does anyone know how I adjust the height of these coilovers. there are 2 different adjustments on them and I am kind of confused.

Bottom - on the bottom of the "strut" portion I can adjust the height here(i think). single lock ring holding the lower portion on.


top - two lock rings, these I would think would adjust the firmness in the springs. But I am unsure.

if anyone can help me Im am confused.

It's hard for me to picture from your description, but . . .

I'm pretty sure the height of the spring perch that the spring sits on can be adjusted up or down. Usually the body of the shock/strut is threaded and this perch threads up/down on that.

Usually this adjustable perch is at the bottom of the spring. In your desciption you talk about two lock rings on top. At the top of the spring?

no the two lock rings are located at the bottom of the spring.

I just dont understand why the of the strut is threaded and is adjustable if it is not for height adjustment.

http://www.yonaka.com/Suspension_Mitsubishi_Eclipse_95_99_p/ymtc006.htm

there is a picture of the coilovers there and if you look at them, the sleeve at the bottom of the strut is adjustable and will thread all the way in or out. So I guess my question is this meant to be threaded all the way in?

I think it's meant to give you more height adjustment...and I'm assuming that threading the body in/out doesn't affect the amount of shock travel; assuming the spring section that threads in to the bottom body brings the shock shaft with it.

My many assumptions and guesses.

My last assumption is that this lets them use more common parts in order to produce kits for many cars...higher volume, lower cost parts.

The whole body of the coilover is threaded and I can take the bottom right off if I wanted to but I want to know if these are supposed to be threaded all the way in or this is my height adjustment.

Ok so if the lower portion gets me my height adjustment at the bottom(single lock ring).

How much of the threads should be engaged on the lower portion of the "strut"? they are 4" long! Is 1" engaged enough for strength in the strut"

Okay, looking at those pics I think I may get it. It does seem a bit odd to me that the entire bottom of the shock body could come off though (if that's the case). I would think it would be filled with hydraulic fluid. Unless there's some kind of stopper inside that prevents it from coming completely off maybe? I don't think I'd advise trying to unscrew that bottom part any more than it is--it may come off in your hand and spill oil all over your lap. I'm a bit curious--the smaller diameter "adjustment ring" (or whatever it is) seems to require a special tool, does that tool come with the coilovers? Presumably, the larger diameter adjustment rings on the spring perch come with a tool, correct? It seems to me that same tool couldn't fit both the bigger and smaller diameter rings? I don't know, something seems odd. The true answer may be as Tashko suggests, it could be just a manufacturing thing.

Anyway, assuming that entire bottom part doesn't fall out, both the spring perch and the lower body portion could theoretically be used to adjust ride height. I suppose it gives extra control over ride height, shock travel, etc? Not a 100% though. I'm going to defer to guys like Tashko who have a lot more knowledge in matters suspension.

the shock seems to be built into a cylinder that is threaded all the way down. The bottom portion of the will screw right off.

I don't do any installations, only sales....so this would only be a guess:

I assume the shock "rod" is built into the threaded main body, and that the lower "removable" portion is only an extension.
My asumption would be that the two larger "lock rings" would be used to pre-load the springs a certain amount. If the shock rod is indeed attached to the main body, and not to that extension, then I assume this would also change the height of the car as you adjust it, as well as the stiffness of the ride. I would assume that then that lower "extension" would be wound in or out to adjust the actual final ride height...

So how much should i leave screwed in too make sure its strong enough. I tried to ask these question to the email address on the web page but they were not really any help and told me to go and talk to an install shop. That sucks that they cant even tell me how there own sh!t works.

So they are offering you ride height adjustment that doesn't reduce your shock travel. Can you really seperate the two parts? Seems odd to not have a mechanical stop to prevent people from running with little thread engagement.

Off the top of my head; I would adjust the spring perch so that it's snug against the spring, not pre-loading the spring. Measure how long the threaded portion of the body is so that you have an idea how far in/out it is when your adjustments are done. If you have a stock strut handy, measure it's length and you can use it as a baseline for setting the coil-over. Look up the stock spring rates and using 900lbs for the front and 650lbs for the rear weights you can calculate how much the stock strut compresses. Subtract the spring compression from the strut over-all lenght and that should be close to the stock ride height. Using the same weights, calculate the coil-over spring compression using the coil-over spring rate. Adjust your coil-over length to be near the stock ride height when you subtract the coil-over spring compression.

I would try to keep 50% of the body threaded into the base but you'll have to see how it works out. Most likely you'll end up with a combination of spring perch and body adjusted.

Do they have helper springs or just one main spring?

one main spring. it sits on the two lock rings.

This was my observation..

When I received them I put them up against the stock ones I took out. They were alot shorter! and even unscrewing the bottom of the coilover all the way out, the coilovers were still shorter, but much closer.

This was my assumption..

The lower portion is some kind of height adjustment. But really I could only get at max 2-1/2"(keeping the threads half engaged).

So the rest of the height adjustment must be found by compressing the springs(pre-loading).

They should be shorter.

The stock spring is around 150 lb/in (I'm guessing) and you should have around 400-500 lb/in on the coil-over.

ok I think i understand I just hope i was right about the bottom I would hate to see it break cause it wasn't screwed in all the way.

Featuring:
All Aluminum Upper Mounts
0-4" Height adjustment.
Fully Threaded Mono Tube Shock Absorber.
Inner bump stop to prevent damage cause by rapid compression impacts.
Wide range of height adjustment without changing the spring compression.
Bottom of the shock is threaded to allow height adjustments without having to shorten the suspension travel.
Rubber dust shield protecting piston for long life.
Adjustment tools included.

This is right off the website. If you cant figure it out you should do what they said and get a shop to do it.

Ok, I just got off the phone with Yonaka. They tell me they are pretty much pre-set from the factory for a little over one inch drop.

The two larger "lock nuts" are locked together to just "preload" the springs. They tell me the springs are not ACTUALLY pre-loaded, but just set more or less to be "snug". This is supposed to give a comfortable ride without sacrificing suspension travel. The end piece is then used to set the actual height. They say at stock height, the piece will be threaded in around 2", so there is no way you would have too little thread engagement there unless you are going for the "4x4 off road" look.

You will need to get an alignment once these are installed, so you can have the shop check over your installation also...

Ziggy

They must've just read my post before taking your call Ziggy.

Back to the original reason I started this post

How much of the threads need to be threaded on the bottom to maintain integrity?
1", 2", 3", all the way??????

Jamie,

They WERE sort of preset from the factory. If you still have one rear and one front unchanged, you can just match those. Otherwise, you could compare and make them an inch shorter than the stock strut. The general rule for threads is that you have your MAXIMUM strength when the thread engagement is 1.5 times thread diameter. So, in other words, if that thread is 20mm diameter, at 30mm of thread engaged you have MAXIMUM strength, and threading it in further will not gain any more strength. I would think even 1" of thread engagement is going to be enough.

Ziggy

2" is stock ride height, so 2" minimum.

So hows the car look? Did you get the coilovers sorted out? How do you like em?

Is anyone else running these i was looking into getting a set some feedback on likes or dislikes please

I have only sold the one set so far to Jamie. I would LOVE to sell more of these, I think they are a hell of a deal....but no-one seems to want to be the guinea pig....

Promise me you will do a bit of a write up, and I will give you a really good deal on a set...

Ziggy

I have Yonaka coilovers on my car and love them!! I've had them for approx 2 years, and have had no problems with them. I had them with my 17" with a moderate drop, and when I switched to 18"s I lowered it more. With my current height I have both front and back camber kits. Great product, amazing price!

Thanks for that info, Tara. I didn't know of anyone who was running them. Now that I FINALLY have a good recommendation, Yonaka is out of stock and considering discontinuing them.

they MIGHT get more in May, but they MIGHT discontinue ..

That is actually not true. The have NO intentions on discontinuing them, they are just out of stock.

I was speaking with Steve there yesterday, and he told me he is VERY uncertain whether they will be getting more in or not. I would not LIE about this..I would LOVE to sell more of them...but I can't sell what I can't get.
Last time I waited MONTHS for them to get some in....and this time, Steve said it MIGHT be May, but he is NOT SURE if they are getting more or not.

Well after your post I contacted the owner and he assured me it was just out of stock.