Coilover height adjustment

[DRJDVM's '69]

Okay...stupid question....on my DSE subframe do I thread the coilover collar up or down to raise the front end ride height?

I'm looking at them and if I thread it upward, the spring gets compressed and the front end should drop....is that right?

Its kinda of a PITA to get in there with the spanner wrench....right now the car is sitting too low, so I need to raise the front end up alittle

[Ron in SoCal]

On my AME frame the spring collar is on the bottom of the shock and I thread it up to raise the car...:yes:

[DRJDVM's '69]

I've been doing that and it seems like the car isnt moving up much... thats why I figured I would ask to make sure I'm doing it right. So I guess I keep cranking it upwards until I get the ride height I need.

[Vegas69]

You are compressing the spring. Keep wrastling with it...:unibrow:

[2Bad4Ya]

it takes several turns to make anything noticeable those things a re fairly fine threaded.

[Musclerodz]

once the collar engages the spring, roughly 6 full turn from there. you can compress the spring to about 3/8" between coils loaded. If still too low, may need to go to slightly heavier spring.

[GregWeld]

Ned -- You don't even have to read between the lines here.... if you thread the coil adjuster up and the car doesn't rise a corresponding amount - then you have the wrong springs. The car should sit "right" and you shouldn't have to be up the body of the coil over more than about a third the distance. More than that and you've got too light of a spring or the wrong length spring - or both.

My guess is you're 100#'s too light. If you have a 450's you need 550's....

[DRJDVM's '69]

Ok....I've got 1.75 inches of thread showing below the collar....looks to be slighlty less than half of the threads on the shock

So...based on what you guys are telling me, I should have the 525's...

Its an iron 434 small block, aluminum heads etc....nothing major up front to add additional weight.....why the hell would I need the BBC springs?

[96z28ss]

Didn't you just buy the whole complete subframe from DSE?
I would of thought they would have the correct spring rate.

[Vegas69]

Ok....I've got 1.75 inches of thread showing below the collar....looks to be slighlty less than half of the threads on the shock

So...based on what you guys are telling me, I should have the 525's...

Its an iron 434 small block, aluminum heads etc....nothing major up front to add additional weight.....why the hell would I need the BBC springs?

450's are fine. Dial em up and enjoy. My understanding is Kyle still runs 450's on his car.

[camcojb]

just remember that spring rate is only comparable with identical frames or front clips. The distance between ball joints and shock/spring mounting, shock angles, etc. will all change what rate you need for a given config.

[DRJDVM's '69]

My car is just a "standard" '69....SBC, with aluminum heads, intake etc etc.....nothing to add alot of weight up front (i.e, no turbos, supercharger, intercooler, hydroboost etc etc).....

So with a full DSE front frame, I cant see why my car would need the BBC springs to sit at a reasonable ride height.

Right now, with 1.75 inches of thread up the shock, the car looks awesome up front....but I can only just get my fingers between the tire and wheelwell. On 18's its at 22.25 to the fender lip in front and 24 in the rear.

I think its got to go up another 1/2-3/4 inch to get decent clearence and not have the rake be overexagerrated

[96z28ss]

you had a stock subframe right?
So did you have to get new front wheels cause the spindle would be different.

[GregWeld]

Yeah it's the pistons in that 434 -- they're so large... and the coil overs are probably calculating that it's big block cubes so they're just going to refuse to work until you give in.

[GregWeld]

70RS just called and wanted to know if the shock mufflers have been cleaned and greased... You've got to flush them with fresh coolant every 6 months or so...

Those DSE coil overs are side dependent so maybe the reverse threads are reversed = try swapping the right for the left and upside-down and inverted.

[Vegas69]

Here are my front's with the 450's adjusted for my all aluminum big block which is a little heavier. Mine showed coil bind but I had them in there with my original iron block. That was an oversite when prodigy put the frame under the car. It's only an 8 inch spring so keep that in mind. I've since went to a higher spring rate hypercoil. You may as well set your car up about 1/4 high because those DSE springs will settle.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/Payback1969/ShockUpdate017.jpg
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/Payback1969/ShockUpdate016.jpg

[DRJDVM's '69]

WTH..... Todds is cranked way the hell up there. I'm not even close to that yet. Mine are maybe 40% of the way up the shock. In the previous replies, it was implied that the adjuster should be no more than about 1/3 up the shock.....so thats when I started to worry that something wasnt right.....

So I'm not even close to what Todd has cranked up.....so up we go until I hit the right ride height.

I bought the whole set-up through Musclerodz, fully assembled by DSE etc....its the 450 SBC spring in there..... theres no way my car should require a heavier spring to get to a decent ride height.....its just not cranked up high enough....got worried for no reason

As for wheel....no I didnt have to change out my front wheels. They fit fine. I did have to change out my brakes.

Greg....always the funny man.....

[GregWeld]

Todds are ridiculous and wrong... No way I'd run that short of a spring cranked up the body like that. I'm totally serious. Typically a 1/3 of the way up the body is all that is required. More than that is a "half an inch" one way or the other. So I would be buying LONGER springs if I had Todds set up.

In your case -- you still should TRY for not much more than a 1/3 up the body... and if you're springs won't raise the car on a ONE FOR ONE basis - in other words adjuster up 1/2 and inch the car should rise 1/2 and inch -- then you need more spring.

Remember that the "shock" has a ride height length - and a minimum and maximum etc - and you want to stay within those ranges as set by the manufacturer.

[Musclerodz]

Don't worry about where you spring is on the shock, you don't have it high enough yet. per DSE, you can compress the spring until you have approximately 3/8" between coils with suspension loaded before coil bind. how many rounds have you tightened it?

[Matt@BOS]

Keep cranking away on those things. I've had the same issue as you, and the front of my car is pretty light. LS engine, manual brakes, aluminum hood, carbon inner fenders, etc. I have half height body mount bushings though, and if I had the normal height ones, I suspect I'd be on the edge of being low, but everything would work just fine.

Matt

[DRJDVM's '69]

Obviously DSE is pretty good at what they do....and there should be no reason I should need to run a BBC spring with my car....so its got to be on my end....i.e I just need to keep cranking it up.

The car is 22.25 inches ground to fender lip right now.... I think it needs to be around 23 to get enough tire clearence......so off to the garage I go :)

[Vegas69]

One thing to keep in mind is that you could run a 10 inch spring but it's just not needed with the amount of shock travel available. As long as the spring is not coil binding, you are fine. Spring rate is a whole different discussion. My new rear springs will hold up the car with NO pre load. Even my stiffer fronts needed pre loaded.

Here is a look at new vs. old springs. You can see the amount of settling.(Disregard the rear springs as I went from a 12 to a 10)

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/Payback1969/008-3.jpg

[DRJDVM's '69]

Well she's officially back on the road!!!

I just cranked it up until I'm at about 23 inches floor to fender lip.... thats about 2.5 inches of thread showing below the collar.

Took her for a test drive and started seasoning the new brakes etc. All seems good,....still getting some PS whine...... but I'll "nut and bolt" everything again, triple check for leaks and get it dialed in....then alignment etc.

Light at the end of the tunnel !!!!!

[rwhite692]

Congrats Ned! When are we going for a ride?