Editor’s Note:
We are thrilled to have James, a professional heavy diesel mechanic with over half a decade of experience in automotive vehicles, share his expertise with our readers. James’s background spans working on light vehicles, performance cars, and currently, public transport buses. His passion for performance cars remains unwavering, and we are excited to have him guide you through the world of coilovers. In this article, James offers valuable tips and tricks to enhance your vehicle’s performance. We hope you find his expert advice both informative and practical.
Installing coilovers can sometimes be tricky, especially for first-timers. But don’t worry—working on mechanical components always comes with a learning curve. Whether you’re struggling with installation, setup, or maintenance of your coilovers, I’ve gathered some useful tips and tricks to help you along the way. These practical tips will guide you through a smooth coilover experience and ensure you’re getting the most out of your setup.
Tip 1: Grab a Buddy!
A friend that is mechanically inclined or a friend who can help out is probably the best tip possible. They act as a second pair of hands, and can be super helpful when dealing with coilover installation! It’s also a great opportunity to introduce your friends to the car scene and/or just spend time with them!
Tip 2: Borrowing Tools
Not all of us want to go out and buy a toolbox packed with tools, as it can cost thousands of dollars! While toolkits are pretty inexpensive nowadays, it might not be in your interest to purchase tools, and that’s okay! You can always borrow a friend’s tools. Just make sure to return your borrowed tools, and make sure to be honest. As a mechanic, we’d be very happy if you owned up about damaging or breaking a tool, rather than lying to us.
Tip 3: Instructions Instructions Instructions!
While instructions and workshop manuals may be annoying to read through (everyone’s guilty of not reading instructions, yours truly included), they carry extremely useful and important information! Workshop manuals for your vehicle can be found online, and are usually free or very cheap! They carry every single detail required to construct your car, including all the torque specs required to hold your vehicle together! Workshop manuals are crucial to getting the job done correctly.
Tip 4: Choose a Performance Shop for Alignment
Most alignment shops will align your vehicle to factory specs. However, a performance shop will allow you to get your alignment set to whatever specs your suspension components can allow. A performance shop can also corner balance your vehicle, which will improve appearances and also handling characteristics. If you don’t have a torque wrench, you can also get an alignment shop to properly torque everything down for you as well!
Tip 5: Keep Coilover Heights Even
When adjusting coilovers, always make sure that each axle is even in measurement. The fronts must match, and the rears must match. This will ensure that your vehicle is perfectly balanced when on the ground, and not tilted on its chassis. (If the rear of your car is a tad bit higher than the fronts, you will get a raked look!)
Tip 6: Start with Maximum Damping
If your coilovers come with damping adjustment, set it to as stiff as possible before your test drive. If it is set to the softest level and your car is extremely low, you may end up scraping the chassis of your vehicle and end up with damage. By starting off with the stiffest adjustment level, you reduce the chances of you damaging your precious car. You can always adjust it later on to match your driving style and environment!
Tip 7: Always do coilovers one axle at a time.
By installing coilovers one axle at a time, you can negate the sway bars effect, and install and adjust the coilovers a lot more easier. While this applies more to the fronts of the car, and depends on the suspension design of the car, it is a tip that I swear by. No one likes to struggle with coilovers!
Tip 8: Keep Your Coilovers Clean
Cleaning coilovers may sound tedious and annoying, but it can be very important and rewarding, as dirty coilovers can decrease your performance and the longevity of your coilover! When cleaning a coilover, you can choose many different methods to clean. Whether you prefer to simply wipe the coilover down, spray it with a garden hose and some basic soaps, or fully detail the coilover using a pressure washer, soap gun, and detailing brushes, make sure to always dry and lubricate the shock absorber piston rod, and if you have it, top hat pillow ball mount afterwards. Lubrication can be done with a quick spray of WD-40!
Tip 9: Consider Coilover Covers
If you aren’t bothered cleaning your coilovers frequently, but still want them to last as long as possible, you can always invest into coilover covers! They are essentially a large sock that covers your coilovers spring and shock body, and it prevents the coilovers from accumulating dirt and road grime!
Tip 10: Social Media!
Social media platforms can help inform you on pretty much anything that relates to coilovers. You can do a quick search up on YouTube and find thousands and thousands of coilover installation guides, and should you need more info, you can even go to a company’s social media page, like Instagram, and look for information there! There are also thousands of automotive content creators on all different types of social media platforms. Like you, they are all car enthusiasts, and would love to help you out! (If you want, you can message me on instagram at “rsty.media”!)
Tip 11: Mind Your Fitment
When you lower your car, your wheel will end up a lot closer to your car’s fender and/or rear quarter panel. Depending on how low you go, you may find that your tyres may rub on your car’s panels! Usually, rolling your fenders will be enough to fix the issue. However, if you have lowered your vehicle super low, you may even be required to pull your fenders out a bit to gain clearance! Fender rolling and pulling should be done by a professional to keep your car looking and feeling good!
Tip 12: Car meets!
What good is the joy of having new coilovers without sharing the news with others! Going to a car meet can widen your perspective on how cars are modified, and how they are lowered. You can go around and ask questions on how people lower their cars and how they set up and adjust their cars without any problem! As long as you keep your negative opinions to yourself and be respectful and responsible, you’ll have a great time!
Working on your car can be a challenging yet rewarding experience. With the right approach, tools, and a bit of help, you can ensure a smoother installation process and maximize the lifespan of your coilovers. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us for support and advice. After all, shared passion is what keeps the car culture alive!
