I've read through the threads but...I need some clarification on a few things.
First and foremost. What kind of ride height are you guys getting out of them? Is it completely adjustable? Or if I could get a brief explanation at how that works. I assume you are compromising suspension travel if you are lowering the car, right? I dont want to do anything that is going to be harming the koni's. Especially being that they cost a lot as it is.
I'm switching to this set-up from some k-crap coilovers so my standards for ride comfort and handling might be a little different. Im expecting to sacrifice a little, but my main goal here is to just get a very solid, reliable, well performing suspension. I dont need the car slammed, but I like a little rake in the stance.

What are you guys using between the oe housing and the insert on the front to keep it from moving around? metal? rubber?

and what is the point of these helper springs I see some using. Just trying to get an idea for everything I need to buy. I wont skimp, I'm ready to be impressed.

thanks for any help.

 

okay. so....
in comparison to ksport coilovers what kind of ride quality differences are we talking about? handling? reasonable ride height?

 

Advanced Suspension, Chassis, and Braking Talk about suspension geometry, advanced handling/chassis setup, custom brakes, etc. NOT your basic brake pads and "best drop" Information.

 

shut up. Nothing I ask about is anything short of in-depth and intellectual. This set-up is so advanced I couldnt just post up this stuff in the 4th gen section and cause peoples minds to blow when the experts stepped in. burp. maybe someon can move it if its gon' be like DAT

 

easy easy there folks.

this setup is not like a coilover system where ride height doesnt affect suspension travel. this is just like any spring/strut setup but with height adjustability, so the lower you go, the less travel you will have. BUT "shortening" the strut or running Koni Red inserts in the front strut will give you that extra bit of travel to help what little travel you have already. i remember seeing a writeup on how to put together the Koni into the oe housing. i dont remember what is used to hold it in place but google search it, it's there. as far as the GC sleeve on the strut housing, it should be welded on.

 

Okay, makes perfect sense. thank you. I am afraid to run the reds after reading about a few problems people had with them blowing or something. I by no mean am trying to go as low as I can, I'm fine with a ride height that most people think is too high. But Im still curious as to how much room for "play" I have that would allow for "acceptable" suspension travel. And in comparison to ksports, how much suspension travel I will have. If I can come out better than the ksports and not have the car looking like a floating bean (like most "dropped" cars on here look) I'll be happy. Of course the handling will have to be decent as well.

I had no idea those GC sleeves need to be welded on. no biggie i suppose

 

i don't think the sleeves are to be welded. welding aluminum to steel doesn't work afaik.

take a look at jsutter's write up again, there's some pictures of available travel at drop. i think it boils down to something like 1.25" more than you would have without shortened struts.

and yeah... it's like DAT foo.

 

yeah dont get me trying to weld aluminum to steel...lol

1.25 more than I would have withOUT shortened struts? or do you mean WITH shortened struts...


I'll look again. I'm still tryin to decide if this is going to be worthwhile.

edit- oh the koni's are shortened themselves...so they are already engineered to have the car sitting lower from the start. or wait....umm. I'm still reading. I coulda swore it was disproven that the "shortening" of the struts did anything to the actual ride height.

 

oopps my bad yeah aluminum doesnt weld to steel.

dude, its WITH shortened struts. how can you have more with out taking any off? but even with shortened struts, the ride height isnt affected i believe. i remember reading it somewhere here. just follow the write-up procedures and you will be fine. thers really nothing to it besides cutting up the oe housing.

 

dont "dude" me and then come in here with this "i remember reading" junk . I was trying to understand if the "shortening" being referred to was the actual length of the koni insert by itself or the modification done to the stock housing. But as you said, it's been proven the ride height doesn't change.

anyway...I read over it again so I think I'm going to start piecing together some things. I hope the threaded collars that come with the GC's are sufficient since jsutter used some collars from another brand coil over that covered the whole threaded body.

 

dude! LOL, how did I miss this? In no particular order I will try and fill you in the best I can.

The 4th gen yellows are stock length, but you can trim the bottom to gain some travel. This is the way to go for mild drops. Its what I have on my Max.
The 3rd gen reds are shorter than 4th gens, thus you dont need to trim them. Good for 2.5"+ drops as is. Trim them for crazy low slammz. Nate, MorpheusZero trimmed reds and ran Eibachs, which ended up topping out and ruining the reds. It was not a low enough drop to warrant trimming.

You will lose travel as you drop height. Not really an issue with a properly setup suspension. I ran Stechs with the CSK and still had a good bit of travel still. I would say Stechs are damn near a 2.5" drop up front. Ride was actually great up front.

The ride should blow away k sports. Konis have a set compression curve thus a smooth ride no matter where the rebound is. If you've had AGX you know what rocks feel like on setting 4, not happening with Konis.

For a streamline look you can remove the original spring perch. You dont actually weld the sleeves on. You can to weld on a perch for the sleeve to rest on. When I made my 1st set over 2 years ago I didnt have a welder, thus the ghetto engineering using more sleeves. You can also leave the original perch and set the sleeve on it. I have also trimmed the perch down and bent it over the sleeve. On my B13 Sentra I welded perches for the front, running shortened B15 yellows. For the rear I trimmed the original perch and bet it over. Im running GR-2 out back so I cant weld them.

Sometimes there is a gap between the Koni insert and housing. I used an aluminum can and duct tape to shim for a tight fit. I have also used epoxy, glue, or jb weld between the insert and housing.

The adjusting sleeve's inner diameter is larger than the outer diameter of the housing tube. Wrap duct tape around the housing until the sleeve fits snug. I like to RTV the sleeve on also. Some have used heater hose, rubber rings, etc to fill the gap. I like the duct tape method.

Joe, 98SEBlackMax went all out with the helper springs. What this does is keep the spring seated at all times. The GC springs are short, 7" up front. When the wheels come off the ground the spring can become loose and unseated. Not entirely necessary for daily use, though some states check springs during inspections and you can fail if they are loose.


Sentra, welded:



Sentra, trimmed and bent:


Maxima, stock perch for regular springs, I did these for 95maxrider:

 

I greatly appreciate all the information. It looks like this is what I make of it. I may try to just do the koni inserts first with some springs on the stock perches and see how I like that and just add as I go!

Also, I see what you said about the helper springs, makes sense! I'll post more questions as I get them. First step will be ordering some konis for the front.

 

I'm only running Eibachs, but coming from AGX/H&R I'm very happy You did a great job Jon It rides even better now that I replaced Ben's rear strut mounts with the stock ones

 

95maxrider what is you're front and rear set up in this picture

koni's and eibachs all around?

 

That's a pretty old picture. I was on H&R/AGX then.

 

oh darn. any pics with the koni set up and eibachs? I cant get ground controls right off the bat so I'm lokoing at my options for springs

 

Umm they're height adjustable, so although it's compromising suspension travel you can set them at any height you want within reason.

I've got mine with about a 2 1/2 finger gap from the fender with 1.8 degrees of camber (with less camber it would be more like 2 finger gap). I get the very occasional strut bottoming and the even more rare rub, but only when I am railing it on very uneven roads with the wheel turned. G35 coupe rims, 18x8 +30 and 235/40/18 tires.

 

well the eibachs arent adjustable. (not sure why you quoted me when i was talking about eibach).

good to know though, thanks. Are you running the yellows and GC's all around? I honestly dont need it too low, but I do run a smaller tire (245/45/16) than stock so the gap will be that much more. As long as the rear is a bit higher than the front, I will be fine.

 

Eh. I was tired.

 

Morpheus has my old setup.

When I had Eibachs the gaps were similar, but Id say the rear was a CH lower.

These pix look pretty level however.

Completely stripped interior so its misleading:


Full interior with full size spare, sub, ect.:

 

thanks again jsutter. I see a little ***-dip on the second pic, that stillen kit really keeps things level though. I think I'll try to just get a rear spring/strut combo that will only provide a minimal drop in the back so I wont be fighting suspension travel to get the front that much lower. I dont want to have any conflicting qualities however, like too soft on one side/too firm on the other. But then again, I'm used to ksports and that was the least consistent ride I've ever experienced.