Got new BC coilovers

[Arron]

Hi guys, got new BC's recently. I've fitted the front no bother but the back....instructions are translated jiberish. I have no idea what way the rear springs go in because they're pretty dodgy in either way. Struts are a pain to as they knock off the hole which goes into the boot so I'll have to drill a bigger hole I think or bend the strut holder thing. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Arron]

This is the picture of mine, rear springs are obviously on the right.

 

[steve-o]

hi i have just fitted these on my micra. the rear coil adjuster sits in where the spring sits and you see the bolt and plate they sit under the rear mount and bolt through to secure them to the bottom spring seat.
hope this makes sense

 

[Arron]

Okay thanks mate

 

[pollyp]

mine fitted no prob.
https://www.micra.org.uk/threads/pollymobiles-rebuild.35251/page-12#post-422391

fronts should simply be remove original struts and bolt the BC straight in and the hub bolt holes should line up.

for the rears, disconnect the panhard, remove old dampers, disconnect the rear brakes to prevent stretching the hose, drop the axle, remove old springs & rubber seats.

now on the coilovers, set the rear spring perch ring that it sits on cos access to it after it's bolted on is difficult (this sets the rear height, mine's set at 45mm from top of the cylinder to the seat), lock it.
then place the perch assembly onto the circular hole on the axle where the spring used to sit on, then bolt the lower securing washer plate from underneath so now the perch assembly and lower washer sandwiches the axle.

with the perch assembly secured, fit the upper & lower plastic ends onto the ends of the rear spring, this stops the bare spring rattling against the metal chassis.

fit the springs onto the perch assembly seat. the narrow lower end fits onto the perch assembly while the wider top end fits under the chassis. now while you slowly jack up the axle, keep an eye on guiding the top of the springs towards the underside cavity of the chassis. when any one of the rear springs begin to touch the chassis, give it a wiggle to make sure it's centralised onto the chassis cup and not jammed at some croocked angle, then continue jacking till it begins to lift the chassis.

with the springs fitted and under weight of car, fit the dampers. then everything else.

once fitted, get it setup & balanced correctly for your configuration asap to get the most performance out of them, that's the main purpose of a fully adjustable coilover.

to protect ur £££ coilovers long term, I'd suggest thinking bout making some covers.
https://www.micra.org.uk/threads/pollymobiles-rebuild.35251/page-19#post-446325

https://www.micra.org.uk/threads/pollymobiles-rebuild.35251/page-24#post-454436

 

[Arron]

Okay thanks for that. One question though why do you have to disconnect the panhard rod?

 

[pollyp]

cos as the axle is being lowered, the panhard will try to pull it to the left while the geometry of the trailing arms & bushes tries to keep it centered, as a result the whole suspension linkage jams up n resists therefore becomes more n more difficult to push the axle down enough to swap the springs, plus the axle also want's to spring back up which makes it annoying.

by removing the panhard and this sideways pulling, it becomes easier to push the axle downwards plus it stays there so it's more convenient for swapping springs.

 

[Arron]

Oh right okay, I don't have to do that with mine

 

[Arron]

I have to ask @pollyp but what difference does the actual damper height make?

 

[pollyp]

I have to ask @pollyp but what difference does the actual damper height make?

u mean the height of the rear damper setting here?

adjusting the rear damper position determines how much ratio of bump / droop travel u have throughout the dampers stroke and also where the axle/wheel/tyre will stop when the damper hits bump stop.

too high:

• lack of bump travel = keep hitting bumpstop wayy before tyre hits arch = bouncy rear ride = not fully utilising the available range of travel
  
• too much droop travel = potentially springs could become uncaptive if the spring perch ring was also set very low

too low:

• too much bump travel = tyre will strike the body before the bumpstop can prevent it = noisy & damaged tyres/body
• lack of droop travel = wheel prevented from fully extending during hard cornering = lost tyre grip/traction from that corner

my method of setting the rear is:

1. fit rear springs & wheels only. no dampers or adjustable panhard.
2. jack up the axle till the chassis begins to lift (static ride height)
3. measure the wheel-arch gap. adjust spring perch ring up/down till it reaches ur preferred ride height gap. always set the left/right perch ring equally.
   
4. remove the springs, fit dampers & wheels
5. jack the axle up till it begins to lift the chassis. if either the tyres touch the body or the axle hits the exhaust before reaching bumpstop, raise up the damper body to make it hit bumpstop abit earlier
   
6. with the damper at bumpstop under the cars weight, check the tyre/arch gap & exhaust/axle gap. adjust the damper height equally left/right till the tyre is roughly bout 1cm from the arch and/or the axle is 1cm from striking the exhaust. lock the damper nut.
7. fit the springs, wheels & adjustable panhard
8. jack axle up till it begins to lift chassis
9. measure the lateral gap between the arch and the rim/sidewall on left & right side. this checks if the axle is centered at static ride height. adjust the panhard rod till the axle is in the middle.
10. optionally realign wheels

 

[h701micra]

The length on the shock should be adjusted to keep the spring captive

 

[Arron]

Quick question, @pollyp but how did you fix the top of the rear strut to the body? I'm not sure how to do it :/

 

[pollyp]

here's a tip
https://www.micra.org.uk/threads/pollymobiles-rebuild.35251/page-104#post-659834

 

[jackassisbadass]

Where did you get these coilovers from?

 

[pollyp]

got mine off ebay £765
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_o...+coilover.TRS0&_nkw=bc+k11++coilover&_sacat=0

or direct from BC dealers £778 posted
http://www.bc-racing.co.uk/applications/nissan-coilovers/nissan-micra-k11-march-ak11-93-03.html

 

[jackassisbadass]

Thanks a lot.

 

[pollyp]