NC Coilover Install....OHLINS, JIC, etc...

Installations instructions for MonsterFlow intakes, Big Brake Kits, shocks and more.
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Brian
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Re: NC Coilover Install....OHLINS, JIC, etc...

Post by Brian »

We had one customer report he set his car for just about a half inch of lowering, but it was not clear if he could have set it even higher.
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Chris Thompson
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Re: What's the minumum lowering with the Ohlins

Post by Chris Thompson »

Woo wrote:Does anybody know the minumum amount of lowering with the latest Ohlins?

Or put another way, what is the maximum ride height, fender to hub centre, that you can get?

Lotsa rough roads here.

I'm referring to "New Ohlins Road and Track Miata DFV - OUR BEST MX5 MIATA COILOVER".

Thanks.
I have no numbers for you, Woo. I have new DFV's with race springs set at the absolute lowest I could get the ride height and it's not very much lower than stock but for me it's good where it's at. I'm sure with the either standard springs or race springs you COULD raise the ride height (with the Ohlins DFV adjustable body length) so high as to make the car look like a 4-wheel drive. With standard spring you could also get it slammed way low too if you wanted. The race springs don't sag much so that limits how low you can go.
'99 Base Sport with bolt-on hardtop and '08 PRHT GT. I love them both. SCCA, PCA, BMW San Diego region #105
Curves
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Re: NC Coilover Install....OHLINS, JIC, etc...

Post by Curves »

This is from the Ohlins Manual I received with Ohlins for my NC.

Front - With both the preload and height adjustments in their standard positions, the vehicle is lowered 35mm when compared to the original suspension. The adjustment range is the standard position +/- 15mm.

Rear- With both the preload and height adjustments in their standard positions, the vehicle is lowered 35mm when compared to the original suspension. The adjustment range is the standard position -15mm to +10mm.

This translates to

Ohlin Ranges Min, Std, Max
Rear 20mm, 35mm, 45mm
0.79", 1.38", 1.78"
Front 20mm, 35mm, 50mm
0.79", 1.38", 1.97"
morrisg
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Re: NC Coilover Install....OHLINS, JIC, etc...

Post by morrisg »

woo: For rough roads, the Ohlins will be an excellent choice. With the standard 7k/4k springs, I would characterize the ride as very supple for the street. I have about half a block of severely patched asphalt with some potholes to get to my house and the Ohlins were great over that patch every day. I didn't measure the suspension travel using zip ties on the shock rods, but the Ohlins spring rates are higher than stock so you should not have any suspension bottoming with them if you haven't had any with the stock spring rates. If your question is more in the direction of "Do the Ohlins beat you up over bumps?" then my answer is No, they don't. I thought they were more comfortable than the stock suspension on the street. Hope this helps.
JT12
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Re: NC Coilover Install....OHLINS, JIC, etc...

Post by JT12 »

Brian - have a set of Tokico HTS and Progress springs coming. From looking at the pictures of those vs. the Ohlins here am I correct to assume that re-use of both the front and rear factory hat assemblies is needed in that case? So either get a new set front and rear, or a spring comressor?

Also - is the best way to get at the controller arm bolts to torque with the car on the ground to get an arm in the space between the tire and the fender down near the ground? Thanks.
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Re: NC Coilover Install....OHLINS, JIC, etc...

Post by Brian »

JT12 wrote:Brian - have a set of Tokico HTS and Progress springs coming. From looking at the pictures of those vs. the Ohlins here am I correct to assume that re-use of both the front and rear factory hat assemblies is needed in that case? So either get a new set front and rear, or a spring comressor?

Also - is the best way to get at the controller arm bolts to torque with the car on the ground to get an arm in the space between the tire and the fender down near the ground? Thanks.
Yes, replacement of the shocks means using the factory top mounts again except with some coilover kits that include both front and rear top bearings. Thus, you do need the spring compressor. Yes, you bounce it on the ground and then reach under get wrench on there to tighten it up....
Brian Goodwin
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JT12
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Re: NC Coilover Install....OHLINS, JIC, etc...

Post by JT12 »

What are your thoughts about the method where you disconnect the upper control arm (upper links rear), then floor jack the wheel up to put slightly more load on the spring, then leaving the top mounts bolted in, just remove the center nut, etc. on the shaft of the shock and slowly let the wheel down to decompress the spring. Opposite to reinstall, making sure the spring seats correctly. Safe or stupid?
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Re: NC Coilover Install....OHLINS, JIC, etc...

Post by Brian »

Sounds good on paper.... but since I have never tried that method I can't recommend for or against it.
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JT12
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Re: NC Coilover Install....OHLINS, JIC, etc...

Post by JT12 »

Ok thanks Brian. As long as it doesn't sound like an immediately bad idea once I get past exhaust and on to the suspension upgrade I may have to carefully give it a try and report back. Just seems like it could be a little more contained and controlled way to handle the spring compression. There's a You Tube video where a guy demonstrates it on either an NA or NB. Calls it the long bolt method. Same application for an NC, just slightly different hardware.
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Re: NC Coilover Install....OHLINS, JIC, etc...

Post by JT12 »

Well, tried Brian Kelley's "long bolt method" (search it on YouTube), and while it seems to work beautifully on the NA or NB that he uses for demonstration, not so much so on our NC. Guess on an NC it becomes the "two-bolt method" but regardless, even after removing the top control arm bolts there just isn't quite enoug drop to totally decompress the factory spring. Almost but not quite. It then becomes a two-person job to push down on the wheel assemply while pulling down on the spring to create just enough play to move the top of the spring outside the fender, and that's after pushing the bottom of the factory shock forward off the mount to gain about an inch more drop. While I liked the idea of using the floor jack as a spring compressor within the relatively contained environment of the wheel well (and that part does work well), without having quite enough drop the rest is a real pain and probably more chance of damaging a fender etc. Progress spring is a little shorter so went back in slighty better, but pretty much the same process. So, wouldn't recommend for anyone else with an NC.

Borrowed a compressor set from a local parts store and with a good dose of care and caution shock/spring #2 (with hat included) went out and back in flawlessly and in less time. Will be fininshing out with that.
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