BC Coilovers Installed

A

Airvtec

Member
Location
Hayward, CA
Car
2006 FX35
Okay, I know, thread is worthless without pictures. I should have pictures by the end of this week. I had all 4 corners lowered to about 16" from middle of wheel to fender. The rears are rubbing bad. I had to remove the spacers for the time being. I am having my body shop to shave all 4 fenders tomorrow.

I am a bit torn about the ride quality. As far as absorbing bumps and imperfections of the road, it is much better than Eibach springs. However, I did notice a characteristic that I didn't have with the Eibachs. When going across the bridge I travel on a daily basis, I noticed with the BC's, the car bounces more. I noticed the headlights are bouncing up and down a lot more. This was something I never felt with the Eibachs. I've been playing with the different dampening settings, but that only seems to make a difference on the stiffness not the bounciness. I don't know if that even makes sense.

Has anyone played with the pre load? Will that help?
 
From the middle of the wheel to fender, 1.6" doesn't make sense, but 16" makes sense. Give 10" for the half of the wheel, ~3" for the tire sidewall, then 3" for the wheel/fender gap.

On the topic of the bounciness, you're just hitting the bumps in the road at the perfect frequency to hit the natural frequency of the spring. I was next to a lifted truck on 880 by Oakland not too long ago and the front bumper was bouncing up and down about 2 feet because of the bumps in the road and the speed he was going over them. Kinda like double-bouncing on a trampoline.
 
yes it does bounce allot, what setting are you running all around? mine is 8 up front 4 in the rear with this setting their is less bouncing going on
 
StuLax18 said:
From the middle of the wheel to fender, 1.6" doesn't make sense, but 16" makes sense. Give 10" for the half of the wheel, ~3" for the tire sidewall, then 3" for the wheel/fender gap.

On the topic of the bounciness, you're just hitting the bumps in the road at the perfect frequency to hit the natural frequency of the spring. I was next to a lifted truck on 880 by Oakland not too long ago and the front bumper was bouncing up and down about 2 feet because of the bumps in the road and the speed he was going over them. Kinda like double-bouncing on a trampoline.
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aahhh.. hehe, I knew I missed the "middle of the wheel" part.
 
soonster said:
aahhh.. hehe, I knew I missed the "middle of the wheel" part.
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I still think 16" seems high. I would guess I'm at about 13", then again that's only 3 inches, but I'm picturing almost stock height at that difference level. Then again, I'm also just coming up with numbers in my head. :nerd (2):
 
StuLax18: Ok, that explains it. I cross the San Mateo Bridge everyday. I noticed this bounce only on the bridge. For most part, it doesn't bounce like that, but I was a bit concerned.

Dracula: I can't remember the setting I had when I was crossing the bridge. I did play with 3 settings just to gauge the difference. All numbers are from hard: 5, 15, 25. I am currently running 5 front, and 6 rear. 20 front, 25 rear was nice and comfy for daily commute. But I prefer closer to the 5 front and 9 rear.

I'll also take some pictures of the shaved fenders. I do have to say, the FX looks pretty nice at the lower stance.
 
We have a part of a road here in Seattle area that does the same thing. Every car I drove on that stretch bounced, stock or lowered. So it's probably just the bridge....
 
Isn't the total tire size ~30". With stock 20's, the tire sidewall is something like 5". Even w/ 22's, the sidewall is 4". So if he's 16" from center of wheel, it's like 1" gap. If you have and aggressive setup, I'd imagine there would be a ton of rubbing in the back.

I've got BC's sitting in my storage area, need to trim the fender plastic this week and roll the fenders. Otherwise my wife will kill me with all the tire rubbing.

StuLax18 said:
I still think 16" seems high. I would guess I'm at about 13", then again that's only 3 inches, but I'm picturing almost stock height at that difference level. Then again, I'm also just coming up with numbers in my head. :nerd (2):
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The shop is going to shave the front fenders too? Can they even do anything up there? I'm not sure what you would hit in the front besides maybe a screw holding the fender liner in.

Airvtec said:
Okay, I know, thread is worthless without pictures. I should have pictures by the end of this week. I had all 4 corners lowered to about 16" from middle of wheel to fender. The rears are rubbing bad. I had to remove the spacers for the time being. I am having my body shop to shave all 4 fenders tomorrow.

QUOTE]
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I rub in the front occasionally when there's agressive manuevering involved. No harm done there and no real need to roll the front. Concentrate on the rear.
 
You can't do anything to the front. Your tire will take care of it by eventually rubbing away any plastic that it contacts until it's perfect. I can't remember the last time I rubbed on anything.
 
sir21 said:
Lol. Read that real fast....
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LOL, I see where you are going with this.

I took some really hard turns and heard slight rubbing up front. Thought since I was doing the rears, might as well take care of the fronts. The body shop did say there isn't much they can trim in the front. I only have about 1 finger gap in the rear. I am thinking about raising the rear up a bit.
 
The fronts liners can be pushed up by slowly bending up the support clips with your fingers. Please note, if you push too hard or fast you can break a clip.
 
Hey guys i got a question for you all. i think my shocks are done soon (111000 km) on them. was wondering if co's would benefit me. i want the exact ride height in the back but stiffer for towing with my hitch basket.

im not sure what to get. co's or just replace it with oem shocks and maybe lowering springs ( yes i know the height will drop but i heard they are stiffer springs which i would like)
 
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