Coilover Fitment Guide
Here are some answers to some common questions we get asked regarding fitting our Stance+ Coilover Suspension kits…..
Fitting a Stance+ Coilover kit:
Please ensure a capable, fully qualified car mechanic or vehicle technician fits your Stance+ Coilover Suspension Kit. All our Stance+ Street, Ultra and Proline Coilover Kits re-use the factory fitted top mounts and bearing assembly. If the car has high miles, it is normally worth swapping out the old top mount kit and replacing them with new ones.
If the Coilover Kit you have purchased uses a separate rear height adjuster and spring assembly, and you are unsure of where the rear height adjuster is located, there are notes on our website explaining where it is to be fitted. This can be at the top or bottom depending on the vehicle and kit purchased. Incorrect fitting of the height adjusters usually causes clunking noises and can potentially damage the adjuster and springs.
Once the Coilover Kit has been professionally fitted the ride height needs to be set up. This needs to be done by a professional ensuring there will be no tyre to wheel arch contact (this can happen if the suspension is set up too low). Once a suitable ride height has been set, the tracking, camber and alignment will need to be re-set. This needs to be done with a suitable laser alignment machine designed for lowered vehicles (normally Hunter branded). Failure to re-set the alignment will result in poor handling and un-even tyre wear.
Setting up the ride height on your Stance+ Coilover Kit:
Once your Coilover Kit is fitted you will need to adjust the ride height to suit your driving style. This is done by winding the purple locking rings up or down. Our coilover kits usually come with a top load bearing collar and a bottom locking ring. The top ring is load bearing, this is what sets the ride height. The bottom ring is none load bearing and is used to lock off the top ring. The bottom locking ring prevents the kit lowering itself if a top mount bearing fails. The bottom locking ring should only be locked off with moderate pressure.
Lowering or raising the Coilover Kit: Jack the car up and take the weight off the wheel. Once the coilover spring has zero tension you can adjust the ride height. If you have taken our advice and copper greased the threads, height adjustment can be done by hand, if the rings are a little stiff use the adjuster spanner included in the kit. To raise the car, you wind the top and bottom collars up, to lower the car you wind the collars down. We always advise setting the ride height around 5mm higher than your desired ride height as the kit will settle over time. The adjustment collars may need to be set at slightly different ride heights to get the perfect even look, this is due to the car having differing corner weights.
Stance+ Coilover Kit maintenance:
Prior to fitting your new Coilover Kit we strongly recommend you copper grease the threaded body of the coilovers and rear height adjusters. This protects the threads from adverse weather conditions and allows easy, future height adjustments. Failure to do so may result in the locking rings being difficult to adjust. Before adjusting the coilover height, please make sure you remove all dust and dirt from the threaded body. Failure to do this could trap dirt and debris between the coilover threaded body and the adjuster locking rings, causing the locking rings to seize.
Top Mount Fitting:
All our Stance+ Coilover Kits require the re-fitting of the factory original equipment top mounts and bearings. Please make sure the top mount and bearing assembly is fitted as per factory specification. The most common error people make is getting the top mount sequencing wrong. If the springs start making a pinging or twanging noise when the steering wheel is turned left to right this indicates the bearings are not fitted correctly or have failed. Instead of the coilover pivoting on the top mount bearings the springs start moving and jumping on the coilover adjuster collars. This can damage the springs and height adjusters, so it is essential the top mounts are fitted correctly.
When re-fitting top mounts to the coilovers it is essential that the correct tools are used. When mounting the front suspension top mounts, the piston rod will rotate when the top nut is tightened (this is normal). To tighten the top mount nut, you need to prevent the rods from rotating. The Stance+ piston rods have either an Allen key top or hexagonal (socket) top which needs to be used to stop the rod rotating when tightening the top mount nut. Suitable spanners must be used to secure the factory top mounts securely and the nut torqued to factory spec.
IMPORTANT: Mole grips or pliers must not be used to grip the piston rods, this will result in scoring and damaging the piston rods, resulting in the suspension strut leaking oil.
