If the spring spins freely you don't need compressors. You might want to invest in a pot of copper grease and a wire brush though


You will get to a point where you keep winding the rings up and the car does'nt go any higher, this is the point at which you need harder springs.

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wind the seats to the lowest point on the strut body and then you should have a slack spring when the car is jacked up, and then take them off the car and get at the threaded section with a wire brush. When you wind the collars up, if they get stiff, wind them back and clean out any build up in the threads / edge of the collars - if it gets particularly stiff look for any damaged threads and use a needle triangular file to carefully take any edges off the threads.

You may also find the rating of your current springs on the end face of the spring, or on the coil face, they generally list a spring rate and the free length of the spring, eg. 60/200 (60nm / 200mm of uncompressed length).

In an ideal world you would run the longest free length of spring possible to get the best ride, ie. collar at the lowest point, with a spring rate that gives you the desired ride height. You can run the collars at any point on the body's thread so long as there is sufficient thread to allow you to lock them against one another.

Once you have everything set at the desired level, again in an ideal world, take them apart again and cover all the exposed thread in grease (copper, lithium, etc) to stop them rusting up, and then when you need to adjust them in the future a bit of brake cleaner and you will be good to go.

Removing the coilover is the same principle as a normal damper, it will generally be easier if you have no load on the springs when they are wound down, saving on coil compressors - not exactly sure which nuts you are worried about, but if things are in still in good condition, you should be able to re-use them.

Martin

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- Maxi rear axle hub spacers +53mm per side
- Maxi front steering rack extensions +40mm per side

You'll never really win with the springs, they are difficult to clean up and really need to be sand blasted and then either paint or powder coat - depending on how much you could get that done for, you could find you are spending a large part of the cost of a new set of springs.

When you are looking at springs, make sure you get the right internal diameter - there is a mix of metric and imperial - metrics are either 60,65 or 70mm and imperial are 2.25, 1.9 inches. A basic make of spring costs in the region of £15-£20 per spring, through to circa £60 for an eibach spring.

You can get more than one use from a nyloc nut, but they will ultimately lose their effectiveness over time. If you are struggling to get the body out of the hub, a wedge in the hub can help, and can removing the ball joint from either the bottom arm or the hub as it allows you to get the two things aligned and hence remove the 'surface tention' (probably not exactly the correct description, but with the two things in line the body will come out of the hub so much more easily.

Martin

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- Maxi rear axle hub spacers +53mm per side
- Maxi front steering rack extensions +40mm per side

No, just make sure it is clean, it will have a seal that should wipe it as it compresses it into the main body of the damper.

For the threads, if you don't already have a grease in mind, I would probably opt to use white lithium as it tends to dry with a bit of a crust that will help to create a 'jacket' on the threads.

The drop link mount on the body makes a handy clamping point in the vice when you are swearing at stuck collars....

Martin

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- Maxi rear axle hub spacers +53mm per side
- Maxi front steering rack extensions +40mm per side

If you're handy with the tools cut/file a slot all the way up the thread a couple of mm wide (don't go through into the casing, just nip the thread itself off).

The interrupted thread will then clean itself as the seats are turned which helps a lot when it comes to freeing them up later on. The Fox dampers have something similar milled into them to cope with adjustments after getting covered in mud.

Don't forget to debur the edges of the thread with a thread file though.

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Fair enough

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- Bespoke rollcages/additions/adjustments. Half cages right up to complete custom spaceframes - MSA/FIA spec, CDS, ROPT, T45, etc - PM me
Email me!
Custom-made polybushes available - need an odd size or fitment? - anything from batch work to one-off pieces.