[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Ok I'm asking anyway knowing that it's probably one of those stupid questions... I thought coilovers are the front would have 3 locking collars, 2 for the spring pre load and one at the bottom to lock the ride height.

My Bilstein only have 2 based on the picture. If you compare to BC racing coilovers see how they have 3 silver locking collars. So... does this mean on the bilstein there is no spring preload?

I feel like I'm just missing something in my head which isn't computing haha.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

How the F do you resize pics?

[SnapCoupe]

Big collar adjusts the spring preload and smaller collar is to lock it in place. It just varies between coilover brands/styles when it comes to how the collars look, the material they're made of, and if there is a 3rd one or not.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by SnapCoupe

Big collar adjusts the spring preload and smaller collar is to lock it in place. It just varies between coilover brands/styles when it comes to how the collars look, the material they're made of, and if there is a 3rd one or not.

But without a third collar how is ride height adjusted. Like is it with the top collar to? BC racing you can spin the bottom shaft.

[upshift_downshift]

It looks to me like the design of the coilover is such that the spring preload and ride height are not independent. In order to lower the car, the preload is reduced as well. The spring will still be compressed the same amount when the car is on the ground, but will be different when in full droop.

Hopefully Bilstein knows what they are doing and the lowest setting does not allow the spring to have zero load at full droop, which would be bad if the tire ever loses contact with the road, and the spring dislodges from the perch.

To adjust ride height up, you want to move the nut upwards on the tube. This will increase the amount of load on the spring in full droop.

To adjust ride height down, move the nut downwards on the tube. This will decrease the load on the spring in full droop.

Some designs have a helper spring in order to keep the spring seated at all times, controlling the preload-height dependency issue. The helper spring compresses when ride height is adjusted, so that the preload on the main spring only changes slightly.

On the BC coilover, they use a secondary tube that moves independently of the main tube to keep preload and ride height separate.

Edit: A good article from Raceland about your question:
https://raceland.com/news/how-to-adjust-coilovers.html

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by upshift_downshift

It looks to me like the design of the coilover is such that the spring preload and ride height are not independent. In order to lower the car, the preload is reduced as well. The spring will still be compressed the same amount when the car is on the ground, but will be different when in full droop.

Hopefully Bilstein knows what they are doing and the lowest setting does not allow the spring to have zero load at full droop, which would be bad if the tire ever loses contact with the road, and the spring dislodges from the perch.

To adjust ride height up, you want to move the nut upwards on the tube. This will increase the amount of load on the spring in full droop.

To adjust ride height down, move the nut downwards on the tube. This will decrease the load on the spring in full droop.

Some designs have a helper spring in order to keep the spring seated at all times, controlling the preload-height dependency issue. The helper spring compresses when ride height is adjusted, so that the preload on the main spring only changes slightly.

On the BC coilover, they use a secondary tube that moves independently of the main tube to keep preload and ride height separate.

Edit: A good article from Raceland about your question:
https://raceland.com/news/how-to-adjust-coilovers.html

Ahhh ok thanks I understand now.

But yeah I would suppose Bilstein know what they do, if not sounds pretty bad and scary from your saying haha. I noticed the KW V1 have the same set up to so I suppose it's not really bad.

But I probably won't use the lowest setting.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

But I do believe they provide max measurements for how long the spring can be so I guess that solves your thing about risking if loses contact with the road.