This past weekend I installed my built coilovers, poly in the control arms and new ball joints. I didn't touch the knuckle/ brake assembly. Since my first drive, I had this scratching noise as if the pads were scraping rust off the rotor- which I thought was normal since the car had been sitting for over a month. It got progressively louder and started squealing VERY loud.

I took some pics of whats going on back there:



Strut is extremely close to the wheel lip



Rubbing a tiny bit.. I guess cause I set it to max negative camber??



Dust shields vs rotor.. What the hell, this area was never touched?



Springs are wearing away the sleeves.

All of this is after 20 miles of driving on max negative camber. Struts are Monroe, springs are AFCO 12" 250lbs adjusted about 15 turns from the bottom.

Why is this thread not in TCZ yet? It so needs to go in there.

quote Originally posted by nitroheadz28: Springs are wearing away the sleeves.

Is the spring centered on the top perch? What is keeping your spring concentric to the strut shaft? It looks like either the spring is flexing inward like this: ) or the spring isn't staying concentric.

quote Originally posted by Jncomutt: Is the spring centered on the top perch? What is keeping your spring concentric to the strut shaft? It looks like either the spring is flexing inward like this: ) or the spring isn't staying concentric.

I do believe it is cause it was on pretty good when I installed it, I'll double check tomorrow to see if theres any wiggle room. I assembled my struts the same way redraif did in his thread:

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/118751.html

quote Originally posted by nitroheadz28: {And yes I'm using a button head screw cause I got the sleeves+ collars used and haven't gotten around to finding an appropriate set screw).

You can find the correct hex head plugs locally. There's a ball and detent spring behind it, very easy to build.

[This message has been edited by L67 (edited 10-15-2011).]

quote Originally posted by L67: You can find the correct hex head plugs locally. There's a ball and detent spring behind it, very easy to build.

Its not in any hardware store I've been to, if anyone has extra then be my guest to help me out lol. I'm a lot more concerned about the spring rubbing the sleeve.

It looks like the spring is larger than the flange on the sleeve nut (if it even has one). I would suggest a rubber with a flange on it to center the spring.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

Custom Fiberglass Parts

quote Originally posted by nitroheadz28: Its not in any hardware store I've been to, if anyone has extra then be my guest to help me out lol. I'm a lot more concerned about the spring rubbing the sleeve.

the ones that came with mine had a rubber plug between the set screw and the sleeve. In the past I have found set screws at Lowe's and Home Depot. in the pull out bins.

quote Originally posted by redraif: I remember in searching that some had a bit of sleeve rubbing, but it was over a LONG period of time. I wonder if the max negative camber is causing the spring to bow more extreme, and there by rubbing? Excuse me if you already said it, but is it rubbing inside (body side) or outside / front or back worse. Are both sides rubbing equally and in the same place? I have not had my car out on the road yet... front end lowering & poly build currently... so I have yet to see if mine has any issues. Before I drive it I'm planning to do a home alignment to at least make the car safe to get to an alignment shop. That and to give me some time to allow the springs to settle in before I get it aligned. i would ahve to do it twice.

Any updates on your car nitroheadz28?


I finally got the front poly done on mine and the frt 1.5 coil removal completed.

The car looks much better all leveled out! I dropped the rear a few more turns and I'm near the 3 finger mark... in the front I'm at about 2.5 fingers...

Scarey thing is even with the alignment like this > < ... the darn car felt better then it ever did, nice and tight!... but I did straighten out the rear toe before I took it on its 20 mile trip.

So that rear floaty feeling I have been plagued with since I got the car was a combo of: blown motor & tranny mounts, dead suspension bushings, and old soft springs. The poly, new solid rubber motor and tranny mounts, 300lb rear & 1.5 coils cut on the front WS6 (stiffest stock) made all the difference! I was SOOO happy when I was driving my little indy again! Dang, I have missed this car! The 300lb spring rate in the rear felt great.




Im planning to check this weekend to see if I have any rubbing issues

[This message has been edited by redraif (edited 10-27-2011).]

quote Originally posted by redraif: I remember in searching that some had a bit of sleeve rubbing, but it was over a LONG period of time. I wonder if the max negative camber is causing the spring to bow more extreme, and there by rubbing? Excuse me if you already said it, but is it rubbing inside (body side) or outside / front or back worse. Are both sides rubbing equally and in the same place? I have not had my car out on the road yet... front end lowering & poly build currently... so I have yet to see if mine has any issues. Before I drive it I'm planning to do a home alignment to at least make the car safe to get to an alignment shop. That and to give me some time to allow the springs to settle in before I get it aligned. i would ahve to do it twice.

Ah whoops I must have completely missed this post. Its rubbing on the outside (facing the wheel well) in about a 30-40mm long patch. Correct both sides have the same exact wear.

I have since gotten 2 alignments, the springs still rub. Will be getting a 3rd alignment tomorrow cause my mechanic didn't understand how to adjust Rodney's ball joints to get the correct camber setting in the front. I'll just leave the springs as is, I'm running 2 5/8" AFCO springs- they are slightly larger than the 2.5" springs most here use so that is probably my issue. I plan on swapping them out when I do my engine swap for a 10" long set. Stupid poly is squeaking in the front a arm- never been exposed to water/ I greased the hell out of em/ only had 200 miles on the conversion . I'll also switch that out for rubber when I do my engine swap, the squeak is annoying as hell!

I checked the car... I have no wear on my sleeves so far. Wonder if it does have to do with the different diameter springs.

You could always make your poly greasable... I did that with all of mine. Here's hoping it keeps the squeeks away

[This message has been edited by redraif (edited 10-28-2011).]

quote Originally posted by redraif: I checked the car... I have no wear on my sleeves so far. Wonder if it does have to do with the different diameter springs. You could always make your poly greasable... I did that with all of mine. Here's hoping it keeps the squeeks away

I know but I was short on time, I really needed the asap car as its my DD. I actually don't want poly after doing more research on it a little while ago. The bushings become torn and destroyed after a few years anyway (depending on usage), I'd rather have rubber for the peace of mind. The sad thing is that I had a complete set of Moog rubber bushings/ sleeves that I sold

quote Originally posted by nitroheadz28: Its rubbing on the outside (facing the wheel well) in about a 30-40mm long patch. Correct both sides have the same exact wear.

I didn't review your install, but have you verified that each item is constrained concentrically? Do you have any sort of locating feature for the spring under the top 'hat' that prevents the spring from walking around? Do you have either a tight fit or the centering O-Rings,etc installed between the strut and sleeve? The spring is either moving around up top or the threaded sleeve is "rocking" back and forth on the base. Its possible the spring is bowing, but I would think these other two situations would be more common.

quote Originally posted by Jncomutt: I didn't review your install, but have you verified that each item is constrained concentrically? Do you have any sort of locating feature for the spring under the top 'hat' that prevents the spring from walking around? Do you have either a tight fit or the centering O-Rings,etc installed between the strut and sleeve? The spring is either moving around up top or the threaded sleeve is "rocking" back and forth on the base. Its possible the spring is bowing, but I would think these other two situations would be more common.

Hmmm... the sleeve wobbling... I did not think of that. that could do it! With my coleman sleeves they had a metal snap ring that was a SUPER tight fit and holds the sleeve PERFECTLY still. Nitroheadz28 did yours have the snap ring?

quote Originally posted by Jncomutt: I didn't review your install, but have you verified that each item is constrained concentrically? Do you have any sort of locating feature for the spring under the top 'hat' that prevents the spring from walking around? Do you have either a tight fit or the centering O-Rings,etc installed between the strut and sleeve? The spring is either moving around up top or the threaded sleeve is "rocking" back and forth on the base. Its possible the spring is bowing, but I would think these other two situations would be more common.

The sleeves arent moving, its siliconed in place lol. I bought everything minus the struts used and it didn't have the snap ring nor could I find one. I believe you asked me this already and I confirmed that the spring doesn't sit concentrically at the bottom. The top is fine, the spring "walks" on the sleeve adjuster ever so slightly, most likely because the adjuster was designed for a 2.5" ID spring.

quote Originally posted by fierohoho: That's it in a nutshell, buying new parts and using the old struts you'll have about $228.00 into this project.

Am i missing something here?

WCF sells these for $220 and saves you the trouble of modding and tracking parts down. What would be the difference in these?

EDIT: found the difference. WCF sleeve is intended to sit on the original spring perch, and use a smaller spring.

I think I prefer Fierohoho's writeup over WCF

[This message has been edited by Shill (edited 03-11-2012).]

quote Originally posted by Shill: Okay, so what is the cone shaped item pictured here for?

It's a top hat. Toss it, find some ricer to sell it to, use it for a paper weight, throw it at unruley neighbors? Lol. really though I wanna say I read here somewhere that someone had big problems using those. Whodeanie sells just the top hats with the needed bushing.

typos...

[This message has been edited by weloveour86se (edited 03-11-2012).]

quote Originally posted by weloveour86se: It's a top hat. Toss it, find some ricer to sell it to, use it for a paper weight, throw it at unruley neighbors? Lol. really though I wanna say I read here somewhere that someone had big problems using those. Whodeanie sells just the top hats with the needed bushing. typos...

Okay, so i won't worry about them then. What is/was their intended purpose?

quote Originally posted by Shill: Okay, so i won't worry about them then. What is/was their intended purpose?

They are to hold the top of the spring in. Somewhere around PFF is a person that used those and it caused the springs to move all around up top. IIRC they actually sheered the cone part. Wish I could find it, sorry.

Think those cones are for hondas or the like I think.

I'm having a heck of a time trying to find what I want. Can someone help me with my search?

I've tried for 5"/7" shock sleeve, coilover, coil-over, etc...

I'm looking for 350lb springs and 7" sleeves. I'd like to eventually be able to lower the car as low as possible and be able to raise it a bit higher than stock during the winter.

[This message has been edited by Shill (edited 03-11-2012).]

quote Originally posted by Shill: I'm having a heck of a time trying to find what I want. Can someone help me with my search? I've tried for 5"/7" shock sleeve, coilover, coil-over, etc... I'm looking for 350lb springs and 7" sleeves. I'd like to eventually be able to lower the car as low as possible and be able to raise it a bit higher than stock during the winter.

Just installed a set of Whodeanies coilovers. 300lb springs with a 2.8. The 350lb spring rate might be too stiff with a 2.8 i think.

Summit has some nice springs, I'm sure there are cheaper ones out there tho. I'ts all about inner and outer diameters of the parts too.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-102-5300/

Heres another link. Second link is cheaper but the springs are junk at 400lbs spring rate. I would use just the sleeves and perches from the second link with the Summit springs and a Whodeanie top hat. Get a new KYB or Monroe strut and cut of the spring perch like shown above in this thread. Walla, coilovers.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-102-5300/

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HON...D6936642566421535533


Shiping costs of each of the parts, time needed to make the mods and good measure for the odd things you will need will add up. It's a worthy cause tho IMHO. Coilovers shoulda been factory I also think. It's that much of an improvement. I cant stress enough how much better my handling is.

Alright, so curious about how the coilovers work for adjustability. When the nut is at the top of the sleeve, the car will be sitting higher, and the bottom will be at its lowest, right? What approximate location on the sleeve will be stock height with a 12" spring as recommended in the OP? right in the middle, top, 3/4 way up?

quote Originally posted by Shill: Alright, so curious about how the coilovers work for adjustability. When the nut is at the top of the sleeve, the car will be sitting higher, and the bottom will be at its lowest, right? What approximate location on the sleeve will be stock height with a 12" spring as recommended in the OP? right in the middle, top, 3/4 way up?

about 1/2 way. heres mine tightened just about 2 turns

quote Originally posted by Shill: Okay, so i won't worry about them then. What is/was their intended purpose?

They go over a shock shaft at the top to hold the spring. They don't work on struts.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

Custom Fiberglass Parts