BC ER, SPL Install and Adjust
 

Recently installed BC ER Type coil overs with the Swift spring upgrade (12k fr 10k r) along with SPL endlinks, front lower link (camber arm) and radius rod (traction links).

First of all - Love it! This is my first car with coil overs. The handling around corners blows away the stock Nismo setup as well as the Swift Sport lowering springs. The ride is smooth and comfortable, the turns are absolutely flat with the compression and rebound set at the middle as shipped.

I haven't had it aligned yet. The shop I wanted to take it to was closed this week so they could man their booth at the auto show. I still need to have the ride height equalized. I'm shooting for 27" at the center of the wheel arch. Anyone with suggestions based on their own experience please feel free to offer your thoughts.

I have noticed the bumps are a bit "thunky" - it sounds like hitting the underside of the car with a rubber mallet, mostly on very low speed small bumps. Is this typical of lowered coil over setups?

The other issue is the end links will not stay straight. I don't think this is the cause of the thunky sound but I would like them to stay straight and not bind. When I installed the car was on the ground with the bar loose. I installed one side with the link vertical as recommended by SPL, then adjusted and installed the other side to match. The links were vertical and centered on the ball joint.

I took some pics today with the car on the ground and as can be seen the links are twisted to the limits of their travel with the exception of the right rear.

Left front
Attachment 99668

Right front
Attachment 99669

Right rear
Attachment 99670

Left rear
Attachment 99671

They can be easily rotated back to their proper orientation and do not bind throughout their full range of travel. I'm not sure what criteria I should use to set the overall length of the end link. When I went to install the first I grabbed the bar and of course it rotates. I felt like the fat guy in Jurassic Park when he hits the sign with his Jeep and doesn't know which fork in the road to take. I couldn't find any direction of how to determine the proper location for the end of the bar but figured is should be tucked up rather than extending down lower where it could hit something.

Perhaps the rotation of the end link is normal and unavoidable.

Any advice on fine tuning the end links is appreciated.

Other issues
 

I did purchase a set of Race Ramps 12" wheel cribs to lower the car onto and simulate being on the ground while adjusting and tightening components. The only drawback is being unable to roll the car to settle out the suspension so that solution is not ideal. I'm thinking I need to undo one link and lower the car to the ground, roll it back and forth, load the driver side with 150 lbs of ballast, then adjust and tighten the links.

The problem is there is no way to physically access the links with the car on the ground because it is so low - the Catch 22. This also makes it difficult and tedious to adjust the ride height (I'm 1/4" to 1/2" off from my target of 27"). I'm thinking I'll let the alignment shop even out the height when I take it since they have a lift.

I'm thinking of setting up my GoPro under the car as a suspension cam to watch it in action.

I had a clunking sound as well on my coil overs. It turns out I hadn't tightened down hard enough with the spanner wrenches. Check your shock length adjustment knobs and make sure they're all completely tightened down.

As far as height adjustment with the spring is concerned, that's just the nature of it. Car needs to be up to adjust height because you don't want to adjust with load on the spring anyway. You want to set the car down, take a tape measure and figure out how low you want to be and adjust accordingly. Don't eyeball.

Readjusted the ride height on the left side to even things up. I still need 1/2" on the right rear. I disconnected the link on the left rear but once on the ground I couldn't even see the link much less attach or adjust.

I have to figure out a way to access the link once the car is on the ground and the suspension is settled out. Last resort is to measure from ground to the center of the hub, remove the wheel and jack the suspension under the spring to the same height, then attach and adjust the link. I'll need some way to place a safety stand or some type of support in case it were to fall of the jack. I prefer not to be crushed.

Triple checked tightness of all nuts and bolts
 

Checked everything over again and all bolts and locknuts are tight. It's not the lock rings as those are all tight. It sounds almost if it were hitting the bump stops but that doesn't sound reasonable given the speed I'm traveling and the limited scale of the bumps. Maybe I'll be able to tell once I set the camera up.

Did you try making your endlinks longer? Looking at the pics they seem really short and low on clearance.Since they are adjustable wont hurt to give it a shot.

I tried to keep the end links vertical and the bar ends horizontal. I sent an email to SPL for their analysis and recommendation. Before I try lengthening the link ends I'll wait for their response.

I'm not even sure lengthening the links will affect the geometry so that the joint stays centered. I pondered that as I lay under the car yesterday visualizing the action of the bar and links under load.

I found a good place to attach the GoPro in the rear, so I went to Best Buy and bought a roll bar clamp to mount on the brace strut...

Just heard back from Pat at SPL. I can't say enough good things about their customer service. He agreed that the bar ends should be parallel to the ground and that nothing can be done to keep the links centered on their ball end, they go where they want to go. So I guess I'll just center them when installed and as long as they don't bind call it good.

Still scheming on the access problem...

Your thunk is probably because you don't have the collar on the shock adjusted correctly which allows the spring on the spring collar to move.
You didn't mention aftermarket toe bolts so I suspect your toe is way positive at your height. Have you had an alignment yet?

The collars are set at the recommended preload and tight. Your other points were covered in previous posts.

Still trying to equalize height
 

Still having difficulty equalizing the height between the right and left rear. The right side is consistently 1/2"-3/4" lower regardless of the height of the spring perch.

LR - Ride height adjusted to 27 1/4" measured from level ground to the apex of the wheel arch. the spring seat is 31mm from the bottom of the spring hat to the top of the lower locking ring.
Attachment 99920

RR - Ride height adjusted to 26 3/4" measured from level ground to the apex of the wheel arch. the spring seat is 40mm from the bottom of the spring hat to the top of the lower locking ring.
Attachment 99921

LR shock height - note the connector from the shock body to the reservoir is at the limit of its adjustment range and cannot be lengthened further.
Attachment 99922

I kept lowering the RR spring perch to raise the right side but it would not come up even with the perch adjusted at the limit. Here the right side came up 1/4". There's no way the shock would adjust long enough to fit the lower bolt into its attachment with the perch adjusted like this.
Attachment 99923

I contacted BC Racing's tech support and the guy was helping me until 3pm (5pm EST), then he bailed so I'm in limbo for the weekend. He had me remove everything completely, measure the static spring height (180mm), reset the perches to equal heights (30mm), reinstall the springs and measure the compressed spring height with the car on the ground. The LR was 135mm and the RR is 125mm.

The only thing I can think of that would cause the right side to be heavier than the left is fuel in the tank. Even so, it's odd that I can't get the right side to raise.
Attachment 99924

If the right side was full while the left was empty it might cause the discrepancy. I don't know which side empties first. Tomorrow I will reinstall the shocks and top off the tank, add ballast to match my weight, then recheck the measurements.

All is well that ends well
 

Hot tip for anyone setting ride height - make sure your garage floor is level...

Both sides of the fuel tank empty at the same time normally. Hard right hand turns, different story.

So I reinstalled the shocks and went to fill up. After I pulled up to the pumps but before I started filling I measured and both sides = 26.5". After I filled up both sides measured 26.5".

Went back home and measured and the 1/2" diff was back. So all that was for nothing. Moral of the story is make sure you have a flat and level area to take your measurements.

Well, at least I am intimately acquainted with my suspension setup.

Alignment shop was booked for last Saturday so I'm planning for this Friday. Still have an annoying low speed rattle/klunking. Doesn't seem to be localized from one place so I still have to sort that out.

Was driving home Sunday from the grocery store, went over railroad tracks and something sounded like it broke, then a dragging sound. Limped around the curve, turned left, drove 100 yards and turned into a parking lot.

I'm thinking "Geez, now what?"

I look at the rear - nothing. I look at the front - nothing. I look under the car and there's a branch jammed into the undercarriage and dragging on the ground.

Relief...

You plan on corner weighting the car?

Yes, but I want to drive it for a while so I have something to compare it to.

Adjustment Extenders Installation
 

Installed the adjustment extenders that came with the shocks. To mark the place to drill the holes I took a sanding roll bit from my Dremel set, snipped it to an appropriate length and inserted it in the piece that fits over the adjustment knob at the top of the shock.

Attachment 100023

Installed the cap on the shock, then bolted the shock into place. The pointed piece was just long enough to dent the underside of the plastic trim so I could see where to drill.

Attachment 100024

I used a 1/4" bit to drill the hole.

Attachment 100025

The hole is just big enough to fit the extender shaft and tube through. I trimmed off excess length so they would clear the hatch by about an inch.

Attachment 100027

Still clunky over bumps so been doing some research. Many threads here and elsewhere regarding clunky coilovers, BC or others.

Things to check:

1. Top nut on shock - tighten
2. Play between lower shock mount and OEM mount - add spacer
3. Preload on rear spring (8-10mm per BC) - verify and correct

All springs should have preload. If they don't, they will bounce during sudden transitions and make a clunk. You should be able to keep your ride height, but adjust your preload if the coil over has a threaded shock body.

The fronts had preload set as shipped. The rear had preload set at 5mm during installation. What I'm going to do is jack up the car, remove the wheel, and measure the preload with the suspension weight unloading the spring, then bump up the preload to 10mm per my discussion with BC tech support.

I believe as you said above that, due to the amount of play in the shock mount, the preload is moving between 5mm and <0mm as the suspension moves through its travel, allowing the spring to strike the lower/upper perch with a clunk. This time I will be sure to recheck after I release the jack supporting the lower spring seat and apply pressure in each direction to verify it remains at 10mm preload.

I don't expect the top nut to be loose - I'd be surprised if it was. I did notice the width of the lower mount was wider than the OEM mounting point and this might account for the rattle, but not the clunk. If it seems significant enough I'll add a washer/spacer to achieve a snug fit.

Some have also complained that the locking rings have loosened over time and their solution was to add blue Loctite to keep it from backing off.

There are only so many joints in the rear (or front) suspension system. It's just a matter of eliminating them one by one till the culprit is found.

[QUOTE=sandersd;3097534]Still having difficulty equalizing the height between the right and left rear. The right side is consistently 1/2"-3/4" lower regardless of the height of the spring perch.

Your going to need to play with the endlink lengths on the swaybars to get the car to change right to left. Make sure they're not working against each other by checking the weight at the wheels.

Probably the right way to do it is
1) disconnect the swaybars,
2) get the heights just the way you want with the springs, need to check corner weights so you're not loading on diagonal tires,
3) Reattach the sways and recheck corner weights. Adjust sways to even them out to the weights they were before attaching them

I guess you missed posts #12 & #14...;)

Corner balance it first, then have the alignment done. That's the point of getting coil overs, to be able to balance the car.

My primary motivation is to be able to lower the car and maintain full suspension travel on linear springs. I agree corner balancing is necessary to take full advantage of coil overs capabilities and something I certainly intend to do so, but I want to compare the handling and performance between balanced and unbalanced, so I need a frame of reference.

It's just to satisfy my own curiosity. But you're right, if one is into performance corner balancing is fundamental. If one is more into styling and profiling then corner balancing is not essential.

Alignment done
 

Attachment 100208

Attachment 100209

Very disappointed in the workmanship at EVS Motors so I will find a different shop for future work and corner balancing. I want to speak with the shop manager before I get into specifics.

Final Update
 

As mentioned I was very disappointed with the workmanship at EVS Motors. On a positive note the car was aligned which is what I brought it in for. But...

When I dropped the car off I took extra time to go over all the adjustments that needed to be made and how to properly do them. I gave the tech written instructions from the service manual, SPL, and BC for each of their respective products. I highlighted things to watch out for. Still the work was not performed acceptably.

When I arrived home after picking up the car I put it up on stands and took off the tires to inspect the work. This is what I found:

The tech sprayed oil or some type of lubricant all over the shock body and reservoir canister. I assume he thought it would make it easier to adjust the shock length. The issue is he didn't wipe it off and the oil would act as a dirt magnet covering the threads and body with a layer of grime. Sloppy. A better alternative is simply to take a damp shop towel and wipe the threads clean above the adjuster since this will actually remove all the grit that tends to bind the threads.

The canisters must be loosened to adjust the shock length but when the adjustment is complete they must be centered and tightened. One side was completely loose and the other was partially tightened but misaligned so it rode against the side of the slot.

They charged me extra to make a small adjustment to the preload but were 5mm off the correct setting. If one is charging extra one should ensure the adjustment is correct.

The tech damaged the lock nuts and the SPL wrenches by beating on them with a hammer. This angered me the most. The nuts were only hand tight. He beat on them so hard the nuts are rounded and the wrenches have gouges on the faces from the nut and hammer marks on the ends from a checkered face hammer. Perhaps he didn't know which way to turn the nut to loosen it but this can be ascertained by simply looking at the direction of the threads and turning the nut appropriately - no hammer required. Even if a hammer was required one doesn't use a checkered face hammer but a deadblow rubber mallet. One sharp tap should be all that's required to securely seat the jam nut.

Compounding this folly the heim joint (spherical rod end) was left canted over in direct violation of the instruction sheet that I gave him that had pictures of proper and incorrect alignments. The locking sleeve for the rod end was also rotated 180 degrees so it could not be accessed by a wrench. I had to loosen the jam nut and rotate the adjusting nut just so I could access the sleeve to loosen it and rotate it to its proper position.

Last, but not least, the side skirts were damaged by running over something, bottoming out, and deforming the plastic at the attachment points so severely the plastic dragged the ground in three places. I had to remove the bolts and heat the plastic with a heat gun to reform it to its original shape and position. The locking tabs were sheared off so I used tape to hold the pieces in alignment so they will not catch on anything and be further damaged.

I expected this place, given how they placed themselves in the market, working on high end cars, celebrity endorsements, etc, to do exceptional work. They did not. The work was barely adequate and certainly not worth the price I paid or damage to my car. I told the manager when I discussed this with him that there is no way I could ever recommend his shop to anyone.

One only gets one chance to make a first impression.

:shakes head: Think I would be draggin' someone over the counter.

It's a nice thought, but...

I know, BUT they would know I WAS there, and the customers that was there too would know. :icon17:

Similar problem when I was doing this-I have BC BR's and 12k/11k swifts. Some of it can be the surface, also if you let your car down off the lift and don't move it or roll it out, you can expect to lose a good 1/2" once you have rolled out the binding.

Also everytime I have removed the top 3 nuts and put them back on, clunk. I drive it for a day or 2 or 3, retighten the bolts and find I usually have sometimes almost a full turn of play in them.

Think twice before you corner balance it, kind of a waste of money at least in some people's opinions unless you have replaced all of your compliance bushings. I know a few guys in formula D that say it is a complete waste of time and money to do it on a car that has compliance bushings in it still. They told me that if you have the ride heights to the millimeter, you are as corner balanced as you are going to get. This was sort of surprising to me but they swore by it. Told me that even if I got corner balanced, as soon as I took a turn it wouldn't be corner balanced anymore.

Sorry, but I disagree 100% - ride height has nothing to do with corner weighting. Ride height is certainly important, but its only the base of the foundation for weighting. If I came and put a 200lb weight on the passenger seat of your car, you'd hardly see a ride height change. However, you'd see a corner weight change. In fact, I could shift that 200lbs all over the car and you'd hardly see a ride height change. The 200lbs would make a dramatic corner weight and cross weight difference though.

Of course you aren't corner balanced through a turn, the car is turning and throwing weight all over the place. However, when the car comes back to neutral, it better be back to normal - otherwise you've done something very wrong.

Sorry, but there is not logic in that "formula D" answer, much like the series itself. :icon08:

I was skeptical about it myself at first but the more I think about what he said the more sense it makes.

The guy sets up, sponsors, and is a crew chief on a professional race cars that have won and are competitive at a number of different levels, so I would put a lot of weight in what he told me.

Specifically he said ballast the weight like you mentioned, set the ride height, you are done. I am not personally sure how that accounts for front to back, it definitely does not account for cross. But his point is that even if you balance it perfectly, because of the soft subframe and knuckle/control bushings, it is going to go out of whack almost instantly. He showed me our OEM bushings, they are very soft, you can depress them with your finger. I had a hard time believing it myself but the more I think about, the more I think he is right.

And I am no fan of formula D, I just go to his shop for tire mounting and to shoot the breeze. Like Formula D or not those guys know more about setting up a car than probably anyone.

Ride height will still not get it close. What if the chassis is twisted slightly? What about if suspension components are bound during ride height setting and become unbound after roll out? What about spring settle?

I was also a crew chief of two C5R teams. I can assure you that my cars wouldn't just get the ride height set and "go".

Additionally, if your bushings are in good shape, they will give a consistent response. This consistency allows for proper chassis tuning. I do agree there is a variable that exists with rubber bushings, but it is minimal. You can corner weight a car with rubber/poly bushings.

Formula D cars need basic adjustments compared to RR cars. Often times drift cars compete on parking lots or small circle tracks. Their speeds are low and the steering input often just goes from one input to the near (extreme) opposite, additionally the track conditions are poor compared to what many of the RR guys run.

Fwiw: everyone has their perspective on setting up a car. I enjoy discussing it, heck even arguing about it, I normally learn something in the end.

Me too, I'm at heart a math nerd/software nerd, ex rubiks cube kinda kid lol.

I think ultimately his point to me was that corner balancing for me was kind of a waste of time and money. I have looked at buying my own scales, and I was asking him about it etc. he sort of suggested spending my money elsewhere-I told him if he made some friggin headers for our car I would buy them. He laughed.

The point I am trying to get across is that, 25 -50 lbs of weight diff per corner for someone that is not racing at a professional/very competitive level, is probably not worth the 500 bucks or so someone is going to charge you for corner balancing. If the left and right are dead on(with ballast), and you have a basic understanding of your car, then that is probably good enough for you.

With mushy bushings though, I can see why the otherwise terrible things that happen during a corner just get worse. I am not sure that 50 lbs of corner balancing makes it any better.

Are you my twin? Never thought I would find someone else with as much bad luck as me.

Yes - I agree with this.

I bought the same set up but didn't get custom spring rate. Which I should have done. I did get SPL rear camber kit and end links. My end links came a while after so I didn't install them. What do they do? Should I have them installed? I was going to wait until I buy after market sway bars. Anyways nice set up and good call on the spring rate.

Me personally , don't even use a rear sway bar atm so don't need rear end links. They are mainly intended to replace a broken or bent OEM end link, but I think some people also use them to use staggered holes on their sway bars so that they can run various/intermediate stiffness on their sway bars. I can't see much use for rear end links on our car. Fronts maybe.