Ride height looks nice! For the coilovers, I've seen them typically with three collars so the thread of the coilover actually shortens the entire length of the strut (it feeds into a hollow tube) rather than spring pre-load adjustment. Regardless, setup is looking good! And now I need bbq...
+Engineering Explained Often times yes, but using the bottom spring perch on a linear spring is the correct way to lower once overall shock length has been set to ensure correct fitment. Ala the MCA method.
Ugh i hate that they have that here. Although there are a lot of legally registered "monster trucks around where i live, and some 3-inch-from-the-ground tuners.
Interesting how the coilovers didn't initially drop it that much! My eBay specials absolutely slammed my MX-5 onto the chassis rails! However I have raised it up a fair bit now to improve the ride and handling as I like my car to be functional rather than a stance queen.
Alex and Gareth you fail tightening suspension bolts. these suspension bolts can tightened when car is drive position, otherwise you damages rubber bushes. also now shock absorber on stress now besause rubber tense
the correct way to remove coilover is to unbolt anti roll bar endlink , then replace with adjustable end links .Especially when lowering car more than 1 inch or 10 m.m. Ajust steering rack good computerized alinment 0 degrees front toe alinment is critica !l , bump steer & corner weight -optional but a plus on the track
Both spring compressors are suppose to be used on one coilover at a time. Also if you remove the bottem bolt on the swaybar endlink and the upper control arm bolt theres no need for spring compressors, they will come right out.
bro wtf i did my na miata coilovers by myself on jacks and got them out easy the rear was so easy just loosen the sway end links and you don't need to compress or cut the spring. Amateurs.
The first time you measure ride height after dropping the car on the ground is always the worst. You need to roll it forward and back to allow for any camber change that the suspension wants to produce so it's not fighting the tension of the tires. Then it will lower itself slightly from the tires settling and the camber change settling, that's when you should initially measure it.
Alex, listen man: One big reason your car sat so high after replacing the coilovers (in addition to needing to roll the car to let the suspension settle) is because you torqued your wishbone bolts with the car in the air with the wheels hanging. You tightened the bolts that allow the suspension to pivot while they were in a higher ride height position, essentially locking in a higher ride height. It's the most common mistake people make when working on suspension, I'm guilty of it too but now I've learned better. All suspension bolts that go through a pivot bushing must be tightened with the car at ride height. This is also a major cause of ripped suspension bushings because now they have to twist further than they are capable of twisting when they are tightened while indexed at the wrong angle
You don't tight ANY of the susspension bolts with the wheels hanging down! dude! You have to simulate normal "on road" position. support the hub from the ground, or put on the wheels, and drive over the "hole in the ground" station (i don;t know how you call it), and then tight everything to avoid tension on the rubbers.
+nabassu the round rubber on every end of every susspension part needs to be relaxed when the car is on the ground. if you tighten the bolts with hanging wheels, they will be relaxed UNTILL you low the car on the ground. in that moment, they will recive unnesesery tension. aside from the fact, that from that moment, the rubbers will not help the susspension to work proparly, they will also desintegrate much much faster, since they will be always in stress. I can only wonder, that fair amount of these rubbers tensioning everything DOWN, can somehow affect the ride hight.
I would have replaced all the old bushes whilst installing the coil overs, they are sure to be shot by now. Also H&R spent a lot of time matching the spring rate to the shock for decent performance. The springs used look to be rising rate for decent ride. Swapping them out may screw the ride/handling. I prefer a small amount of rake front to back to reduce understeer ( puts weight on the front ) and keep the rear springs a soft as you can for better grip, especially in the wet. Going to hard will make it tail happy, great fun but slow as anything. Get it corner weighted with the driver in to set the suspension up correctly ( with the correct tire pressure).
How many inexperienced mechanics does it take to install coilovers on a Miata? Way too many... But seriously, I was kinda cringing watching this episode. I mean just from the start where I saw the lift holding the car, those rails are soft and have no structure with the rest of the frame. They easily bend and should not be used to hold the entire car up. The proper frame rails are right on the side of the car and those are reinforced with the frame. Also those coilovers do not have height adjustment. The giant nut he was moving is the spring preload, which will change.... well... preload. And although you can have really high preload which will raise the car a little, it still isn't proper height adjustment where the bottom mount will spin independently on the rest of the shock in order to lengthen or shorten the entire shock without impacting preload.
I want to do this to my 91 soon but don't have access to a garage. Can this be done by just jacking up the car with normal floor jacks and doing the front and back separately?
Why so many technical errors! A 3/8 drive joint on your sockets is not a CV type...! When you remove the shock absorber assembly out of the rear, its NOT a 'macpherson assembly'.... C'mon guys!
hey, a tip about your TSI's. if they havent been painted yet, just put some clear coat and they will look great! also, change out the blinker lenses. over short time yours will turn blurred and yellow. looks very bad and cheap. i buy this office supplies holder that has a nice CLEARRR plastic tray which is just big enough to cut and trim out new lenses. with the led bulbs it really freshens up the look. cheers from Florida and my red 97 :)
This removal process is totally correct(enough) for a miata, but dont try that shit on many other cars. You'll potentially blow your face off if you remove springs/suspension components incorrectly on other cars. If a coil is sprung at 300lb/inch and its compressed 3 inches, thats 900lbs of thrust and 15lbs of spring trying to escape the wheel well with only your face there to slow it down.
MX5 PROTIP!!! here's an American Miata trick pull up on the back of the panel of the headlight while the hood is open the part facing the windshield and it will sit flush with the hood !!!!!!!!
Uhm... You do realise that the way you set the coilovers to, they have the maximum ride height? If you screw the collar all the way to the top, the spring will compress, and thus making the ride height lower. I have the same type of coilovers (with only preload adjustment) on my BMW, and was also confused by this when first adjusting them.
I would have put even bigger suspention on.....you know #becauserallycar :D that's why my car is so high.....you can fit about 5 adult shoes between the tires and the fenders :D I think I failed the MCM shoe test.
it's painful to watch this knowing that you just need to disconnect one bolt from the anti roll bar each side giving you plenty of play to fit new shocks in! EYES BLEEDING
Gareth darling, if you un-tighten something presumably that's tightening it? Plus a McPherson unit or strut isnt a coilover and the mx5 doesn't have any McPherson units on it whatsoever, loves.
compress the rear springs to remove the suspension... or.. just disconnect the antiroll bar drop links.. :D I love your cockups guys! reminds me! :D ahahah carry on the show! better than topgear! ahah
Those are NOT "McPherson" struts. The factory suspension is coil over shocks, just like the aftermarket ones. Only difference is the aftermarket ones are adjustable.
Masking tape to not scratch the new springs. Lots of Fluid Film spray for surface rust, then smear on vaseline (petroleum jelly) to help prevent rust- add more every fall. Do not get it on the brake pads.
Recessed hooks on the garage floor, a rope and a jack would make for very quick easy peasy removal and attaching of those springy things - with no risk of damaging the new springy things. Just saying! ;)
1# it's a uj or universal joint not a cv which I'm guessing you mean Constant velocity joint same as a modern driveshaft joint 2# instead of removing the Upper wishbone on the front suspension remove both sides of the lower suspension bracket use a ratchet strap and anchor it to the floor and pull the lower and upper wishbone down this will stop the anti-rollbar from not allowing space to remove the old suspension unit Not in no way criticising just sharing knowledge and love the videos keep up the great work
Eh, set it where you want it. I picked up some fully adjustable coilovers for my Celica instead of drop springs. Took me a couple months to get the height and stiffness dialed in.
This is a very unwieldy guide to installing suspension on an mx5. I might have to do video one day showing how to do it with as little effort as possible :P.
Why didn't you remove the swaybar endlink nut instead of fighting it in with coil compressors? Might have been a lot easier. I know removing the sway bars from the control arms give them a lot more movement and it's a really easy job.
feel your pain... did full struts out on 2002 forester parts car :P easy then reinstall only with a half inch ratchet then something newer became avail next morning so removed parts car struts and reinstalled factory ones drove to salvage yard and took apart forester drove home and reinstall new struts .... que beers!
Spring preload is not ride height adjustment. The particular coilover you show does not have height adjustment. Also you need to have the car on its wheels(weight) when tightening the coilover lower bolt to the control arm.
wow, shiny bits on a rusted out mx5. look at all the rubber bushings. thats pathetic. the wishbones look shot and rusted (not surfacerust, all the way rot)..
torque for bolts are overrated ^^ ive taken out the whole front suspension and the powersteering (whatever the thing is called in english) and i dont se anny issues with it. i pull em snugly and check em sometimes. for the engine its a different story i agree.
Being mad because your car have the perfect fitment (and not enough stancenation apparently) and not caring about the handling of the coils ? Wtf dude.
Isn't it high because they decided to lower the the seat locks/locking rings (whatever they're called) all the way to the bottom thus increasing the ride height?
At 6:20 u use those spring compressors to fit in the coilovers. Can't you just use the adjustability of your coilovers to fit it in in the first place? Or am i missing a point here?
