PSA: Check your coilovers!

[jvincent]

Since this just happened to me, just a reminder for everyone.

I was putting on new brake pads before a track day this weekend and I had a noise in the front left last time out that I though might be a wheel bearing going bad so I was checking for that.

It turns out the locking collar on my coilover was loose. Yikes! That's now been added to the check list for track prep.

[finch1750]

Originally Posted by jvincent

Since this just happened to me, just a reminder for everyone.

I was putting on new brake pads before a track day this weekend and I had a noise in the front left last time out that I though might be a wheel bearing going bad so I was checking for that.

It turns out the locking collar on my coilover was loose. Yikes! That's now been added to the check list for track prep.

Yep. Had the same thing happen and seems more common then one would think

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by jvincent

Since this just happened to me, just a reminder for everyone.

I was putting on new brake pads before a track day this weekend and I had a noise in the front left last time out that I though might be a wheel bearing going bad so I was checking for that.

It turns out the locking collar on my coilover was loose. Yikes! That's now been added to the check list for track prep.

Most (new) people owning coilovers don't know that they need to check the spring collars at least once a month.

[Clipdat]

Weird. This was not communicated to me by the specialty suspension placed that installed my $2,500 coilovers. Wtf.

Originally Posted by mav1178

Most (new) people owning coilovers don't know that they need to check the spring collars at least once a month.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by Clipdat

Weird. This was not communicated to me by the specialty suspension placed that installed my $2,500 coilovers. Wtf.

racecar parts = racecar maintenance

regardless of price point

edit:
fwiw most coilovers have a relatively reliable and trustworthy locking mechanism that should be moderately set it and forget it, but I would absolutely make sure it was still snug sometime mid-summer and break the locking mechanism loose and clean the coilovers every "winter" at a minimum.

that's my thought process for those of us in super mild climates where "winter" means "under 60 degrees F"

Frequent wheel changes and brake inspections make it routine to inspect, but if you're the kind of person who goes all year without pulling a wheel off I can see problems creeping up like they did on the OP. For instance, I know my sway bar endlink is loose on the left front, I can feel it, it's been about 4 days and I'll fix it tomorrow morning before I go to work. When I've got the wheel off I'll be giving the spring perches a tug to make sure they're still locked down and I'll be giving the damper body a good shake to make sure the top hat is all snug still as well.

[Ultramaroon]

Drill & safety wire.

[e1_griego]

Also helps if you have a radial bearing in the upper spring perch as it lets things move a little bit more freely and doesn't try to unlock the collars when you turn.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by e1_griego

Also helps if you have a radial bearing in the upper spring perch as it lets things move a little bit more freely and doesn't try to unlock the collars when you turn.

Are there setups that don't allow for free rotation of the Macpherson strut?

The OE top hat has a bearing, all included camber plates should have a spherical that allows it to rotate... maybe you mean if they're all gunked up and dirty?

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by Clipdat

Weird. This was not communicated to me by the specialty suspension placed that installed my $2,500 coilovers. Wtf.

Same thing with the usage of the term "coilovers", most places won't bother explaining to you that your stock suspension is already coilovers.

It's just something not high on the priority list, but you do have to check from time to time. Kinda like tire pressure, you assume the end user knows how to check...

[churchx]

mav1178: depends on previous modding & sport history i guess. This car is first i actually mod and first i would consider sporty parts upgrades for due starting track use .. so it wasn't "as given"/self-obvious to me too, i'd more probably expect along the lines "if part X costs 4times the OEM costs, i'd expect everything in it better then OEM counterpart as given, or at very least on par, including expected longetivity or maintenance free". Hearing something like eg. that some rally coilovers get overhauled after 1K km surprised me a lot. So very probably that unlike tire pressure regular check up of aftermarket parts could have been missed by me aswell.

[jvincent]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

fwiw most coilovers have a relatively reliable and trustworthy locking mechanism that should be moderately set it and forget it, but I would absolutely make sure it was still snug sometime mid-summer and break the locking mechanism loose and clean the coilovers every "winter" at a minimum.

...

Frequent wheel changes and brake inspections make it routine to inspect, but if you're the kind of person who goes all year without pulling a wheel off I can see problems creeping up like they did on the OP.

Given how hard I tightened the collar when I put the coilovers on I was definitely in the set and forget camp.

That's the annoying part. I have my wheels off all the time and just never thought to check this.

Live and learn.

[e1_griego]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

Are there setups that don't allow for free rotation of the Macpherson strut?

The OE top hat has a bearing, all included camber plates should have a spherical that allows it to rotate... maybe you mean if they're all gunked up and dirty?

Most cheapy coilovers just have a camber plate bearing and a fixed upper perch. The bearing in the plate a lot of times doesn't want to turn axially so it starts to undo the collars with the turning of the wheel.

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by churchx

mav1178: depends on previous modding & sport history i guess. This car is first i actually mod and first i would consider sporty parts upgrades for due starting track use .. so it wasn't "as given"/self-obvious to me too, i'd more probably expect along the lines "if part X costs 4times the OEM costs, i'd expect everything in it better then OEM counterpart as given, or at very least on par, including expected longetivity or maintenance free". Hearing something like eg. that some rally coilovers get overhauled after 1K km surprised me a lot. So very probably that unlike tire pressure regular check up of aftermarket parts could have been missed by me aswell.

Well, the vast majority of people modifying cars don't even bother to replace key nuts and bolts on the suspension when swapping out arms.

The reason why the manufacturer recommends you to change them is because they are designed to lock and last till at least the next service interval.

I can't think of a normal enthusiast that will change out their front strut bolts after swapping to coilovers, but that's precisely what is recommended when you change out your struts.

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by e1_griego

Most cheapy coilovers just have a camber plate bearing and a fixed upper perch. The bearing in the plate a lot of times doesn't want to turn axially so it starts to undo the collars with the turning of the wheel.

Actually the true reason for coilover springs to move/loosen the perch is kind of why we have cheap(er) coilovers and economies of scale: standardized springs.

They basically took some standard spring size/dimension w/ a flat perch (Eibach ERS, Swift, H&R, any coilover spring with a standard inner diameter, free height, and rate), and added flat threaded perches on a threaded body so you can adjust height.

OEM struts have a stopper design built into the end of the last coil of the springs where it sits in the front/rear spring perch, so the spring can never physically move once it is properly installed. Aftermarket do not, so the springs can rotate when the suspension is unloaded. In the case of a Macpherson strut front design, the strut rotates with steering input so the tendency for the perch to loosen is higher.

Preloading the springs may reduce this but does not entirely prevent perches from loosening.