Ultimate Street suspension guide

[w4rkry]

Can you share the shop/company details please?

Yea, I am still looking for it haha. I sent it in a comment to Joel ages ago on Facebook

[joeboomer999]

Finally have collected all the parts for this upgrade. I've never played with sleeves before and they came with an assortment of rubber o-rings etc. Do you use these? Or just put the sleeve right over the struts?

[shorestiva]

If there is a gap between the strut and the sleeve you use the o rings to keep the sleeve from moving around. If you're using the recommended sleeves they should be tight enough that you won't need the o rings iirc.

[firebush357]

Finally have collected all the parts for this upgrade. I've never played with sleeves before and they came with an assortment of rubber o-rings etc. Do you use these? Or just put the sleeve right over the struts?

I didn't use any on mine. Just grind the aspire struts down slowly so you don't take off too much material and it will be a nice tight fit. You might want to take the Paper Sticker off of the side of the strut to keep it from snagging, use some WD-40 to get the glue residue off.

[mikemounlio]

On my last set i found out that the ring on the strut needs to be grinded down a bit but so does the body of the strut. Not to much tho as its a weld but i hit mine just a bit. I took the sticker off as well but its the weld on the body that causes the hang up.

My last set the sleeve went over the body almost with no play.

[Eviljimchicken]

I just finished and it handles really well, but it doesn't seem perfect, at least for me. The springs I used were #120 in the front and #105 in the back.

First of all I can't seem to get the car quite as low as I want. The front struts are pretty much slammed on the bump stops which I don't believe results in optimal handling. Is it possible to cut the bump stops in half or remove them without damaging the valving in the strut?

The second concern that I have is that to get the ride height that I want in the rear the spring has no preload and can move up and down about an inch. I'm not sure how to solve this because #105 was the lightest spring rate. Also i'm not entirely sure if it is an issue.

I also can't figure out a way to lock my ride height on the rear sleeves either because there is no jam nut like on the front or set screw. I noticed that it came with yellow circlips, I cannot figure out what those would be used for.


Here's a tip that might help some people out: To make the sleeve fit perfectly I chucked the strut up in my drill with tape protecting the treads, and rested the body on something it could easily rotate on. What worked for me was a cardboard box that was dented in with a cloth on it. As the whole strut is spinning you can hold a file (or sandpaper) on to the parts you want to turn down. It worked perfectly for me, and the sleeve has no play whatsoever.

[shorestiva]

Optimal handling is lower ball joints about 3/4in to 1in below the control arm pivot point. The back should be slightly higher if you measure pinch weld heights. Sounds like you're trying to run way lower than that. I'm running no bump stops in the front and my rear sleeves are cranked up as far as they'll go. My rear sleeves had 3 little holes in the ring for set screws.

[Eviljimchicken]

Optimal handling is lower ball joints about 3/4in to 1in below the control arm pivot point. The back should be slightly higher if you measure pinch weld heights. Sounds like you're trying to run way lower than that. I'm running no bump stops in the front and my rear sleeves are cranked up as far as they'll go. My rear sleeves had 3 little holes in the ring for set screws.

I just checked and on mine those holes that look like they are for a set screw actually just taper and end before going all the through, so even if I did tap threads and put a grub screw in it wouldn't accomplish anything. Since its like that on all three holes on both sleeves I just assumed its for some sort of coil over wrench. How are you securing yours?

And yes, i'm definitely sacrificing some performance for coolness in terms of ride height lol.

[mikemounlio]

My rears have never self adjusted. I have tension on tyem so they are always tight even with tires off the ground.

[Advancedynamix]

Acme threads are designed to lock with pressure on them, so the rears don't need locking nuts or set screws. I only finger tighten my front lock nuts as well. No need to lock them tight with the spanner wrenches.

[Advancedynamix]

I just finished and it handles really well, but it doesn't seem perfect, at least for me. The springs I used were #120 in the front and #105 in the back.

First of all I can't seem to get the car quite as low as I want. The front struts are pretty much slammed on the bump stops which I don't believe results in optimal handling. Is it possible to cut the bump stops in half or remove them without damaging the valving in the strut?

The second concern that I have is that to get the ride height that I want in the rear the spring has no preload and can move up and down about an inch. I'm not sure how to solve this because #105 was the lightest spring rate. Also i'm not entirely sure if it is an issue.

I also can't figure out a way to lock my ride height on the rear sleeves either because there is no jam nut like on the front or set screw. I noticed that it came with yellow circlips, I cannot figure out what those would be used for.


Here's a tip that might help some people out: To make the sleeve fit perfectly I chucked the strut up in my drill with tape protecting the treads, and rested the body on something it could easily rotate on. What worked for me was a cardboard box that was dented in with a cloth on it. As the whole strut is spinning you can hold a file (or sandpaper) on to the parts you want to turn down. It worked perfectly for me, and the sleeve has no play whatsoever.

I suggest that everyone starts out with the car set up properly first, then go for looks after driving it with a good setup for a few weeks. The difference in handling is not small. A properly adjusted setup will provide a car which can easily out corner just about anything on the road or track. Too low and the car pushes badly and spins the inside tire easily.

[Eviljimchicken]

Good advice! Ill go do that today. Also I had no idea the threads were self locking ty1

[ThisVelologist]

Stock vs Advanced on the Tail of the Dragon

[Eviljimchicken]

It really blows my mind that I saw these cars in person a few days ago.

[RobotKarate]

Is there any reason to keep the leftover parts from the VW coils or southwest speed kit? I'm cleaning out the garage of clutter and need the space.