What's the big deal with leaving the brake line loose? If it's rubs, wrap it in a few inches of rubber hose.

For the rear ride height, you should be able to go lower if you lower the spring perch. It may have a little slack at full extension, but that's no big deal. "Pre load" isn't really a necessary adjustment.

 

^^Yes, for example, I got Mazdatrix brake lines and they are clear coated

 

On other cars at least, found you get a torsional twist on the line as the steering goes side to side - and nice little stainless steel hypodermics form where they enter a fitting....although some say it's caused by whipping.

I've seen some nice clamp on ones advertised somewhere - and of course, can't find them now I need them too - for a different suspension.

 

To leave more room for lowering, wouldn't we have to add preload to the springs? And if so, that might cause an issue of coil bind depending on how much preload is added.

 

You have to be kidding me, right? "if it rubs??!!??" Why in the world would anyone want that to happen in the first place? I've not seen one car that did not have brake lines secured, out of the way of moving components like suspension arms and the shock body itself. Especially for anyone with stainless steel lines, that will abrade the hell out of that beautiful billet aluminum shock you just paid good $$$ for. Even with rubber lines or ones wrapped up, you don't want that line contacting anything... it's a safety critical part!! Keep it out of the way.

And about lowering the spring perch and having slack at full extension, you NEVER want that to happen. What do you think happens when the suspension is unloaded? The spring will vibrate in place and bang against the shock tower mount and/or lower spring perch, since it has room to extend, that is very dangerous and will destabilize the hell out of your rear end... (EDIT) not to mention rattling.

 

The brake line issue is only as complicated as you make it. I plan on wrapping a section of it near the coilover with a rubber sleeve. Two thick zip ties will secure the rest.

 

If you have sway bars the spring will never unseat, unless you jump the car or jack it up.

 

I haven't put stock shock and pettit coilovers side by side yet but when I do I will see if it's possible to make a bracket or replicate the one on stock shock and weld or attach to the Pettit coilovers. This is just loud thinking though.

 

My experience so far.

1. Front brake bracket.

2. Rear ride height is definitely a problem. I think the picture should be able to tell why. The bottom shock mount (for ride height) is already all the way up and has no more room since the spring seat is there.
-I already preloaded the sprint 0.5" to try to get more room but I feel that it too much stress on the shock when there is no load. That about 300lbf pushing outward on the shock body when the car is lifted. With this setup i'm about 26" to top of fender(may differ on wheel/tire setup)
-Another solution would be to remove the lower fatter lock for the lower shock mount this would gain about ~1" of ride height but then it would not be a ride height Independence coil-overs.

3. Weight. I dont know if anybody notice they weight quite a bit. I dont have the exact number but they weight more than the koni setup I have and Tein coil-overs.

4. Function - cant speak much since no track time in this cold winter. But on the street so far so smooth.

 

If it doesn't go as low as one finger above the tyre, I might go mental and cut one coil of the springs

It said 61lbs on the UPS form. I don't know how much other coilovers weigh to compare but Pettit says lightweight billet aluminum has been used to save weight.

And like another member here, did you also have to use washers for rear lower mounting point? It's been said that there is a gap in rear lower mounting point and tightening it as it is would put stress or bend the mounting part of the coilover.

And finally please read the manual next time cause they shouldn't be installed by an unprofessional person like you

 

I would say do not cut the coil. Just invest in a nice spring like hypercoil or swift.
A different set of spring should address all but the bracket problem.

If you run 1" shorter spring then you can bring the seat up which allow you Yo go lower.
Also shorter spring is lighter and remove those unsprung mass.
Plus hypercoil and swift springs are very light and cOnsistant.

Yes I did notice a gap on the rear shock mOunt. A washer should address that.

Lastly mine came with no instruction plus who owns an fd that is professional!?!

 

A) preloading raises the car, not lowers it

2) if the coilover wont go low enough for you, buy shorter springs. a 1" shorter spring of the same rate will drop the rear another 1.3" or so (whatever the FD motion ratio is, i dunno)

 

Coilover weight: Front 13.4lbs / Rear 11.8lbs combined 50.4lbs

 

All this talk about ride height, anyone got vehicle stance pics?

 

Yes I know preload does not lower the car. I preloaded to give more room for the lower shock mount to move up. Therefore overall lowering the car.

 

Sorry I do not but with the setup in the picture above I have just about 1"of gap between fender and top of tire. My rear tire size is 255/35/18. It's about 26" from ground to top of arch.

 

that makes no difference. the distance you preloaded = the distance you raised the lower perch = no net lowerness. all you did was change the amount of bump travel, which was probably a good thing in this case

 

I think you still don't understand what happened.

I compress/preload the spring to make it seems as if the spring is shorter therefore give me more threads on the shock body to allow the lower shock mount to move up.

 

I wouldn't do this for all the reasons stated by mdpalmer. I've done business with Pettit and appreciate them as much as anyone else. But if the absence of a mounting ear can't be corrected on future orders or there isn't a good solution, I'll go Tein.

 

i understand exactly waht you're saying. while sitting on the ground, the shock does appear to be shorter, but it makes no difference on ride height.

you need shorter springs

 

Which isn't really a big deal at $40-60 a piece.
An alternative is to remove the thickest locking collar from the bottom. That's probably what I would do as 3 are unnecessary.

 

`
Hmmm. Then it must be an optical illusions. I was able to lower the rear .5" more doing so.

Yes preloading alone will actually raise the car since the it increases the initial force require to compress the spring. But the space gained from preloading allows me to move the mount upward which lowers the car.

But since the spring rate is so high and the inconsistent in linearity of a spring in it's free length, minimal height was gained from preloading. This allow the overall ride height to drop by preloading then shifting the shock mount up. Now keep in mind that I performed this after allowing the spring to sag and settle so it is not part of the equation.

So for those who are considering these TrakPro but wants a fairly lower ride height, I suggest that you have some budget set aside to achieve lower ride height in a proper way=Shorter springs.

 

ohh yah if the springs arent truely linear (aka shitty springs), there might well be a difference. do yourself a favor and get some proper springs, an inch shorter than current. hyperco and eibach are the easiest to find used at ~80/pair, swifts tend to be more expensive. dont waste your money on any other brand

 

How and where can I buy same weight and diameter springs for these Trakpros? I am asking these cause I don't know if there is one standard diameter for coilovers. It'd be great if someone could post a link to exact springs that'll lower Trakpros 1" or more.

 

Once you get your coilover just measure the length of the spring and Inner Dia.

I am going to take a wild guess without going to the car to measure it.
ID=65mm or 2.5" and Length is 6" (this is a guess)

I recommend Hypercoil(~$80each) or Swift(~$100each)

http://www.hypercoils.com/Catalog.aspx
http://www.swiftsprings.com/products...r_springs.html