Ridetech G Body Rear Coilover Install

[SicMonte]

Great write-up, Doug!

Are you still running the 7.5" rear? Thought I saw that you were in another post.

Couple of quick questions for ridetech based on this:
- Are only 200 lb springs offered for the rear, or are different rate springs also offered?
- The front springs are 900 lbs, correct? Same question for these: Different rate springs offered?
- Based on Doug's pictures of the clearance with 18" wheels, and I right in guessing there may be some fitment issues with a 16" or 17" wheel?


Thanks in advance!

Yes I am still running the 7.5 rear.

And there are different spring rates available but those are the ones we came up with when I gave them my individual corner weights.

My 18's are 10.5 inches wide...I see no issues you would have with a 16" or 17" diameter wheel.

[marolf101x]

Many different spring rates are available. You can see them here (springs are located down the page a ways).:
http://www.ridetech.com/store/coil-overs/
If you don't see the rate you want let us know as we can get them from Hyperco typically in a day or two.

If you want to know what springs to run on your vehicle, you can use our spring rate calculator located here:
http://www.ridetech.com/tech/spring-rate-calculator/

Or you can find a vehicle similar to yours in our vehicle weight database:
http://www.ridetech.com/tech/coiltech-2/

[SSninja]

Y

My 18's are 10.5 inches wide...I see no issues you would have with a 16" or 17" diameter wheel.

Just re-read the topic: Is that .75 of an inch clearance in terms of height and the bracket is inside the wheel, or is it .75" from the edge of the wheel laterally to the bracket and the bracket is under the frame? What's your clearance from the wheel and tire to the frame? Looks pretty tight!

[xxxturbo6]

Doug,

Great information and a great job on this write up! The one thing that I noticed in your pictures, is that the valving adjustment knob located at the top of the shock? How is this for adjusting the knob for rebound?

[BulldawgMusclecars]

I'm doing my own install right now (just a mock up) , and still have the 15s that came on my car...I'll check clearances on those to see if there are any issues.

[Bryce]

Doug,

Great information and a great job on this write up! The one thing that I noticed in your pictures that I never caught before is that the valving adjustment knob is located at the top of the shock. How is this for adjusting the knob for rebound? Putting the adjustment at the top of the shock seems to me it will be VERY hard to make adjustments, especially on a lowered car? Let us know how it is to adjust.

Can you mount the coilover upside down?

[xxxturbo6]

Can you mount the coilover upside down?

I thought of that but then the nut to adjust the ride height will be at the top!!

[SicMonte]

Just re-read the topic: Is that .75 of an inch clearance in terms of height and the bracket is inside the wheel, or is it .75" from the edge of the wheel laterally to the bracket and the bracket is under the frame? What's your clearance from the wheel and tire to the frame? Looks pretty tight!

the bracket sits inside the wheel about .5" and is .75" verticaly away from the rim. My tire sits .5" away from the frame.

[SicMonte]

I thought of that but then the nut to adjust the ride height will be at the top!!

ok ok ok....here's what I know.

The company that manufacture's the shocks (Fox Racing) told me on the phone that they design the shocks to be used with the shock body on top. This reduces unsprung weight and blah blah blah. I went on their website and they do show shocks in that manner, but they also show them with the shock body on the bottom. For what it's worth...the DSE ones have the shock body on the bottom as well.

The ridetech coil overs are designed to have the shock body on the bottom. The stickers line up that way, the pictures online are that way, and the adjusable spanner is on the bottom which makes sense for ride height adjustments. The shock adjuster on top baffles me though. I was given the thumbs up by ridetech to flip the shocks over but I didn't want too since that would puit the adjustable spanner on top which would be a major pain in the butt. I have only adjusted the coil overs on the lift so it was pretty easy. I am thinking with the new upper mounts it will be difficult to adjust these things while it is on the ground but it will be possible.

[marolf101x]

Mounting Shocks "rod end down":
Our shocks (shockwave or Coil Over) are a monotube design. . .so there is oil around the piston and valves and nitrogen nearest the bearing on the body end. There is a dividing piston that keeps the oil and nitrogen separate (so you don't get cavitation as there is no air in the oil).
As the nitrogen is constantly pressurizing the oil the shock does not care which way you mount it.

However, like the points stated above there are a few disadvantages:
-makes it more difficult to adjust ride height as the threaded spring collar will be at the top
-you also have more risk of damaging the shock rod via road debris. If the shock rod becomes "knicked" by a rock or damaged in any way it will destroy the seals in the rod guide (of which there are 3) and the shock will leak (remember the oil inside is under pressure and wants to get out!). The rod is hardened, chromed and polished, so it's VERY durable, but it's another thing to consider.

[johngross]

as ride height is adjusted rarely, I would make a spanner on an extension so that you can adjust height if necessary and then mount so you can adjust shock valving more easily.

[SicMonte]

Mounting Shocks "rod end down":
Our shocks (shockwave or Coil Over) are a monotube design. . .so there is oil around the piston and valves and nitrogen nearest the bearing on the body end. There is a dividing piston that keeps the oil and nitrogen separate (so you don't get cavitation as there is no air in the oil).
As the nitrogen is constantly pressurizing the oil the shock does not care which way you mount it.

However, like the points stated above there are a few disadvantages:
-makes it more difficult to adjust ride height as the threaded spring collar will be at the top
-you also have more risk of damaging the shock rod via road debris. If the shock rod becomes "knicked" by a rock or damaged in any way it will destroy the seals in the rod guide (of which there are 3) and the shock will leak (remember the oil inside is under pressure and wants to get out!). The rod is hardened, chromed and polished, so it's VERY durable, but it's another thing to consider.

Good point on the shock rod getting hit by debris....

[xxxturbo6]

I can only guess that ridetech/Fox designed the shocks with the dampening knob at the top for a reason and I'm sure it's a good one but what would really solve this issue of hard adjustments would be some kind of kit that could be added so that it makes them like a "remote" adjustment via a cable of some sort that attaches to that knob or location. Laying on the ground at all four corners making adjustments when you arrive at a track day and then laying on the ground to turn back those adjustments to head home is hard enough but to have those adjusters at the top of the shock almost makes them impossible to do without jacking up the car just to make the adjustments.

[robert56]

I am working my install of this kit right now. Everything went fine until I tried to mount the lower brackets to my Quick Performance built bolt-in 9" housing. The bracket didn't even come close to fitting. So here's the solution that I came up with. I had these lower shock mounts that I bought from Speedway a few years ago for another project but never used. I bolted them into the existing lower shock mounts and all that I need to do now is drill out the coil-over bushings that ridetech supplied to 5/8" I.D. to go over the shock mount and I should be done. This is much cleaner and a whole lot lighter than the big bracket that ridetech supplied. The Speedway shock mount is in single shear, but we've all seen coil-overs mounted in a similar fashion before without problems, so I think this will be fine.

Rob

[Tony_SS]

Doug, I'd like to see how the final stance looks when you get a chance.

And it rides well? Did you get rid of that nasty hop?

[marolf101x]

There should be 5/8" spacers supplied in the kit.

[robert56]

There should be 5/8" spacers supplied in the kit.

No offense, but I felt lucky to get what I got. There weren't even any instructions in mine. It was missing other washers and nuts too. I won't be able to drill out the spacers that I have till I get back to work on Tuesday, so if you could send a set out that would be great. They would probably fit better than the set that I'm going to rework on the drill press.

[marolf101x]

Take a look at your parts. The Coil Overs (and Shockwaves) ship with both 5/8" bearing spacers as well as 1/2" bearing adapters.
You can see them here:
http://www.ridetech.com/store/bearing-spacer-pack.html

If you did not receive them we can supply them to you.

The instructions for that kit are located here:
http://www.ridetech.com/store/1964-1...ble-clone.html

Please remember, this kit was designed on a stock rear end. Aftermarket rears may have different mounts.

[Rod]

I'm pretty sure these shock mounts are not designed to support the vehicle weight those are soft and only design to hold the shock in place (I could be wrong) but just from the looks of them, there a generic shock support stud, I personally would feel unsafe supporting my entire cars weight on them

I am working my install of this kit right now. Everything went fine until I tried to mount the lower brackets to my Quick Performance built bolt-in 9" housing. The bracket didn't even come close to fitting. So here's the solution that I came up with. I had these lower shock mounts that I bought from Speedway a few years ago for another project but never used. I bolted them into the existing lower shock mounts and all that I need to do now is drill out the coil-over bushings that ridetech supplied to 5/8" I.D. to go over the shock mount and I should be done. This is much cleaner and a whole lot lighter than the big bracket that ridetech supplied. The Speedway shock mount is in single shear, but we've all seen coil-overs mounted in a similar fashion before without problems, so I think this will be fine.

Rob

[robert56]

To be honest, I had the same thoughts when I was considering using the shock stud approach. The suspect metallurgy of the probably Chinese made part left me a little uneasy. So I came up with a better solution this afternoon. I got a couple of 1/2" x 3-1/2" grade 8 bolts and a couple of steel spacers out of the spare parts box. I used the 1/2" I.D. coil-over bushings that ridetech supplied without drilling them out as I had planned. I placed the steel spacers between the bushings and the axle bracket to space the coil spring away from the axle housing. To anyone who decides to replicate this approach, be certain to orient the bolt so that the threaded portion faces the rear of the vehicle as shown. This places any bending forces on the non-threaded portion of the bolt. I jacked the rear tires up about a foot off the ground and dropped the car as fast as the jack would allow 6 times (which should be about as bad as any impact the car should experience on the road) and nothing bent or loosened up, so I think this will be fine. The picture is viewing the bottom coil-over mount from below (from the garage floor).


Britt, I know that the bracket can't be expected to fit anything other than a stock housing - I wasn't implying that there was anything wrong with the design of your bracket. But I do think it could be lighter and less cumbersome.