Everything You're Doing Wrong With Coilovers

Tips and Tricks For Getting The Most Out of Your Car's Coilovers

Coilovers - we love them, you love them, everyone loves them. If you're into cars, chances are that you've heard of coilovers, or you've at least put your eyeballs on them, but there's just a bit more that goes into them than just slamming your car on its nuts. Today, we're gonna get into everything you're doing wrong with your coilovers, and help you get the most out of your setup. Let's dive in!

Table Of Contents

-Tip 1: Don't Cheap Out On Your Coilovers

-Tip 2: Know What The Coilovers Have To Offer For Performance

-Tip 3: Go With Brands That Offer Rebuildable Coilovers

-Tip 4: Do The Coilover Install Correctly and Replace Worn Parts

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Tip 1: Don't Cheap Out On Your Coilovers

Obviously there are a ton of coilovers out there, so how do you go about deciding which ones to get? As car enthusiasts who are broke, we think it's only instinct to go find the cheapest option that will give you that desired aesthetic look, but that's not really correct.

Believe it or not, suspension is a very important part of your car, and you can ruin everything by just getting the cheapest set of coilovers on the internet. Either they won't fit right, an install will be hell on Earth, or they're gonna blow 200 miles in and you'll be driving around with a broken back, and we don't recommend that.

Now, which coilover you're gonna get is dependent on each person and what you're planning to do with the car. If you're simply just looking for a slight drop to clean up the fitment and maybe have some more adjustability, you don't need to go out and buy the $5000 set of coilovers with the external reservoir - you don't need that. It's okay to save a bit of money and run some BC Racing BR coilovers, Tein Flex Z's, or even the Silvers NeoMax. In short, don't cheap out to the point where you ruin the driving experience of the car, but also don't spend enough to the point where you're not using 90% of what the coilover is meant to do.

Read More: Are Expensive Coilovers Worth It For Your Build?

Tip 2: Know What The Coilovers Have To Offer For Performance

Our next tip is to look at what the coilovers have to offer - if you know what you want, take a peek at any customization that's offered by the coilovers you want. A lot of people slamming their cars might think that they need to just get the stiffest spring rate that a company offers, but that's not the case at all, and we definitely don't recommend it.

If this is your daily driver or weekend fun car, the standard spring rate a coilover offers should be just fine. But if you're doing a bit of spirited driving on track days over the weekend, bumping up the spring rate can help you have a bit of a stiffer ride to help with cornering and stuff like that. If you have fender-to-lip static fitment for your show car you'll also want to bump up the spring rates, but you don't need 80k or 100k rated springs - it'll depend on each car and their weight ratings, but those numbers are pretty ludicrous.

Read More: Why BC Racing Suspension Has The Best Coilover Lineup

Tip 3: Go With Brands That Offer Rebuildable Coilovers

Some coilovers are completely rebuildable out of the box, meaning that if something goes wrong over time, you can send them into the company and they'll fix them right up and send them back out. Not only that, but if down the road you want to upgrade, you can send your coilovers in to be upgraded too, like from 500 to 510s from Fortune Auto. BC and Fortune Auto both offer this, and it's a huge thing that not enough people take advantage of - yes, it costs some money, but not the price of buying brand new coilovers.

Fortune Auto actually offers what's called its Overhaul Service, which consists of the following rather wordy advantages:

• Disassembling Inspection of Coilovers
• Rebuild Coilovers to Original Specifications
• Replacement of Seized External Components
• Replacement of Worn Jetting Assembly Components
• Replacement of Worn O-Rings and Shims
• Refill With Amsoil Synthetic Shock Oil
• Shock-Dyno To Verify Performance

Not a lot of people realize that this stuff is even offered by a bunch of the top coilover and suspension brands, so if you come across these options, take advantage of them.

Tip 4: Do The Coilover Install Correctly and Replace Worn Parts

Next up is the install, and generally, installing coilovers isn't too bad to deal with, but it's different for each make and model, so maybe while you're waiting for shipping, watch a few install videos and how-to's to get yourself familiar with what you'll be dealing with in terms of tools and whatnot. Volkswagens, for example, use a specific spreader tool to get the strut out - it's not an expensive tool, but it makes your life a million times easier if you have it. So, little things like that are super important.

Another thing is to make sure to replace bolts that need to be replaced, like stretch bolts, and make sure to torque down your stuff. Additionally, coilovers are meant to just be installed and run, so make sure that the preset on your coilover is set by adjusting the bottom locking ring and making sure that the spring isn't too loose - along with that, measure from collar to collar and keep the distance the same across all four corners. Otherwise, you'll be driving all cattywampus.

After you get your coilovers installed, it's crucial that you get an alignment, especially if you really dumped your car. Call around and find a local shop with an in ground alignment rack so it's nice and easy - sure would be a shame if you spent all that money on coilovers and then tore your tires up immediately after because they weren't aligned.

Read More: Coilovers Vs. Air Suspension - Which Is Best For You?

Shop Aftermarket Car Coilovers at Fitment Industries

If you've made it this far, you're a real one. And if you're looking for a new set of coilovers for your car, you should know that we've got plenty of them in our inventory right now, along with some of the top performance parts you can buy. So, check out our store today and grab the suspension parts that'll keep your car riding on with precision, control, and perfect fitment.