You actually answered this question in your next paragraph, so I'll just skip to that...

Adding preload will make the car sit higher because, since the spring is pre-compressed, it provides more upward force.

And you'd be surprised at what hand tightening can do, even on a 9 kg/mm spring. I distinctly remember cranking at one of my spring perches for a couple of minutes before realizing I was WAY past the point at which the spring was snug against the top mount. There was visible compression on that spring when I compared it to the other coilover.

Maybe some numbers will help. This is going to be painfully approximate so don't take the numbers to be accurate, but it'll get the point across (assuming I understand your question).

Most 4th gens weigh slightly less than 1400 kg, so let's take that as the total weight of the car. About 65% of that is on the front wheels, which means 37.5% per corner in front, which means 525 kg. That means that if you have zero preload on the springs, your front suspension will compress about 58mm (or almost 2.3") when your car is on the ground.

Now, let's say you add 10mm of preload. That's 10mm less that the suspension will compress when you let the car down, so now you're at 48mm (about 1.9") of compression. Thus, the car will be higher because the suspension is compressing less.

Next scenario: You add a 20mm gap between the spring and the top mount. When you let the car down now, the suspension will compress through that 20mm of travel very easily because there isn't much resistance (there is actually some because we are working with gas shocks, but it doesn't behave like resistance in a spring so we're going to ignore it here). Once it gets past that and meets the spring, though, it will compress the spring normally because since the spring isn't preloaded, there is no additional upward force. So, the suspension as a whole compresses a total of 78mm because the spring still only compresses 58mm, and you're adding that 20mm gap on top of that.

Does that make sense?

 

Omg liquid wrench ftw.
Dropped the car another half inch, it feels like it handles even better.
Anyone know if you can buy new collars? Mine are chewed up. I hand tightened them cause they are hard to turn on the threads in some spots since I sorta messed up the threads on a little area of it, no biggie.
I don't get any squeaks or rattles or anything even with loose collars.

 

Post Pictures I Want To See The Car. And Is The Rear Fixed Yet????????

 

DAWgz you knowz how I does.
Ill get pictures later tonight the bumper is so shiney I just need to burn the **** out of it with my greddy again haha.
Car needs some serious cleaning. Can't ever keep it clean.
Anyway, I have more adjusting to do (as always with the ksports) the rear is sittin high like I got rwd sweet lol.

 

Take off the damaged collar and trade it with one of your rear ones. Those are by FAR the least important ones.

 

Yes, thanks for the explanation. I never did think about it as relitive to shock travel. But that makes sense and in numbers

 

omg, did you say the 5th gen has IRS?

 

Just ordered part# 9.6103, hopefully they will work. I'll post pics when i have them on...

 

Report back to let us know if they hold up. I'm riding around with half of spring isolator.

 

Ok, after reading almost 39 pages I ordered my coilovers for my 2002 Altima; now the rear suspension of the 02 altima is the same as the 04 max; so I called Ksport today and asked if I have to take out the existing stock springs since the 04 max rear coilovers already have springs; but to my surprise they told me that the Ksport coilovers for my altima will have separate springs and struts for the rear(just like the Tein basic)with perches on the spring for ride height adjustability. My question is why? If you already have a design like the 04 max, and its the same rear suspension for the altima, why change it? is it better? is it worse? or it doesn't matter? Thank you for the input.

 

Possibly we misunderstood your app, but the 02-up altima and 04-up maxima have a rear "coilover" not seperate spring and shock. And FWIW the max and altima are really similar, but not exactly the same, altima has diff sway bars. And to answer your question, yes you must remove the stock rear spring after installing the coilover.

 

Thank you; but just out of curiosity, if the rear coilover spring rate is 7 kg/mm and say the stock springs are rated at 5 kg/mm; by keeping the stock spring together w/ the coilover spring, will this be like having one 12 kg/mm spring? or it doesn't work like that.

 

12 kg/mm is the least it could be. If the stock spring ends up preloaded when you install the coilovers, it could be more than that. But either way, it's really not a good idea because you'll end up with an effective spring rate that is MUCH higher than the dampers were designed to handle.

 

BTW, guys, had a couple of experiences that I had been meaning to post about.

On a whim, I cranked up the damping on the front by 1/2 turn. The car is now at 1.5 turns from full soft in front, and 1 turn from full soft in rear. BIG BIG improvement over 1 turn all around. The car rides a little harder, but it's much more in control and bounce is virtually gone. It makes me want to emphasize that when you're trying to figure out the best damping settings, start at full soft and turn it up to tune out bounce or turn it down to make impacts softer until you get it the way you want it.

Another lesson: If you're getting bounce, check your tire pressures! That goes double if you have soft sidewalls (225/50/16 Toyo Proxes 4 FTL in that department). Since your suspension is so stiff, you'll feel the ill effects of low tire pressure much, much more than you would otherwise.

Now, in honor of my coilovers reaching the 30k mile mark after being driven every day in the greater Philly area, including all through the winter, I have some good news and some bad news.

Bad news: About a week ago, which was month and a half after I replaced that blown rear right damper, the front right one went on me. I noticed it WAY before it started having a serious effect on how the car rode and handled in daily driving, but I decided to replace it right away because I didn't want the front left one to blow out as well -- the stock sway bar is pretty beefy, which means that a lot of load is shared between the two sides of the suspension, and I didn't want to take any chances. I thought it'd be expensive since I am now out of warrany, but it came out less than $150 with *overnight* shipping. Don't take that as a quote because apparently prices fluctuate, but I still think that's decent. Bigger plus: EXTREMELY responsive customer service. Ksport's US distributors have a small office, but they were able to take my order and ship it out in a couple of hours, which means my car was back on the ground with a new damper in a little over 24 hours. Try getting that out of JIC or Tein.

Good news: when I took apart my front right coilover to replace the damper, there was NO PLAY in the pillow ball mount. None whatsoever, even after 30k fairly hard miles. That's nothing to have a block party about, but it's certainly a shot in the arm to the nay-sayers.

 

thats good to hear dood....I'm glad I have ksports...and I'm also glad to see their company grow! now they are supplying BBKs for us...and I also believe a different line of coilovers? Cuz most of us own the pro kontrol kit (basic)...and I went on their website recently, they coming out with another line....pretty cool

I'll definitely consider ksports for my next ride!

 

Yeah, they do have a few new coilover kits available, most of them race-oriented. It's funny... the Kontrol Pro is now the bottom-of-the-line setup. The next one up is the GT Pro, which is supposed to be almost identical to the Kontrol Pro except that the dampers are inverted. That means less unsprung weight, which of course is great, but there is also the potential for more stiction (read: harder ride in some cases) and/or shorter damper life.

The BBK is pretty freakin' cool. Who knows how well 8-pot calipers will work on the stock master cylinder, but it's good to have lightweight hardware available for a really low price (compared to similar kits on the market). Interesting tidbit: Any brake pad that fits the AP Racing BBK also fits the Ksport BBK...

As a company, Ksport is pretty surprising. On the one hand, they seem kinda budget because a lot of their kits use fairly generic dampers and mounting hardware that are just mixed-and-matched for different apps. On the other hand, all their dampers have HUGE pistons, their pillow ball mounts are solid, and their fitment is good, which are NOT things you typically get from a budget brand. So, technically you're not getting the best you possibly can get because it's not extensively, finely tuned for your car... but then again, you don't pay for it either, and you're at least getting something that's built properly.

 

My Coilovers are all good except they make a really loud noise when making sharp lower speed turns. The noise is hard to explain. It almost sounds like the bumper is scraping against the ground but I know that it's not. Does anyone know what this could be?

 

Can you give us more details?

 

It's when I turn the wheel all the way while making a sharp turn. Almost like a metal to metal scrape. Like when you open a rusty fence, but a lot louder. Sorry for the bad analogies but it's really hard to explain.

 

That doesn't really sound like your coilovers...

Does it happen as long as you have the wheel turned all the way?

Does it happen only while moving?

 

Only when jerking the car in one direction. It makes a slight noise while moving slowly but it's not as loud.

 

it doesn't sound like the coilovers either...it sounds like your tires are rubbing against something? how low are you? and what rim/tire setup are you running?

 

I'm running stock 16's 215/55
And this is how low I am(tires tucked). Would I be rubbing against the suspension or the trim?

 

if your tires are tucked...then you are real low...and i'm putting my money that your tires are rubbing...

 

Rubbing against what? How can I check? And is the only way to correct this to raise the car up?

 

Um. The fender?


1. Turn steering wheel as much as you would to get noise
2. Go outside car
3. Check if tire is touching fender


That's the best way. Possible alternatives are:

1. Tires with smaller overall diameter
2. Rims with more offset



This is super ultra mega basic stuff, man...

 

so the final verdict...ksports have prevailed once again

 

Woah. It's definitely not against the fender. I turned my wheel all the way parked and it wasn't even close. I'm going to put the car up on a jack and check if it's rubbing in the inside against anything

 

Oh. Hm.

Well, if it's a continuous noise that lasts as long as you have the wheel turned, it's not the coilovers. It's either your tire rubbing or something in your steering.

 

I am looking to getting coilovers but I still dont know which product to purchase. I am stuck between Tein SS and K-Sports. I have a Max 00.



K Sport Kontrol Coilover Dampening Kits ($750 - $900)



or



K Sport GT Pro Damper System ($1200)



How it compare to Tein SS (Super Street) Coilovers ($1200)


Feedback

 

Ksport Kontrol Pro:
- Camber plates
- Height adjustment without compromising suspension travel
- Better handling than the Tein SS (stiffer springs, front pillow ball mounts)
- Best price

Ksport GT Pro:
- Camber plates
- Height adjustment without compromising suspension travel
- Best handling (inverted dampers, stiffer springs, front pillow ball mounts)

Tein SS:
- Tein brand name
- Slightly less noise-prone than either Ksport kit


The GT Pros are unproven as of yet; inverted damper designs sometimes have durability issues, and no one knows for sure whether Ksport has solved them yet.

So, I'd get the Kontrol Pros.

 

if money wasn't and issue... would you go with tien?

 

Absolutely not. They lose suspension travel the lower you set them, and they don't come with camber plates or pillow ball mounts. I might go for the GT Pros, but I'd need to do a lot more research.

 

Are you sure about that? Ksports come with camber plates and pillow ball mounts?

And Tein doesn't.. I am going to look into that.

 

yup, that's correct. If it was not for reliability or frequent maintenance k-sports would probably be the best coilovers for our cars.

Tains should be more reliable but you are limited in adjustability because the height can not be adjusted independently and they do not have camber plates.

BTW, have you considered Boss Chens? That's what I got sitting in my garage waiting to be installed next week.

They seem to have a solid design, offer good compromise between ride and handling, and unlike TEIN SS, height can be adjusted independently from spring preload. They don't have camber plates, but considering that camber plates usually require frequent maintenance and that they put a lot more stress on strut towers (the chassis will get weaker sooner) I don't think it's a drawback. It takes kinda long to get them, since it's a fairly new product, but I think it worth it.

 

Yes, I am sure that both the Kontrol Pro and the GT Pro have front pillow ball mounts, which means they also have camber plates.

I am also sure that Tein SS has neither, because it requires you to re-use the OEM upper mounts.

 

I have to say I still don't get how people are still complaining about reliability with these coilovers. Their damper failure rate is still 1% or less, which is totally on par with (or better than) the rest of the industry, and there's hardly any maintenance needed if you just install them right the first time -- i.e. hammer on the lower mount collars, de-grease the spindle bolts, and keep all the mating surfaces cleaned. Except, of course, if you're frequently adjusting, which would mean you might need a little degreaser here and a little wire brushing there.

Whose camber plates have you been using?

You might be thinking about pillow ball mounts here, as compared to rubber or polyurethane. If that's the case, you're right, there is more stress involved, especially in terms of vibration. But remember that for every bit of vibration that the chassis is forced to take, there is a lot more that will be absorbed by other soft parts like the springs, other suspension bushings, and tires, so the difference isn't as big as you might expect. Virtually all of the extra chassis stress comes from the springs, since they're way way WAY stiffer than stock with any of the coilover kits we've been talking about.

 

hm... I don't think hammering on something [which I believe is made of aluminum] should be the right way to install suspension. Besides, how many people have actually done it "right" the first time.


well, as far as I know most camber plates with pillowball mounts require frequent maintenance.

That's correct, I was just saying that that camber plates put more stress on the chassis.

Well, maybe I shouldn't have said "a lot more" but that extra stress certainly can not be called insignificant.

 

BTW, you call this reliable?

 

In the 14 months since I installed my Ksports, I've set and re-set my height more times than most people ever will for as long as they own their car, and it's only in the past couple of times that any part of the collars has started to even dent slightly.

Doesn't matter. Whether it's the majority or a minority, that doesn't change the fact that when you use them properly, they work as advertised.

Apparently that doesn't include Ksports. I only remember hearing of one noisy pillow ball mount, and that was a defective one. Mine survived 30k hard miles.

"Cannot be called insignificant" by what criteria? It's the equivalent of light tapping with a hammer. If you're talking about wear and tear, having a pillow ball mount is NOTHING next to having front springs that are 3 times as stiff as stock. If you're trying to say that ANY additional, questionably necessary stress needs to be avoided no matter what the intensity, it'd be hypocritical to add coilovers to your car...