[Cloud9...68]

I've finally installed replaced all the rubber bushings in the rear suspension with their spherical/solid (depending on the bushing) equivalents. I'm expecting my new Moton Clubsport coilovers within the next couple of weeks, so I'm wondering if I should go ahead and put the rear suspension back on the car now, or is it easier to install the shocks and springs with the rear suspension disassembled. Thanks.



By the way, for those contemplating this job, I would strongly urge you to invite a friend to help install the trailing arm monoballs, unless you take the trailing arms off the car, which I chose not to do because I didn't want to crack open the brake lines. It is extremely awkward to try tightening the cap of the bushing while holding the other side to prevent it from rotating, all while the loctite is drying. I managed to get the drivers side good and tight by myself, but the right side was a different story. I wasn't able to get in a good position, and the huge wrench came loose and smacked me in the head, opening up a big gash and dripping blood all over my shirt, and leaving a nice puddle on the ground. But by this time, I was committed, so I slogged ahead, and the wrench slipped again, splitting my upper lip! So I sprinted upstairs, washed myself up as best I could, and high-tailed it to a neighbor's house (a guy with an ultra-cool late 80's Lotus Esprit turbo), who was kind enough to drop what he was doing, and held the other side of the bushing while I tightened the cap. Fortunately, the loctite hadn't set yet, so I was able to get it good and tight. I then went to the local urgent care facility, where I got two stitches in my lip (without Novocain, as the swelling caused by the Novocain makes it difficult to line up the lip to stitch it up properly), and two staples in my scalp (I took the Novocain for this procedure). The only good part of my little adventure (other that the fact that I was ultimately able to get the bushings sufficiently tight) was that the urgent care doctor was actually quite an attractive young woman



So, the moral is, get help BEFORE starting this task.

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[pure&simple]

Glad it worked out ok in the end. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/blink.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/biggrin.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



Please post after you install the Moton Clubsports - would love to hear your impressions as I am considering these as well. I hear that the ride comfort with these on the street is quite good in addition to being competent on the track.

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[Cloud9...68]

Sure, I'll let everyone know my impressions of the Clubsports. Although, I have to say, at this very early stage of my track driving "career," getting dampers of this caliber is akin to outfitting a 3rd grade computer class with a bank of Cray supercomputers, Karl at Racers Edge told me that they are so superior to anything else on the market for anywhere near the price, that I would ultimately regret it if I got something else, because I would just want to upgrade fairly soon anyway. But there's obviously a lot of differing opinions on this subject.



As far as the Clubsports providing decent ride comfort, I hope you're right, but given the fact that I'm going to be installing springs that are about three times stiffer than what I have on the car now, and removing all the compliance that comes from the rubber bushings that I'm getting rid of, if it rides any smoother than your average cement truck, I'll be happy.





Did you replace all your rubber bushings with monoballs and solid bushings? From what I've gathered, this should be the first priority, ahead of upgraded springs and shocks. Doing so is a very big (and potentially hazardous, from my experience), job , but getting rid of the "mush" that comes from all the rubber in the suspension just makes all kinds of sense.



I think I'm going to go ahead and try to put as much of the rear suspension back on today as I can, as this may be our last weekend of relatively cool weather here in central Texas for quite awhile, and hope I don't have to take a bunch of it off when I install the springs and shocks.

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[Dubai944]

You can easily fit the motons with the suspension back on.Bit hard to do it any other way as one end attaches to the frame.... I have the same setup, ride is good

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[pure&amp;simple]

Yeah, all my bushings are solid. With my current suspension setup I have 450lb springs up front with tenders and 300lb rear with helpers and torsion bar. The car feels fine over minor bumps, but seems to have just a bit too much damping (both rebound and compression) for street driving. It can be quite harsh over large bumps with the accompanying loss of traction while the wheels are unweighted. The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of dialing down the damping for the street and cranking it back up for the track.

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[flash]

you will probably find that once you dial it down, and get used to it, that you won't want to dial it back up - damping is a function of natural frequency, which is determined primarily by the weight of the car and the rate of the spring - once you find the damping that settles the spring, that is the correct setting for both street and track - i know a lot of guys think otherwise, but if they actually measured entry and exit speeds, they would find that setting the shocks stiffer for track most often actually costs time in the corners if there are any bumps at all (like the corner curbs or rumble strips) - the idea is to let the wheels move and the car stay put - it is easy to tell when your settings are too stiff - the car "dances" with the wheels when it should be still

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[Cloud9...68]

Yes, as many have pointed out, the shocks don't actually absorb shocks, so, assuming the damping rate is dialed in correctly for the springs, the ride quality should primarily be a function of the stiffness of the springs, along with things like the type of tires (lower profile = harsher ride), and the "hardness" of the bushings.



Oh, and thanks for the responses to my question about the order of installation of the shocks and springs; that's a relief, because taking the spring plate covers and springs plates on and off is quite a bit of work.

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