zildjiank Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 Well, I just scored a sweet set of GP MOTO coilovers and installed them, but I have NO IDEA how to adjust them as far as ride height, dampining etc... So I'm all outta wack. Got one side up, the other down, and my camber and all that stuffs way outta wack too, but I mainly just need her settled all in the right spot. Anyone have the know how to adjust coilovers in Sacramento? Is anyone willing to SHOW me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kostamojen Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 Just measure the locations on the suspension to make sure the heights are even on each side, then take it somewhere for an alignment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zildjiank Posted January 12, 2007 Author Share Posted January 12, 2007 I don't know how to adjust for height in the first place.... Or how to make it full stiff or full soft or inbetween. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyd2005 Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 You can adjust the height by loosening the lower collar and then rotating the entire upper body. After you're finished, tighten the lower collar against the lower body to prevent it from moving any further. Adjust the height before you get the alignment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zildjiank Posted January 12, 2007 Author Share Posted January 12, 2007 By rotating the entire upper body, does that move the ENTIRE coilover, or just the spring part of it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyd2005 Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 I have my damping set so that it doesn't oscillate when I go over speed bumps. Find an empty parking lot with speed bumps. Set your damping to the lowest setting and then very slowly go over the speed bumps. Don't touch the brakes when you go over them. Increase the damping until it doesn't oscillate on the recoil. I also test that it doesn't oscillate when I do a quick stop from 2 mph to 0 mph. The above is personal preference. You can set the damping to whatever you feel like. Keep in mind that the harder you set your damping, the shorter the lifespan. I really hate the underdamped oscillatory feel when the damping is set too soft. BTW, when you change your tires or tire pressure, you will find that you may need to change your damping settings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyd2005 Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 By rotating the entire upper body, does that move the ENTIRE coilover, or just the spring part of it? I'm talking about the ENTIRE upper body from the pillowball all the way down including the threaded shock absorber section. The only thing that doesn't turn is 1. Lower housing that is bolted to your hub assembly and 2. the top hat. When rotating the the body, you may have to hang onto your dust boot to prevent it from binding on the threads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zildjiank Posted January 12, 2007 Author Share Posted January 12, 2007 I have my damping set so that it doesn't oscillate when I go over speed bumps. Find an empty parking lot with speed bumps. Set your damping to the lowest setting and then very slowly go over the speed bumps. Don't touch the brakes when you go over them. Increase the damping until it doesn't oscillate on the recoil. I also test that it doesn't oscillate when I do a quick stop from 2 mph to 0 mph. The above is personal preference. You can set the damping to whatever you feel like. Keep in mind that the harder you set your damping, the shorter the lifespan. I really hate the underdamped oscillatory feel when the damping is set too soft. BTW, when you change your tires or tire pressure, you will find that you may need to change your damping settings. I don't know even how to adjust the dampening...I don't know even know where it's at, and what setting is "full stiff or full soft" I'm assuming its the little knob at the bottom of the front assembly, but is left or right soft or stiff? Is there an adjustment for dampening on the rears? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyd2005 Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 I don't know even how to adjust the dampening...I don't know even know where it's at, and what setting is "full stiff or full soft" I'm assuming its the little knob at the bottom of the front assembly, but is left or right soft or stiff? Is there an adjustment for dampening on the rears? On the fronts, it should be at the bottom. I don't know which way is soft and which is hard. Just turn it all the way counterclockwise on both and then start going over the speedbumps. You'll know right away whether that's hard or soft. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a373/BOXRPWR/GPMs/PICT0129.jpg On the rears, it's at the top. It's the little knob at the very end. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a373/BOXRPWR/GPMs/PICT0140.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zildjiank Posted January 12, 2007 Author Share Posted January 12, 2007 AH, I see...I'll try that today and get back to you. Thanks! Didn't see that knob on the back ones! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zildjiank Posted January 12, 2007 Author Share Posted January 12, 2007 And on that first photo, explain to me which ones get turned which way to lower and higher? Loosen the bottom one, but there are two knobs on above that, which one do I turn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyd2005 Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 On the fronts: The knurled knob on the very bottom is the damping adjuster. It clicks when you turn it. Turn it counterclockwise until it stops clicking. That's "probably" the soft setting. You will know if it is or not as soon as you go over a bump. To adjust the height of the front: The black housing with the GPMOTO sticker is the lower body. Above that is a lock collar. Loosen this lock collar using your coilover wrench. You may need a small hammer to tap on the wrench to loosen it. After you loosen this collar, grab the entire threaded body with gloved hands and turn it. You will notice that the entire assembly will lengthen or shorten depending upon how you turn it. After you're done, tighten the collar back onto the lower body. Just watch the dust boot and make sure it doesn't get caught up with the threads. The spring is supported by the lower spring perch and a lockring which prevents the lower spring perch from moving along the threaded body. You turn these to adjust the spring preload. Leave those alone for now unless the spring is actually loose. You can adjust those later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOXRPWR Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 Hey Peter, glad the GPMs arrived in good shape. I wasn't blowing your PMs off. I just got back in town from a 2-day biz trip. Damned Holiday Inn didn't have free internet access. They had one computer in the lobby and it was 3.99 per minute. So I just went cold turkey for 48 hrs. What a drag! I hope the responses here helped you out. Height adjustment is done by rotating the black lower mounts up & down the shock body. The fronts were set at pretty much maximum LOWERED height. You cant thread them up the body much further because the dampening adjustment do-hickey will rub the rod or shaft running to the front wheels. It might not seem intuitive, but threading the lower mounts UP the bodies will LOWER the car because this effectively makes them shorter between the mounting hard points. The rears were also pretty much on max. LOWERED position. I had less than a finger's gap in the back between the tire and fender flares. I realize that I unscrewed one of the lower brackets all the way off, so you'll need to match the position of the other one. The spring perches are adjusted by moving the set of locking rings. I know they were really tight. Probably from all the load over time. You'll probably need to secure them (safely) in a vice in order to generate enough rotating force with the adjuster gadgets. I would start by simply moving them upwards until the springs are under a very low load. virtually unloaded but tight on the body. Then you can make adjustments to the spring preload until you get the combination of ride height/firmness you're looking for. I don't recall if the adjustment screws are full HARD or full SOFT when rotated to the stop in say the clockwise position. I think that's full hard but I'm not certain. How's it going with the replacement of the lower mount bushings? Keep posting that effort here because I'm sure others with GPMs would like to know about it. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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