KW Rear Top Hat Question
 

I'm having trouble finding aftermarket top hats for my rear KW V3's, any suggestions?

You can contact @robispec to get his rear top hats that add 2" shock travel.

Raceseng offers a set as well in 2" added travel, and will have a 1" version soon:
http://www.raceseng.com/shock-top-20...r-s-subaru-brz

You could always use the OEM top.

^I wonder with those shock-travel-extending rear tops if people might run into coil bind at certain ride heights or if they'd need to get shorter springs. Hmmm.

I used STi Group-N rear mounts. Got mine from RCE.

Should I just buy an OEM top? I don't want any added travel.

How are they working for you? I see you said "used" so are you not using them anymore?

They don't affect ride height or spring length, they just let the shock shaft extend higher through the mount so that you're not going to bottom out the shock given the same amount of bump travel. They only way you'll get coil bind is if the shock is currently bottoming out fully (horrible for the shock).

Not saying you won't be fine with the stock upper mount, but why wouldn't you want an extra inch or two of bump travel without giving up anything but a bit of droop travel (which there is quite a bit of already)?

"Used" as in installed and happy and not as in past-tense as opposed to "had" or "used to have". They work fine, no noises and no issues.

Well the shock "bottoms out" when it gets a bit into the bumpstop. Probably most everyone will bottom a shock out whenever they get in the car to go for a ride. The idea is that the bumpstop will hit it's near-infinite rate before the spring compresses beyond it's rated travel (which is still usually far less than the travel to get to block length). If the bumpstop is moved up 2 inches, you run into the possibility of the bump limiter to be the spring at block length instead of the bump stop.

Not saying this is the case, just pointing out that it's probably worth looking into. Especially for people who might be running coilovers at the higher end of their rated ride heights.

By bottom out the shock I meant the shock itself bottoming out internally, not the whole assembly hitting the external bump stop (the one on the shaft). Bottoming out the shock internally is very bad for it, hitting the external bump stop is totally fine for the shock.

What do you recommend? I am also curious as well.

For me personally, I'd want to add back travel for however much it was lowered over the coilover at the highest setting.

ie: if max height = 1/2" lower than stock and you're running it 1.5" lower than stock I'd want the 1" upper mount to gain back the extra inch of lowering.

i'm using 2011 STi rear top hats with my Kw's.

What benefit do I get to have a higher travel? and which one do you think would be best for occasional track use and mostly daily driving? Also, I dont want to drop the car too low. PD: I am running on KW's. Thank you beforehand.