whaninoz

I am trying to improve my knowledge of suspension and GEO, i have the basics of GEO and am not looking at how to set up coilovers well.

I understand the way the dampening works, and the ride hight but am unsure about preload. does anyone know of any good descriptions in layman's terms? or guides on how to set up coilovers?


thanks

fluffyninja

Preload = How much compression the springs are under and therefore the higher the preload the less they can compress. Stiffer ride but less travel

whaninoz

thanks for the reply.

I have now adjusted my dampening to 2/3 so if i add more preload the ride should be stiffer but not as hard and bouncy as if the coilovers were on full hardness?

Dembo

There's lots of different ways to achieve dampening, but I like to use a fine water spray. Some say that makes no difference to the ride, but I'm convinced I can feel something.

Preload is the amount of load the springs are under by themselves (i.e. if the car was in the air the springs are still squeezed and would still be trying to pull the suspension apart). If you have 50Kg of preload on a corner, then that means at a load of less than 50Kg, nothing will happen, and it's only when the load exceeds 50Kg the suspension starts moving. As the preload will be less than the normal weight of the car, then most the time it has no effect, and it's only when you're launched off a bump that it's doing something. But I've never quite understood what the actual result is, and I've never read an explanation that made it clear either (including this one).

Ultra_Nexus

Preload will in no way make the car stiffer. Infact, you should have preload set to 0 and adjust suspension height with the actual lugs.

You can adjust height with preload, but it isn't ideal

Kobe

isn't it just suspension travel adjustment..?

the spring stiffness won't change,

as nexus says, if you lower the car then you are not allowing the suspension to work as much.. but then that depends on what sort and size of bumps you intend to drive over..

whaninoz

my car is currently lowered on MeisterR coilovers with the damping set at 22 clicks (out of 32) i have plenty of clearance for bumps but when i go down dips the car can bottom out. will adding more preload help to stop this?

thanks

lovegroova

Well, it will reduce suspension travel so it makes sense, but I suspect it'll result in a worse low speed ride.

Surely the simplest thing to do would be to raise the ride height a little? IIRC the Meister_R let you do this without adjusting preload.

Alternatively, you'll need to set the adjusters for a stiffer ride.

Meister-R have this video on their site http://www.meisterr.com/Site/Tutorial.html

I suggest you speak ti Jerrick at M-R or Dixon, who's now a dealer.

whaninoz

I have had the ride hight higher and it doesn't sit how I want the car too, from looking at that video I think adding preload should sort out my rubbing.

thanks

Dembo

Now I understand how you set the ride height independent of the preload.

I don't see how preload affects your car bottoming out though. If it's bottoming out, your springs are too soft. If it's rubbing, which is an entirely different thing, then it's too low (and perhaps your springs are too soft too).