modifing coilovers...safety?

[concertocharlie]

hey, I have these coilover

and not even getting the car too low they are bottomed out, I have found another coilover strut that is the same diameter as the 'proper' one but has brackets I'll have to remove, no biggie but then I'll need to add a 'dent' into the strut for the pinch bolt to pass, as per the standard strut. am I being dangerous in doing this, or shall I just suck it and see, cant be any worse than being bottomed out

there is no off the shelf coilover for this car except what I already have..

[concertocharlie]

or is the above coilover MODable to get the few cm's I need so I have some movement

[sparkyt]

The bump stops in side the spring ?or just dust covers ? If they are bump stops rip them out ... rallydesign.co.uk do shorter springs for those shocks mate . .

[composimmonite]

I don't think the "dent" for pinch bolt is just that. IMO it looks like a solid lump of metal that has been machined to have the pinch bolt groove and then welded to the bottom of the tube.

[sparkyt]

As above

[reida1994]

Remove the damper inside and fit a longer one. We modify our coilovers with bilstein inserts

[sparkyt]

? Fit longer damper . . . .

You do know he wants to go lower ... .



Have you looked into lifting the shock mount on the body . .

[concertocharlie]

the 'dent' was referring to the standard strut that came on the car sorry, not these coilovers, it's a dust cover they have gone, I had AVO add shorter rods and it is the body of the coilover hitting the top mount, which I'm making shorter but that pushes the top of the rod that bolts to the top mount sticking out too much (it's top adjustable so can't shorten there)already lifted the rear of my bonnet for room,
that mount they fit to the bottom of the coilover strut for this application. is it solid?, I may well make a new recess for the pinch bolt and trim the bottom off

[sparkyt]

100% no . it's a specialist thing .

Try gaz shocks . If you want shorter

They will make them to order . They did 40mm shorter fronts for my mk1 caddy . .

They was 40mm shorter than the normal short coil overs .

[sparkyt]

Having stripped a set of shocks down opened the case on my lathe cut the outer tube a few inches the inner tube to match machined a complete new rod end
and put the shock all back together

It's the oil in side I had problems with .

If you add to much you get a hydraulic lock as the piston goes back in the cylinder

Then any weld at all the contaminates the oil inside just destroys the seals on the rod . .


After 3 times of stripping and remaking I just paid for some one else to make them ...

[concertocharlie]

I'm guessing the bottom part of the coilover, under the weld is solid, as it looks like its been turn on a lathe, that's all I need to know that I wont' break through into a cavity or needed area holing oil.

[stealthstylz]

Chop the bottom off your old shocks and see? I had a look at some cheapo honda coilovers i've got in the shed it might be possible to remove the solid section off the bottom and refit it upside down. Would only gain about a inch though.

[concertocharlie]

I have no old shocks, i've been running the AVO's for a year now, and the standard curse word was binned

plus the standard stuff is for my car these are universal bodies with each application mount added as and where it's needed, I'm going to go with everything below the weld line is solid as it's been turned on a lathe


I think I'm struggling to get across what I mean, hate computers lol

[concertocharlie]

These are my front coilovers, the bottom is what I'm talking about, I am trying to get some more drop/travel
charlie

[fordperv]

Are you trying to ask if it will be safe to have another groove for the pinch bolt to be made about an inch higher than the original one on there so you can lower it that bit more?

[slater]

I think that's what he's asking. The answer is we don't know. They may well be machined from solid but that doesn't mean it's all solid on the inside. It might have some sort of bore up the inside. Modify at your own risk I say!

[Dez]

i could probably do something with them, AVOs arent sealed inserts though so i don't think youd be able to touch the tube, only the section welded onto the bottom of it. might get an inch at most? although i suppose that could be enough to make a difference to the ride.

[Dez]

alternatively charlie, what does the bit they fit into look like? thst could possibly be modded.

or, the topmount assembly could be extended up/its mounting points dropped, giving the same effect.

[stealthstylz]

They mount into this big fork jobby. I can't remember how much driveshaft clearance there is would have to get under our kids CRX.

[concertocharlie]

May 21, 2015 23:14:16 GMT stealthstylz said:

They mount into this big fork jobby. I can't remember how much driveshaft clearance there is would have to get under our kids CRX.

no, they don't, they are McPherson struts and go straight into the Hub, I wish I had double wishbone suspension like 4th Gen Honda Civics