GC setup advice thread. Help me!

[rwh11385]

Hey guys, I need help. I've ordered taller springs to bring up my saggy rear. It was so low and perches were at the very top already.

I need advice on what ride height I should have my ride set at, and any comments for shock settings (Koni Sing Adj.). I hope to get my Sparco brace on soon, but I think the cruise control might cause problems.

Who all has GC? Me, Stu, e30evolution, Andre, Chris (808), ?
EDIT: rayz, aaron_silva, Brew, Beej '86 325es, Rosica (had), Bryson, have them too. 10 current owners.

I thought my front could come down some, maybe 1/2 inch - 3/4 and the rear maybe the same measurements up. Hopefully bringing the rear up a bit will help with the camber.




Driving school is April 17-18, and Tech inspection is the 3rd. I want to have my suspension all sorted out by then. Any advice would be super.

Car = daily driver, so yeah. Will hopefully be auto-Xing a lot this summer, along with time at the Track. I want my ride to look good, not too raked, and not too dropped in the back.

If there is any suggestion for work to be done when it is at the frame shop let me know. My uncle and mechanic want me to get it aligned proper and I need new tie-rods at the same time. We'll see what is up with my rear camber...... :roll:

Thanks

[Jordan]

<---- Glad he doesn't have the later style fenders that look ghetto when slammed.

[aaron_silva]

Why dont you set it at what looks best, and then slam it for the track/autox?

[rayz]

did you cut off your perches? my car is set at the highest at the back and the lowest possible w/o cutting the spring perches. and it doesnt sit like yours does

[rwh11385]

did you cut off your perches? my car is set at the highest at the back and the lowest possible w/o cutting the spring perches. and it doesnt sit like yours does

I only have a 5in spring. I think GC's popular spring is 5.5in, which would from what they said give the ride another inch of height....or something.

Going with a 6in spring, it should be two inches higher than it is now at the top, and then I can adjust the perches down to where I want it.

Just curious, what all rates do you guys run?
I have 300/475,
Aaron, don't you like 600 in the rear? :shock:

[aaron_silva]

Correct, 450f and 650r. ;)

[Brew]

350f/475r

I have a similar problem on my car. The back tires were still tucked a little even when the perches were set all the way up. I ended up making thicker spring pads out of high density plastic and that seems to do the trick. Oh, and my springs dont fall over now when I jack up the back of the car. :)

[Beej '86 325es]

I have 350/600. I used to run 450 in the rear, but it was ridiculously soft and the springs binded so much that it eventually broke the nubs off my trailing arms.
In a couple of weeks I'm completely restoring/rebuilding/reinforcing my rear end. I'm converting to the H&R adjusters because they more evenly distribute the load on the trailing arm. I may end up switching to a 6" spring as well, because they look slightly shorter than the Ground-Control sleves.

[rwh11385]

I wonder why my are 300/475 instead of 350/475 or 300/450 or something.

I dunno.

One of my buddies is/was in the parts supply business and said he could hook me up on eibach springs if I ever wanted to change lengths/rates. (I wish I had talked to him before ordering from GC) Let's see how these new rear springs work out.

Who has suggestions on where the fender should be in relation to the tire.
Rear tuck? I might want to stay with a little tuck, like 1/4" in the back
Front tuck? Probably not, I'll have the fender at the top of the tire, or a little bit above it.

Or do you have any other ideas on how long the ride should be. I just know the rear is too low and looks ghetto..... :?

[Rosica]

First of all you should have gotten 450/600 for autox/track/street use. Second 475 5" springs are way to short, you need 6" minimum with 475’s. I had 450/550, but switched to 600 rear to stiffen up, made a huge difference. I had 450/600 with koni’s, and 17’s for 2 years, 30 miles each way to work, and it was fine, if you wanted a decent ride on the street you shouldn’t have gotten GC’s.

Order a set of 600 6” springs, sometimes you can get some used springs from Turner cheap.

[rwh11385]

First of all you should have gotten 450/600 for autox/track/street use. Second 475 5" springs are way to short, you need 6" minimum with 475’s. I had 450/550, but switched to 600 rear to stiffen up, made a huge difference. I had 450/600 with koni’s, and 17’s for 2 years, 30 miles each way to work, and it was fine, if you wanted a decent ride on the street you shouldn’t have gotten GC’s.

Order a set of 600 6” springs, sometimes you can get some used springs from Turner cheap.

thanks man. The 5" was definately tooo tooo tooo short! The 6" should be good for now, and I'll ride a while on these a while.

If I do need to switch rates, I think I could get them at discount through my friend. I still don't know how aaron lives with his springs. Daily driver? still :shock: . I think my passengers would like to keep their fillings in her mouth, and the 300/475 is stiff enough for now...... :P

450/600 on 17" wheels......damn......on 16" it was harsh on my rates.....but now I'm going to 15" so it should be as bad as it was........

450/600 for daily driving? thanks for your input, but I don't think I could survive that daily......maybe down the road a ways I'll take your advice. but thanks again!

[808BMW]

375/475

If they ever build a track here, I'll probably turn it up until the control arms are parallel to the ground, then another 1/8" to 1/4" from there. Even out the rear as necessary. That's my ghetto way :P

[aaron_silva]

I live with it because I have to. The cabrios are a little heavier and require a stiff rear spring. Also, you want a the differential between the spring rates to be around 100-150. I think my ride is great. Of course you will feel more bumps but that I wayyy worth it with you can take turns on the limit. :D

Aaron

[Bryson]

i have GC, beotch. 350/450 6" front 5" rear and my car is high still, but it's a 318is, so I'm lighter :P my perch hits sometimes when I hit big bumps with 4/5 passengers. since i drive so often with passengers and all... :roll:

[rwh11385]

Damn, there's a lot of us. Sweet.

GC's own.

I really ought to have waited until I hit the track to see if I needed to correct understeer or oversteer with spring stiffness. But my mechanic was like, get that rear end up.....but the springs haven't come yet. I ordered them last week....weird. Can I cancel the order? I'll see.