Well, I finally got my Gravana coil-overs installed tonight, and im pretty dissapointed to say the least.

Obviously, waiting 7 months for these was ridiculous, but lets move on....

I used the 2k+ mounts. I bought the 95-99 mounts too but im going to return them if the 2k+ ones work out.

The springs were all pre-loaded about 5-7 turns, and im dropped about 1.75-2" right now.

The ride is ROUGH! No bounce like i had with my old blown stockers/Intrax springs combo, but it rides harder. Yes, ive played with the damper settings and nothing seems to really help... I mean harsh, like bumps hurt harsh. I must have buggered something up because the ride is almost unbearable.

Another thing, i;ve only rode for about 20 miles, and the drivers side front mount has the rubber buching starting to puch through the hole in the top of the mount.. WTF?? I was going to be heading for an alignment tomorrow but if im gonna have to change mounts i guess thats kinda pointless..

Anyways, any idea's, help, feedback, whatever... throw it at me. Im so pissed off right now, I figured if i spent this much money, the ride would atleast be tolerable.

Thanks,


<img src="http://www.j-body.org/registry/nothing13/thumbnail_sig-jpeg.jpg">

everyone seems to be having trouble with the 2k+ mounts. as far as i know, the only person who actually has everything working correctly with the newer mounts is mandy (lamb of goddess). i used 95-99 mounts for mine and have had no problems whatsoever. i just got it aligned last week and the ride is incredible. which installation instructions did you use for making the coilovers work with the 2k+ mounts?

alias1429 wrote:everyone seems to be having trouble with the 2k+ mounts. as far as i know, the only person who actually has everything working correctly with the newer mounts is mandy (lamb of goddess). i used 95-99 mounts for mine and have had no problems whatsoever. i just got it aligned last week and the ride is incredible. which installation instructions did you use for making the coilovers work with the 2k+ mounts?

Theres installation instructions period? It be nice to have some whenever I put in the 95-99 mounts just for reassurance.



Proud member of JBOK (J-bodies of Kentucky)

Do you remember that little diagram that was posted in the last thread? Apparently, thats the instuctions for the 2k+, not the earlier ones. I talked to Matt on the phone and he emailed me those same directions for the 2k mount.

Basically, what i did was pull the nut off the top of the strut, put the top piece of the mount on and fired the nut back on again. The washer that sits above the cone piece is under the mount. I loaded those bearings up with grease while i was at it. Im not getting and binding, rubbing, or anything like that. My only concern is the rubber from the mount pushing through the centre hold on the drivers side..

Im really puzzled as to where i screwed up, because the ride is uncomfortable. Im on my snow tires right now too, i cant imagine what it'll be like with my summer wheels.


<img src="http://www.j-body.org/registry/nothing13/thumbnail_sig-jpeg.jpg">

this is the diagram that jim sent me. i used it to install the coilovers with my 95-99 mounts.

yea mandy's rides pretty good I did the install of the coilovers on her car and it was a bit tricky at first, but when we got it right we got it

there was however one peice missing, but I fabricated a replacement from an old 13mm socket. I still have to get her that peice and call up Jim...

but to get to the point

I don't have the picture handy,

but you need the bearings and the top washer in order for the 00-05 mounts to work

if someone could post the picture of the exploded view of the coilover mounts, I can circle which parts you need for them to work.

The part we needed was the small copper collar. Again, if someone can post the picture I can make my description a little more clear, and make up a diagram

I have all the pieces, but the rubber mount still seemed to be pressing through the hole in the top of the strut with the 2k mount. hmm..

Anyways, I took it apart again today and used the 95-99 mounts. They definatly seem like the better way to go, it just sucks shelling out another 200 bucks..

I am still in desperate need of an alignment, but thats gonna have to wait until next week and the car wont move much until then. I was driving around today and the harshness of the ride is still unbearable. Its fairly rough on small bumps, but on big bumps or potholes it hits HARD. When i say hard, i mean there is no way this is working right, its unbearable.

The rear seems really, really stiff too, so im convinced its not an alignment or strut mount issue. Im getting the occasional clunk out of the back too.

I do have one question, was anybody else able to compress the strut rod by hand? I was pushing down on them (both fronts) when they were apart and couldn;t get the thing to move for the life of me.. hmmmm... seems weird.

Another thing, ive got the spring compressed about half to 3/4 of an inch by adjusting the spring perch, and the lower mount is about half way off the end of the strut. I am still down a good 2 inches in the front, maybe a little more... its pretty low. Seems a little weird because i dont think i have much room to adjust them higher...

Sorry for the novel, but any and all help would be appreciated here. I not a stupid person by any means, but i wish Jim would have packed some damned instructions so i could feel more confident that im on the right track... I don't think they all could be defective, so i've pretty much ruled that out too.








<img src="http://www.j-body.org/registry/nothing13/thumbnail_sig-jpeg.jpg">

FlyingSquirrel: try these out:




nothing13: mine do not compress by hand either... I kinda wondered about that to. I had mine mounted to the 2K+ mounts for 2 days or so, and had every problem you are having plus the binding and grinding. I don't have any good 95-99 mounts to try...
My ride also seemed way to harsh, certainly way past the "sporty" I was expecting... (now mind you, I wasn't expecting a smoother ride out of this by any means)

i was at jims today talking to him about these , he mentioned thinking they might need some drive time for a break in period

ive only got my rears installed at the ride is very controlled , but firm

when i was talking with jim about the adjusters he showed me this bag that had some of the gold color sleve with the step in it , its in this pic , in his fingers if that is the piece you need

call jim , im not sure if he was going to be there tommorow or not , best i can say is call him on tuesday




when i do my fronts , next week ill get some pics of the fronts , from what i was told you install the 00-05 mounts as the struts come , with no pieces left over , so ill try and get pics when i install them in my 00

^^ that peice in the picture in your post is what we were missing

we have one, but we need the other one

like I said, a 13mm short socket is exactly the same diameter, but i had to shave it down and bore it out to fit over the screw for the adjustment knob. The other thing is it doesn't have the lip on it

I'll call jim this tuesday hopefully he'll be able to help me out.

oh and btw I don't know if anyone's noticed

but I think the TEIN EDFC electronic ride height adjustment thing would work with the gravana coils wouldn't it? it seems the knobs are the same size as the one on TEIN's.. I think this is worth looking into

I'll make a diagram from the picture posted by chosen one sometime tomorrow hopefully

Quote:

ride height adjustment

I meant dampening adjustment.... its late, sue me

Well, im gonna get an alignment early next week, hopefully these soften up ALOT or im gonna be looking at something else. I dont mind "stiff", but this is ridiculous.

Any suggestions on the setup of the spring perch/lover mount heights? Im still curious as to why im half off the bottom of the strut up front and still down a good 2"..

Thanks again guys,

Chris


<img src="http://www.j-body.org/registry/nothing13/thumbnail_sig-jpeg.jpg">

wow i must say this isn't the type of stuff i like reading at all, all i hope is all the problems are addressed with these, my question about these since i haven't be able to install and test mine out was why did the design of the front spring change, cause what i take was the initial design worked the same as it would from the factory with the spring load on the outside of the mount and only the struts pressure affecting the center where now all the weight of the car is on the center of the mount wearing it out quicker

heres the pic im referring to





R.I.P. Brian Klocke, you will never be forgotten

the springs changed for 2 reasons

1 so you can swap out for higher or lower rated springs

2 to allow use of both the 95-99 and 00-05 strut mounts