Hey, I just finished Installing the rest of my suspension setup (Brand new rear shocks, the rest have ~4 thousand miles on them). I have tokico blues with tanabe springs and both single and individual camber adjusters. Although I would like the car to sit lower than this setup offers, I did not want the stiffer ride that coil-overs give (and coil-overs would cost more that what I payed for the car .)

So, my problem is that the rear wheel gap is still kinda high. The front looks ok at about 1/2 to 3/4 an inch but the rear sits at about 1 1/4 inch wheel gap.

My question: is there any way to squeeze another half an inch out of the rears or am I stuck with what I have? Thanks in advance for any help.

Pictures:

Front wheel gap:


Rear wheel gap:

 

You are stuck with what you have unless you buy a different setup

 

Yea only way would be to rice out and cut your springs or something along those lines.. which you don't want to do.

 

Something I didn't think about is that my rear tires need to be replaced, I went outside and did a quick measurement. Almost bald they are ~ 24 inches in diameter, new 225/45's are ~25 inches in diameter and 235/45's are ~ 25.4 inches (this according to tirerack.com) So next week ill go get some new tires and see if it helps at all.

On another note, I heard that cutting "dead" coils off a spring does not affect the spring rates, only the ride height. Is this true? I don't plan on doing it because I may want to sell the springs someday, but It would still be interesting to hear if anyone can confirm it.

I took a picture of what I'm talking about...



On a side note, I see that i spelled possible wrong in the title...

 

Yep! Those are dead coils. You can cut one or a few of them off.

Avoid shortening the spring so much that it becomes loose at full extension of the suspension.

 

If you are going to cut coils (yikes!) only cut half a coil at a time. And make sure to round off the end after the cut. Use a cutting wheel only, not a torch.

However, I suggest you just let the suspension settle a few days first. Mine was kind of high as well but fell as everything worked in.

 

Go have that second cheeseburger at the local fast food restaurant?

But seriously, wait for them to sag. You may not gain your 1/2" but it will come down some.

 

in this case those coils at the top, which are all the way compressed "dead coils" are ok to cut off, that is actually why they are there.

 

Cool learn something new everyday! I thought my car was too high on illuminas with the GF210s but it settled down after a while

 

Yeah you can cut half a coil and see where it leaves you.. I did this before on a different car, while they where on i used a dremel tool with a cut off. you go slow. I forgot how I did it, think i cut most of it then just let it break or something.

 

like it's been said, drive the car for a few miles. Shouldn't take much... maybe 50-100 is how many I used to wait. The springs will get worked in and settle, then you can start taking off dead coils. Make sure the spring stays captive. You can get away with a little gap, but I wouldn't do much. Also keep in mind the lower you go, the further out of ideal shock travel you'll be for the stock style struts.

 

I have about 100 miles since replacing the rear shocks, the springs have been on the car for 4000 miles and there is still a lot of wheel gap. This Tuesday Ill get new tires and see where It sits then. Like I said, I dont plan on cutting them but it is nice to know that thats an option. Thanks for the info.

 

What about different strut mounts? Racing Beat makes some for the front, there may be someone who makes them for the rear.
http://www.racingbeat.com/RX7-1986-1...ion/14000.html