I have fitted my Apexi N1's with some softer springs. Damping is on the softest setting. I have the preload adjusted at about 8-10mm on both front and rears. Driving at slow speed on bumpy road makes the car very bouncy/jumpy... do you think that the more preload I set the worse it makes the car at slower speeds over bumpy roads?
bouncy = not enough damping
Turn the damping up.
Thanks, ill give it a try, but what are the effects of preload?
Preload preloads the spring/shock combo, and when used in its true application, it can be used to corner weight a vehicle.
A little preload is commonly used to secure the spring during its loaded and unloaded states, the same job helper springs would do if they were present.
forgive me if i get this COMPLETELY wrong but here goes
as far as i understood it preload determines the travel in the suspension but more importantly how hard the springs are, and dampening controls how quickly the suspension reacts/recovers
Originally Posted by S14 Stu
I'm not a big ford fan but the RS500 is a legend, you cannot take away from it its Icon status and to suggest that its a chavvy car is like saying Kirsten Scott Thomas is a council estate slapper
people have said that pretensioning the spring does not change the spring rate as they are not progressively wound on coilovers.
However, I found after a mildover pretensioning incident that m coilovers went stiff as fook, unwinding pretension DID make the ride softer.
Interestingly, with loads of pretension thet were fine over big bumps that required shock travel, but on the smaller bumps in the road it was like I had no springs at all!
Hope this helps,
Rich
Richy, you have described my problem exactly, the preload I have applied feels just as you say, I think I will wind it down with very little preload.
Yup, Bren from APEX suggests only 5mm preload MAXIMUM just to stop the springs from rattling in the holder (i.e. you should be able to spin the springs in the holders, just not move it up and down). Any more than that and you'll find your coilovers will bang over bumps due to the shock being slammed open when the spring recoils.
Good luck,
Rich
Brilliant adviceYup, Bren from APEX suggests only 5mm preload MAXIMUM just to stop the springs from rattling in the holder (i.e. you should be able to spin the springs in the holders, just not move it up and down). Any more than that and you'll find your coilovers will bang over bumps due to the shock being slammed open when the spring recoils.
Good luck,
RichThats what mine are doing
I can sort it out now I know whats causing it
Don't get me wrong 6/4's are still quite harsh, but don't knock or bang over bumps when set up right.
Don't forget, changing the pretension will screw up your ride height too, so that'll need adjusting afterwards.
good luck fellas.
Rich
Im running 6 fronts and 5 rears on tein springs, ride is not so bad on smoother roads, except for the bad bounce on bumpy surfaces and at slower speeds. mine have seperate height and preload adjusters, so i wont need to alter height again right?
Well, if it's anything like the APEX coilovers which also have height and preload adjustment, adjusting the preload WILL effect the ride height. Maybe the tein coilovers do it differently, but I doubt it.
Rich
they look like this
Stop talking shite, rideheight is adjustable independent of preload.
With a linear rate spring pre-load DOES NOT make the ride softer/harder - it changes how it reacts, yes, but not how hard the spring is - if you think about it a liner spring is just that - linear. If you compress it with pre-load it will still run at the same rate, it will just be further into it's travel when it does it, so you risk (in extreme cases)bottoming out the spring coils, but definately putting more pressure on the rebound circuit, as it is not valved to take extreme preload.
This misconception is also true in the mountain bike world - where all too often you come across badly set up full suspension bikes that simply don't ride well, due to the fact the preload has been cranked up to make up for too soft a spring for the rider. if you want a harder spring rate, get a harder spring. simple as that. - don't just ramp up the proload or wind up the damping
how did you mange to adjust the damping on the rears? though they were non-adjustable?
Ok, so explain why when I loaded on 2" of preload, put the height right thenStop talking shite
I'm not making this shite up, I've actually done it and YES the ride gets harsher with loads of preload wound on. REALLY. I don't claim to understand why or how it did, ask my arse, my cheeks any anything else what was bouncing around when I had loads of preload on. I went rock hard on SMALL bumps, yet took large bumps that require shock travel just the same.
Just to make it clear: SMALL bumps were FAR more noticable when I had LOADS of preload on the springs, large bumps (i.e. speed bumps) were much the same.
Rich
Last edited by Richy_Boy; 03-03-2006 at 13:07.
Because 2" is extreme preload, and that went out of the newtonian range of the spring, adding 5-10mm which is the normal preload adjustment for sensible people will make no differance. However you could still adjust the rideheight and keep that pre-load.
Who's talking sensible? I've merely said when I added loads of preload it make the ride harder... I didn't put a bang on scientific figure on my claim like 5-10mm or anything.
When I wound out this huge amound of preload I also have to reset my ride height... go figure?! I'm certainly not saying that you can't adjust the ride height without effecting the preload as that would be silly, but adjusting the preload seemed to take the ride height out of wack*
Rich
* in extreme idiot preload cases only
Last edited by Richy_Boy; 03-03-2006 at 13:23.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
