A couple of suspension questions on camber and damper

[Luddy-C]

Been searching around the net and various forums but I've given up and figured I'd just ask

I've got CS2 coilovers and rear camber arms on the S15. There's other bits too but I just wanna ask about camber and damper.. The car had all this already when I bought it so I havn't adjusted anything...yet :wack:

Basically, the CS2's have adjustable damper via a twistable knob on the top of the rears and the bottom of the fronts (please correct me if I'm wrong ). I was curious about messing with them but I wanted to know if I need to jack the car up or even remove the shock to do it? Or if they should be adjustable on the ground?

The other question is the rear camber. Do I just remove the wheels and the camber arms and make them both shorter/longer and ensure they're the same length? Or do I need to adjust the top mounts of the CS2s aswell? Or adjust anything else?

Sorry if this has been asked before, but I couldn't find it. Thanks for reading! :thumbs:

 

[pegliobaglio]

Well tbh camber is not really the easiest thing to adjust by eye! With top mounts you can adjust them on car just undo the bolts and and grab the strut from underneath and move it to the required adjustment(maybe easier jacked up)tbh I would get it adjusted to the required amount on a proper laser allignment machine. adjusting the damping can be done on the rear by just twisting it left-soft right -hard normally . As for the front if its on the base of the strut may have to jack it up and remove the wheel to adjust it. Sounds weird though,most coilies have top adjusters?

 

[Luddy-C]

Thanks mate, much appreciated. I was going to get proper alignment etc done soon alright, I was thinkin I'd temporarily add some neg camber at the rear until I get my arches rolled, because the new wheels are rubbing on some bumps. Also figured it would be good to play around with it I'll let ye know if I break anything!

The damping adjustment on the front of mine seems to be on the base of the strut, and the rear ones seem to have it on the top. Seemed odd to me.

Cheers for the reply!

 

[pegliobaglio]

No worries bud,if its only scrubbing occassionally you might get away with just stiffening it up a little at the rear?good luck with it,when it come to adjusting the arms as far as I know its a case of raise the car on jacks adjust it a bit drop it down see how it looks raise it again adjust it a bit and on and on lol

 

[Luddy-C]

haha, cool, was thinkin that alright. I don't need to rely on it for getting to work any more, so I'm able to take it apart without too much worry. I think I'm gonna have to take out the coilovers and give em a proper soaking in oil and a scrubbing if they're to be adjusted. Should have been cleaning them regularly and didn't realise

 

[pegliobaglio]

Ah the adjusters get locked/stiff quick if you don't keep an eye on them I found out the hard way!!!!

 

[Luddy-C]

Yeah I think I'll be finding out the hard way too! Gotta get a hold of some C Spanners first. I'll get a few cans of WD40 later and soak em for a week or two till i get spanners maybe

 

[Luddy-C]

...so the coilovers were all set to full soft since I bought the car! Now they're full hard

Needed a bit of help with a pliers to un-stick the front ones, but the back ones were sound. You only need to pop up the corner of the parcel shelf to access them too! Left the camber alone but drowned everything in WD40 and Rustola so hopefully it'll make it easier to play with when I do get around to it :thumbs:

 

[pegliobaglio]

Glad it was nice and easy mate! Full soft? My car hasn't seen full soft ever lol full hard all the way!!!!!!
Should explain the scraping then if it was on soft!

 

[Luddy-C]

She's full hard in the rear and 10/16 hard in front at the minute. Tires were all 26 psi too but now they're 33 front and 39 rear I've got a 3 hour drive this evening so I'll get a proper chance to see how she feels. Rears still rub on big bumps/dips though so I'll have to see if I can do anything about the inner lip this weekend. Cheers again for the advice!

 

[pegliobaglio]

no worries mate,i had my rears rolled flat back,as long as the paint is heated it doesnt crack,i think i paid £80 for the front and rear so wouldnt cost much to get done if you dont fancy doing it yourself mate.
i am still playing with mine trying to get the right balance too,running the same sort of setting as you atm but i run 32psi front 35 rear,good luck anyways mate and enjoy !!

 

[Luddy-C]

I'd have a go at it myself but I'll be getting them slightly flared at some stage anyways to let me go lower. Might try to get the lip in this weekend using herself's hairdryer. Cheers anyways dude, have a nice weekend!