HOT TUNNING COILOVER PROBLEMS

hi guys, i was wondering if anyone has bought the hot tunning coilovers,fitted them and found that one side just will not drop!.
i was out in the workshop battling away til  nearly two in the morning but the soddin car wouldnt come down properly. i left the car with level,but in order to get it level i had to wind the passenger rear spring in  nearly two inches whilst the drivers side is all the way down on the thread!!  WORK THAT OUT!
anbody got any ideas? please? :dontknow:

Mine is the same. Haven't tried to set it up properly, but both sides wound to the lowest on the coilies had the car sitting unevenly at the back. iirc the passenger side rear is higher than the driver's side.

Before I ran out of money and padlocked the garage, I was going to unload both sides of the car and then drop it and see if that sorted things out - thinking that mounting one side with the other loaded could have twisted something.

For info I bolted on Weitec coilvers to my car, with no issues. I am scratching my head why a different model of coilovers would, in themselves, give problems. Were both struts, or each side, the same to start with? Are the bottom spring cups are markedly different heights, to achieve the same car height (amount of lowering) on that side? Is it definitely a level piece of ground, you're measuring things on?

i had no issues when i fitted my set

i've got some kw ones on the hof as well, bought second hand, i had to set them all up the same to get the car level, but the car they came off had the them set nearly 30mm different just to get the car to sit level..

so could be issue with car, as well as coilies???

any weight in one side more than other??

I've got the hot tunning coilovers on my Rivage. I've got no rpoblems with uneven height, but they are STIFF to say the least. I'm contemplating changing the spring to see if I get a better ride quality. Are there any markings on the springs to say what the specs are of each spring?

How do you find this out if they are not marked? :dontknow:

I had the same problem when i first put my coilovers on. One side was wound up about 1-2 inches to keep the car level.  But they settled and are now running perfectly level at the very lowest setting on both sides. they're not hottuing ones but Im told that basically all the cheap coilovers are made by the same company.

Might just be needing to settle?

ross_m said

I had the same problem when i first put my coilovers on but they settled and are now running perfectly level at the very lowest setting

Might just be needing to settle?

My coilovers didn't need to 'settle', in fact I'd say a spring settling is a sign that its wearing/worn out (ie stock springs which sag over time).

There must be some blindingly obvious reason for the height mismatch. After all, the whole point of coilovers is that you can easily and individually set the height of each corner of the car.

They were brand new. Maybe the spring wasnt seated correctly and it just popped back in or something. I doubt it though as its not rocket science to fit them

i fitted mine today and have the same problem! any ideas?

Different spring rates are required front and rear.

New springs do not `settle`. They are either loaded or unloaded unless they hang up on the seat (but thats not 1-2 inches and will pop into place once loaded) Fatigued and worn springs settle by over compressing when loaded.

I may be wrong as I dont know these springs/dampers but it may be that you`ve been supplied with a front/rear spring on the fronts and vice versa ie: a soft and a hard that compress differently when loaded. The fronts will be harder to allow for the greater weight of the engine.

Are the springs all the same overall width ie: will they all sit on the front and rear damper seats? If so then they could have been mixed up in the factory.

The alternative is that you`ve been supplied unmatched springs with different rates.

Worth a thought anyway.

mine went on fine. one side at the back is marginally higher but i'm putting that down to one being up a bit higher than the other. it's only about 3mm diff

have you checked your beam thoroughly? checked for signs of damage or corrosion? as the rear end acts as a torsion bar if this is damaged you will find one side lower.

as to settling, it isn't the spring that settles, it's the damper.  Hence i always bounce the corner a bit after refitting suspension as it will always drop a bit. coilovers tend to drop by only a mm or two as the dampers are stiff. Standard stuff can drop by a centimeter or so.

Did you "activate" the damper before fitting?

you should ALWAYS run the damper through several full strokes by hand before fitting up.  If you haven't then you may have an air lock in the damper. take it for a drive and then check.  This also allows you to check the damper action before fitting so you don't drive with a crap one!

Jon.