coilover setup and ride height

[rondo]

I just finished mounting my 3 link in my YJ and making custom mounts for my new 14 coilovers. they spring rates are 250 and 200. I did the setup at full compression + 3/4 inch and set ride height with 3.5 in of shaft showing. this was without coils.

putting the coils on, now my pos sits 4" too high in front?! The place i got these from said this rate would be perfect but now i'm back to having a 1980s monster truck jeep.

i figure i have 2 options: cut off the mounts and refab some new ones to get the ride height i want,

or put smaller coils on. Ben hanks has a 175 coil, but that's it. would taking off the 250 and putting on the 175 do the trick? it'd be more $ but less work but it's a total guess if this would bring the height down that much. I guess the junker is too light.

anyone have experience with this?

 

[chadschoon]

I had 4" of shaft showing when I set mine up and then set the vehicle to the desired height. Built the mounts to that. Mine seemed to work out great. I have 4" showing when completed. Look for a thread called tj overhauling and you can see how mine was done. That kindof sounds like what you said but hey you never know

 

[Milner]

What about using a shorter top coil of the same rate??

 

[Vector OffRoad]

I am sure you have already done this, but have you adjusted the locking nuts at the top of the coilover to the top of the threads on the coilover? If you have already done this, a 25 lb drop in your coil from 200lbs to 175 lbs will not work. However, if you eliminate the 250 lb coil, and put 175 over 200, you would be a lot closer. Will Ben let you try the coil and see if it will get you your desired ride height? A lot of companies will take a coil back within a couple of days if the coil is not scratched.

 

[chadschoon]

if you use a coil your supposed to use the same size spring as the coilover. 16" coilover needs a 16" spring I believe. A 14" needs a 14 but they don't make them so you have to use a 16" springs with a tender spring, or visa versa. Thats what I've been told.

 

[Vector OffRoad]

if you use a coil your supposed to use the same size spring as the coilover. 16" coilover needs a 16" spring I believe. A 14" needs a 14 but they don't make them so you have to use a 16" springs with a tender spring, or visa versa. Thats what I've been told.

You are correct. don't use a shorter 12" spring on a 14" coilover.

 

[rondo]

i've been told a 12 is a bad idea to use with this 14' coilover, but adding a tender spring would help short term.
yes the locking nuts are already sitting at the top without torque on them. the shock is where it is. When i add nitrogen i'm told it'll add an inch, then with driving it'll settle an inch.
but who in town would have some coils on hand that i don't have to order? say 150?

 

[Milner]

There is no problem using a shorter coil on top, as long as the lower coil is the same length as the stroke. This is done regularly just for this reason. In a dual rate setup, the lower has to remain the same or longer then the stroke of the shock so that the coil/slider will not bind/fall off the body of the shock.

 

[Milner]

i've been told a 12 is a bad idea to use with this 14' coilover, but adding a tender spring would help short term.
yes the locking nuts are already sitting at the top without torque on them. the shock is where it is. When i add nitrogen i'm told it'll add an inch, then with driving it'll settle an inch.
but who in town would have some coils on hand that i don't have to order? say 150?

How will a tender help? it will make the ride height higher. Even a small tender full compressed in an 1" tall, thus raising your ride height.
Again, as long as the shorter spring is on top, you will not have a problem.

Edit: Just to clearify, you want 3.5" of shaft showing at ride height, but you have 7.5" showing now, making it 4" high in front, right?

So even if you re-mount the co's with the same springs, you will still have 7.5" of shaft exposed. Your only option is to reduce coil length or spring rate. However, reducing rate enough to drop you 4" will likely make it too soft.

 

[Vector OffRoad]

I don't have any 150's in stock, but I could have some drop shipped to your house by Monday or Tuesday if you ordered them today.

 

[Milner]

a 200/250 gives you a spring rate of about 111lb, 250/150 will give you about 93lb rate.
So, if the 150/250 is too soft (squats too much), you will have to set the inner nuts to stop the slider. At the point that the slider stops, your spring rate will jump to the full 250lbs of the lower spring.

My self and other here have run triple coils a short light tender on top of 50ld or so, it is there only to take up slake and has no real effect on spring rate. then you two main coils to provide you overall spring rate. On my rig I have it set so all but the last 1" over travel uses the combined spring rate. For the last 1" of travel, the slider is blocked and the rate jumps to the full rate of the lower coil. This acts as a psuedo bump stop and helps slow things before they bottom. Air bumps are better, but....

 

[ROCKRUNNER]

The coils Ron has are 14" 200 over 14" 250 he currently has 6.5" of up travel if he puts on a softer spring rate (175/200) he will surely bottom out and will only have about 3" of up travel. The Ideal thing would be to change the mounts. The other option is run a shorter coil on top (same spring rate), but he would need a tender coil to keep the springs from slopping around under full droop. If the jeep is 4" high and has 6.5" of up travel now that would put the jeep at ride height with only 2.5" of up travel and for a trail rig that would'nt be fun. So changing the mounts to make up that room would be more desirable.

 

[rondo]

I've taken everyones advice and will change the mount. leave the coils as are as i'm convinced now not to lower the spring rate more than it is.
i've been schooled on coilovers.
thanks to those that replied and props to Seth at Rock Logic for coming by the house to see what's up. Talk about customer service

 

[Anchor_Mtn]

On my 16" SAW coilovers I used a lower coil that was equal to the stroke of the shock(16", 250lbs) and a 12", 200lbs upper coil with a tender coil. I have 5" of shaft showing and I can still lower my rig another inch via the top adjusters. It all works great.