gingofthesouth's Orangatang 510

[torqued]

Will not hurt to ask,
Everybody makes mistakes, but your call

[broke]

Regarding those coilovers, they're circlipped right?

Strut tubes aren't made of super heavy walled steel, wouldn't the strut tube be almost paper-thin where the groove was cut (I'm assuming the grooves were cut on a lathe), or am I missing something here?

Good progress man.

Well, you guys are all probably right. But the engineering place http://www.howatengineering.co.nz seemed to think it would work out perfect and the certifier has seen it briefly and given it the go ahead.

What do I do? Go back and say "All the peoples on the internet said this is shit, it has to be welded"?

You guys are now all putting doubt in my mind. Seriously, I don't know if I should go back to the certifier and say "Are you sure this is safe?" and push it from there. I do know through word of mouth that Howat engineering has a really good rep for this sort of stuff and the certifier Is fairly grumpy and strict.

Easy there tiger, please don't think I was trying to s@#t on your cornflakes or anything. If there's plenty of metal and errrrbody's happy then I'll probably do the same thing...... have you done anything to prevent the sleeves from rotating when you adjust the springs?

[gingofthesouth]

Regarding those coilovers, they're circlipped right?

Strut tubes aren't made of super heavy walled steel, wouldn't the strut tube be almost paper-thin where the groove was cut (I'm assuming the grooves were cut on a lathe), or am I missing something here?

Good progress man.

Well, you guys are all probably right. But the engineering place http://www.howatengineering.co.nz seemed to think it would work out perfect and the certifier has seen it briefly and given it the go ahead.

What do I do? Go back and say "All the peoples on the internet said this is shit, it has to be welded"?

You guys are now all putting doubt in my mind. Seriously, I don't know if I should go back to the certifier and say "Are you sure this is safe?" and push it from there. I do know through word of mouth that Howat engineering has a really good rep for this sort of stuff and the certifier Is fairly grumpy and strict.

Easy there tiger, please don't think I was trying to s@#t on your cornflakes or anything. If there's plenty of metal and errrrbody's happy then I'll probably do the same thing...... have you done anything to prevent the sleeves from rotating when you adjust the springs?

Lol, shitting on my cornflakes.

I wasn't taking it any other way than wtf am I supposed to do here.

Peeps on the inter webs don't like the circlip idea but engineer and cert guy were all ok with it.
Anyway, plenty of feedback, thanks.

[beaver]

circlip is legit if done properly, which Im sure it has been (Howat is legit). Bilstein do some of theres from the factory with circlips, and autolign also do it.

Onwards!

[brocky41]

circlip is legit if done properly, which Im sure it has been (Howat is legit). Bilstein do some of theres from the factory with cir-clips, and autolign also do it.

Onwards!

I tried via text to explain this to ginge and it probably didnt come out right, but yes Bilsteins have it on some of their shocks, the spring cup or platform is machined in a way that slips over the circlip to hold it from ever coming out (the preload from the spring also helps this) - and it also sits on it at a predetermined height (slot). Some have only one - others have multiple for height adjustment. I personally think its safer than threaded sleeves as the car is only sitting on that fine thread if you think about it, or factory is only a weld.

Heres a pic for self explanation.

[85_Z31]

I neat way to stop the threaded sleeves from rotating during adjustment is to have a thin stainless tube slid onto the strut, this allows the strut gland nut to put a bit of pressure to nip it up.http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab4/ ... 00x600.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Strut tubes can be Surprisingly thick. 5 to 7mm thick. http://www.redz31.net/images/coilovers/cut3.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cert guy / engineer will be pretty onto it. They have all kinds of guidelines and experience for this sort of thing.

[sr1600]

My 10 cents........

While im suspicious of the circlip in the strut tube idea.....if the certman is happy run with it

Its not like they are hollow they have a massive spigot (shock) through the center so they cant fold in half.

Just have a good look over them every now and then.

[torqued]

I neat way to stop the threaded sleeves from rotating during adjustment is to have a thin stainless tube slid onto the strut, this allows the strut gland nut to put a bit of pressure to nip it up.http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab4/ ... 00x600.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Strut tubes can be Surprisingly thick. 5 to 7mm thick. http://www.redz31.net/images/coilovers/cut3.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cert guy / engineer will be pretty onto it. They have all kinds of guidelines and experience for this sort of thing.

yes it is thick.. reason? this is the singular point holding your front strut together.
I would still double check this, It will not hurt. Not to put doubt in your mind, but as reassurance.
Bilsteins while they may have this method, they are designed from step1. for this. You are modifying something not originally intended for this.

P.s. on a side note. What is your current swaybar front setup? I have a maddat front sway bay I am going to chop up, its brand new. but if yours is more suitable we might be able to do some sort of swap?

[gman]

There is no way the circlip can come out unless you have droop in your setup. We tested them out to 3600 psi was al good.

[broke]

I'm sure this thread must be due for an update, no?