Hey everyone. I tried to use the search bar to find pictures of how a oem rear coilover setup looked like, but couldn't find any. Is it possible for some people to post up pictures of the oem rear coilover setup. My problem is I went to a shop today to get my fenders rolled and they said whoever installed my coilovers installed the spring on backward. i don't have any pictures of it at the moment. I will post some up as soon as I can though. Any pictures for now would be greatly appreciated. Ohh another question is do we have to use the stock spring mount with the oem rear coilover system? I thought we didn't have to because the adjuster replaces it. Also do we adjust the shock when we lower the rear, because mine has a huge gap between the spring and the body when the car is lifted off the ground. The gap is almost big enough for the spring to just pop out. Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks a lot everyone!!!!

 

sorry guys does anyone know anything on this? Sorry I want to fix this problem as soon as i can sorry!!!

 

every coilover is different

refer to the instructions that came with your coilovers, or contact whomever manufacturs/sells your coilovers

 

The coilovers didn't come with instructions.

 

then move to step 2 of my suggestion

 

oh man, to help you out we really need pics.........

my #assumption is that the *competent tech is probably right about something not being installed right. but Z1 is correct..........some coilover systems utilize the stock spring locations, others dont....they are a complete coilover mounted at the "oem shock" location only and the spring location is just NOT used...arm is still used though.

get us some pics and we can help...people like Z1 have installed tons of them and would most likely know exactly what set up you have with a few GOOD pics and be able to help ya out..

-J

 

Did they come with a BRAND NAME , that might help us out. Or are they just called coilovers?

 

Yeah thanks a lot Jason I will get some pics ASAP!! Ill probably do it right now.

As for the brand SMA

 

never heard of them

why not just call the manufacturer/seller? surely they would (should) know?

 

http://www.smasus.co.kr/e_contact.php

 

thanks for all the response everyone, I will try to post some pics up by tomorrow!!

 

i've been talking to mrfobbyaccent and am also rolling on the sma coilovers. darin from west end installed my coilovers and used the rear rubber cone upper spring mount because w/o it, there would be too much play. the lowest my rear will drop is a 3-finger gap running 265/35-18. in mrfobbyaccent's case, his installer did not include the oem upper spring mount in the rear. he was able to slam his rear, but now has WAY too much play in the rear, which is bad because the spring can and probably will pop out eventually. the sma's quality is really good and my z handles great, but the main problem is that the coilovers dont come with any literature and that the company is based in korea and doesnt have a US branch/headquaters

 

i've been reading other threads and decided im going to try adjusting/shortening the rear damper itself. only the spring seat was adjusted to the maximum lowest setting and the damper was left untouched. (oem type rear)... sh@t!!!! i just got the z corner-balanced and alignment 4 days ago too. gonna be throwing everything outta spec...

this isn't the final setting, i just took a picture of it as soon as Darin put it in. he adjusted the spring seat for maximum drop but still only achieved a 3 finger gap at best. im going try shortening the damper tomorrow.

 

^find someone who knows what their doing, thats not even close to being adjusted for max drop. Second , the gap will also go away if you removed the front tires from the rear of the car.265/35-18 is a front tire size and 1.5inches to short for the rear.

 

read the post, he says it's not the final adjustment on the sleeves. and....this might sound stupid, but "front tire size"? is the Z regulated to what size tires it can and can't run front and rear? maybe that 265/35 is stretched onto something (doubt it, but never know). either way, one thing i learned is that with OEM type systems it seems that the drop is never enough for people expecting to slam their cars. another thing to consider, is to cut that rear spring mount, I've seen people take as much as 1/2" out of it, but remember there's a reason the rear sits a bit higher than the front. either way, it'll all get figured out.

 

Interesting that whomever sold you the coilovers can't walk you through how to install them and/or adjust them. It shouldn't be so hard that 2 people have the same units, one with the rear cone, one without, and neither one of them have the height adjusted correctly.

 

as stupid as it's gonna sound, a three finger gap sounds HIGHER than factory. make sure you're adjusting the collars the right way. i'm only saying this because the first set I ever installed i had the collars on upside down and couldn't figure out for the life of me why they didn't sit lower.

 

i shortened the rear dampers last night and it seem to work. the only problem is that i was able the shorten the damper by about half an inch max. maybe i just ran outta strength haha. gonna keep messing around with it and see what happens

 

That is exactly how mine sits, the spring is just sitting there. I was going to try adjusting the shocks, but i haven't had time to. I am going to try and do the same when I have some time. Thank you soo much.