H & R Coil overs

[oldtimer02]

I just bought a set of H & R Coilovers. I'll give an up date & report on them when I get them & get them installed.

[oldtimer02]

Well, I finally got the Coil Overs in the mail Sat.The Quality is top notch!
Installed them after church Sunday. About 3 hrs. work.

I left the perches "as shipped" the initial drop is 13" front 14" rear, from top of wheel opening to the wheel center, esentially stock (before 13 1/2" front 14 1/2" rear)
There looks to be plenty of room to get 12 1/2" I want front & rear, or lower.

I tried them out in an abandoned parking lot:
The ride is fantastic, cornering in conjunction with my Addco Sways & 225 T1Rs is great, very little body roll or brake dive! These will be great for my application; DD & some autocross & track days at Sebring.

I have been told that I should put 500 miles on them to "set" the suspension before the realignment. I will probably do the Lanny alignment to start.

Couple of tricks to pass on:

To release the front upper ball joint; remove the sway bar end, and the bottom shock bolt, then loosen the castllated nut about 4 revolutions, Turn the steering to get a clear shot at the upright & hit the upright with your biggest ball peen hammer. The ball joint will release after one or two hits!

To help the suspension to set right leave the lower shock bolts installed loose, drop the car onto the wheels before torquing the lower shock bolts.

Jack

[daver]

Interesting...

I've only done suspension work on NA's, yet I own an NB. On the NA's, I don't recall having to deal with ball-joints at all when installing coilovers? Did something change, or was there some other suspension work you were doing.

I'm a big fan of a well-tuned coilover setup... just haven't taken the plunge on my current fun car (NB). I've found the improvements of having high-quality dampers (compared to stock) alone can be dramatic in terms of additional traction. And it's quite possible to achieve better handling without sacrificing ride quality as long as you stay fairly mild on the coil spring-rates.

I will be doing some suspension work on my 2002 LS some time in the future, but right now my budget won't allow it... but at least I've got my FFS
:devil2:

[wineguy]

What are the spring rates on those? Just curious... do you get a choice at all?

[oldtimer02]

I have heard 255 & 285# but don't know. The European suspensions are set up to be compliant & valved to compliment the springs. These are meant to be "fast street & Track" per H & R. My wife commented that they were smoother than the stock shock ride over bumps ('02 Hard S). She wants a set for her '08!
I run with some pretty fast drivers, 350Z, Miata turbo ect. I am sure not under gunned when running with them on back roads and cloverleafs!