Finally got to install my Megan Racing coilovers today.. Job was very easy and stress free, took less than two hours, from start to finish... I was pretty happy with that

They seem to ride exactly like the oem ones did, and they really give the car a new feel in the turns, puts down power more efficiently..

As time went on, i seem to have some weird spring noise whenever i turn the wheel, idk what it is but im not too worried about it.. Anybody else have similar stories?

 

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iPhone pix sorry
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Puttin in work!

 

your pics didnt come up. Glad the job wasnt too bad for you. What did they run you?

 

The noise is the coil spring binding. It's trying to turn...the top moves, but it's not spinning on the collar. Did it come with any shims? They look like big *** washers that seat at the top and bottom of the spring. If not, order some from Swift Springs.

 

This, or grease the bearings in the top and see if that helps, since all it costs is some time, thats what I'd do.

 

As a "suspension" guy, I know my noises Greasing the fish-eye bearing will have a placebo effect. Quiet for a day of so. The strut is turning, but the coil is fixed, and as the strut turns, it compresses, which in turn compresses a spring already attempting to rotate.

Do you have any preload on the coil? If not, try adding 30mm of preload, counter that by rotating the lower mount 30mm, that'll keep you ride height and give you some travel.

I could do a whole huge write up on how to properly set up your coils if you wanted. It's all in adjustments. Not to toot my horn, but I can set up a car with a 50/50 cross just by feel. In the setup, you can make the car under steer, oversteer or be perfectly neutral. It's all in bump travel and which end hits the bumpstops first.

I thoroughly enjoy suspensions!!

 

MCS 5 - What do you have set-up wise? Not to thread-jack at all man. Sorry. Just curious as to a knowledgeable answer, that could answer a lot of questions ultimately.

I was at one point looking into Megan racing also.

 

Hmmm seems like i should get to know you...! Lol

I dont think it came with shims, just cables to allow damping adjustments w/o having to remove the strut, which we couldnt get on

 

899 without tax, 950 shipped

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8841931...57631737713841

 

Thats the photo set, sorry i didnt really take too many, been tryna fix my pos Volvo

 

Currently in stock, but I know "a guy" that'll build any variation of shock/ dampening/ spring height and rate. I'm in the research phase now and probably won't have a running prototype for about 4-6 months.

The last suspension I spec'ed up was for a Subaru rallycross car, before that I was playing with a Miata. The Subaru used a 57mm shock body (compared to 46 on the Megan, don't hold me to that 46, BC is 50mm if I recall). The shock was an 8 way adjustable from very soft to very firm. I have a local company that makes any variation of spring, so I was constantly making changes depending on surface or how much preload/ travel I would need. I had spring swaps down to 30 minutes.

My mini is not my primary mode of transportation, and I'm leaning towards doing SCCA time trials which are track events. Comfort is at the bottom of my "needs." I think I can get away with 1.5" of travel at what I would consider optimum ride height. As travel hits the limit, I will have a ~400lb bumpstop in place to smooth out transition from spring to bumpstop.

Too many unknowns at this point. I do know it'll have a dark silver shock, red collars and black springs. Gotta keep with my color theme!

Once winter comes and I store the car, I'll really start diving in.

 

Look between the collar and the spring, you should see some sort of shim. It basically acts as a bearing to help things move freely. the spring should bd abld to move independant of the rotating strut assembly. Unless the spring sits right atop the collar, which it may. I'll see if I can find the part number for the part from swift. That should cure your woes.

 

PLEASE DO THIS!!! it would very much help me and probably others. just make a new thread, for easy finding when i book mark it!

 

Sounds good, but was hoping that you were just an aggressive at times - daily driver normally, I guess. You sound like you could have figured out the perfect suspension for us daily drivers, that aren't track only set-ups. But thanks anyways. Keep up the good work! And write up a thread one day, I'm sure a lot of us would find it helpful anyways, as GreekDrifter91 just mentioned.

 

Well, I am that, just not as daily as a daily. I do drive my car...enough, and with my kids. I will figure out that fair balance.

 

Ok, I'll put something together.

 

Yup, definitely sounds like spring bind to me as well. If you didn't get any shims as stated, you could always pick up a set of Thrust Roller Bearings:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hal-7888-109/

I have these on my New Fortune Auto Coilovers and I haven't had any spring bind yet, which I was previously used to with coilovers on my daily driver. Just make sure you do some measurements on the the Megan Shocks and get the appropriate size.

 

Yep, those are what you want. Should be 60mm/ 2.5". You need 8.

 

Each "kit" appears to be enough for one coilover. So in actuality, you'd only need to order 2 "kits." Each Coilover needs a bearing above and below the spring, so 4 total, and each "kit" looks like it has 2.

These are completely unecessary for the rear coilovers as they don't undergo the same constant rotation as the front coilovers do since they are connected to the steering. I've never encountered spring bind in the rear coilovers on any daily driver I've had.

 

I always do em on all, makes adjusting the collars easier as you don't have to try and spin the collar and spring while its mashed against the top plate which sometimes has a rubber isolator to reduce noise. The collar will spin independent of the spring and makes life easier.

 

I could definitely understand that point of view, especially for coilovers like KW's, VMAXX, H&R Etc that have one set of collars. I just prefer coilovers that have height adjustment independant of spring preload, so once I set the preload and lock those perches, I don't need to move them again unless adjusting the preload. In that aspect, which is the case with Megan's the height adjustment is done rotating the entire shock body.

But I will say, these are the first set of Roller Bearings I have used and they are definitely well worth the cost!

 

Learning something new everyday on here as usual. MCS 5, you should add these little tid bits to your "write up", when you get to writing it up for us.

 

This is everything that comes with the Megans http://www.meganracing.com/tech/inst...lacing+a+Shock

It looks like it only has noise isolators

 

Yeah it has rubber isolators. The function of those is beneficial with 0 to Negative preload (no upward pressure on the spring from the collar - at full droop the spring flops and clunks and bangs, that prevents that noise). When you add preload, the spring won't move when the suspension is fully extended as the collar is holding the spring in place.

The problem is when you do add preload, it's like trying to drag a tire across pavement, you can do it, but it has resistance. Now add a 300# weight to the tire. Now it's nearly impossible. Horrible analogy, but I think you see what I mean. Ditch the isolators when you add preload, you don't need em, as the spring won't flop. The trust bearing makes it much much easier.

I'm going to work on this write up for you guys tonight...I have horrific ADHD so I might be all over the place...I'll try my best to keep it in laymans a terms.