I had a set of Ground Control coilovers installed about 4 months ago. The ride quality is terrible! The car bounces around the streets on unleveled straight roads and oftenly the front bottoms out. Worst of all, I can't even take fast corners because the springs can't even hold the weight of the car. The other annoying thing about the Ground Control happens when the car isn't even moving. When I turn the steering wheel a nasty grinding noise comes from the front struts. The mechanic that installed my GC said it cannot be fixed. Is that true? He said it's the top mount of the GC springs grinding against the strut mount.
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I emailed some of you already regarding this problem. Anyone having these same problems with GC or is it just my bad luck. Inputs, ideas, comments, anything will help.

 

There shouldn't be a grinding, the top of the GC should not be contacting the strut mount. There should be a rubber spacer in between. If you have metal on metal contact, something may be wrong with the install. The springs are too high a rate for the car, that's why your car bounces. Mine does the same thing. I'm going to try to get lower spring rates and different shocks, the Tokicos just don't work. When I raised my car a little, the ride got much better, less bouncing. If your car is dropped to the bottom, then you're riding on the bumpstops the whole time and your car is going to bounce more than a trampoline, at least that's what mine did. Try raising it a little. It should help.

 

Shadow: Thanks for the reply. Did the rubber come with the GC or did your installer put them in for you? If you had to get them separately, where from? Also, I would appreciate it if you can keep me updated on your search for lower spring rates. And, does your car bottom out all the time?

Do you think those Weapon R coilovers are any better? I am seriously considering trying those out. These GC are driving me crazy!

 

hey

if you want lower spring rates juss order them directy from Ground Control if you want. Ground Control uses Eibach ERS springs. Your bouncing situation sounds like you lowered the car too much and your riding on the bumpstops or very near. You can try the same spring rate at Cattman Coilovers which i belive are 375 front and 375 rear. Default for Ground Controls are 450 in front and 300 in back.

 

I don't think the Weapon R's would be any better. You'd have the same problems since the design is essentially the same. And I'm not real impressed with the quality of anything Weapon R makes. My GC's didn't come with the rubber, I just used part of my old dustboot. I didn't like the idea of metal on metal, so I just sandwiched that in there since they weren't used anymore. My car used to bottom out all the time, but since I raised it a little, it doesn't bottom out much anymore, just over railroad tracks and such.

 

toss the tockios and put on konis. i had the boucing problem when i had on my stock struts i got knoi no probz and handles like a dream with 3 inch drop

 

max1ma97se: You sure about the Konis? How long have you had them for? You have ground control aswell? 3" is a lot. Your tires don't rub against the fender wells?

 

i put the konis on a couple weeks ago i have the default setup like your car. no my tires dont rub no bottoming out at all. im so satisfied with my setup. need more info email me, call me up or somethin. i played with my suspension like 5 times now so i know what im doin.

 

MAXMA= mine sometimes does that grinding noise you talked about. but i dont think it is the upper mount rubbing on the strut. i think that groaning noise is coming from the upper mount bearings or something like that. they could be worn out and causing that goaning noise. also my car does not bottom out at all, that is probably due to the fact that i did not slam the hell out of my car. any lower than what i have it becomes a b###h to drive, i.e. speedbumps and other types of bumps. yeah the ride is a little bouncy but that is because i have stock shocks.

FOR ANYBODY who ground controls squeak, i just talked to a guy a GC and he said to put urethane grease around the rubber bushing and the aluminum top hat. also he said that they are in the process of making a new one piece design to replace the aluminum top hat and rubber bushing or something like that. it should be out in like 2-3 weeks and is either going to be free or like 15 dollars.

 

matt calder: You sure Ground Control said that? Hopefully they will come out with something. If you here anything from them, keep us posted. Thanks!

I jacked my car up today and sprayed some WD-40 on the top mounts. The sound is almost gone. This is probably not the right way to fix the problem, but I guess is a temporary solution.

max1ma97se: I will be emailing you regarding suspension problems. Right now, I am at the point where I'm about to trade my car in for something else.

 

Jeff,
Seems like you car is too low.

My cattmans aare 375 springs. Your GC are 400, not a lot of difference. The rear GC are 300? seems a tad soft there, but no problem though?

My whole front coilover set up has ZERO rubber/plastic. All parts are metal and touching, The pinging noises are from the spring coil itself draging against the top spring hat.

The new cattmans w/ the ball bearing mounts will eliminate this.

Your tokico should be fine. My guess is the lack of shock piston travel that causes your "bounce". Try to have at least 2" between tire and fender lip.

Also, did your set come w/ bump stops? I bought some urethane bumpstops from GC to put on my cattmans and they work good!!

 

Hey Ming, what's up? Yeah, my car is pretty low, but it's not too much lower than the old Intrax, just much more bouncy. My car isn't any lower than your car was last time I saw it. I wasn't comfortable with the metal on metal contact because they're not really secured together, I was afraid that they would rub a lot, which probably isn't a good thing. I used my stock bumpstops, as the instructions state. Just had to cut the dustboot part off. The rears are fine, very little bounce. But the front is where all the problem is, it just seems way underdamped. Does your car ping a lot? At low speeds in parking lots, mine pings and pops constantly. Just kind of annoying, I expected it though. Kind of weird how my brothers Prelude doesn't ping at all even though he has the Skunk2 coilover sleeves.


BTW, let me know when you're free, I still need to measure your shifter surround. Thanks.

 

My friend's 98 max had the same set up and he blew out the
tokicos.He said it was bouncy like you explain. It looked HOT but it drove like a fork lift. He then went with the Koni ajustibiles and set them on hard! He said it is still bounced but not as much as before. With Koni the ride will get better but it will still bounce. He then took the ground controls off of the front and left the on the back. He had an old pair of eibachs and put the in the front and clapped two of the coils together. It rides a hell of a lot better,and it sits really mean! The other option is the cattman coilover, but they are cheese!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by MaxMA
[I]matt calder: You sure Ground Control said that? Hopefully they will come out with something. If you here anything from them, keep us posted. Thanks!

I jacked my car up today and sprayed some WD-40 on the top mounts. The sound is almost gone. This is probably not the right way to fix the problem, but I guess is a temporary solution.
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yeah that is what the guy said so hopefully in like 3 weeks they will have it ready. WD-40 will only work for a little while because it will wear off. i used silicone spray and the noise went away but after a day the noise came back. using something thicker like urethane grease will last a lot longer and wont wear off that easily. i have not done this yet but i am going to do it soon. so i can end my ongoing quest for silence.