I had 7" 550/300 QA1 springs. I had those stupid plastic things installed. For some reason I thought the bump would travel through them, much like the FCM 1/2" spring spacer. I just wasn't thinking.

I rode like ****. So I got 400/250 7" QA1 springs in a massive trade. And put them in yesterday along with NB and ISC racing tophats.

Once removing the shocks, I found that I'm stupid and those insulators were probably why it rode like **** since I had like 1" of rear travel. I then took pictures comparing the difference in travel with and without them.

Then after installing the new 400/250 springs and setting it up for 12.5" F and and 12.75" rear, as seen in the first pic, the rears decided to settle a little and the left rear seems to be coil binding on some heavy bumps.

So I just purchased the Suspension Spring Specialists 8" 250 lb. springs to replace the 7" ones.

get it?

Well I liked the 550/300 setup, I just didn't like the harshness. I did drive on 550/250 after installing the rears and it was already completely better ride so those insulators were ultimately to blame.

The 400/250 drove just as good as I remember the FM springs I had prior, perfectly comfortable on the street yet very competent when I push it. Once I get the new 8" springs in the rear I think I'll finally be done touching that **** for a while.

 

So the 7" 250 QA1s that you had didn't really hold your car up due to coilbind but only on one side, but would have worked well otherwise. I'm guessing with my RL crap I'm not going to be happy with the 7" 250 QA1s either. Ricelands are on their way, just glad I didn't order the rear springs just yet. I'll have to keep researching.

 

Stop ordering cheap *** springs. Ground control ftmfw!
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Granted they were previously used springs, but when I went out and looked again part of my wheel was resting on the curb which was raised so it was compressing the spring on that side a little more. Regardless, there's nothing wrong with QA1 springs, the problem is the length I needed in the rear; both sides will bind as is.

 

I seriously had those springs on my car for two days....looks like QA1s aren't the cheap quality spring we thought they were...sucks *****.

 

The drivers side rear will always be lower due to the increased weight compared to the pass side. Quit playing around with making the adjustments (threads the same) go get some scales and set your cross weight.

 

springs dont tend to sag. there may be some slight inconsistency between individual springs from the same batch, but mostly they will last nearly forever and not settle over time.

 

like i said, my driver side is always .25" lower than the passenger. it was this way when I had FM springs, the 550/300s after the suspension settled and now these.

 

could you please post pictures of comparison with nb/isc top hats?

 

no, because i took none

Driver side settled .25" lower than passenger the pictures I took above, my tire was up on the curb so it wasnt sitting level. I think one main issue is all the weight in my trunk. I have an amp, sub, jack and two stands, torque wrench, metric socket set, few other tools. I do nothing but add weight to my miata, albeit I think I've come to the determination that the 7" 250# is borderline. They compress too much under load and the coils are too close together, but I do have the collars cranked up a bit so it's making it worse.

Without taking measurements to see how much they do compress under load, I'm not sure even with NA tophats theyd be any better, you'd still need to sit low and hope the shock hits before the coils.

Then again, the GC 375/250 (6" front/7" rear) kit that most people run does not have this issue...so who knows what my deal is, gotz to be deez isc tophats.

 

Here's how it looks:

 

Fatten the wife up and make her ride with you.

 

I think when i get my ricelands, i am going to go with a 250# 8 inch, should that solve this problem?

 

This thread reminds me that I have FCM spacers to sell.

 

She weights 108 lbs...It's going to take a lot of chocolate.

 

I'm really not sure, it's probably safer, the CG springs are 7" 250# so I'm unsure why I'm having this issue. It could be a little bit of the weight in my trunk, the ISC tophats with too much travel. When I get back from GA I need to measure how much the springs compress and then pull the weight out of my trunk and see how it compares. I also have some preload on the springs to keep the ride height taller, so that makes the issue worse. Had the springs have no preload before the weight of the car compresses them, it'll probably be fine...This is probably also why FM doesn't reccommend different tophats even with their own springs...

 

Swap the springs left to right so that it's even with you in the car. Lol
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eh, or i install my 8" springs when they come and adjust them evenly once they settle unevenly again.

 

I'm interested in those

 

Doing the math based on what I think the coil thicknesses are. I come up with a sprung weight of 560lbs to that corner.

That's compressing the 7" spring to 4.75"

That leaves me with 1.25" of travel left before bind (assuming 3.5" of the 7" is the coils themselves) 4.75 - 3.5 = 1.25"

The 8" springs, all things being equal, will compress to 5.75" and jack the body height up 1.25" or so. That leaves me with 2.25" of travel before bind. I'll more than likely have to lower the collars in order to decrease the body back to 12.75" so I'll decrease the amount of travel it takes until I hit the bumps.

Will that be enough? dunnozzzzzzz. Am I really gaining travel with the ISC racing tophats? Should I have ordered 9" springs?