New Tokico setup pics... problem maybe?

[guitardave24]

I have no experience installing shocks/springs, but I bought the 5way adjustable tokico suspension kit w/ tokico springs (should drop 1.5") and went at it. Took a long time to break some of those front bolts loose, but I finally got them. I cut the 3/4 of the top of the bump stops off. The only thing is that I didn't really know how tight to make the spring... I basically compressed it on and tightened the top locking nut until it wouldn't go any further...

I have a couple problems...
1. There's a weird grinding kind of sound in the front when going slow, could be due to brakes though, will check that later.
2. When set to 1, the rear shocks make a loud compressed air sound when going over bump. Is this normal?
3. Finally, the rear looks like it sits too high.

But, it looks to me like the rear sits too high, what do you think?

Stock Pic

After pic (Tokico):

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Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[SlowSpyder]

1. Its probably your brakes, wont know until you inspect your brakes.
2. Best of my knowledge, Gas shocks will make that noise. ( I have the illuminas too and I hear that noise, if you think thats bad wait till you put the lower prothane shock bushing into the lower control arm, youll definitly hear some noise.
3. The rear of your car looks about right to me. I have H&R sport springs and I have a 3 finger gap in the rear. By the way your car looks sweet!

 

[cuttheduck]

Everything you posted is exactly like my experince w/ eibach prokits and illumnas. I kinda suspect my grinding might be a wheel bearing or something. Also, my front springs slammed after a day but the rears didnt follow until 2 weeks later. I still have 3 fingers gap in the back and 1.5 in the front. I tried putting something heavy in the trunk for a week or two to speed up the settling in the rear. Seemed to work okay.

 

[guitardave24]

I solved number 1, the lugs weren't torqued properly, in fact, they came fairly loose. Oops.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[jtmcinder]

One reason that some companies don't drop the rear as much as the front is to eliminate the need for a (rear) camber kit. Another reason is that the car will handle a little better in "stink-bug" mode than flat. It's a good sign that this kit does this. Enjoy.

- Jtoby

ps. reset your headlights

 

[pickens]

Whats up dave. I met you at Fontana a couple of months ago. I was the guy with the same car as yours :laugh: Glad to see the eclipse coming along. How's the handling now?

 

[guitardave24]

Ah, hey dude. You've got the small 16g right? I'm hitting up Fontana again Sept. 18th. You gonna be there?

Handling is definitely better. Though I'm still taking it easy because I'm not very confident in my mechanic skills just yet so I'm making sure it doesn't fall apart on me. I pulled out the shocks and rebuilt/retorqued them and now the rear sits a bit lower now.

The only question I've got, and jtoby you can probably answer this one, is that when I'm going slow and make a sharp turn right or left, there's a little single pop noise that I hear. I can definitely feel it a little bit and I know it's coming from the wheel area in the front. Any ideas? Is this normal?

 

[jtmcinder]

Pops and grinds in the front when turning near lock are usually caused by the spring and/or perch and/or hat binding. Note that the bottom half of the shock turns with the wheels while the upper mounting plate (obviously) does not. So something between these two end points must rotate. The most frequent places for the rotation to occur on after-market setups that use springs that are not flattened are the perch rotating on the shock body and the upper spring seat rotating on the plate. Make sure that these locations are clean and then lubed and the problem should go away.

- Jtoby

 

[pickens]

No, I won't make it this time. My motor is currently sitting next to the car instead of in it. I'm swapping in a mildly built/newer 7-bolt. It was time to due the timing belt and clutch on the old setup so I said what the hell, lets yank out the old motor and put in something that will take a little more power and add an lsd to tranny while its out. I'm also thinking about going bigger on the turbo. I had my small 16g for about 6-months and loved it. You seen that its a pretty potent little turbo at Fontana. However, with the lsd and other mods I think I'll have enough traction to peacefully drive around on a 20g. Know anyone who wants to buy a small 16g?

Remember at Fontana I ran 13.8s pretty consistenly, my new goal will be low,low 13s- high,high 12s on a street setup.