I may remove that particular shock and take it to a good garage near me, they said they may be able to help me out.
me = prat
I doubt anyone cares...BUT
I found this RX7 site, and has some basic info (like what we have on this thread) and a little more here and there.
http://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=600868
I found this RX7 site, and has some basic info (like what we have on this thread) and a little more here and there.
http://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=600868
RobPhoboS said:
Main problem I have is that there isn't a flat surface here to do it.
I've just come back to this and read your post above.Give up now.
Take it to someone who can do it for you.
If you aren't on a level surface, you'll be chasing your tail for hours and hours, and it still won't be right.
Paul Drawmer said:
RobPhoboS said:
Main problem I have is that there isn't a flat surface here to do it.
I've just come back to this and read your post above.Give up now.
Take it to someone who can do it for you.
If you aren't on a level surface, you'll be chasing your tail for hours and hours, and it still won't be right.
I'm going to take the car up to my fathers place where there is some level ground, then after that I'll get it aligned just for now, as I can't afford W.i.M yet.
I have also contacted BC in the USA to see if they can refurbish the broken damper dial as well.
Definitely get someone who knows what they're doing to set it up. Even if you've got a modicum of an idea of how to do it you'll most likely end up with a Dog, which will leave you disappointed when you get to the track.
Not sure what car you're talking about, but the best thing you can do is to contact a race team that runs either that car or something similar (preferably one that has done well in competition!!!), and make them an offer to set it up.
Do it before the run up to the season starts and you'll probably get it done a bit cheaper too
Not sure what car you're talking about, but the best thing you can do is to contact a race team that runs either that car or something similar (preferably one that has done well in competition!!!), and make them an offer to set it up.
Do it before the run up to the season starts and you'll probably get it done a bit cheaper too
As its an MR2 your setting up you may want to give Rouge Motorsport a ring http://www.roguesystems.co.uk/static/home.aspx
Well I went to Plans Motorsport today for a long old chat, and for their AMAZING suspension chap (Tom) to test the car out to see what needs doing.
Luckily nothing too major but main point is to send the units back to the USA or Japan for a small refurb to help prolong their life.
He said I'd done a fairly good job
Luckily nothing too major but main point is to send the units back to the USA or Japan for a small refurb to help prolong their life.
He said I'd done a fairly good job
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