bilstEin coilovers on budget
Yea, I agree Joe. But ultimately the shock body length will determine the maximum ride height with a specific tophat. Makes sense though. Do we know if NB Bilstein sports are the same size as the MSM Bilsteins?
I also wondering are the NA Bilstein HDs the same on the miata as the OTS ones?
Anyways, Seems like you should be in the clear for lower than my estimates Urban, assuming the NB Sports are the same size as the MSM Bilsteins.
I also wondering are the NA Bilstein HDs the same on the miata as the OTS ones?
Anyways, Seems like you should be in the clear for lower than my estimates Urban, assuming the NB Sports are the same size as the MSM Bilsteins.
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From: Burlington, VT
Hey Urban,
When you get done, could you post up your complete set up and your impressions of the final suspension?
I'm on a '93 LE with OEM Bilsteins, FCM bumps and mounts and I'm riding lower than I want.
Thanks,
Jim
When you get done, could you post up your complete set up and your impressions of the final suspension?
I'm on a '93 LE with OEM Bilsteins, FCM bumps and mounts and I'm riding lower than I want.
Thanks,
Jim
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And yes, I can attest to the limited suspension travel. I've got a set of FM springs on Bilsteins with FCM bumpstops and NB tophats, and at rest, you can see with the eye just how little "free" travel there is. And that's after I lathed up about 3/4" worth of spacers to raise the lower spring perch up beyond the highest "stock" ring.
A question for the ISC tophat crew- at what point, assuming a damper with a body equal in length to (or perhaps slightly shorter than) an NA-style Bilstein, do you start to run the risk of creating so much free travel that things other than the bumpstop start becoming travel-limiting components? (eg, hard things crashing into one another?)
A question for the ISC tophat crew- at what point, assuming a damper with a body equal in length to (or perhaps slightly shorter than) an NA-style Bilstein, do you start to run the risk of creating so much free travel that things other than the bumpstop start becoming travel-limiting components? (eg, hard things crashing into one another?)
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From: Burlington, VT
Hey Urban,
I can't tell how bad the bushings are on your bilsteins, but you can get new ones direct from bilstein customer support for pretty cheap.
Mine were pretty worn out, so it was a good thing.
Jim
I can't tell how bad the bushings are on your bilsteins, but you can get new ones direct from bilstein customer support for pretty cheap.
Mine were pretty worn out, so it was a good thing.
Jim
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Yeah, I'm just waiting until shocks get here. Shopping for top hats right now.
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I drive 550/350s on stiff valved Konis every day. It's stiff, but not coal cart stiff.
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Nope, ended up getting Summit Racing branded springs since QA1 were not available in 400's at the time of purchase. Decided to stick with same brand springs on all corners and I've also heard that QA1 is the company making these springs for SR.
PS: shocks are here! Planning to get those installed during this week. Decided to try running on OEM NB top hats for the time being. Will change those out for something else if there is not enough shock travel.
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From: Ridgecrest, Ca
Very interested in hearing how these ride. I've been trying to do as much research on shock profiling as I can but what few rules I can find (65% critical damping at 3in/sec; 50/50 bump-rebound) nobody seems to follow. All my info is old though, well before digressive shocks.
Yours are for the street though so that's a completely different requirement.
Thanks for posting all this.
Yours are for the street though so that's a completely different requirement.
Thanks for posting all this.
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Very interested in hearing how these ride. I've been trying to do as much research on shock profiling as I can but what few rules I can find (65% critical damping at 3in/sec; 50/50 bump-rebound) nobody seems to follow. All my info is old though, well before digressive shocks.
Yours are for the street though so that's a completely different requirement.
Thanks for posting all this.
Yours are for the street though so that's a completely different requirement.
Thanks for posting all this.
These were built so I can drive my car the whole week and then take it to a race track on the weekend and kick some butt.
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Well don't think I'm bashing your valving choices. They're more in-line with Xidas and AFCOS than my out of date theories. I'd just like to know why everyone runs so much more rebound than bump.
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It's in! Have to set proper ride height and align it tomorrow. Drove the car back home from the shop and was extremely surprised at how much smoother the car is now even with 550/400 rates. I really like the way this valving feels. Will post a proper review after some spirited canyon driving and a track day.
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Temporary ride height and alignment done. So far I'm extremely impressed.
PS: ride height adjustability is somewhat limited with OEM top hats but I was able to get very close to what I originally wanted to set the height at, even though I'm all the way down on threads on all corners. There is still a somewhat reasonable amount of shock travel left but I'd like to see a bit more.
PS: ride height adjustability is somewhat limited with OEM top hats but I was able to get very close to what I originally wanted to set the height at, even though I'm all the way down on threads on all corners. There is still a somewhat reasonable amount of shock travel left but I'd like to see a bit more.
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Not sure. I just set it up by eye for the time being. Proper height will be set when I go for corner weighting.
Here is a dilema - I'm pretty much all the way down on all corners and if I drive over a small ditch on the road my rear springs get some slack and slam into top hat upon compression. It makes a bit of noise when that happens but otherwise it seems fine. Should I be worried about that?
Here is a dilema - I'm pretty much all the way down on all corners and if I drive over a small ditch on the road my rear springs get some slack and slam into top hat upon compression. It makes a bit of noise when that happens but otherwise it seems fine. Should I be worried about that?
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