My coilovers needed about half an inch of pre load on the fronts to ride comfortably and be effective. Never understood why manufacturers recommend around 6-8mm. I Feel like every application is different
Yeah, every setup is a little different. Factory recommendations are a good starting point, but real-world tuning always comes down to personal preference and what works best for your car.
Yes, you can adjust the preload on a coilover with it installed, but it depends on the design of your coilovers and how easily accessible the adjustment collars are. Raise the car just enough to take some weight off the suspension. Make sure the coilover isn't under full load. If the collars are hard to access or the spring is difficult to adjust in place, you may need to remove the coilover.
What if. Having 3 inches of play in the spring gets weight on it and it gets compressed and loses the play and has roughly 7mm of preload? Like, I’ll jack the car up in the air, weight gets taken off and there’s a bunch of slack in the spring, and then when I lowered it back down the weight compresses the spring all the way down to 7mm of preload without ever tightening down the spring, if I were to preload it on the bench to 7mm, would it then be too stiff?
Good video man! I have adjust my right height before, lowered and raised depending on season. But this last time when I went to lower it, I turned it to lower it like I've done before but this time it felt like it maxed out and couldn't go lower. When I took the car off the jacks the car doesn't seem lowered. Doesn't seem like it dropped height. This was just for the fronts. Any idea why??
I've encountered two different issues in the past. On the Miata, the coilover was bent, which prevented us from adjusting it all the way to the bottom. Meanwhile, on the 370Z, the coilovers were extremely difficult to adjust. I ended up spraying them with WD-40, which helped significantly. Hope this helps
@dpz1985dp Yes, preload can affect the ride height on coilovers, but its impact depends on how the coilovers are designed and adjusted.For simpler coilovers, adjusting preload by raising or lowering the spring perch also changes the ride height because it directly alters the spring's position relative to the shock body.Reducing preload allows the spring to decompress slightly, potentially lowering the ride height. But again this all depends on the design you have.
what if your car is weighed 60/40 front / back? do you leave the preload the same? what if the spring rates are different front and back? do you leave the preload the same? what if your coilover is mounted to the trailing arm not the wheel hub so it acts on a lever arm do you adjust for that?
Alright, so let me start by saying, I’m just a guy on TH-cam sharing what I’ve learned, so definitely double-check everything I’m about to say! Suspension setup can get pretty technical, and there’s always more to learn. These are great questions involving suspension setup and how preload, spring rates, and mounting points affect a car's handling and performance. Let’s break it down piece by piece Ideally, preload settings should account for the weight distribution. The goal is to balance the car and ensure the suspension operates in its optimal range. If you leave the preload the same on all four corners, the heavier front end will compress the springs more, potentially lowering the front ride height compared to the rear. Preload doesn’t change the spring rate but affects how much initial load is applied to the spring before it starts compressing. If the front and rear spring rates are different, you generally do not set preload the same because the stiffness difference changes how preload affects ride height and weight transfer. If the coilover is mounted on a trailing arm or a location other than the wheel hub, it experiences a lever effect. This changes the effective spring rate due to the leverage ratio. For example, if the mounting point is closer to the pivot point of the trailing arm, the spring needs to exert more force to counteract the load at the wheel. To deal with this, you might need a stiffer spring or to adjust the preload to compensate. Suspension tuning is part science, part trial and error. Always test your changes and make sure the car feels stable and predictable. And like I said earlier, double-check everything I’ve said here! Suspension setup is a deep topic, and it’s always worth doing your homework to get it just right. let me know how it works out in the comments!
Really nicely explained, thanks. This is exactly the information I was looking for.
You're welcome, I'm glad you find it useful
My coilovers needed about half an inch of pre load on the fronts to ride comfortably and be effective. Never understood why manufacturers recommend around 6-8mm. I Feel like every application is different
Yeah, every setup is a little different. Factory recommendations are a good starting point, but real-world tuning always comes down to personal preference and what works best for your car.
Great video. I need to adjust the front coilover preload, can I do that with the coilover installed ? Thanks.
Yes, you can adjust the preload on a coilover with it installed, but it depends on the design of your coilovers and how easily accessible the adjustment collars are.
Raise the car just enough to take some weight off the suspension. Make sure the coilover isn't under full load. If the collars are hard to access or the spring is difficult to adjust in place, you may need to remove the coilover.
@@Prolbuilds I'm running Ksport kontrol pro. Thanks for the info.
What if. Having 3 inches of play in the spring gets weight on it and it gets compressed and loses the play and has roughly 7mm of preload? Like, I’ll jack the car up in the air, weight gets taken off and there’s a bunch of slack in the spring, and then when I lowered it back down the weight compresses the spring all the way down to 7mm of preload without ever tightening down the spring, if I were to preload it on the bench to 7mm, would it then be too stiff?
Yes, this effectively raises the ride height and stiffens the initial response of the suspension.
Good video man! I have adjust my right height before, lowered and raised depending on season. But this last time when I went to lower it, I turned it to lower it like I've done before but this time it felt like it maxed out and couldn't go lower. When I took the car off the jacks the car doesn't seem lowered. Doesn't seem like it dropped height. This was just for the fronts. Any idea why??
I've encountered two different issues in the past. On the Miata, the coilover was bent, which prevented us from adjusting it all the way to the bottom. Meanwhile, on the 370Z, the coilovers were extremely difficult to adjust. I ended up spraying them with WD-40, which helped significantly.
Hope this helps
@@Prolbuilds I tried the wd40 but didn't help. And it was weird bc it happened on both front coils. Canthe pre load setting maybe causing this?
@dpz1985dp Yes, preload can affect the ride height on coilovers, but its impact depends on how the coilovers are designed and adjusted.For simpler coilovers, adjusting preload by raising or lowering the spring perch also changes the ride height because it directly alters the spring's position relative to the shock body.Reducing preload allows the spring to decompress slightly, potentially lowering the ride height. But again this all depends on the design you have.
@@Prolbuilds that makes perfect sense. I will try that today and adjust preload. Thank you for your help!
what if your car is weighed 60/40 front / back? do you leave the preload the same?
what if the spring rates are different front and back? do you leave the preload the same?
what if your coilover is mounted to the trailing arm not the wheel hub so it acts on a lever arm do you adjust for that?
Alright, so let me start by saying, I’m just a guy on TH-cam sharing what I’ve learned, so definitely double-check everything I’m about to say! Suspension setup can get pretty technical, and there’s always more to learn.
These are great questions involving suspension setup and how preload, spring rates, and mounting points affect a car's handling and performance. Let’s break it down piece by piece
Ideally, preload settings should account for the weight distribution. The goal is to balance the car and ensure the suspension operates in its optimal range.
If you leave the preload the same on all four corners, the heavier front end will compress the springs more, potentially lowering the front ride height compared to the rear.
Preload doesn’t change the spring rate but affects how much initial load is applied to the spring before it starts compressing.
If the front and rear spring rates are different, you generally do not set preload the same because the stiffness difference changes how preload affects ride height and weight transfer.
If the coilover is mounted on a trailing arm or a location other than the wheel hub, it experiences a lever effect. This changes the effective spring rate due to the leverage ratio.
For example, if the mounting point is closer to the pivot point of the trailing arm, the spring needs to exert more force to counteract the load at the wheel. To deal with this, you might need a stiffer spring or to adjust the preload to compensate.
Suspension tuning is part science, part trial and error. Always test your changes and make sure the car feels stable and predictable.
And like I said earlier, double-check everything I’ve said here! Suspension setup is a deep topic, and it’s always worth doing your homework to get it just right. let me know how it works out in the comments!
What is the purpose of preload?
Proper preload ensures that the springs maintain tension and do not become loose during operation.
Also, adjusting preload can influence weight distribution and handling
If not your spring will be loose if you just don’t set preload