Coilover Loose/Play

[Grady]

Originally Posted by Hamza

The recommended adjustment for these coils from Tein was about the same as stock ride height, but the from the instructions manual the range went to a 3" drop. Right now I've only dropped 0.86" (this was coincidental lol) from stock ride height (taking it as 372mm from hub to fender and it's starting to have play.

The fronts said a 2.6" drop and I've bottomed the front out all the way and it's still way higher than 2.6", but regardless the fronts are still stiff.

My best guess now is still that the top locking nut on the strut isn't tight enough, kinda odd to tell because it's supposed to be hand tightened, and doing so every time I get scared of accidentally turning the dampening adjustment knob and breaking it (did that on the front). Can I tighten it with the strut still on the car with the car jacked up?

Then there may be another issue, possibly measurement or you have some wrong parts. How did you measure your stock ride hight? Where did you get your parts?

[Hamza]

Originally Posted by Grady

Then there may be another issue, possibly measurement or you have some wrong parts. How did you measure your stock ride hight? Where did you get your parts?

Measured stock ride height from center of hub to the fendor. I bought them sealed from a friend, who ordered from Tein

[norcalpb]

Originally Posted by Hamza

The recommended adjustment for these coils from Tein was about the same as stock ride height, but the from the instructions manual the range went to a 3" drop. Right now I've only dropped 0.86" (this was coincidental lol) from stock ride height (taking it as 372mm from hub to fender and it's starting to have play.

The fronts said a 2.6" drop and I've bottomed the front out all the way and it's still way higher than 2.6", but regardless the fronts are still stiff.

My best guess now is still that the top locking nut on the strut isn't tight enough, kinda odd to tell because it's supposed to be hand tightened, and doing so every time I get scared of accidentally turning the dampening adjustment knob and breaking it (did that on the front). Can I tighten it with the strut still on the car with the car jacked up?

Are you talking about the nut that connects the strut to the top hat? If so, that is a 41lb torque spec on the stock suspension (most likely similar on your coilovers) and you’ll need a pass through wrench so you don’t spin the strut when applying such pressure.

You want to tighten these nuts with the wheels on, car on the ground so that the weight of the car compresses the springs.