VIP - its so hot right now, UCF21 build

[TMA-1]

So you have 10kg springs in the rear instead of the 14kg? I would think that would be the other way around?

Sorry, wasn't clear about that, my coils were custom valved for 14k/10k. I was just saying that the coils with the 10k springs were in the rear.

[E30LIFE]

Take a picture of your where your real coilover is. You probably still have pre-load.

[TMA-1]

Take a picture of your where your real coilover is. You probably still have pre-load.

Not sure what you mean by "real coilover", heres a pic of what it looks like?



I'm assuming if theres preload its only a little, I can rotate the spring in the perch with only a little resistance

[2GRX7]

He meant, "rear coilover"....

Usually, when you set up coilovers, you go with a higher rate spring in the rear-14kg in your example, with 10kg in the front. This creates a car with over-steer tendencies (back-end gets loose before front end). It also provides a more forgiving ride as the front suspension is the brunt of what we feel when driving along. Then again, you could have a sh't-ton of weight over the front axles to deal with, so the spring will keep you from bottoming....

And, yeah, your coilovers in that pic are set at the HIGHEST position!!! You've got, at least, 4inches of drop in front of you.

1st, loosen that lower gold collar (last one on bottom) and crank down the threaded damper body until it stops in the damper housing, then turn up the springs' collar until it stops turning, or until it gets to the top of the threaded body. From there, you can figure out ride height and fender stretch needed. Since the damper cannot be turned down any further, you'll just be using the spring to adjust height. This also will allow for more damping range than if you left that treaded damper sitting all high.

Go over to Megan Racings website and get yourself versed on coilover basics. They've got a great tech section for beginners.

[TMA-1]

And, yeah, your coilovers in that pic are set at the HIGHEST position!!! You've got, at least, 4inches of drop in front of you.

Thats what I'm saying, I've threaded the shock body CLOCKWISE into the lower shock mount as far as it can go. The picture is right after I did this, when I first started the coilover was actually longer. If I were raising the car/lengthening the coilover technically I would never get to a stopping point it would just keep going until they separated and became two pieces.

I'm tempted tomorrow after work to yank one coilover off and mess with it to make sure.

[Thom]

Doesnt seem right...... They seem long as feck....

[2GRX7]

OK, then the next thing you've got to do is remove the damper inset leaving the lower collar in place (to use as a depth marker). Place the insert next to the damper housing to see if there's still some length to turn down the insert (sometimes crap gets between the treads).

If it doesn't, that usually means they substituted the insert with one that "comes close" to your application (cause they're not vehicle matched). You're gonna have to send it back and get a proper insert.

Looking at that pic you have, it seems like your issue.

[TMA-1]

Took one off and left the collar where it was and unscrewed the lower shock mount, definitely bottomed out.



So now they either sent me the wrong damper or like someone mentioned in another thread it could just be the jackstand up front taking most of the weight off the back. Not sure if I believe that but will def find out tomorrow.

[aeok18109]

seems to me you are doing something wrong sir. i have the BC BR extreme drop with 16/12 springs in it. i could lay frame if i wanted to easily with these coils and then some.

[TMA-1]

seems to me you are doing something wrong sir. i have the BC BR extreme drop with 16/12 springs in it. i could lay frame if i wanted to easily with these coils and then some.

I don't see how I could be doing anything wrong, they're spun down as far as they can go. Besides you really can't compare with mine, I have the regular BR vs your extreme drop version.

Although I am curious to see how yours will ride compared to mine, 14/10 vs 16/12 spring rate was a long battle in my mind of what to choose, ultimately went with 14/10.

Also you've been PM'ed!

[Thom]

Take it off stands and see where it sits. But they seem overly long haha.

[Anonymoose]

You can droop the spring with the upper collars to get lower but be mindful of the shock travel you have left. I asked BC about this when mine were delivered and they didn't really believe me that the rear drop wouldn't be proportional to the front, but yeah they are long but so is the distance between the hub and strut tower.

[TMA-1]

I figured thats what I'd have to do. This is the first set of coils I've had where the height is separate from preload, all the other VW coils I've owned thats how you set the height so I'm not too worried. These coils and my FK's can't be that far different.

Down the road I may score some shorter springs to get the preload back correctly if setting the car completely back on the ground with all the weight doesn't solve it.

[TMA-1]

So yesterday was a day filled with great joy and immense frustration.

Got Jimmy over to roll the fenders, if you're in the ATL area this is who to go to. Really cool guy and he definitely knows his stuff, would recommend to anybody https://www.facebook.com/VipFenderRolling



Took the car all the way to the ground and the rear stayed where it was, only way to get it lower was to remove the preload and droop the spring. Ended up having to max out the factory camber to get it to work, here it is after the roll and on the ground



Ordered some Megan Racing camber and toe arms to get everything sitting right. Gonna need to dial in a little more camber to get enough fender clearance to get the toe correct.

After that we proceeded to the fronts and got those knocked out, than FINALLY had everything back together and on the ground ready for the test drive. This was the first time I got to look at my car after all the hard work and I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty giddy and couldn't wait to take it out.



This is also the point where it went downhill...

Hopped in, put it into R and not two seconds later a metal on concrete sound. After some searching found out the exhaust is hitting my garage and not letting me pull out. Luckily my roommate has a ton of wood in the basement.



After close to an HOUR we finally get her out of the garage and onto the street after many failed ramp designs. The entire time the exhaust is scraping on the ground, so the test drive basically lasts to down the street because of the racket its making.



Needless to say I'm a little frustrated at having a car that looks AMAZING that I CAN'T DRIVE. Even if I raised the front up some it still won't clear the garage without me going 4x4 on it.

Some pics of it from today and how it looks, I got it sittin on some wood so I can get the stock jack under it.











Here's a pic of the exhaust, not much clearance and thats with it sitting on an inch of wood so it just looks like that elbow is constantly scrubbing the ground.



Also my chrome B pillars came in and 3 out of the 4 showed up cracked from shipping so thats cool. For now I'm gonna stop working on the car for a little while, been goin at it straight for almost 3 weeks.

Plans:
- raise car up and throw stockies back on for now so hopefully I can at least get it out of the garage and drive it
- get the exhaust tucked
- go with original plan of running a 40 series up front which will give me, according to a wheel calculator, an extra inch of clearance hopefully
- get some more front camber

Now everytime the garage door opens it mocks me, haha

[Thom]

New tire and get the exhaust tucked. LOOKS SO GOOD THO! Good job!!