corvette-kyle

Short version: What individual pieces can be adjusted on the LG GT2 coilover and how does adjusting each effect ride quality in laymans terms?

Long version:

I've been reading article after article trying to get an idea of how coilovers work so that I can adjust mine to get the ride that I want but I'm still confused with a few terms and what adjustments effect what aspects of the ride.

I had this set installed 6 months ago after my magnetic shocks started leaking. I love them, I can feel everything in the road and it drives like a roller coaster. However I think I may have become somewhat immune to the rough ride. Every single passenger that rides in the car comments on how harsh it is. I have even had friends hit their head on the roof from being thrown up in the air. Additionally, when I am on the highway going over 70 mph I have to be extremely vigilant on the road ahead - large bumps or bad patches are so harsh that they slam the wheels into the wheel wells. There are tire marks and if its bad enough sometimes I smell burning rubber for a few seconds. I am probably lucky that they haven't cracked the liners or panels yet. I am running 285/345 tires.

The car is also lowered pretty low, and I understand that when you lower the car you're going to have to compromise in terms of ride quality, but I have seen many other vettes this low and haven't heard of any similar issues from them.

I read on the forum somewhere, Anthony from LG had stated something about with a lowered car, the spring perch should be almost touching the bottom plate. This is not the case with my rears. I forgot to take a picture of the fronts, but they much further down, maybe about 1/4 in. away from the bottom.

But I was under the impression that when you change the spring perch, you are changing the ride height of the car. I do not want to change the ride height of the car, so I should not be adjusting this piece, correct?

But then I also read about pre-load. Does pre-load decrease suspension droop? But then if it does, how do you pre-load without dropping the ride height? Or can you not?

I was previously on the stiffness settings of 7 front and 6 rear and I jacked up the car today and put them on 2 front and 1 rear and the car drives much better. But I feel like I shouldn't have to be at the extreme softness to get the ride I currently have (which is still pretty rough) and that there is another setting that I need to be looking at. I read somewhere else on the forum that these are 3 way adjustable coilovers. I see the perch, and the stiffness **** - what is the third where is it and what does it do??

Does changing the stiffness settings mean there will be more shock travel? If I am already hitting the wheels on the liners then I should be making it more stiff? But then this is counter productive to getting a smoother ride. Maybe I am just asking for too much.

I just wish that it would have more "suspension droop" (I think that's the right word). The car just drops with every dip in the road and then gets slammed back up right away. How can I accomplish this while keeping the same ride height? Is it possible?

Thanks for any help and for your time if you actually read the whole thing. I am not expecting it to drive like an s class but I would like to get a little smoother ride without it tossing everything up in the car all the time. If I cannot figure it out luckily I am near LG and will give them a call to look at it but would rather be able to understand it myself so that I can learn something.

Pictures below. Current and desired ride height, rear coilovers

C U IN REARVEIW

One of the real benefits of coilovers is that you can lower the car w/o affecting ride quality.

Also,adjusting stiffness (rebound) will not shorten/lengthen shock travel......it just allows the shock to move more freely with less pressure

Suds

OP, your car has a great stance, and I am ready to change my suspension to coil overs, but your post is starting to slow my enthusiasm.

C U IN REARVEIW

I have coilovers and none of the op's issues....

corvette-kyle

What coilovers are you running? And how do you have yours set up (if they are adjustable)?

Thanks

corvette-kyle

I don't think what I am experiencing is normal. I think I just have them set up wrong. I was reading through post after post raving about how their ride is more controlled and smoother than stock and just need to learn how to properly adjust them

0Anthony @ LGMotorsports

There are different ways to adjust the GT2 coil overs.

1. you can adjust shock length. You do this by extending or collapsing the shock body length. You can change a number of things by doing this. You can adjust droop travel and ride height both. Nice thing about this is you can adjust height without effecting spring rates. For a road racer we reduce the amount of droop with the cars. For a street car you may want it a bit longer

2. You can adjust the spring tension. Apply more load and raise the car or remove it and lower the car. A lot of pre-load can stiffen the car.

3. shock adjustments. They effect only how the shock is controlling the car either softer or harder. Adjust this to track conditions or use of the car. Don't be affraid to have it all the way soft if that is how you like the car to ride, that is what it is there for. We limited the amount of adjustment so you can not go "out side the window" of adjustment with them.


Hit me up if you have any questions.

Suns_PSD

I'm not familiar with these particular coil-overs but I am pretty familiar with proper suspension set up.

Spring preload (the tension on the spring itself) is a constant, regardless of application or ride height.

I think the general rule is screw the collar till it just touches the spring (no weight on spring), than tighten 1 full turn from there. Then lock the lock collar down. If the spring rate was chosen correctly for the application than this will be correct. If you over tighten it's like a pogo stick and the valving can't keep up. If you under tighten it's like a marshmellow that doesn't hold the car up and it wallows everywhere and rides too low in the stroke. Quality of ride should be set 100% with adjustment ***** if they exist on this product. That controls the speed the shock moves. Essentially orifices that limit oil flowing quickly thru little holes. tightening ***** in just restricts the orifice more further restricting oil flow slowing the speed at which the shock moves. The spring is just a pogo stick and is not used to stiffen or soften the ride at all.

The height adjustment should be totally independent of those other 2 ***** and should be adjusted with preference to looks and of course clearance. But if you lower the car to a point where the suspension bottom outs when ever it needs to fully articulate, like over a large bump or whatever, that's going to feel really harsh if the tire hit the fender after only 75% shock travel (sometimes visible on the dust on the shock itself).

Also, some shocks just bottom really hard by (cheap) design because they don't have a rubber bump stop and it's just metal on metal. Then you must reduce shock movement thru valving.

Most cheap shocks only have rebound adjustments. Basically if you hit one bump and it feels rough it's probably two soft and pogos back. If you hit multiple bumps and it gets worse as you go thru them it's packing, and the rebound is two stiff. Basically the suspension gets lower and lower as you go thru and the suspension can't recover and remains in the low spot where the suspension is naturally stiffer.

PS. Your car looks really good!

AORoads

You got lucky from two points: 1. Anthony at LGM commented in post 7, and 2. you live a relatively short distance from the people who designed the shock. Take advantage of those two points before something breaks on your car.

LFZ

I bet your dampening is all jacked. I can't even see the adjustment ***** in those come out of the top from mount on the rear. I say start over on the dampening settings at all 4 corners and go from there. I have installed several of these LG coils and they ride awesome once adjusted properly.

SPIN20

Not to hi jack your thread but how did you disable the magnetic shock code from coming up? I'm going to get coilovers too but don't know how to deal with the f55. Thanks

Dano523

F55 module can be tuned out of the system with a tech II tool, or you can use F55 simulators on the shock wire connectors instead.

LFZ

I believe for the C6 w/F55...Tech II is still required for the car to truly work and simulators can be used just as a nice plug over the wires.

Dano523

On the C6, tech II used to program out the F45 option from the BCM, then the F55 module is unplugged from the can bus system before the car is shut off (if the BCM sees the F55 module on the restart can bus check, it will program it back in on its own).

The simulators just plug into the shock connectors with the F55 module still programmed/plugged into the can bus system, to trick the F55 module into thinking that the shock wires are still plugged into F55 shocks instead. Hence if the F55 module is in play, not having the shock wires plugged into the either the shock or the simulators, will end up with the car throwing codes. Worst yet, if the F55 is programmed into the car and you just unplug the F55 module witout programing out first, the car will throw codes as well

Of the two, programming out the F55 is the better option since you don't have to worry about problems with the simlators instead. If you do want to go back to F55 shocks, then all you have to do is just plug the F55 module back into the car, and when you start the car again, the BCM will program the module back in with the start up Can bus check when it sees it.


So to program in a F55 module nothing is really needed since once the car sees the F55 module in the can bus, it will program it in itself. Since the Tech II does not have a F55 programming key, you use the F45 programing to program the F55 out before it's unplugged from the GM can bus.

As for the trick, finding someone that has a Tech II, since if you go to the dealer, they are going to charge you about $120 to just use the tech II to being with, then another few hours labor to unplug the F55 module from the car.