Those with Ground Control coilovers ..

[Rush]

I've had mine on my MSP for about a year and a half. A friend of mine installed both the GC's and a set of Tokico Illumina adjustable struts -- and he did a great job, so I've never done much tinkering with the suspension since then.

But now (don't ask me why, just a sudden hankering) I recently said to myself -- oh, what the hell, let's try lowering the car a little more. So I whipped out my handy little allen wrench thing to adjust the coilovers ..

.. only to discover that in the front, they CAN'T go any lower. Which made me go, WTF? I know that they're supposed to be capable of a drop greater than what I have now, which is probably around 2".

So I did some looking around .. and came across this thread.

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56125

Granted, it isn't about GC's -- but it is about another similar type of coilover sleeve. The section that caught my attention:


When I had the Tom's installed, I did not upgrade my shocks, struts, or anything. It was just a straight swap of the springs. After they were installed, the back could be adjusted beautifully. Anywhere from OEM height to a 4" drop. The front however, would only drop about 1.5" and could actually be raised far higher than OEM height. I later found out that the reason is because all 4 springs have the same spring rate. Others that have the Tom's coilovers replaced their shocks and all 4 corners dropped beautifully (adjustable between 0 - 4" drop).

Another work around is to actually lower the perches at the front. This is supposed to be a pretty easy adjustment and would work just as well, but I didn't know about this solution until I had already ordered the Teins. You could do this yourself, or any suspension shop could do it for you for a pretty reasonable price.

I've heard of people with Skunk2 coilovers on P5s having the same problem and have been able to solve it with either of the 2 solutions mentioned above.
Now, excuse my ignorance .. but how do I go about fixing this for my situation? Is there some way I can adjust my struts? And I have no clue what's meant by 'lowering the perches'.

.. Help?

[njaremka]

well, i believe the ground control use standard eibach ERS springs, so you should be able to just swap the fronts out for a set of the same rate, but a little bit shorter. that will get you where you want to go. BUT, you might want to remove the springs, re-install everything, and see how much travel you actually have in the front. the travel of the front struts might be limiting the drop. (the strut could be bottoming out before reaching the drop that you want)

[hollar1211]

this is some good info since i'll be installing some gc's soon.

rush - you may be able to gain (lower) an extra 1/2" up front by removing the ring that the spring sits on and allowing to spring to rest on the perch.

[livelyjay]

Now, excuse my ignorance .. but how do I go about fixing this for my situation? Is there some way I can adjust my struts? And I have no clue what's meant by 'lowering the perches'.

.. Help?
How were the sleeves originally installed? If they were plopped right on top of the original spring perches, which is what lazy installers do, then I have a solution for you but you're probably not going to like it.

When people who know what they are doing install GC coilovers, they cut the spring perch (where the stock springs would sit) off of the OEM style strut. A ring would then be welded onto the strut housing, on which the GC sleeve would rest (the sleeve has a lip on one end of it). This would allow you to drop much lower then normal and get the full range claimed by GC (which I think is 3" max).

[livelyjay]

The lazy/quick way of installing GC coilovers (http://www.ae92gts.com/ae92gts_ut_gc3.html): does not yield full drop capability.
Proper way of installing GC coilovers (http://z31.com/mods/coilover.shtml): yields full drop capability.

[DiscreetSpeed]

Word ^^^
I think what was meant to be said was "lowering the sleeve"

[livelyjay]

Oh Rush, another way you could resolve this issue is getting shorter springs. GC uses a standard Eibach spring that you can get in pretty much any spring rate and spring height you want. So say for instance you want to drop down another inch. Measure you current springs (unloaded length) and order a new set with the same spring rate, but an inch shorter.

[njaremka]

The lazy/quick way of installing GC coilovers (http://www.ae92gts.com/ae92gts_ut_gc3.html): does not yield full drop capability.
Proper way of installing GC coilovers (http://z31.com/mods/coilover.shtml): yields full drop capability.

problem with those instructions is they are NOT protege specific. why get less expensive coil-overs just to do a full strut rebuild on them. (unless you have an AE86 and thats what you NEED to do)


Oh Rush, another way you could resolve this issue is getting shorter springs. GC uses a standard Eibach spring that you can get in pretty much any spring rate and spring height you want. So say for instance you want to drop down another inch. Measure you current springs (unloaded length) and order a new set with the same spring rate, but an inch shorter.

isnt that what i said to begin with?

[Rush]

Great information, guys! Thanks!

I don't have time to actually sit and thoroughly read all of it now -- gotta be off to work -- but I definitely will when I get home tonight.

If I do decide to order different springs from Eibach, how would I go about ordering just TWO springs? I assume Eibach sells springs individually?

[njaremka]

you should be able to get them from summitt racing, or somewhere similar. i think ground control will also order them for you. you just have to ask.