A33 D2 coilovers use allen bolts to clamp down the monotube and they are really annoying... If I dont tighten them as much, they get loose. And if I tighten them a bit over, they make noise... So I was just wondering if anyone has convert to lock ring instead.. or is it possible?

And also... I tried searching a bit but the thread was like a year old, so I didn't wanna bump that... I just want to ask if a good preload is to hand turn the lock rings high enough so the spring cant move

Thanks... much appreciated!

 

Yes that sounds like proper preload, don't want too much more than snugging them up.

Are you sure the noise comes from the lower mount?

 

Si senor... 100% sure these damn allen bolts are slowly unbolting themselves causing "popping" noise. Gonna try some threadlock and if it doesn't work, then Im gonna order a set of lock rings...

 

I used both the allen bolts and then threw on some locking collars.

Worked better, but you will always get noise from D2's.

 

Does not work.

 

I left an inch gap for the spring to move up and down when the car was in the air.

Made the ride more comfortable.

I would not put ANY pre-load on D2's.. They too stiff right out of the box.

 

I thought about locking collars too, but I couldn't find one that fit... Where did you get yours cuz my home depot has none.
I also thought about getting a longer bolt so I can screw in a nut at the end to act as a locking device, but the D2 bolt pattern is all weird... If the threadlock is not gonna work then I guess theres no point of me wasting time jacking car up and stuff... time to order a set of lock rings

 

If you tighten the bolts a lot and the mounts make clicking noises, you just have to tighten the bolts further. The tighter they are, the louder the clicks will get, but they will become less frequent because the friction is higher: the mount won't move as much, but when it does, it'll pop louder. If you keep tightening, eventually you'll reach a point at which the mount doesn't move at all. That is true for anything that clamps a lower mount on a coilover, including locking rings.

The only problem with the bolts is that you have to tighten the HELL out of them to get to that point. Occasionally that will cause the threads to strip or the bolts to break. Locking collars are a lot more durable, but you still need to tighten the hell out of them, usually by banging on the collar wrenches with a hammer (no joke).

 

All that does is reduce your suspension travel and slowly shred your upper spring isolator. Trust me, I know better than I'd prefer to admit.

When the car is on the ground, the suspension just compresses through the one inch gap until it gets to the spring anyway, so there's no difference in preload between the way you have it and just-barely-snug against the uppper hat. You are just one inch of travel closer to bottoming out your dampers, with nothing to show for it.

Also, if your suspension ever does extend to within one inch of full droop, the spring might not be neatly aligned with the upper spring isolator. If it's out of alignment when the suspension compresses, the spring won't just slot back over the isolator like it should and might damage it in the process.

 

Never had one problem with mine and it was run that way for over two years & 20k miles...