N00bish Question About Adjustable Suspension...

[ch0pstA~]

Hey all

(R33 GTS-t Series 1, lowered, 19" rims)

I have noticed lately that my right hand side front tyre is rubbing really bad on the wheel arch when i turn sharp or the car is on a slope, it has been doing this for a while but its been really bad the past week.

Now, when i bought the car, the guy said the front suspension is adjustable... i do not know how to tell this!

When looking in the engine bay i obviously have the big cylinder-looking bulges either side where the shocks etc hide inside... and looking at the very top in the middle, theres a little bit sticking out with what looks like a groove for a flat-head screwdriver, and this has a red rubber thing around it with numbers on it, 1, 2, 3, 4 etc, i dont know jack about suspension and was wondering if this is where you adjust it, or something else? And was the guy i boughtthe car off just bull$hitting me when he said it was adjustable?

I was hoping that raising the front by 1cm or so would get rid of my tyre rubbing problem.

Sorry to sound stupid, but its technical ground which i have never crossed before...

[Sick_R31]

ok the only way you can adjust the height on your car is with different springs or coilovers. you might have coilovers on the front of your car but i think you might just have damper adjustable shocks, can you take a pic of the wheel arch with the tyre off and the top of the strut towers in the engine bay. with coilovers they are height and damper adjustable, damper adjustable controls the rebound rate of the shocks which you can set on soft or hard or somewhere in between. here are a few pics to tell if you have coilovers on the front or not. the first pic is the threaded sleeve on the coilovers which adjusts the height. the red circle in the second pic is the damper adjustable control.

[salad]

yep, to find height adjustment, look at the spring seat (the cricular platform that the spring sits on) and see if there is thread there

if there is thread, unlock the locking collar (if there is one) and then wind the spring seat down.

some coilovers dont have height adjustment at the spring seat, but have locking collars underneath and a helper spring though, but still, lower the collars and will lower the car, raise them and it raises the car

[Freddy Kruger]

ill trow in a n00b question too.

if the coilovers are hight adjuable, how do you get eac side the same height? just measture between point on it? or isnt it that simple?

thanks

[AlexCim]

You measure from the gaurd to the centre of the wheel. These are call centre of wheel to gaurd height measurments.

[Kennedy]

ill trow in a n00b question too.

if the coilovers are hight adjuable, how do you get eac side the same height? just measture between point on it? or isnt it that simple?

thanks

Clean teh collar with a rag and make a marking on the collar (with a magic marker) so you know how much you turned the collar. ie you turned teh collar 1/4 of a revolution. Do the same for the opposite shock. It the car was level to begin with, it will be level once lowered more.

[salad]

count the number of threads, or measure from the bottom to the collar, and make sure theyre the same on both sides.

[cjlancer]

Mind if i throw in a noob question too!

If the damper adjustable is on top of the coilovers, how do you adjust the damper rate for the rears?

Are there any other ways instead of taking the coilovers off!

[Ghostrider]

As for damper adjustment.

Am I to understand it starts from left to right.

I have JIC Coilovers and they have the adjustment in the top, driven by an allen key.

So soft is full left and it increases as it's turned clockwise, or is it a hit and miss deal?

[cjlancer]

Sorry maybe i shoulda made my question clearer.

If the damper adjustable is on top of the coilovers, how do get to the top of the suspension for the rears? I cant seem to get to it from the boot as there is the metal chassis around the area.

Is there a way of getting to the damper adjustable knob without taking the suspension off?

[Muz]

Sorry maybe i shoulda made my question clearer.

If the damper adjustable is on top of the coilovers, how do get to the top of the suspension for the rears? I cant seem to get to it from the boot as there is the metal chassis around the area.

Is there a way of getting to the damper adjustable knob without taking the suspension off?

Not all suspension is damper adjustable but those that are commonly have either an adjustable knob down low (near where it bolts on to a lower suspension arm) or on top like your fronts. To access this though (if there are no extensions) you will need to get under the parcel shelf which is where the top of the strut is bolted.

Or if you're really lucky and have the latest electronically adjustable ones that Tein, JIC, Cusco and several others are putting out, just push the button on the control unit.

cheers

[Primordial]

Tip: To adjust the height of your coil-overs (if you have them), the easiest way to turn the collars is with a "C Spanner" (See attachment).

If one didnt come with the car, you can get them from most Motorcycle shops (Most bikes use the same form of adjustment for their suspension)

I tried all sorts of ways adjusting mine (hammer and flat head screwdriver etc).. The C-Spanner will save you heaps of time and energy.