Ride Height Question (pictures of new parts page 2)
 

Sort of a question, sort of a statement. As I have said before, my car is a full time daily, and I want it to remain decent in ride. I thought at first I would be happy with stock springs and just upgrading everything around them, but now I have gotten very bored with the handling and want more. I don't want full out coil overs or really stiff springs, but figure FM springs are a very good mid point. I also was a fool and "upgraded" my R package Bilstein's to Illumina's. Other mods are chassis stiffening, shortbump stops and FM sways. I will also be getting FCM mounts to go with the FM springs. The question is with the ride height. I see FM says for NA a 12.5'' F and 13'' R on their springs, and the FCM mounts call for an additional 0.5'' drop. Do you think with the said suspension setup on 8'' 6UL's and 225/45's, will I see any rubbing if I don't roll the fenders (which I can do no problem if I need to)? I know Savington does, or used to run around 12'' daily driven. Do you have any input? I've also seen some people running even lower, in the 10.5''-11'' range with no roll (on NB) and had no issues. I don't want to mess up the geometry too much, but I would imagine a 12'' ride wouldn't hurt anything would it?

I'm thinking it will all be fine, but just wanted to see what some of you think, and I know some of you are lower than stock.

just do fcm revalving. I have teins and in hindsight I almost wish I had gone with fcm...but I need to get my car on scales before I decide. His valving shit is incomparable to anything off-the-shelf.

I already looked into that and its just too costly for me. I'm already fairly happy with what the Illumina's and stock Bilstein's offer and just need some springs really. Only doing the mounts for that extra bit of reduction in NVH and claimed improvement of handling/feel.

The 6uls have an offset that doesn't require rolling. I know their 9's do but my friends are low on 8's and no roll was needed

speaking from experience...there is nothing off-the-shelf that's going to make us happy.

For the suspension i'd reccomend the koni's with gc's so you can choose a spring rate that's ddable and still get a good handling car

Well I'm already decently happy with my setup for daily driving, but would like stiffer springs. I will just go with the FM springs (already ordered), FCM mounts, and buy the 949 end links. That will give me a decent setup of Illumina's, FM springs, bump stops, FCM mounts, FM sways and some chassis stiffening. More chassis stiffening on the way soon as well.

What do you have planned for the chassis?

If you want to take an incremental step up that is day-to-day liveable and offers a very nice drop....I'm probably about to sell my Tein S-Tech springs. The FMs are probably a better step up if you plan on autoxing or anything, but I really liked the Teins just for the curvies. I would recommend a decent shock for them. I currently run the AGX with them, and it's just about perfect, but alas I'm ready to go stiffer and will be getting rid of those as well.

If I could go back I would have just gone all out the first time suspension-wise.

Hell...I would have spent my turbo kit money on nice coil-overs if I could go back to January. I love the power...but in a Miata suspension should always come first. I'm trying to catch my brakes and handling up to 200whp levels now. For the first time in 10yrs driving this car I can't drive it at 10/10ths, and I hate it, regardless of how fast it is in a straight line.

Didn't you rebuild your motor like 5 times??? Wanna do the same with your suspension???

I'm on my 4th, yes 4th setup just this year. I'm finally gonna get Konis and some real spring rates.

Atleast you're on the right track with the FCM stops and mounts. I love my stops, and am finally going to get smart and get the mounts as well this time around.

EDIT:

EVERYONE and their stinkin' brother tried to tell me this too...I obviously didn't listen and am not content with my TURBOCHARGED car now.

They say knowledge is learning from your mistakes, and wisdom is learning from the mistakes of others. Be wise, just call Shaikh and let him rape your wallet.

This is really just a "learning" car for me. I would do just about everything I've done differently. Plus if I do get to go into the Air Force, this car will either be sold or sit and waste away. Whenever I can afford to start another Miata, I know what to expect and what route to take to an ideal Miata.

In that case play around. You'll get real fast at swapping shocks. Might as well step up gradually and find out what kind of characteristics you like when really pushing it. May make buying the ultimate setup easier later.

I would spend more money on shocks though. I'm spring rate limited with the AGXs. Had I started with atleast Illuminas I could run anything from stockers to 450/300 GCs

+1 shocks are huge. Illuminas aren't bad but billie's or koni's make a world of difference.

It also sounds like you don't want a money pit and you already bought springs.

Your set up sounds pretty good. I've ridden in a few cars with similar set ups and liked what I felt. I'm glad I went with coil overs though.

Well, I guess I'm going back to the Bilstein's I have laying in my floor, with the FM springs and FCM mounts. It will be easier that was since I can build the assembly, then put them on in one quick job. Though that means buying another set of bump stops. I think going back to the Bilstein's will be a good thing. Everything I have seen says they are better than the Illumina's anyway. Only reason I got the Illumina's in the first place is that I thought the Bilstein's were the cause of my suspension clunk (thought they were blown) but they weren't. Still have the damn clunk. Think this will be a good setup? I'm still not sure about rubbing. If the overall drop is only 1'', I should still have about 1'' gap between tire and fender, add the fact the springs rates are double that of stock, I shouldn't be hitting *crosses fingers*.

Also, does anyone know the shaft diameter of the Bilstein vs. Illumina?

...and, is there such a thing as shock shelf life? I was just playing with my Bilstein's and noticed when I compress them and let them extend back to resting position the shaft has a very very very very very very light film of oil. It seems like over time all of the oil would get out this way. Maybe its just so little it takes the life of the shock (150-200k miles?) for enough of it to escape that you could tell. Mine have 100k on them.

Woohoo!!!

Attachment 204588

Got everything except the set screws, but I think I can scratch some of those up no problem. This is going to make my setup:

-R-package Bilstein's
-FM springs
-FCM shock mounts MCU
-FCM bump stops
-FM sways

Soon to add Emilio's end links. Should make for a decent daily driven setup.

Question. After I torque the top nut on the shock mount, I still have about 1/4'' of slack so the spring is loose and flops around. Is this normal for the FCM mounts with FM springs on Bilstein's? The old mounts required quite a bit of compression to get the top nut pulled up tight with stock springs. The Lower MCU and nut take up a lot of room, plus the springs I assume are shorter since they lower ride height. I should be fine as long as I don't jump any railroad tracks lol.

One thing that you might want to do is what I did when setting my Flex shock body length. Take off the spring, mount the shock with the bumpstop on. Mount the wheel. Put a jack under the A-arm and jack it up until the jack starts lifting the car off of the jackstands. Spin the tire and run the steering wheel lock to lock. You will be able to tell if you have the potential for rubbing. Not alot that you can do about it, but at least you will know if there is a problem and might save tearing up a tire.

I'm surprised that the spring is completely unloaded by 1/4".

Sounds fine. I've got 8" springs and they weren't contacting the top mounts when I torqued the nuts. If I jack up one corner of the car to where it's at full droop, there's some slack space in there. But with the weight of the car on them, it is not a problem and they don't move around at all. Don't worry about it.

It was only the rear. The rear with the shocks fully extended/unloaded, there was about 1/4'' gap between spring and mount/perch. Front however had to be compressed about 1/2'' to get the nut started. Still so much easier than stock where the springs had to be compressed 3''-4'' to get the nut started on the mount. Just emailed Shaikh and he said it was normal. Can't wait to try em out now. Now I just have to get the end links, cause if it was troublesome before, it surely will be now sitting an inch lower.

should have kept illuminas. billsteins without revalve are VERY harsh. illuminas are WAY smoother and still perform great.

Enjoying reading your suspension exploits.

And in for cheap Illuminas...jk.


I've got mine apart in the garage (you should try one, they're great, you don't even have to pick up your tools). I'm using Koni Sports, some pieces of an eGay coilover set, and making the rest. My Konis didn't come with spring perches, so I made a part that fits over the shock, and holds the adjustable perches.

I have much more than 1/4" of free play (~3/4") on my rear springs right now, but I have no idea where that puts ride height due to my low set perches. I am planning a tophat that has a 1" spring retainer on it to keep things together over potholes and Dukes of Hazzard style stunts.

I'm not too worried about it since it will be fine compressed. What I was reading at FCM and m.net last night said not to worry about them moving as long as the springs are stock diameter. The concern comes in when you use 2.5" springs, as they can wander a little more.