Official BC Coilover Kit Development Interest.

[iTurbo]

Ah thanks for clearing that up Rich. That would be awesome if BC made a rear shock that would work for us. Even though these QA1 shocks are hella nice, one-stop shopping would be cool. At any rate, no regrets here and at this point I'm hard pressed to find anything I can think of to improve upon.

Also, regarding the full droop issue that shackwrrr mentioned..... In my opinion after test fitting these on my SL, I would say that the rear springs may become unseated on full droop as was mentioned. The only circumstance that I can possibly imagine this happening is in a rally course on a jump with the car catching air. For me, that is not something I will be putting my car through. However, this is somewhat dependent on how hi/low you set the rear spring adjusters. On my SL, if I set them at "Eibach" or stock height, there would be no issue at full droop as the BC spring stays seated fairly well at any angle. If you go *really* low though, I can see it becoming an issue and it seems to me that the rear spring would likely become unseated at the top before coming free of the lower adjuster. The BC spring fits nice and snug on the lower adjuster but there is nothing holding the spring to the upper seat at full droop. Like I said though, this would only be an issue if you: 1. Lowered it WAY down, *and* 2. Were rally crossing the car going off jumps. Seems to me people that rally their cars tend to raise the ride height (?) so this is highly unlikely; so it's not something I would worry about much. Also keep in mind that the spring adjusters I have on my SL are a little shorter as they were prototypes to find the correct angle and are a tad shorter than what the production units will be, so this may not be an issue at all on production units.

[rbryant]

Also, regarding the full droop issue that shackwrrr mentioned..... In my opinion after test fitting these on my SL, I would say that the rear springs may become unseated on full droop as was mentioned. The only circumstance that I can possibly imagine this happening is in a rally course on a jump with the car catching air. For me, that is not something I will be putting my car through. However, this is somewhat dependent on how hi/low you set the rear spring adjusters. On my SL, if I set them at "Eibach" or stock height, there would be no issue at full droop as the BC spring stays seated fairly well at any angle. If you go *really* low though, I can see it becoming an issue and it seems to me that the rear spring would likely become unseated at the top before coming free of the lower adjuster. The BC spring fits nice and snug on the lower adjuster but there is nothing holding the spring to the upper seat at full droop. Like I said though, this would only be an issue if you: 1. Lowered it WAY down, *and* 2. Were rally crossing the car going off jumps. Seems to me people that rally their cars tend to raise the ride height (?) so this is highly unlikely; so it's not something I would worry about much. Also keep in mind that the spring adjusters I have on my SL are a little shorter as they were prototypes to find the correct angle and are a tad shorter than what the production units will be, so this may not be an issue at all on production units.

Oh ok I see the concern now.

If the axle drops down, from the body or the body raises up higher than the unloaded spring height then a coilover spring is not setup to keep the spring loaded. This is not normally a concern because the car should always have some weight on the spring.

In the rally type setup It would probably be best to add some helper springs to the springs I provide (probably by welding them onto the BC springs). The helper springs are a flat spring that are designed with a much lighter spring rate and are designed to be compressed completely flat and only uncompress when the spring is fully unloaded. They then have only enough spring rate to hold the spring combo on the seat.

Here is an example of one from ground control:


Because there is no shock inside of the springs a normal spacer wouldn't work and the helper should be welded to the main spring.

-Rich

[Turbo Joe]

just a tip for cutting the bump stops i used my hose cutter and it worked perfectly
got my rears done just waiting for the upper spring bushings to show up from Johnny

[smdandb2]

Sorry to bump an old thread but even after reading this whole thread I am kind of unsure still. This is for my SL.

I just got a set of Tein Super Street coilovers for an SRT4 for a killer price. They came with the pillow ball top hats already. Looking at the bolt spread it looks like two will line up easy and I would have to drill for the third. But it looks like by doing that the camber is going to be increased in the positive direction. The adjustment area is already recessed on the Tein top hats so the little 2.5" strut top hole may almost be feasible for full adjustment. My question is with the room UNDER the strut mount. It looks like a pretty large area from the top, but looking at your mounts it seems like they were made because space was a concern. Would the SRT4 top hats stick up in there no problem?

Next question. Lets say I wanted to ditch the Tein top hats and get yours. What all would I need? Do I need to get the adapter kit AND camber plates? The pictures for your adapter kit on your site don't work, so I am having a hell of a time visualizing whats included. From what I am reading it looks like I might need both, because the adapter plates sound like they are just for the BC adjuster setup only and probably wouldnt work with the Tein lower part.

Here is a picture of what I am working with here. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks. As soon as I get the fronts situated I am going to order the rear setup from you.

[rbryant]

Sorry to bump an old thread but even after reading this whole thread I am kind of unsure still. This is for my SL.

I just got a set of Tein Super Street coilovers for an SRT4 for a killer price. They came with the pillow ball top hats already. Looking at the bolt spread it looks like two will line up easy and I would have to drill for the third. But it looks like by doing that the camber is going to be increased in the positive direction. The adjustment area is already recessed on the Tein top hats so the little 2.5" strut top hole may almost be feasible for full adjustment. My question is with the room UNDER the strut mount. It looks like a pretty large area from the top, but looking at your mounts it seems like they were made because space was a concern. Would the SRT4 top hats stick up in there no problem?

Space is a concern when you add caster adjustment which unlike most plates is a feature of my plates.

It is possible to fit the neon style bolt pattern into the GJKHPA cars but you will have to drill 2 holes. There is a thread somewhere in which a guy did it. He actually drilled 3 holes and didn't reuse any stock holes. I think I posted a diagram showing how to do it with 2 holes. The Tein plates also will not have caster adjustment which is a big feature to have on our cars.

Next question. Lets say I wanted to ditch the Tein top hats and get yours. What all would I need? Do I need to get the adapter kit AND camber plates? The pictures for your adapter kit on your site don't work, so I am having a hell of a time visualizing whats included. From what I am reading it looks like I might need both, because the adapter plates sound like they are just for the BC adjuster setup only and probably wouldnt work with the Tein lower part.

I will have to fix those pictures. I had a webpage crash and restored most of them but I must have missed those.

The camber plates come with the BC front struts. The adapter plate and hardware is separate.

The adapter plates are setup for the BC camber plates and it is doubtful that they would fit the Tein plates. I can sell you a BC plates with the adapter if you want to go that route. I think I even have a set of used BC plates.

-Rich

[smdandb2]

Thank you for the information sir. I am going to pull the stock struts this weekend and take a peek. Some added caster sure would be nice, but since I am in this purely for the asthetics it's not a requirement for me.

If I don't do your plates I will for sure at least be purchasing the rear setup from you shortly.

Thanks again.

[LaserDad]

It's been 3 years since I converted my '86 Laser over to Megan Racing's '93-97 VW Golf3 coilovers. Now I have a Daytona, that I want to use for track racing.

What setup should I use? BC's RM, or ER series with QA1 rears?
Where do you get the QA1's and what P/N do I want?
What spring rates?

[rbryant]

It's been 3 years since I converted my '86 Laser over to Megan Racing's '93-97 VW Golf3 coilovers. Now I have a Daytona, that I want to use for track racing.

What setup should I use? BC's RM, or ER series with QA1 rears?

If you want the best possible setup then I would use the ER series BCs with the QA1 double adjustable rears.

I am offering steel rear height adjusters now with the kits which are loosely based on your design that you had emailed me a while back. Note that the picture shown hasn't yet replaced the stock rear spring isolator with a new poly one that I recommend from polybushings.com.



The ER series is however more expensive.

ER Series BC Front kit with rear spring and rear adjuster: $1525.
BR Series BC Front Kit with rear spring and rear adjuster: $1100.

Then you would also need the QA1rear components...

Where do you get the QA1's and what P/N do I want?

Either TD-801 (dual adjustable) or TS801 (single adjustable).

TD-801's are dual adjustable and the good news is that the price appears to to have dropped to about $230 each.

TS-801's $156 each.

Then you would just need the bumpstops and bushings which are probably another $30 or so to finish things.

What spring rates?

Probably either 6k front/6k rear or 8k front/8k Rear depending on how stiff you want it. 8k would be pretty brutal on the street especially in upstate ny where you are from (and where I grew up).

The GJKHPA cars use basically the same spring rate on the front and rear due to the leverage that the rear axle puts on the rear spring.

So your options basically range from ~$1450 for the BR/QA1 single adjustables to as high as ~$2025 for the ER/QA1 dual adjustables depending on your goals and budget.

-Rich

[LaserDad]

Thanks Rich, that's exactly what I was asking for. My plan is to wait until late spring, as I have another project car to finish, but at least I now know what I need. I'll be contacting you when I'm ready to spend the money.

[Turbo Joe]

Well not to bump an older thread but so much great info in it as well products from our vendors here. I got around to redoing the front-end on my CSX and got some pics. Third pic is setup as how I recieved the coilovers and it was set way too low! So after I figured out how to lower and raise the front-end ...whaalaa it looks better..in the first pic the bottom lock ring is what you would loosen to unscrew to raise and screw in to lower the front-end.(never had coilovers before so i didnt know)

[Turbo Joe]

and here is what I did to the top of the strut tower to make adjustments in alignments easier (Note: the nuts used in the photo are for set-up purposes.. when its all ready I'll use the locking nuts..)

[DevoBuzz]

I dont see any weight on the wheels - how did you determine if it was too high/low? You need to drop it on the floor or at least put the jackstand under the control arm or am I missing something in the pics??

[BlueBaron]

I actually keep watching for updates to this thread. I'm kind of waiting till I'm ready for suspension before I purchase the front setup for my LeBaron. In case there are new design updates.

[Turbo Joe]

I dont see any weight on the wheels - how did you determine if it was too high/low? You need to drop it on the floor or at least put the jackstand under the control arm or am I missing something in the pics??

your correct.. there isn't any wieght on the wheels yet.. this was to figure out where abouts is a good starting point before i lower the car and put wieght on the suspension. At first i freaked because without any wieght it was a 1/2" space.. so i raised it another 1 1/2" or so to see how much the car will settle without destroying my fenders. my new hubs i think came in today so hopefully I can put those in tonite and get it on the ground and final set the ride height.

[cordes]

Just as an FYI I just got off the phone with BC and they stated that the minimum thread engagement on the body of the strut where it attaches to the knuckle is 80mm.

[Turbo Joe]

Just as an FYI I just got off the phone with BC and they stated that the minimum thread engagement on the body of the strut where it attaches to the knuckle is 80mm.

hmmm. well I haven't installed the swaybar back in the car yet but I don't see it affecting much to help with adding ride wieght.. but if thats the case I have mine set to approx. 35-40 mm thread engagement to achieve the ride height slightly lower than csx factory to barely clear the fender well opening in the front. if I set the body strut to bottom base to 80mm there is no way i can turn around corners without the tire hitting the upper part of the wheelwell opening. The strut assembly is just to short.. as of right now I have the 16" pumpers with the stock size tires on it..

[csxtra]

I ran into the same issue with my BC install on my CSX. I had spacer rings made to go in between the camber plates and the strut tower, lowering the top of the strut. I think they were 1/4" thick and I put two per side, which gave me 1/2" of extra adjustment to play with. They weren't cheap to have custom made, but they did the job.

They also lowered the adjuster knob down enough that my plastic strut covers could fit again.

Rich was able to give me the specs for the spacer rings so I could have them made up, so if you want to go that route, I'm sure Rich could help with the specs.

[Turbo Joe]

great......I bought these under the impression they were a bolt in and done piece.....

[Turbo Joe]

does anyone know if there is an off-road version to Bc coilovers? that way it would mean a taller ride for a skittle but enough adjustment for us..

[cordes]

great......I bought these under the impression they were a bolt in and done piece.....

That's what we did and with a 205/55R16 I'm confident that I still have enough thread engagement to do the job.

Here is a pic from the weekend when my wife was autocrossing the car.