Suspension travel

[drndrn]

Hey guys,

My new rims are set to arrive on friday the latest, and with them being quite an aggressive size/offset I was worrying about whether or not my coilovers are too soft and allow too much travel so that when I go over bumps which would result in rubbing.

My question is, is it the dampening or the spring rates or both that dictate how much your car squats when going over bumps? So for instance, if I set my dampening on my coilovers to the softest, will the car tend to squat more in opposed to having them set on the hardest setting and allowing very little travel? Or will I need to get higher spring rates to stop this from happening.

Any help would be appreciated

[coyote]

Spring rates for coarse adjustment, damping rates for fine adjustment. Springs are what you use to effect a change to travel.

You probably need firmer springs, but depending on your coilovers, they will then likely be underdamped. Meaning, it may feel faster, but actually be worse.

Most cars with modified suspension are rubbish because ricers don't understand how everything works together.

Neither do they care.

[drndrn]

Ah alright got you.

Initial I hadn't thought of changing rims again, hence I never thought ahead of getting a stiffer set up to suit. We'll see how things go when I get them on I suppose.

[teK--]

Probably best to wait until your wheels are fitted before you spend money buying something to fix a problem that may not exist.

In the case of rubbing then you'll need stiffer springs to control the travel so that for a given load it won't compress as much as the softer springs (leading to less wheel rubbing). As Tony pointed out you may then be driving the dampers out of their suitable range causing them to wear quickly and give a poor ride.

In the end whether you fit new springs and/or get stiffer dampening to suit, it's really a band aid solution to the real problem - that your wheels are the wrong fitment.

[drndrn]

Probably best to wait until your wheels are fitted before you spend money buying something to fix a problem that may not exist.

In the case of rubbing then you'll need stiffer springs to control the travel so that for a given load it won't compress as much as the softer springs (leading to less wheel rubbing). As Tony pointed out you may then be driving the dampers out of their suitable range causing them to wear quickly and give a poor ride.

In the end whether you fit new springs and/or get stiffer dampening to suit, it's really a band aid solution to the real problem - that your wheels are the wrong fitment.

I think you and I both know that I was never going for the "right" fitment anyway Jim. lol. Thanks for the response though.