lowered on H&R race. few q's

[starchland]

Man I feel like a noob all over again what a great feeling. Anyway just put on the race on oem shocks for now. I noticed on the front, with the spring/strut assembly together but not on the car there is a little bit of wiggle room at the bottom, maybe an 1/8 inch. Is there supposed to be a gasket or rubber piece on the bottom of the spring where it rests on the damper? Also I didn't bother cutting my bumpstops.I read varying thing, but I figure the bumpstop is there to keep the suspension in its designed operating range. Thanks.

[wildBill83]

First off you are going to blow your struts, and if they are the original struts they are most likely blown anyway.

Second off, you put springs on that will take it out of nominal OEM strut operating range so expect to hit the bumpstops. The gap is there because the spring is shorter than OEM.

When you do buy new struts, you WILL need to cut the smallest part off of the rear bump stops, leave the front alone.

What you are doing is unsafe and not recommended.

[starchland]

Was just making sure I wasnt missing a bottom rubber isolator like how the rear is on the spring. Struts arent leaking or anything if that means anything.

[wildBill83]

Leaking isn't the only sign of a blown strut. If it compresses too easy or doesn't rebound from compression through the whole stroke then it is blown.

[deevergote]

You should NEVER lower your car on OEM shocks... no wonder you feel like a noob!

Even most aftermarket replacements won't hold up to H&R Race. You're going to need either Koni Yellows or Tokico Illuminas, or some custom valved Bilsteins. Anything else will likely blow quickly, and even if they don't, they won't react to the springs properly, and can be dangerous when pushed to the limit. And the limit is not necessarily racecar driving... it's emergency swerving/braking in the event of an unexpected obstacle, like an animal, or a child chasing a ball into the street.

[alekp92jdm]

How is lowering a car on stalk strusts unsafe?..... yes the struts will blow and your car will ride like shit but how is it unsafe my friend has had blows struts on his golf gti for over a year now and its just bouncy as f#%k

[wildBill83]

Bouncy = poor control in emergency maneuvers.

[alekp92jdm]

I was talking to a guy at a local jy and he said he had eBay coils on his OEM struts (he has an eg) and he said his car rides fine because got extended ground control top hats....I've never heard of these?

[gloryaccordy]

I was talking to a guy at a local jy and he said he had eBay coils on his OEM struts (he has an eg) and he said his car rides fine because got extended ground control top hats....I've never heard of these?

Define "ride fine"

By any legitimate suspension tuning metric, that is a terrible setup. F

[starchland]

yes it may be unsafe when they blow, definately not as unsafe as the broken spring I had in there.

[deevergote]

Extended top hats will allow for more shock travel, which is one reason OEM shocks blow... but it doesn't fix the problem of the shocks not responding properly to the stiffer spring rate. That matters as well.


Also, as far as safety goes... in order to maintain control of your car, be it turning or stopping, the tires must stay on the ground. Blown shocks will allow the tires to bounce up and down. Bouncing tires aren't going to stop your car very quickly. EXTREMELY unsafe.
Even shocks that aren't blown, but aren't valved to handle a certain spring, can prove to be very unsafe.

[starchland]

wouldnt a shorter spring at a higher spring rate require less movement of the shock? or are you talking about the area on the piston that sees movement?

[deevergote]

It's the frequency at which the shock is tuned. A stock shock isn't tuned for the rapid movement of a stiff spring, and it won't react as it should.
It's difficult for me to explain, as I'm not an expert in such matters. It was explained to me by someone who knows far more details, and it made sense... I just can't quite seem to explain it the same way!

[alekp92jdm]

Oh gotcha and he said he was as smooth as a stock


And I know eBay coils are garbage I know a few people that have them and I just smh in disappointment


I had never heard of extended top hats until he said something about it

[starchland]

Damn glory still around?! Nice lol!!!