Did You Preload Your Bc Racing Coilovers?

[604JD]

I got my set today for my R34 GTT, checked to make sure everything wasn't loose and so on.

Did some researching and I find some people (not necessarily skyline owners) will pre-load their springs? If you have done this, is it necessary or is it one of those adjustments you can make if you dont like the ride quality it has out of the box?

Thanks

[V28VX37]

I'm pretty sure the preload is set to the standard (4mm-ish?) from factory. If not, here's how to do it:

I did this when I replaced one of my rear inserts and it doesn't feel any different to the other side so assuming I did it right

[604JD]

My only concern they are not preloaded from the factory is that even though the springs are snug I can still twist all of them. If the springs were actually preloaded they shouldnt move at all since the 4mm preload would not allow any movement.

[warps]

The only thing to worry about is the spring popping out of its seat under full droop. Even if there is a mm or 2 of clearance on the unloaded coilover it won't matter. There is no need to preload them. The only time this will make any difference is with the wheel off the ground, and as I said before, only of the spring can move so much is drops off its seat.

If you can rotate the springs then this isn't normally an issue.

Preloading the springs the way shown in the video above will affect the ride height of the car. Normally a few mm won't hurt as long as the ride height is pretty close to right (ie springs, coilovers etc are matched). A far more important issue is to ensure they are even from left to right. This is best achieved by corner weighting the car. This can have a much bigger effect on handling than whether the springs are captive.

[GTRPSI]

Preloaded springs have the preload adjustment and ride height adjustment seperate.

A few mm of preload is needed so on full stretch the spring is still under tension and not loose, if loose it could come of its seat and be noisy when going over bumps.

Ride height is a seperate adjustment on better brands of coilovers.

On the other hand cheap coilovers only have 1 adjustment, if running the car seriously low, when you jack it up the spring just sits there free and loose, this is not such a good thing.

[V28VX37]

A few mm of preload is needed so on full stretch the spring is still under tension and not loose, if loose it could come of its seat and be noisy when going over bumps.

Correct.

Ride height is a seperate adjustment on better brands of coilovers.

On the other hand cheap coilovers only have 1 adjustment, if running the car seriously low, when you jack it up the spring just sits there free and loose, this is not such a good thing.

BC BRs have both: two lock rings below the spring for preload and a third one further down against the bottom mount for ride height. In fact, I haven't seen a modern coilover that would have 1 adjustment only.