How do I adjust my coilovers (ride height)

[DavidAshton]

Skint at the moment, credit crunch and all that, so been thinking of things I can do to the car on the cheap.

Got TRD coilovers on at the moment. They are set quite high so was thinking I could slam them for a change. Had a flick round the internet for some guides to see how its done but cant find anything clear enough.

So anyone have the know how, a quick guide? Do I need some special tool? Will the ride suffer being lower (mega harsh as it is)?

Also I want to do it while there on the car, I have no intention taking them of in the cold.

Thanks

David

[WallaceGlanza]

You need a c spanner to adjust them and no doubt a lot of wd40 to loosen them but yes you do them on the car, I tried to adjust the height of my cusco coilovers yesterday but their seized and I ran out of wd40, they've only been on the car a year or so too. So it can be a big pain in the arse but is relatively simple.

Anyway, here's mine:

It depends on your coilovers on whether they have seperate height and spring pre load adjustment ie stiffness, my cusco's above do which means the height can change but stiffness will be the same. So to adjust the height you slacken off the big bottom ring using the c spanner then twist the top blue ring down to turn the whole damper section and lower the height, then simply tighten up the bottom ring again once suitably lowered.

Its best to measure the thread from bottom ring to middle ring so you get the same height on both sides after adjusting too, and so you can see how much you've adjusted them by.

[RobSR]

trd one's aren't like them I think. you can only adjust the height by doing the spring tension aswell. so you will have to locking rings on your shock. loosen them off so they are nearer the bottom tighten up the top mounts again and off you go

[DavidAshton]

Thanks for the quick and i depth reply.

Just to get it clear in my head:

A) Is how it should look when its on the car and all tightened up? both rings together?

B ) Is what I loosen first so i can loosen C?

C) This is what will adjust my ride height, up and down for the different heights?

After B is then tightened back up to C to stop it moving. Thats how i read it, that correct?

Also once I lower it is it easy to go back up, like id be compressing the spring when trying to make it higher. Well if ive understood it right?

EDIT: Bollocks if trd's are not the same.

[WallaceGlanza]

Sunds right but as Rob said TRD coilovers aren't the same, they only adjust the height by compressing the spring therefore increasing the preload and stiffness.

So yours will look like that, all you do is slacken off the bottom silver ring which is the locking one, then wind up the top silver ring which will compress the spring and lower the car, then tighten up the bottom ring again till it locks against the top one.

The ride will become a fair bit harsher though, so its a compromise between lowered height and ride quality with them unfortunately.

[DavidAshton]

Thanks Wallace, all crystal clear now.

[Pav]

Sunds right but as Rob said TRD coilovers aren't the same, they only adjust the height by compressing the spring therefore increasing the preload and stiffness.

So yours will look like that, all you do is slacken off the bottom silver ring which is the locking one, then wind up the top silver ring which will compress the spring and lower the car, then tighten up the bottom ring again till it locks against the top one.

The ride will become a fair bit harsher though, so its a compromise between lowered height and ride quality with them unfortunately.

Errrm, thats not right wallace. To lower the ride height, the top lock ring (and the bottom of course) has to be screwed downwards not upwards! This pulls the lower part of the shock up into the top part lowering the ride height. I should know as I just fitted my cuscos the other weekend and adjusted the ride height using the two lockrings pictured above (instead of using the cusco lower part, I may look into this if it helps the ride quality).

I thought at first it was the way you just described, but when I turned the top ring so that it moved upwards, the ride height became higher. Lowering or raising the height of the lock rings will not affect the actual spring rate much at all. Its the shock that is affected as when you lower it, the shock moves up into the shaft causing precompression of the shock, this can lead to the harsher ride that many notice (including me) when the car is lowered. Bear in mind that when the shock is compressed like this, it may go under more wear on the road than if it were set up higher, this is why cusco designed the bottom half of the shock so that it could be adjusted, avoiding shock precompression. Trds and some Teins dont have adjustable lower platforms and have to be adjusted by the spring lock rings.

Hope that helps.

Alex

[DavidAshton]

Pav, that has confused me even more. I have TRD's do I adjust them as wallace said or not? I know cusco's are different but what walace said about TRD's made sence to me.

[WallaceGlanza]

With our type of coilovers the whole threaded shock will turn when using the top ring to adjust so yes when you turn that up on ours the car will become higher but with the trd ones only the locking ring will turn and compress the spring thus lowering the car.

The threaded shock bit doesnt rotate on the trd's hence the lack of a bottom locking ring as you said,all you can do is compress the spring more or less to change the height and stiffness as one. All the lower ring on the cusco's does is lock the body of the shock so it can't turn, you don't use it to adjust the height but it needs to be loose so the shock will turn, then tightened up again so the shock can't turn whilst driving.

It makes sense with the trd's because when you lower the car you compress the spring thus making the handling stiffer the lower you go and when raisng the opposite is true.

Dave you can try and find out, as long as the rings turn freely its easy to do and a bit of trial and error to get the height you want anyway.

[DavidAshton]

Yeah will order a C spanner thing this weekend and give it a try. Thanks again Wallace and im sure somebody who has trd's will confirm.

[Pav]

Hmm, All I know is that when I adjusted mine, I didnt touch the Cusco bottom ring. I adjusted using the two top rings instead and I found that lowering the rings height lowered the ride height. The threaded shock bit did not turn at all, only the rings which pulled the lower part of the shock upwards, thus making the overall shock height from top to bottom shorter.

Eitherway, as wallace said, give it a go, which way the rings should turn will be the least of your worries if they are seized up (which can happen on some coilovers). I'd be interested to see which way works, but I'm willing to bet that moving them down will lower the ride height. Its easy enough to find out, measure the ride height (using your fingers will do), whip the wheel off, adjust the rings upwards, pop the wheel back on and measure again!

Keep us updated mate and good luck, I'm intrigued now especially if they're different.

[RobSR]

right to save confusion...dave with your TRD's you have to lower both the rings lower down the shock...then drop the car back on the floor...it will the push up through the topmount as they are alot lower...you then just have to tighten the topmount nut...100% it will work..as its the same design as Tein HR's that si have...

this is a pic what you have to do...its basic. Also make sure you get the right size c spanner...you can get 2 sizes...and you need 2 of the same size to adjust them aswell..(hope this makes sense.)

The two rings will then be nearer the bottom of the shock and they should be "locked" together by tightening them