GravityGear

just realized there's a JRZ entry on the first page but no AST... and who got JRZ RS1s??? I'm jelly...

can't AST get some coilover love?

choose your rates wisely. it can be an expensive ($$ and time) proposition to change them out.

crazy ken lives!!!! those s-techs will annihilate your struts btw.

oh that's a party foul. would be a nice setup if they dropped in.

Don't expect a massive difference though, i don't want to build them up to something they are not. They are better, but not night and day better. in the end, you still have a value oriented suspension. as far as value oriented, height adjustable suspensions, FEAL is a good choice. If you aren't going to be using all the adjustments that a coilover provides semi regularly, i would just go with something like a Swift/koni setup.

fortunes are ASSEMBLED and serviced in the USA. Parts are still manufactured overseas and imported here. FEALs are sick and Odi is a suspension master. FEAL is a southern california company and their suspensions are absolutely RAMPANT out here. They use the same bodies as the big $1000 coilover companies, but they are custom valved and shimmed. In this sense FEAL is similar to Fortune, but having ridden in the same car with both suspensions back to back, the FEALs... feel better. more compliant, more controlled and less peaky. you can always get BC and ship them to FEAL to have them reworked.

What are you installing?

Compression travel is great but dont neglect rebound travel as it plays a huge part in your ride comfort and control. If your suspension cannot track the dips in the road its just as bad as not having the dampening to track the bumps. Keeping the chassis neutral and being able to reset its self will give you that solid feel and comfort. How did you like your 6k springs on you tanabe struts?

personally, i would go 6k. 5k seems way too soft for such a large car.

yes, this accomplishes the task of keeping the main seated, but does preload the main some causing a slight change in the actual rate of the spring. This is the reason helpers are used. BUT we aren't talking a competition setup here, so if you go this route, just make sure the perches are at the same height from passenger to driver sides. feesh, this is the exact issue I dealt with when setting up my suspension. The shop was able to get everything set up and proper after about 4 hours. I know that your goal is to have a well handling, supple daily, so I would top that perch out and just call it a day. Those shocks will already provide some drop as they are shorter than the stock setup. getting rid of the helper is your call.

you have swifts? how much adjustment do you have left on your perch before you fully crush the helper? pics?

I have some rake front to back. When I'm in the driver seat, the car is even on both sides. My driver side sits a tad higher than the passenger when the car is empty. Thus is the beauty of coilovers.

bar can hang out. i just removed my endlinks, the bar is still there. You wouldn't even need to remove the endlinks, just make sure they won't rub or rattle on anything while they are disconnected. DO IT NOW!!!

definately give it a try before throwing any money at it. Again, please be careful with spirited driving.

those will be fine, i would bump your rear up to 400# or 450# rears to get a similar roll stiffness and to reduce the push.

I'm not saying that you have to go monotube, you just need something with a high quality dampening. V3/T2 are twin-tube. Although they are twin-tube, they are a very good twin-tube which reduces (but not eliminates) the hysteresis. You need something that will reset the car into a neutral state as quickly as possible. Without this, any lean/roll you do encounter during a turn may make the car unstable upon exit due to inadequate dampening. The monotube will make your ride firmer due to how the monotube works and it's inherant bottom out resistance. I like the flex actually. It's a good basic monotube shock. My only complaint about anything tein is the lack of suspension travel. it will ride harsher due to that. What are you on now Fred (sorry, can't keep up with everyone's suspension setup)? Edit: Rate is a personal preference. When I say rate controls the roll stiffness, control is an abstract idea. Some people like flatter, some like more compliance. But if you disconnect the rear bar, you will need higher rates than what you have now to have the roll and turning charactaristics you have now. With no rear bar, the car will push more... but that just means more trailbraking.

Cars like that use electronics, suspension geometry and chassis design to achieve roll stiffness. For me, deciding on disconnecting the bar came from doing autox events. It's not just about rate, it's also about the dampening. I feel that if your suspension can effectively keep your wheels tracking the ground AND you have enough rate to control the roll, disconnect the thing. Dampening is my concern with twin tube dampers. When they return to neutral from compression or rebound, the curves do not simply reverse themselves, they will travel a different path than the one that got them there. This is caused by the delay in the movement of the fluid from one chamber to the other. This can cause that unsettled feeling where the car does not seem ready for the next turn/bump/whatever because it's still recovering from the previous one.

I'm not sure you have enough dampening and rate, but the only way to find out is to try. Don't go crazy though as removing the rear bar changes the handling a fair amount. Teaser- ah thats right. Thats a solid combo.

i'm actually running 9k/10k with higher dampening in the rear and have had my rear sway bar disconnected for a couple of weeks. I may just get rid of it all together at this point. It feels amazing. For the nay sayers... Yes, if I decide to sell these, I will be keeping the mains, helpers and thrust sheets. Feesh - glad you are looking into higher quality suspension components. Teaser - what are you running now? i don't remember.

i'm wondering if anyone would like to buy my 4150 shock bodies from me. i'm considering getting some JRZ RS1s.

there are 3 pieces to each side. 2 aluminum sheets and a polycarbonate sheet. sandwich the polycarbonate between the aluminum then you put them on at the top and bottom of the springs. TAKE THE FACTORY SHEETS OFF. The only things on there should be those thrust sheets. If you leave any of the factory sheets you will have this same problem again later. You will have 1 set for each strut which does the top and bottom. I am currently running 4 sets of these on my coilovers just to make sure I don't get any spring bind. You may or may not need them on the rear, but i got them just in case. I would start with the front, then find out if you need to do the rear. As far a size, i'm not sure what size those tein springs are. i have 60mm swifts, so I have the 60mm thrust sheets. the size may be printed on the spring. Look around and see if it's still visible. if not, a tein dealer may have that information for you. while it's all apart, you should consider an upgrade to swift springs.

That's just a rubber sleeve that goes around the coil. it will get tore up eventually and doesn't actually address the issue at hand, but merely makes it so that you can't hear it happening anymore. The thrust sheets are a more permanent solution to your issue. the sheets actually allow the springs to rotate slightly on the perches. They eliminate any binding and in turn eliminate the noise. all the silencers do is silence the noise.

you need this: http://www.swiftsprings.net/products/universal/misc.html

just remember, if you do this... no more clutch dumps.