Who has installed Megan Coilovers?

[dsc_pat]

Originally Posted by 03Z33

I'm running SK's not Cuscos. They're 8K front and 5K rear.

thanks

does it rub on your pic ? ;)

[Thirty-Nine]

I'm having some issues with the front sturts.

We've put everything back to gether on the struts and are using the supplied bumpstop vs. the OEM one. Everything is put together in this order:

shock
Megan bumpstop
Megan dustboot
Megan red anodied metal top with plastic noise reducer
OEM upper coil spring seat
Strut mounting bearing
OEM nut
OEM strut support sub-assembly

This assembly gets attached to the steering knuckle and swaybar, and put up into the shock mount hole. On top of that goes the suspension support, then the Megan lock nut.

When I lowered the car down, both shocks rose up about 2" from each shock tower hole. Something is obviously not right, and I can't for the life of me figure it out, but something is definately not right.

I did NOT use the metal spacers that go onto the shock piston (they come assembled with these).

My only thoughts are: 1) The nut on top of the strut mounting bearing isn't all the way down or 2) something else

ANY help would be greatly appreciated.

[03Z33]

You're re-using the stock upper rubber piece right? I think that is what you call the "OEM upper coil spring seat"?

Most aftermarket shocks for this car will stick out further on top, that's normal. If you can post a pic of it, that would be helpfull so we can try to see if it's supposed to be that way.

[Thirty-Nine]

Originally Posted by 03Z33

You're re-using the stock upper rubber piece right? I think that is what you call the "OEM upper coil spring seat"?

Most aftermarket shocks for this car will stick out further on top, that's normal. If you can post a pic of it, that would be helpfull so we can try to see if it's supposed to be that way.

These sick up so that the top cover is up in the ari, which isn't right, which makes me wonder if the bolt that goes on the strut moutn isn't tightend all the way down. I did use this:



The problem is the circled part (and the bolts) rise up about 1.5 inches when lowered down:



Obviously that isn't supposed to be up in the air.

I can't get photos until tonight after work and hopefully, I'll be able to trouble shoot this this today so I can finish it tonight.

[03Z33]

You've got it right then. That's actually completely normal. Mine sticks out atleast that much and so does everyone elses that has installed Tanabe springs or Cusco coilovers. That's just how it is.

I'm searching for a pic right now...

Here's a quick one from Chris07LB's Tanabe Strut bar how to:


It's difficult to see in this pic, but there is a gap there. I'd take a pic of mine to show you, but my car isn't back from the body shop yet.

[Thirty-Nine]

I don't think I explained it well.

The support, which I circled in the diagram above, is NOT in the strut-tower hole. It is raised above the strut tower about 1.5", and makes NO contact with the metal below. This means that the strut can wiggle around in that hole because there's no support.

[03Z33]

Originally Posted by Thirty-Nine

I don't think I explained it well.

The support, which I circled in the diagram above, is NOT in the strut-tower hole. It is raised above the strut tower about 1.5", and makes NO contact with the metal below. This means that the strut can wiggle around in that hole because there's no support.

Yes, I completely understand and that is completely normal. That support doesn't center the strut in the housing, the strut is centered by the lower rubber support from underneath. The upper "support" that is sticking out is only used to keep the strut from pulling out of the car when the car is raised in the air. Hopefully someone else with coilovers who has access to the car will take a pic?

[Thirty-Nine]

If that's the case, it renders the adjuster knobs useless... BRB; I'm making an MS Paint version of the pic!

[03Z33]

For the adjuster, a few coilover companies such as Zeal and JIC sell a flexible extension line which will hang forward to where it's easier to reach and still be able to turn the adjuster. Just search for it for cars like the 350Z rear suspension where they have the same problem. A simple version of this would be to weld or attach a flex-extension from a 1/4" or 3/8" socket set to the top of the adjuster and have it stick out to where you can reach.

You can see the two black flexible adjuster lines between the two coilovers in this pic:


Or you could just drill a small hole directly above the adjuster and just stick a tool in there when you need to adjust

[Thirty-Nine]

Okay, so here's what it looks like (as you can tell I'm no artist. The two nuts are the same size, BTW (don't say that every day)):

[03Z33]

Yes, that would be normal. That is how it will look after installing the coilovers or aftermarket springs. I realize this doesn't "look" normal but it is

[Thirty-Nine]

So that's normal? Weird. That means I took the whole damn driver's side off for nothing! LOL

I cut the dampner adjuster rods down so they don't hit the top of the wiper cowl. I guess I'll take 'em down a bit more after this.

[Thirty-Nine]

Okay, so I called Megan, and I think I screwed something up. I'm using the Megan coil seat AND the OEM coil seat. A guy at Megan said there shouldn't be any metal-on-metal contact.


EDIT: That should read: Red anodized part + OEM spring seat = no?

[03Z33]

Isn't the OEM spring seat rubber? How would that red aluminum spring seat mate to the underside of the car? On the SK coilovers there was a similar aluminum spring seat but it required the use of the stock upper rubber spring seat.

[Thirty-Nine]

Originally Posted by 03Z33

Isn't the OEM spring seat rubber? How would that red aluminum spring seat mate to the underside of the car? On the SK coilovers there was a similar aluminum spring seat but it required the use of the stock upper rubber spring seat.

The OEM unit is metal; the OEM dust boot has a built-in rubber grommit that seats between it and the top of the spring.

The red aluminum ring apparently mounts to the large rubber "sub assembly," which is part of the OEM unit as shown in the OEM diagrams.

There are also some 1.5" metal spacers that came on the shock's pistons (they sit just below the threads on the top end of the shock's pistons), and I'm not sure if I should use them or not. I did not install them on the rears.

I'll tell you this: Megan does NOT include a real set of directions with these, and the folks at Megan Racing weren't able to help much either.

[RShatchback]

Everytime i see a new post in here - i keep hearing the word. Tein... echoing in the back of my head. Good luck with the issues - hope you get it worked out...

[Thirty-Nine]

Really -- I don't think these are any more difficult to install than the Teins. The issue is that Megan doesn't give you a list of what needs to be reused from the OEM suspension. With this, things would've been MUCH smoother. Instead, you've got to figure it out on your own.

If you want a softer ride without adjustability, then by all means, go Tein Basics. However, those of us who want adjustability (and don't have $1,300+ to spend on a set of coilovers), Megan may be a good choice. I'll let you know if I ever get them installed ...

[cdmyaris]

should have pmed wesellcarpart or c2auto. They sell tein coilover set near $880