Which perch on Bilsteins to lower?

[RICHARD J WOLF]

Which perch is used to lower car on Bilstein's (using the blue boot as the benchmark, the perch that is closer to the boot or farther away?) Thank You rjw

 

[clr1024]

The one further away

 

[clr1024]

make sure you install the perch the right way around it only goes one way.

 

[Hapa88]

make sure you install the perch the right way around it only goes one way.

As shown here:
http://www.daliracing.com/v666-5/catalog/suspension/bilstein_install_properly/index.cfm

Also, the lower setting is the one closer to the ground when its being installed. It's pretty much what you would expect.

 

[Hrant]

Apparently our Fearless Leader read somewhere that how the springs sit with respect to each other also make a difference That is make sure the ends of the springs are located in the same position on all four Bilsteins (i.e., if the bottom tip end of the spring stops/rests facing you, make sure all four have the same positioning). Right or wrong, it makes intuitive sense and wouldn't hurt. The $0.02 factor. YMMV.

 

[Larry Bastanza]

IIRC the spring position is actually dictated by the top plate. The rubber grommet inside the upper plate is molded to fit the spring. You need to be careful when you remove them and take them apart that the top plate is oriented as it was and the spring will only fit one way.

HTH,
LarryB

 

[RICHARD J WOLF]

Thanks guys, I thought the top perch would actually compress the spring giving the lower effect and the instructions were in every language except English. NSX Prime is "priceless."

 

[ATERPAK]

What Hrant was referring to is called clocking the perch. Some cars manufacturers are very fussy about this, such as the Audi A4. This mainly deals with making sure that the positioning of the perch is in the same position on both sides of the car for each shock. Thus when the car is on the ground and the spring is carrying the full weight of the car, the action of the spring will be the same for both sides and thus respond equally during cornering or straight line driving. I'm not sure how much this would affect the NSX but it doesn't hurt to set each side as equal as possible. Also the underside of the rubber on the top perch from the factory is initially molded flat. Since the springs are ground flat on the top, they are a perfect match when new. Over time the weight of the car reforms the rubber to match the exact shape of the top of the spring. When installing new springs it would be wise to use this set in the rubber to match with the new springs. But I'm sure over time, again the weight of the car will remold this rubber to fit the new springs. I agree with Larry on this that you should try to make the original indentations match the new springs as close as possible during installation.

 

[Larry Bastanza]

Hi Al,

Funny, I never actually saw a new upper plate. I thought they were molded to that shape when new! Learn something everyday.

Thanks,
LarryB