Rear coil overs
 

Well after a month of putting it off, I decided to install the rear coil overs last night. Took a total of about 2 hours. I had to remove mmy quad shocks because they looked as though they would rub on the new springs.

Here are some pics:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...S/DSC00276.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...S/DSC00277.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...S/DSC00278.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...S/DSC00279.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...S/DSC00280.jpg

The last one just shows the emptiness with out a coil on the LCA.

:nice:

Nice !

Looks good Tommy!!!

How does it compare before/after???

it rides a lot different, havent been able to test the launch capabilites of it yet tho, guess we will see when I go to the track next probably after the first of the year.

different being stiffer, softer, rough ......?

I have never ridden in a car with coil overs

+1

How much adjustment range (stiffness) can you do on these?

it all depends on the spring rate and height I guess. Up front I have 175#springs as for the back I dont remember the rate on them. I do know that I need new shocks and struts all around to get the full benefit from them I think.


As for the ride it is a little stiffer that the standard coil.

but not dramatically worse?

The beauty of coil-overs is their ease of adjustability. It looks as if these springs are of a standard size which means you can go from 150lb springs all the way to 700lb springs. If we are purely talking stock-to-stock spring rates it would take a 95lb coil-over spring to equal the wheel rate of a 210lb conventional spring. Don't forget that moving the spring mounting point changes the "moment arm" on which it acts. By moving the spring from its stock location further "away" from the LCA mounting point it affords the spring better control over the rear suspension.

The coil spring rate is only a part of the total "ride" equation. With coil-overs you can have a much larger wheel rate without sacrificing ride quality provided you have a set of struts and shocks valved to match the spring rates. Take my Cobra for example; stock I had 500lb front and 300lb conventional springs (estimated). When I installed my coil-overs (350lb front and 225lb rear) it was like I installed 1260lb front and 505lb rear conventional spring. But, because of the change in the "moment arm" and having a set of Bilsteins valved for my spring rates, my car is firm but not punishing. In fact, on the interstate my car rides as smooth as a Caddy (even though its loud). Over bumps, my car recovers fairly well without to much oscillation.

You create a rough ride by "too stiff" of a spring coupled with a lightly valved shock. When I installed 275lb rear coils, which I knew were greated than my rebound valving was rated for, my car bounced like Uncle Bucks.