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All about springs and shocks(dampers)


Wrxblue
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Neutral Newbie

hello all! I'm looking to install coilovers for my honda fit.

the choices I'm considering:

  1. Tanabe Sustec Pro
  2. Tanabe Sustec Pro CR40 (what's the difference between Sustec Pro?)
  3. HKS Hipermax S-Style C

Pricing wise should be from lowest to highest (1-3). HKS cost more than Tanabe. What's your take on performance between Tanabe and HKS?

Additionally, coilovers need maintenance? What's the interval and cost? 

Thank you in advance!

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On 1/7/2020 at 9:50 AM, boonhat_91 said:

Good sharing by bro Toeknee_33 in other thread.

On this topic, anyone got recommendations for workshops with suspension tuning expertise?

Those who go aftermarket, how do you "test" your new suspension setup? e.g. drive a fixed route that has humps and bumps and many corners, track testing etc.

Recently been seeing this page on facebook. Anyone had work done with them before?

https://www.facebook.com/Cornerweight/

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If your new coilovers actually made the car worse than it was on stock suspension, then it is worth engaging them.

Example - if your car bounces excessively, car feels like floating on high speed, car is unable to maintain posture during cornering.

To be honest - alot of shops can install coilovers but not alot of shops know how to tune coilovers specifically for your car.

Edited by Ooosh
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Recently changed a full set of shock absorbers (original).

Ride stability improves (compared to the last-felt sampan feeling) but was not as great as it used to be.  Test drove with the boss of the workshop  but  he can't quite feel the abnormality (Boss is a nice guy, by the way).  Rotated and balanced the 4 wheels, doesn't quite help much.

Could still feel some instability at the lower speed.  Slightly more bumpy and tend to wobble left and right at ~30km/h.  At higher speed is almost alright.

Is installation of shock absorbers/suspension a straightforward job or does it depend heavily on the  mechanic's skill?

Is there anything I could adjust or tune?  Do you have workshop (well-experienced in shock absorbers and suspension) which I could seek 3rd party opinion?

Since I have changed the suspension.  Might as well make it work.

要做做美美, 不然就不做.  對嗎?

 

 

Edited by Albeniz
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1 hour ago, Albeniz said:

Recently changed a full set of shock absorbers (original).

Ride stability improves (compared to the last-felt sampan feeling) but was not as great as it used to be.  Test drove with the boss of the workshop  but  he can't quite feel the abnormality (Boss is a nice guy, by the way).  Rotated and balanced the 4 wheels, doesn't quite help much.

Could still feel some instability at the lower speed.  Slightly more bumpy and tend to wobble left and right at ~30km/h.  At higher speed is almost alright.

Is installation of shock absorbers/suspension a straightforward job or does it depend heavily on the  mechanic's skill?

Is there anything I could adjust or tune?  Do you have workshop (well-experienced in shock absorbers and suspension) which I could seek 3rd party opinion?

Since I have changed the suspension.  Might as well make it work.

要做做美美, 不然就不做.  對嗎?

 

 

Alignment? 

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On 1/10/2021 at 12:13 AM, mersaylee said:

Alignment? 

Decided to do a wheel alignment  this morning.  Have to, anyway. Ride comfort only improved marginally.

The boss test drove my car and commented that the suspension is still new and will take some time to settle-in.

He could feel the vibration when the brake is stepped and recommends a change of rotor discs (best with new brake pads as a compatible set).

He commented it is better to change the lower arms too, but not so immediately.

No safety hazard, but more for better ride comfort.

Reasonable?

 

 

 

 

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12 minutes ago, Albeniz said:

Ok.  Decided to do a wheel alignment this morning.  Ride comfort only improved marginally.

The boss test drove my car and commented that the suspension is still new and will take some time to settle-in.

He could feel the vibration when the brake is stepped and recommends a change of rotor discs (best with new brake pads as a compatible set).

He commented it is better to change the lower arms too, but not so immediately.

No safety hazard, but more for better ride comfort.

Reasonable?

 

 

 

 

After this and that and then this and that...he might ask you to change car 😁

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2 minutes ago, mersaylee said:

After this and that and then this and that...he might ask you to change car 😁

2 different shops.  The first shop is an old primitive WS which only helped me change the absorbers.  He doesn't have the wheel alignment equipment.

The second shop has more modern equipment and did the wheel alignment for me.  The second shop suggested me to change the rotor disc, brake pads and lower arms (if possible).

Now, my backside is starting to feel itchy again.

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4 minutes ago, Albeniz said:

2 different shops.  The first shop is an old primitive WS which only helped me change the absorbers.  He doesn't have the wheel alignment equipment.

The second shop has more modern equipment and did the wheel alignment for me.  The second shop suggested me to change the rotor disc, brake pads and lower arms (if possible).

Now, my backside is starting to feel itchy again.

I'd bring the car back to where the susp job was done before proceed with any other itch that needs a scratch. 

Isolate the issue instead of risking new ones...😅

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15 minutes ago, mersaylee said:

I'd bring the car back to where the susp job was done before proceed with any other itch that needs a scratch. 

Isolate the issue instead of risking new ones...😅

Well actually, I have been to the first shop a few times.  First replaced the front suspension.  Then go back to change the rear suspension.  Then rotated and balanced the tyres.

Too bad the first shop doesn't have the wheel alignment tool and I had no choice but to do the wheel alignment elsewhere. That was when the suggestion for rotor disc, brake pads and lower arms came in. Anyway, I kind of like the second workshop better not only because the equipment are better, the boss drove me around in my car and tried to gain the actual driver's experience of my car.  More professional.

The first workshop left it to me to test-drive my car (after repair) and in the previous case when they changed my engine oil, the worker had a cigarette at his mouth.  I was like, *%$%^&@!

 

 

Edited by Albeniz
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42 minutes ago, mersaylee said:

After this and that and then this and that...he might ask you to change car 😁

I still have faith in my car.  I still like this car.  Quite good, so won't be changing.  Just that I want to make it perfect.

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On 1/7/2020 at 9:50 AM, boonhat_91 said:

Good sharing by bro Toeknee_33 in other thread.

On this topic, anyone got recommendations for workshops with suspension tuning expertise?

Those who go aftermarket, how do you "test" your new suspension setup? e.g. drive a fixed route that has humps and bumps and many corners, track testing etc.

Go ECP car park and test the springs there.

You won't be the only one.

:grin:

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On 1/11/2021 at 1:16 PM, Albeniz said:

Decided to do a wheel alignment  this morning.  Have to, anyway. Ride comfort only improved marginally.

The boss test drove my car and commented that the suspension is still new and will take some time to settle-in.

He could feel the vibration when the brake is stepped and recommends a change of rotor discs (best with new brake pads as a compatible set).

He commented it is better to change the lower arms too, but not so immediately.

No safety hazard, but more for better ride comfort.

Reasonable?

 

 

 

 

If original suspension (shocks and springs), they should work straight out of the box without the need to settle-in, run-in. You cannot adjust non coilovers so basically plug and play and quite hard to install wrongly. Even aftermarket Bilstein =<B12 is the same as OEM. Maybe look for another workshop which can diagnose deeper into the suspension issue.

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the more rubber hits the road the safe and better handling. The only thing keeping 2 tonnes of metal going where you want it to is 4 small patches of rubber.

Factoid: it it never rained we'd all drive around on slick tyres

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