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

[Brian]

Typical coilover installation starting heights 13.25 front or 13.5 rear.

[Ryan @ GWR]

Exploded view with install tips of our new NC Clubsport coilovers:

RS NC ClubSport Exploded FRONT final.jpg (2.62 MiB) Viewed 4898 times

RS NC ClubSport Exploded REAR final.jpg (3.14 MiB) Viewed 4898 times

[EdW239]

This may be an all time "dumb question" but I am going to ask anyway.
I had my Ohlins installed at a local garage. I really don't know if they followeed the 65 pounds when unloaded & finished the rest of the torque (85#, I think) on the ground.

Anyway, the car (undriven) sits high in the front (~14.25) and low (~13) in the rear.
my plan was to drive it for a bit for it to settle before adjusting the ride height at all.
but I have to ask - is it even possible for the rear to "settle higher" ?
Or will it just get lower & lower?
Meaning I need to raise the rear before driving.

The Ohlins were assembled to the total length in the instructions that came with.

thanks,
ed.

[Brian]

Things always settle down, not up. Shop likely locked all the suspension bolts with car on the lift, and everything at full droop. That can mean the bushings are twisted and holding height. On most cars doing this is no issue, the Miata is unique with the rubber in the arm bushing connection points. Assume front and rear will settle a lot and that you will then be adjusting all four corners higher. But if you want the rear higher today you can start adjusting it upwards immediately, you don't need to wait on settling.

[EdW239]

thanks! I suspected it could only get lower, but wasn't "sure" sure.
I guess I need to raise the back to at least the 13.5" before I start driving it around much.
Though I am hoping it does not get much lower while settleing.
The front I guess I will wait & see what happens.

[EdW239]

and while I read in here that you needn't remove the lower bolt to turn the shock and change the ride height, I don't know how you'd be able to do it. I guess I should have used a jack on a suspension arm to make sure there was no pull on the shock.
It seems like it *has* to be possible, otherwise the locking ring is fairly pointless.
But I was unable to move it.

Anyway, I raised the back 6 turns, which I am estimating as 1/2" (6 x .08 = .48 if I read the thread correctly).

now, to drive it around some.

[EdW239]

well, spent the day at the shop, borrowing their alignment rack so I could work on it in the air w/ the weight on the tires.
The tech told me before hand it was on the ground when he torqued it, and with the upper & lower links loosened, no amount of bouncing the front around or raising the rear brought the front down at all.
So, I adjusted the ride height to get it down to 12.5" in the front.

again, if there is some way of adjusting the height w/o unbolting the lower "saddle" to spin it, it eludes me.
I was thinking I'd have to get the shock in a fairly "neutral" position so that there was not much pressure (from which ever direction) on the threads, but nothing I did allowed me to turn it, much like the rears.

on the topic of the rears - is there any remote damping adjustment option that is not laugh out loud expensive?
I don't see myself paying roughly 10% of the cost of the Ohlins for the privelege of adjusting the rears w/o removing the trim panels.
call me crazy. or cheap.
but I don't see myself getting over $200 worth of happiness from adjusting them remotely.
there looks like there is some kind of Ohlins piece that's 70 or 80 bucks, but I can't find a picture, or any indication of what it is, how it works, or if it would be useful in an NC.

so, the good news is that the car looks decent.
the bad news is I cannot get an alignment appointment for 2 weeks, lol.

[Brian]

None of my cars with Ohlins have remote adjustment cables. I use my arms and reach in and turn the knobs on the tops. In the front I lift the hood to do this, and in the rear we lift the trunk lid to do the same. Leaving out a few of the plastic pin tabs that hold the plastic trim in place in the trunk allows you to pull it aside and reach back to the shock tops. Or, cut holes in trunk trim plastic just big enough for your hands to reach in there. We had our Supercharged NC at autocross last weekend and I changed the rear settings five or six times between runs with just reaching in to do it, no extensions.

I don't understand what you don't understand about height adjustment, perhaps go back to the first pages of the thread on this. I have never unbolted the bottom bolts to adjust heights. But perhaps it is just a language confusion? Are you getting all the lock rings loose? I put a red arrow on the lock rings, two per front shock and three per rear shock. Once lock rings are all released AND the car is jacked off the ground and wheels removed and the spring tension is released.... then the front shock body can be grabbed with both hands and spun into or out of the front gold base coupler while that coupler is still attached to the car with the bottom bolt. And the spring perch base rings can be spun and then locked in new positions once you have made the front shock longer or shorter. In the rear you have three lock rings and once they are loose you got more than one way to do it, turn the GOLD sleeve and we can make entire rear section shock assembly longer (and raise the car) or shorter, at least until the gap under the gold sleeve gets to min or max.

[EdW239]

I guess the part I was not understanding was the "wheels removed and spring tension released" . . ..
lol.
the car was jacked off the ground though. I'm not a complete idiot.

I will have to try the "flappy panel" access method.

thanks again, Brian.

[EdW239]

in my defense, I was using the post below as a reference. And I did have weight off the wheel.

Just a note to say that when adjusting the ride height, you don't have to remove the Ohlins lower mount from the car. Just unlock the ring and twist the shock body with the weight off the wheel. You can do this by hand. When you get the correct ride height, then tighten the lock ring against the lower mount. Enjoy!