So I just bought some Gravana Coilovers ( thanks LowFire), and I'm confused about what to do with the strut mounts. I bought Monroe mounts but nothing really lines up right. Anyone got some insight for me?
The instructions use 95-99 mounts..
Philly D wrote:The instructions use 95-99 mounts..
I don't have instructions which is why I'm asking lol. Are the Monroe mounts the same as the 95-99? It looks like the rear strut mounts that I bought will work but the fronts are weird. I just wish I didn't start taking my car apart before I found this out lol.
hopefully this helps. This is what Jim at Gravana had sent me years ago when they first released their coilovers. I kind of miss my gravana setup
Image works for me..
There are the instructions for the ground controls but it should all be the same for how you deal with the strut mount.
Also, so, I'm missing the part circled in red, and the part circled in blue does not fit into part A correctly. Is it supposed to be forced in like part B was? Also, what holds part A into the mount plate - just the rubber around it?
Philly D wrote:http://www.importmodifications.com/members/cavaliergroundcontrol.html
Sorry forgot to post this link.
It should explain things for you.
Just made it worse. It's totally different than what Jim sent AL1A5 lol.
I think either way I need to take these mounts back and it looks like I'm gonna need to reuse the ones on the stock struts because there are parts that are on there that I don't have with the Monroe set.
Actually its exactly the same but written out and in color. Look at steps 17 on. it illustrates exactly what is shown in the pic that jim sent.
The only thing that isnt there is those spacers since they use thick washers.
When you asked for strut mounts what ones did you ask for? 95-99 or 2k up? These instructions will only work for 95-99 strut mounts
They're the Monroe ones that say 95-98.
I just bought a set of spring compressors and took the mounts back. Looks like there are parts in the stock strut mount that isn't included in the Monroe set. Kinda sucks, I wanted to be able to put my stockers back in on the fly if I needed to lol.
Just put the front set in, looks good lower. I need to get an alignment though, I've got a good amount of toe-out and a steering wheel that isn't centered. How much should the car dip if I lean onto a fender? I get no noticeable movement, and when I hit a small bump in my driveway there was a small clunk/pop like the strut was bottoming out. I only lowered it like a half inch and set a half inch of preload on the springs, damper at 5 clicks. Do I need more preload? I'm positive everything is installed properly. It just feels way stiffer than I think it should for the conservative setting I was going for.
Kody LaGreca wrote:Just put the front set in, looks good lower. I need to get an alignment though, I've got a good amount of toe-out and a steering wheel that isn't centered. How much should the car dip if I lean onto a fender? I get no noticeable movement, and when I hit a small bump in my driveway there was a small clunk/pop like the strut was bottoming out. I only lowered it like a half inch and set a half inch of preload on the springs, damper at 5 clicks. Do I need more preload? I'm positive everything is installed properly. It just feels way stiffer than I think it should for the conservative setting I was going for.
a half inch of preload? are you nuts??
do not set ANY preload on the springs or the car is going to feel like it's riding on cinderblocks.
the spring perch should be just tight enough so that the spring doesn't de-seat when in full extension, and if you want it to be, just a tiny bit snug.
a half inch of preload is F-ing insane.
2 turns of preload is insane...
in summation, NO PRELOAD.
I owned these coilovers (they were my second set) and I'm now on STD R3 coilovers now.
gravs are a good design, could use EITHER 95-98 or 98+ strut mounts, however getting instructions almost never happened, and when they blow you're kind of SOL seeing as Gravana isn't around anymore.
also, if you want to try to fix your alignment, it's not that bad.
Drive the car on a flat surface with the steering wheel straight, let the car go maybe 10 mph then lightly use the brake and bring it to a stop.
Lock the ebrake, turn off the engine if you want..
then use a wrench on the lock nut and a 13mm wrench for the tierods and get the tires pointed straight ahead as best as you can eyeball it.
Lock up the tie rods, then it should be decent enough to drive to an alignment shop.
lowering with a mac strut front suspension screws the toe setting up big time.
DaFlyinSkwirl (Pj) wrote:Kody LaGreca wrote:Just put the front set in, looks good lower. I need to get an alignment though, I've got a good amount of toe-out and a steering wheel that isn't centered. How much should the car dip if I lean onto a fender? I get no noticeable movement, and when I hit a small bump in my driveway there was a small clunk/pop like the strut was bottoming out. I only lowered it like a half inch and set a half inch of preload on the springs, damper at 5 clicks. Do I need more preload? I'm positive everything is installed properly. It just feels way stiffer than I think it should for the conservative setting I was going for.
a half inch of preload? are you nuts??
do not set ANY preload on the springs or the car is going to feel like it's riding on cinderblocks.
the spring perch should be just tight enough so that the spring doesn't de-seat when in full extension, and if you want it to be, just a tiny bit snug.
a half inch of preload is F-ing insane.
2 turns of preload is insane...
in summation, NO PRELOAD.
I owned these coilovers (they were my second set) and I'm now on STD R3 coilovers now.
gravs are a good design, could use EITHER 95-98 or 98+ strut mounts, however getting instructions almost never happened, and when they blow you're kind of SOL seeing as Gravana isn't around anymore.
also, if you want to try to fix your alignment, it's not that bad.
Drive the car on a flat surface with the steering wheel straight, let the car go maybe 10 mph then lightly use the brake and bring it to a stop.
Lock the ebrake, turn off the engine if you want..
then use a wrench on the lock nut and a 13mm wrench for the tierods and get the tires pointed straight ahead as best as you can eyeball it.
Lock up the tie rods, then it should be decent enough to drive to an alignment shop.
lowering with a mac strut front suspension screws the toe setting up big time.
Alright, thanks for the help man. Should I get an alignment ASAP or wait until I have the rears installed as well? I figure it shouldn't matter since it's just up and down movement in the rear, but I'm gonna put them on tonight and I'll hold off on alignment if need be, do I only have to do it once and it's right.
Also, when raising the spring perch, should the spring have no lateral movement, or just up/down movement? I only ask because I can tighten it to where the spring doesn't move up or down but will still shift side to side a few millimeters. I don't think it'll come out of it's seat but I wanted to make sure before changing that. I ask because I want to soften the ride as much as I can and go from there. Coilovers are new to me and I don't wanna ruin these lol.
Kody LaGreca wrote:Also, when raising the spring perch, should the spring have no lateral movement, or just up/down movement? I only ask because I can tighten it to where the spring doesn't move up or down but will still shift side to side a few millimeters. I don't think it'll come out of it's seat but I wanted to make sure before changing that. I ask because I want to soften the ride as much as I can and go from there. Coilovers are new to me and I don't wanna ruin these lol.
I wouldn't worry a mm or two of lateral, you're really concerned with vertical movement. when there's pressure on it, the spring will stay put for the most part.
ride harshness is usually because of the spring pre-load. From what I've been told, it doesn't outright increase your spring rate, it increases the amount of weight required to get the spring to initially flex, so it'll feel way more harsh on bumps because the spring won't want to move. Suspension tuning is still a bit voodoo to me, I'll be honest. But I know that preload is a bad idea unless you want to make the car tighter (for track use or for corner-weight adjustment)
after preload, you can use the damper adjustment to fine-tune damping. turning them down will make the car a bit softer, I think I usually drove around with 10 clicks in the front and 8 clicks in the back... although I cannot remember Gravana click total (32 I believe? or 16 possibly? I cannot remember.)
turn them all the way down (counter clockwise) then just count clicks up. I used to run the fronts just a tiny bit stiffer than the rear click-wise.
when I'd drag race, I'd turn the fronts down and turn the rears all the way up to try and keep the car from squatting on launch.
the alignment is a good idea. if you're within 15 minutes of the alignment shop, you could prolly drive it as-is but any further I'd eyeball align it before going.
really out-of-spec toe angle will DESTROY your tires in no time. Excessive camber can do it as well, but not as quickly as toe will.
toe will also make the car handle and feel weird.
I have mine set so that you can barely spin the spring with the perch tight. I have the same STD Standard R5's though
So I start doing the rears and realize I need a 20mm wrench/socket for the rear strut to get it off. Do I need to have the full set installed before aligning the car or can I just take it as is and do the rears after I pick up the 20 mil? I ask because I wanted to get this done tonight and go get it aligned before work.
I don't think it would matter but I just want to double check.
I'd have the car at ride height before getting it aligned.
having the rear higher than the front will make it more difficult to get up on the rack.
and I'm pretty sure you should be looking for an 18mm socket
are you talking about the bolts that attach the struts to the beam, or the nuts that go thru the strut mount into the top of the strut?
DaFlyinSkwirl (Pj) wrote:I'd have the car at ride height before getting it aligned.
having the rear higher than the front will make it more difficult to get up on the rack.
and I'm pretty sure you should be looking for an 18mm socket
are you talking about the bolts that attach the struts to the beam, or the nuts that go thru the strut mount into the top of the strut?
The beam. 18 is too small. I hate metric so much. I have like every size SAE anything you could ever need but nothing bigger than 19mm.
Kody LaGreca wrote:DaFlyinSkwirl (Pj) wrote:I'd have the car at ride height before getting it aligned.
having the rear higher than the front will make it more difficult to get up on the rack.
and I'm pretty sure you should be looking for an 18mm socket
are you talking about the bolts that attach the struts to the beam, or the nuts that go thru the strut mount into the top of the strut?
The beam. 18 is too small. I hate metric so much. I have like every size SAE anything you could ever need but nothing bigger than 19mm.
in that case, I'm pretty sure it's 19mm. I don't think there's a 20 mm fastener anywhere on the car.
7mm, 8mm, 10mm, 13mm, 15mm, 17mm, 18mm, 19mm, 21mm, 30mm driveshaft socket are pretty much the only sizes you'll ever need to work on a jbody.
there are a few torx you'll need for certain jobs, but almost never.
10mm 12mm flare nut wrench for brake lines
that's about it.
if it's 20mm, they're not OEM bolts.
It might be 21. Regardless, 19 is too small, 13/16ths is too small, and 3/4ths is too big.
I dunno how 3/4 could be to big if its 21mm
3/4 and 19mm are interchangeable.
