One coil cut on Koni adjustable struts at full stiffness results in a very harsh ride

So I drove my car home last night for the first time and the ride is very, very stiff. I've cut one coil from the springs and installed Koni adjustable struts set at full stiffness and the car doesn't seem to have much travel. On the freeway it's great and it runs nice and straight but in the neighborhoods it's horrible. The car holds the road well and doesn't jump around so I think the struts are fine but I did not have them rebuilt.

I'm thinking that if I take the struts off and adjust them down to mid stiffness the ride should loosen up a bit but I'm not 100% sure. What do you guys think? I didn't think that 1 coil of the spring would cause this big of a difference. Cutting them removed around 1.5" of ride height so it's not slammed by any means. The steering feels good and returns to center well so I don't think this change messed up the geometry that much.

I may just be paranoid and the car might still need some break in time. Put it up on stands today, checked everything, gave it an oil change and took it back out. It feels like it's starting to loosen up a bit and the ride is getting better. She's a beast on the freeway.

When I had mine cut 1 coil off on my stock setup, I can barely tell any difference between stock height, it rides smooth and not any stiffer than stock so I don't think you gonna need to put the struts on max stiffness. My stock struts could handle the 1 coil cut springs just fine for years.

Hell my rear springs are cut about 3? coils off and I'm still on stock struts although its already on its way out and it still rides as good as stock so yeah 1 coil off should be fine even on stock struts and full stiffness is not needed at all. I'd try at medium settings and turn it down if its still too stiff.

Did you cut your bumpstops too?

The strut cartridges might need to be rebuilt but that doesn't make sense due to them being REALLY stiff (like had to put a wrench on the top of the strut and pull hard to get the piston out of the strut) when I put them on. It doesn't wander and doesn't ever feel like the car is going to jump lanes but when it hits a bump there is little travel in the suspension. In fact it goes quite straight and the faster I go the nicer the ride gets. I didn't have time to take the struts off last night to see if the cartridges had gone funky but I'm going to try to do that today. Also I'm going to turn them down to the lowest stiffness and see if it still feels so tight. I did not cut or remove the bump stops but the car doesn't seem to travel low enough to hit them in the first place. It stays very flat in the corners even when pushing it.

It could also just be new suspension. Almost every bushing has been replaced, ball joints replaced, tie rods/ends replaced and all the bolts holding the suspension were cranked down with an air gun before folding the tabs on the washers.

I'm guessing for the back you cut the bottom of your springs, not the top smaller section? I cut the bottom of the backs and the top of the fronts and think that flipping the springs over in the front so the cut part is at the bottom might change things a bit.

if you decide you dont like them ill gladly take them off your hands :D i almost had a front set off ebay but i got outbid :/

I cut the bottoms of both my front and rear springs. I've got 1 1/2 coils out in the front, and I have the shittiest driveway ever. The ride is not really too bad. I can tell my Konis aren't really controlling my springs though, I get a little bit of float occasionally. It'll never ride perfect until you get them rebuilt and revalved to match your springs.

I'm at 200 miles now and the ride is starting to feel like it's "broken in". I still get some float but it's easy enough to predict and my car now only gets really bouncy if the road is really shitty. I'm still taking the struts out next weekend to give them a once over but I'm happier with the ride now compared to a few days ago. It's lowered, it's going to be springy and I just have to deal with it until I begin work on the "fully adjustable suspension" project.

She also has appeared to have found her idle today. The more I drive it the better it feels which is exactly what I was hoping for. I had it in 5th doing 60 on the freeway uphill today with the pedal half in and she still had a lot more to give. I really was not expecting this level of power out of this engine.

So I was driving today at very slow speeds in very crappy traffic and noticed that one of my back tires bounces and makes more noise than the others. The noise varies with speed and is a light thud noise like the tire has a bump in it. If you hold the RPM's steady this thing thumps like a metronome. I jacked up the car and check the rear end and everything is fine beyond it needing a brake adjustment. I also just checked the tire pressure and all tires are inflated. It was much colder today than it's been and the noise/bounce was worse.

So what I'm thinking is that since this car sat for so long on it's current tires without moving it made the tires out of round. Some of them went damn near flat before I inflated them. If the tire is hotter it goes away and this morning when I was able to go 55-65 the whole time the car mellowed out and I was able to take it to 75+ (I was safe with no other traffic for a good distance) without much shake. Get stuck in stop and go traffic in 44 degree weather tonight and the damn thing feels like it has a flat.

Anyone else think I'm on the right track? From what I'm seeing on other forums this sounds like the issue but you guys are the 1G masters.

If you suspect a tire, I would move that tire to the front, or to the other side and see if the vibration follows. If it does, then you have a bad tire probably. If it stays on that wheel, I'd suspect the shock.

I know what you mean about the torque. It's kind of surprising. I usually pass cars uphill without even taking it out of 5th. I don't really understand why everybody with their super new fancy powerful cars can't keep their speed up hill.

Quick update since I'm on lunch. Went and got some nice Toyo's on the car during lunch and the hop is GONE! There's a little bit of bounce from the springs but the ride difference is like night and day. I'm down to a muffler and maybe a new ICM (my tack jumps by like 25 RPM sometimes) and all the mechanical crap should be done!

SICK dude!!! I'm so stoked to see your car!

Congrats!

Thanks! I'm now dealing with a surging issue when I go up hill for long periods of time. I'm fairly sure the inline filter I have in the engine compartment is causing air pockets which is cutting down fuel flow and causing the car to run lean. Looks like I'll be buying some gas line when I get out of work. Does anyone know if I really need a filter before the carb? There's one at the tank so I think I should be fine.

Mine's always had air bubbles in it. Even on my other car, and through multiple fuel filters. I don't think it's a problem. Surging issues going up hill for a long time is EXACTLY what my car is doing right now. Along with my carb leaking a little gas. I've taken mine all apart and done a semi-rebuild, but I think the problem my car is having is a bad power valve. It might make sense if yours isn't working either.

I have a brand new Weber on mine so I don't think the carb is the problem. No leaking at the carb and it only happens when going up the steep hill on 26 from PDX to Hillsboro. I didn't notice it before due to the crap tires but it's really obvious now. If the car is somewhat level it goes away which makes me think that crappy filter is getting bubbles causing the float to go dry. It usually has a big air pocket in it. I'll report back once I have the hose swapped.

I know the hill you're talking about, that's a doozie. Now you've got me wondering if you just need to reset the float level. Rumor has it they aren't very well set when you get them, and you never know how they can get jostled around in shipping. Like I said though, my filter's always had the air bubble in it, on both of my Accords, even when they run perfectly. I don't think that'll go away.

So I removed the 2nd fuel filter and it still does it. It's not as bad as before but it's still doing it. I'll have to take a look at the float next as that seems like the next logical step.

Ya the 26 hill is by far the worst freeway hill we have here and the only hill that cause the car to do this. Once it gets to the crest everything evens out and it drives like normal. Damn new engine gremlins!

So I took it out this morning and it was doing the surge again. Since I'm almost at 500 miles and I'm starting to no longer baby it I put my foot down and it stopped and then started climbing up the hill at 65 mph. So I think I can chalk this one up to not giving it enough gas when it climbs. Just because it has the compression to do 55 up a hill at 2000 RPM doesn't mean it necessarily likes it. Really a great drive in all around this morning. I think she's broken in, time to stop babying it.

I would adjust them to mid range. See what the result is. Full stiffness isn't really for street use. More for track. Soften them up an you should have a much nicer ride👍👍

I'm thinking of a coilover setup right now and might buy another set of inserts then have them chopped by 2 inches. Compared to a friend's Scion my ride is actually fairly pleasant. I could go down a setting or two but in reality it's not that bad unless the road is trashed.