Coil over spring adjustment

Nothing. one of the real problems is that many times shocks are not properly paired with springs and we think our set-up is OK. It is only after testing both shock and spring packages that we find out which package is faster. Then there is the whole issue of "ride" comfort which is very individual. If you like the spring rates you have you could try some adjustable shocks that are hopefully in the right range for the spring. Single adjustables are usually ok for most street and occassional track work. Double adjustables come next when you get serious...5000 dollars serious. Cranking springs does you know good unless you are bottoming out springs or shocks. You can try the ziptie on the shock rod trick to see the maxcompresson you have on the shock. If you are bottoming then raising ride height could help but then you mess with other geometry. I'd start with proper tire pressures, proper facotry ride height. Then drive the car and see how that feels. Then you can start playing with heights unless you are bottoming then you need more rate in spring or shock. I like to tune/control spring with shock not use the shock stiff settings as added rate. I then hope to have the mid setting of the shock be a good fast pace on a track then have several clicks up and down to tune for specific issues. So lets say there is a big bump before a long straight I would tune for that big bump (maybe at the expense of other areas) so I could get the power down inspite of the bump the best I could which will give me more mph exit speed that carries itself all along the long straight. Cal speedway is an example coming out of the infield onto the main straight. For a streetcar you want settings that keep your coffee in the cup.

 

Hi Paul,

Lowering the spring collars will lower the ride height and give you less travel before you bottom the suspension or chasis. It will not affect the spring rate or harshness of the ride, (other than the occasional bottoming).

Screwing down the collars will likely not lower the car the same amount at each corner and will probably result in some weight transfer unequally across the diagonals. This will not be noticeable on the road but may result in uneven handling in right and left hand turns on the track.

Perhaps someone who has done a toe steer measurement on the 308 could tell us how much toe change there might be with 1 inch of height change. I don't think it will be much but if you didn't do an alignment after changing the height, you might affect the tire wear.

Screwing down the collars, (lowering the car), will also give you more negative camber - usually good for the track but not so good for tire wear.

The first thing that comes to mind would be to try loosening up the shock rebound adjustment. This should be immediately noticeable, particularly if they were set for a lot of dampening.

What spring rates are you using??? I have QA-1s with 400/350 pound springs and my fillings are doing fairly well.

Lighten up a bit on the tire pressures, soften the bar adjustments f/r?? These might help a bit.

Are you running ultra low profile tires?? I'm using Goodyear DS G-3s 225/40-18s and 255/35-18s and they are ok on the street, only a bit more harsh than the Michelin Energy 205/70-14s i was running previously.

That's about all i can think of,
HTH,
chris

 

+1

Adjusting the collar/perch will only change the ride height. The feeling of a harsh ride is more due to your shocks and not your spring rates (unless they are absurdly high). Are your shocks adjustable for compression and rebound?

 

What shock and springs do you have? We can shock dyno your setup and check spring rates if you would like.

 

Are they B14 (PSS) or B16 (PSS9/10) units?

The B16 (PSS9/10) units have adjustable compression/recoil, so you can tune the stiffness.

Suspension systems aren't really "plug 'n play". A big part of a suspension upgrade is getting everything adjusted right.

Ride height (including weight distro), then camber and SAI adjustments, then compression/rebound, and fine tune with tire pressures.

When I replaced my Celica AllTrac's stock suspension with DMS coilovers, installation took only about half the time. The rest was getting all the geometry details right, and tweaking for personal preference.

The measurements on the lift are the first part. Then there's the "adjust, do a lap, repeat" tweaks.

The result was possibly the only AllTrac in existence with *no* understeer.
(Of course, the trade-off is that you have to guard against having the back step out on you when you don't want it to.)

 

The cam gear pump works fine for filtered WVO or used motor oil Babington heaters and I have installed it on my Babington style heaters. Ldu Company's stock number is 450516 , The only thing about the cam gear pump is that the fire kind of pulses as the cam gear rotates. If you use the spur gear pump that is LDU's stock number 450512 then you get a steady non-pulsing fire. The WVO pump website is http://www.liangdianup.com/subpages/oilpump_1.htm or you can click through to the tools section from the home page at www.LDUcompany.com

LDU Company also has other parts that I use for building my waste oil burners, like gear reduction motors. I find it best to turn the pump slower because you really don't need a whole lot of oil dripping on the atomizer ball.

 

Thanks for that...that information is about as useful as Viagra in prison....

 

Hi Paul,

Do a search on "paper weights". Verell makes these to adapt the top mount of the QA-1 to fit without cutting the a arm for clearance. I believe he has spacers for the bottom shock mounts so you don't crack the upright castings. The shocks and springs are available from summit racing.
If i had it to do again, i would do a bit more research on the spread of shocks out there; Koni, Bilstein, Varishock, and a few more. Look at the various features and what is necessary to make them work on the 308. How hardcore/adjustable/$ do you want to go???
There are also several makers of springs.
Keep searching the threads for advice on spring rates to help you hit it right on the next try. Personally, for occasional track use and mostly street driving, i think 400/350 is about as stiff as i would want to go, but others have used higher rates and seem to be happy with them.
If you are going to be tracking the car and your spring choices pushed up for better handling, you might give some thought to running the same rate front and rear or prhaps a touch more in the rear to reduce some of the understeer. Taking this a little further, there is a limited choice in aftermarket sway bars. Saner's makes the heaviest bars 25/22. Theyare expensive, and are a bit front heavy,(understeer) and delivery can take a very long time if at all. Both bars are a bit narrow and rely on very thin, skinny spacers to get the drop links even close to vertical and at that point are almost bound - not good, but fixable.
Along with the 400/350, I am running 22 mm front and rear. (The old 22 mm front is a used unit of ouknowm manufcture but probably is one of Saner's earlier bars).With the front bar adjusted up, (there are only two holes for adjustment) and the rear bar at full soft, the car has a bit more trailing throttle oversteer than i would like, so next track day i will up the back bar to the mid point.
So my advice would be to get the bars sort of close then go for the spring balance that you think will make you happy, yet soft enough for the street.

hth,
chris

 

Hi Paul,

QA-1s with 300-250 and stock or slightly stiffer bars seems to be the "Norm" for street improved suspension.

hth,chris

 

Again, what Chris said. I've been running QA-1s w/300 & 250 front and rear for about 10 years now. No complaints.

 

Send me eMAIL & I'll respond with a white paper I wrote about using QA1s as the same questions keep coming up, I've tried to answer most of them.

[email protected]

 

I have a 1985 308 QV. It has around 28K miles on the clock and is basically standard. For the driving I do, I would like to keep it that way, but I noticedthe shocks I have look like Koni's adjustable red. Any suggestions regarding the adjustment? Halfway, 2 turns off full in or...? Thanks.

 

Done

 

Looks great! Is that with the QA1s? What spring rates did you choose?

 

Thanks....Yes QA1s and and Eibachs..... Just Like Verrells setup!