Car is too low
 

I recently installed the Koni yellow and racing beat lowering springs. The car is too low, and when I turn a corner the exhaust/downpipe touches the road. Do I need to replace the springs with ones that do not lower, or is there an easier way? Also, if springs must be replaced, what is my best alternative?

Thanks all!

Coilovers are your best bet if you need to dial in your height, of course. How low are you? What's the measurement from center of hub to fender (standard Miata ride height measurement IIRC)?

Is it possible your exhaust/dp are simply not high enough? ;)

You might want to look into $50 ebay coilover springs that come with collars. They're like $50 shipped and the collars will allow you to adjust your ride height.
Otherwise I don't know what the prob could be, haven't done suspension yet.

replace your exhaust hangers.

or stop going over shit

new exhaust hangers work magic...what perch are the konis on? the highest?

I'm on the top perch, old FM springs, and FCM mounts...I'm low as shit...like 11.5 /11.75

miatamania, I used new FM springs on Bilsteins and FCM mounts. Lowered the car a bit too much- scraping the exhaust over speed bumps even at .001 MPH.

My Bilsteins use a similar spring perch as your Konis, IIRC. For my setup, I got a piece of Sch80 aluminum pipe with an ID just slightly smaller than the shock body. Cut some spacers out of it about .8" in length, used the lathe to bore out the inside so they'd slide over the shock bodies, and cut a step inside one end to fit over the retaining clip on the shock body. So the spacer goes on the shock, then the spring perch sits on the spacer.

Much cheaper than buying coilover perches and new springs.

However, keinayo, those RB springs are waaaaay too soft. Since you need new springs anyway, consider buying a set of FCM coilovers and 2.5" springs, along with some shorter bumpstops:
http://www.fatcatmotorsports.com/FCM...i.htm#Koni_2_5

I'd suggest at least 300 lb/in front, 200 rear, maybe 350/250.

Talk to Shaikh at FCM. Call him by phone - 408.221.8247 - timely replies to email isn't his strong suite. Seriously, very knowledgable guy, no BS, tell him what you've got to work with and what you want to accomplish, and he'll steer you right. Also, tell him I told you that he still owes me a beer.

I found the opposite with Shaikh, he was very timely with my transaction.

What size are the hangers? I am in dire need of new exhaust hangers but don't know what size is needed.

what perch are the springs on?

I used a set of "shaft collars" from www.kamandirect.com on my Koni's to give the car a bit more lift. There are pics here:

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/321709/6

This got me by until I switched to a set of Ground Controls. I think they were around $10-12EA. To get a reasonable "rake", I think I had the Koni's set to the middle perch at the front, and top perch at the rear.

Cheers!

Jeff

It depends if you get him when he gets parts in...or has to have a new batch made...or is racing the tour that weekend etc...etc. He was always pretty quick with my stuff and knowledgeable as shit.



JP: I've thought about doing something like that, but I'm looking into GCs sometime soon, hopefully that will give me just enough space I'm looking for (I only need half an inch or so).

RB springs = The suck. Had a set for about 1 week, sold them for more than they cost brand new to a ricer on ebay that said they were the best looking mod he'd ever done on his car... he didn't mention if he was also driving on the bump stops or not.

I REALLY like the feel of my yellow Konis and stock springs on my wife's SC'd 91. I was always scraping on everything (dead squirrles, etc) and it was really getting annoying. I tooks some measurements and found that the FL corner was 1.75" lower than the RR corner. It's strange that I had never noticed that before <G>. I'm thinking the 100K springs were a little worn. Anyway, all 4 Konis were set on the lowest perch. I raised the FL to the upper perch and the FR to the middle perch. The car is much more level now and that made all the difference in the world on scraping stuff.

My point is:
- swap to stock springs, it is a proven (by many) nice ride with Koni shocks and you will probably find many FREE sets out there
- use the adjustable perches and level the car a bit

Thanks all for great advice!

i was too low with stock springs with konis on the bottom perch, now with FM springs on the top perch they sit much higher.

I think if your exhaust is the lowest thing on your car you may want to get that fixed first.

did the guy say which perch he was on his koni's? quite a bit of diff between top and bottom, eh?