Roj Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Because you're compressing/expanding (depending which way you go) the spring which changes the height of it. This is how cheaper coilovers change height which is why they can ride really badly with extreme settings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burbleboy Posted June 21, 2015 Author Share Posted June 21, 2015 Because you're compressing/expanding (depending which way you go) the spring which changes the height of it. This is how cheaper coilovers change height which is why they can ride really badly with extreme settings.Exactly. The cheaper ones will make the ride horrific as you can only adjust the height by compressing the spring...meaning there's no real shock absorbtion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krzys Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Yep, you've got it lads! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Hmm. I guess so. It just feels weird because with my old H&R's where the ride height was set by compressing/decompressing the spring, it sat higher the more compressed the spring was. Well either way i've just finished setting the pre-loads, gonna fit the wheels now and then i'll find out what happened! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Well can't really say what happened, since in addition to setting the pre-loads i raised the car by 15mm and changed tires from 17" to 15"... so too many variables! But i did notice one thing: before it was a bit front-heavy. After setting the adjustments now it's a bit tail-heavy, even though i raised and set the pre-load on each corner exactly the same. Maybe it's got something to do with the difference in the strength of springs front/back? Even though there's only a 2kg difference... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeisterR Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 HI Guys, Pre-load can be confusing but I would like to clarify the more preload you add (nothing else changed) the higher you car will be. To measure your preload you need to know the free length of your spring, lets say 200mm (what MeisterR uses on the aerodecks). Out of the box it should have 2mm of preload. The spring length in the coilover unit should measure 198mm. If you add more preload, say 10mm total the spring will measure 190mm and your car height will be higher. The reason being is the weight of the car. Let say with 0mm preload the weight of the car compresses the spring down by 50mm when it is sitting on the road. Also lets say the coilover length is 400mm so with the weight this compresses to 350mm. If you add 10mm preload the spring is compressed to 190mm but the coilover length remains the SAME at 400mm. Then add the weight of the car and this weight needs to act on that preload before it compresses the spring more. So the result will be the spring will still be compressed by 50mm but the coilover length is now at 360mm. These figure are made up as I don't know the weight of the car of the actual length of the coilover unit from the top of my head but the principle is the same. More preload equals more height. Hope that make sense. Edwin 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiNK43 Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Say cheap ones.. me tein super streets only have one adjustable collar. And there pretty decent. The spring has no preload it's really short. But there is a small softer spring that takes up the slack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandler Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 see what I think it would've been is that with the meister R coilovers. say spring is 200mm, you make the preload to 190mm, the shock wont be any longer than it is already because all you have done is to compress the spring more making it a quicker rebound back up to normal height, thus making it slightly harder for the spring to compress.the shorter the spring the quicker it will spring back up thus giving the car a harder and bouncy ride, the compression controls the speed the shock reacts to bumps and how quickly it goes back to its normal state of travel, less compression means the slowly it comes up, more compression the faster it comes up. I've learnt this from being a mountain biker and messing about with my bikes and tuning them up @UnicyclingTom 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burbleboy Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 see what I think it would've been is that with the meister R coilovers.say spring is 200mm, you make the preload to 190mm, the shock wont be any longer than it is already because all you have done is to compress the spring more making it a quicker rebound back up to normal height, thus making it slightly harder for the spring to compress.the shorter the spring the quicker it will spring back up thus giving the car a harder and bouncy ride,the compression controls the speed the shock reacts to bumps and how quickly it goes back to its normal state of travel, less compression means the slowly it comes up, more compression the faster it comes up.I've learnt this from being a mountain biker and messing about with my bikes and tuning them up@UnicyclingTomSee that's how I saw this. I adjusted my preload by 5mm this week and it did indeed raise the ride height. Had to then lower it back 5mm to where it was. Ride is harder and better IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandler Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 fair enough mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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