Suspension Installation Tips

[spcmafia]

Hey all,

I recently purchased a set of Bilstein PSS B14s and trying to gather all info to ensure a smooth installation. Found on my build thread below.
https://www.ft86club.com/forums/show...97#post3571697



I've watched some videos and read some installation tips, but the other thing I am wondering if there's anything I should be using as far as thread lubricants (Anti sieze, Blue Permatex, etc).



Any recommendations/tips of things that I could refresh once I'm working in the vicinity of the suspension area?


Opinions on ISC covers?



TLDR of build thread:
-Keeping factory setting of B14s
-Wheels are slightly wider than stock, same diameter. 17x8 +35mm wheels, and I believe 225/45R17 tires.
-Do not plan of dropping lower than 1-1.5 in.

[NoHaveMSG]

The place I recommend loctite is the sway bar end links. Use recommended torque specs everywhere else and just take your time. Be aware of the wheel speed sensor wires as you can damage them. It's not a real difficult job so if your find yourself struggling with something, stop and look.

[strat61caster]

Get some camber bolts, you’ll still have lots of room with 17x8, pic attached is with 17x9’s. I couldn’t get much over -3 without bolts and with the cascam so just save some time and put them in first.

I really like the bilstein kit, enjoy.

[norcalpb]

1. If doing springs/shocks, loosen the main strut nuts with the car still on the ground.

2. Use a breaker bar for the front strut to knuckle bolts and have a rubber mallet ready to smack them out.

3. For the rears, I like to disconnect all lower control arm bolts except for the most inner ones. Use a jack to raise the control arm back to its original position so bolts can go back in.

4. It’s a common idea that any bolt that goes through a rubber bushing needs to be tightened under load (with the cars weight on the suspension). I’ll tighten the knuckle bolts with the car in the air, but will snug up the rear control arm bolts with the car in the air and fully torque them with tires on the ground.

5. You may have some trouble fitting the rear end links, but just shove those sucker ins with the anticipation that you may need aftermarket ones.

[marco_mc22]

Double check everything and mark nuts and bolts after tighten them. It would be better using a torque wrench of course.
Ideally you should lose literally everything, all the arms on both front and rear and then re-tight them under the new static ride height.
If you have adjustable endlinks connect them at the end and set the adjustment to find the “no preload” position, you can easily guess the correct position by turning the body of the link by hand and find when it moves super freely.
Do a little break in and double check ride height and torque after a week of driving, it’s not unusual to find some changes, especially using soft springs, adjust if needed and then perform the final alignment.

Personally I’d keep those dampers in between -10 and -20mm from stock ride height, with 5/10mm of rake.

From my experience loctite is not needed, as long as you tight the bolts/nuts correctly but you can use it, maybe not the strongest one. Think about loctite as it was Wasabi sauce, a smidge is fine, not too much.

Have fun and check your brake pads + brake lines.

[glhs386]

I'm very happy with the B14s and Pedders top mounts. Word of warning though, I installed them straight out of the box and found the front end way too low, with weird looking forward rake and limited bump travel on bad roads. I believe they're shipped preset at the lowest end of the adjustable range. I raised the front 10mm to put it at the max recommend height, and added a little over 5mm in the rear. Made all the difference in the world in terms of drivability and comfort.

[MrSkubi]

Originally Posted by norcalpb

3. For the rears, I like to disconnect all lower control arm bolts except for the most inner ones. Use a jack to raise the control arm back to its original position so bolts can go back in.

Second this. For me this was the most frustrating part of coilover install.
My 2 cents:
1. Check every bolt and locking collars on your new suspension that it's torqued to manufacturer recommended specs before install (especially camber plates if your suspension came with ones).
2. Get ready to get frustrated with front end links. They're known for getting seized and being PITA to remove. Impact wrench does wonders when allen key/wrench combo fails.

[spcmafia]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

Get some camber bolts, you’ll still have lots of room with 17x8, pic attached is with 17x9’s. I couldn’t get much over -3 without bolts and with the cascam so just save some time and put them in first.

I really like the bilstein kit, enjoy.

Good call on the camber bolts. I've also read that adjustable end links might also be needed? If so, is a brand like RacerX acceptable? What would be an acceptable camber reading when I bring it for alignment. Should I be considering RLCAs? Also thinking of getting new OEM top hats or Pedders. Im not too familiar with the Raceseng CASCAM plates, but how are they different than everything else I see out there. Overall goal is to lower the vehicle without sacrificing alignment settings too much or increase my tire wear.



I did notice that compared to other coilover systems there are three rings. One for Preload, one to lock the preload, and the last one for height.


Bilstein comes with two, which means that there's no preload lock and the height gets adjusted by the second ring.



Maybe I should take the installation manual out and start reading it, I briefly skimmed thru it and the German translation to English was pretty bad.

[strat61caster]

@spcmafia
Bilstein are designed to be OEM+ you can use the oe swaybar end link if you are using the oe swaybar. Many other systems move the swaybar mounting point on the strut thus requiring the use of a shorter aftermarket endlink. I would only add the cost if you are going to use an adjustable swaybar, otherwise the OEM end links are the quietest most hassle free ones you can get. RacerX is fine.

Camber will depend on what you want to do with the car just my humble opinion
Street: toe n' go, you don't need anything and the car will be fine
Backroads driving: -2F, -1R, you probably won't notice a difference from stock and no adjustment, one set of aftermarket camber bolts can get you close to this.
Casual autox/HPDE/Street: -3F, -2R, get the RLCA's and both camber bolts, should be able to get close to this, at least -2.5 in the front, rear may land naturally but parts aren't that expensive relative to getting another alignment.
SRS autox/HPDE/TT: >-4F, -2.5R, get camber plates, bolts, and RLCA's

Good thread read this:
https://www.ft86club.com/forums/show....php?p=2600171

To me, sounds like you should save the bucks and just put the coilovers on with the OEM parts as you have it. My top hats still looked and felt great when I took them off at 50k miles, I have no desire to replace them and they will likely go back on my car at some point.

You're misunderstanding the adjustment on the Bilsteins, the two rings are for setting "spring preload" which translates into height adjustment, second ring is a lock collar for the spring perch. Don't overthink this imho, slap them on see how it sits and rides and adjust from there. If you adjust evenly in the front/back i.e. I raised the car 4 turns at each corner or whatever you should be fine.

The manual is pretty much only good for the picture showing how all the parts fit together and a few torque specs.

Good luck.

[spcmafia]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

@spcmafia
Bilstein are designed to be OEM+ you can use the oe swaybar end link if you are using the oe swaybar. Many other systems move the swaybar mounting point on the strut thus requiring the use of a shorter aftermarket endlink. I would only add the cost if you are going to use an adjustable swaybar, otherwise the OEM end links are the quietest most hassle free ones you can get. RacerX is fine.

Camber will depend on what you want to do with the car just my humble opinion
Street: toe n' go, you don't need anything and the car will be fine
Backroads driving: -2F, -1R, you probably won't notice a difference from stock and no adjustment, one set of aftermarket camber bolts can get you close to this.
Casual autox/HPDE/Street: -3F, -2R, get the RLCA's and both camber bolts, should be able to get close to this, at least -2.5 in the front, rear may land naturally but parts aren't that expensive relative to getting another alignment.
SRS autox/HPDE/TT: >-4F, -2.5R, get camber plates, bolts, and RLCA's

Good thread read this:
https://www.ft86club.com/forums/show....php?p=2600171

To me, sounds like you should save the bucks and just put the coilovers on with the OEM parts as you have it. My top hats still looked and felt great when I took them off at 50k miles, I have no desire to replace them and they will likely go back on my car at some point.

You're misunderstanding the adjustment on the Bilsteins, the two rings are for setting "spring preload" which translates into height adjustment, second ring is a lock collar for the spring perch. Don't overthink this imho, slap them on see how it sits and rides and adjust from there. If you adjust evenly in the front/back i.e. I raised the car 4 turns at each corner or whatever you should be fine.

The manual is pretty much only good for the picture showing how all the parts fit together and a few torque specs.

Good luck.

Thanks! This answers and clears a lot of my doubts. I was interpreting the adjustment of camber to more negative settings because I thought original alignment ran more negative, instead it looks like less than -1. So that answers that. All makes sense why it was recommended to look into CASCAM, Bolts and what not in the event that I start tracking.



The top hat comment makes sense. I'll reuse the existing ones.

Thank you for explaining the ring set up. I feel more at ease.

[Spuds]

Make sure you have a magnet on a stick. Lost two tophat nuts down the back of the car under the rear seats, magnet saved me a lot of work.

The most minor of all tips, but figured I'd mention it

[BirdTRD]

Just go ahead and order a pair of Moog front end links, unless you already have some cool after market ones that you can remove without nut splitters/cut off wheels/air chisels/acetylene torch etc. and a whole lot of cussin'. The Moogs have a spot for a wrench to hold the stud so you can unscrew the nut without much difficulty. Also has grease fittings.