I'm just curious, I got the suspension installed yesterday and instead of having less space between the top of the front wheel and the fender I have more now?!? (the rears look lower or at least the same). How long does it usually take for the RB springs (or any springs) to settle, and was it a noticeable change in height after it settled? Last night I took the car to an empty parking lot and did a whole lot of tight turns, hard breaking/accelerating, driving in a circle, and a bit of drifting to test the new set up out and hopefully settle the springs a bit. Today it's still kinda the same.

Note: I didn't get to measure the car before the swap, but the increase in fender gap is clearly obvious. It was the first thing I noticed, even my mechanic even thought it was a bit weird.

That would suck.

You need to give it time to break in give it a 100 miles or so

You need to check the height of the car properly.

Measure the frame height.

I think the rb springs are only a .5" drop, so i doubt you'll notice much. But it will settle after a few miles.

did you bolt up everything tight while the suspension was at full extension on jackstands?

You need to check the height of the car properly.

Measure the frame height.


The whole car is higher and is not one of those things that you need to measure to make sure, you just look at it and...yup it's higher and it's that obvious.

did you bolt up everything tight while the suspension was at full extension on jackstands?


I didn't install them myself, my mechanic did. What's the difference?

did you bolt up everything tight while the suspension was at full extension on jackstands?

That's wrong I thought...wouldn't you wanna tighten everything up while the tires are loaded? Otherwise the rubber bushings on the upper control arm are out of whack.

By the way, about the ride height, give it some time...it took my springs almost a month to settle, especially in the rear where there's less weight.

i think u will need to lower the arm as well...it happened to me too when i got my tein springs

That's wrong I thought...wouldn't you wanna tighten everything up while the tires are loaded? Otherwise the rubber bushings on the upper control arm are out of whack.

That's why I asked the question because if so it would be the cause ...

yes when i installed my rb springs my car sat much higher as well especially in the front. RB springs need to be preloaded unlike others. jack your car up and loosen evervthing, do not take the wheels off. then i pushed up and down on the frame a fews time played some xbox and did the jumping thing soeem more and did this about 3 times and it fixed the right height tremendously.

http://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php?p=1620873&postcount=18
here was my problem...you could probably find the intallation instructions some where on here.

this thread should help you out, check post #24
http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=33396&highlight=rb+spring+instructions

Easy fix! loosen the control arm bolts, let sit for 30 minutes, retighten. The springs weren't preloaded so you're up too high.

Thanks a lot guys, I'll try that.

yup, that has to be the problem. simply turn the wheels all the way to the side (both sides) and reach in and loosen the control arm bolts.

Well I went and got my mechanic to loosen the control arm and and it seem to have worked, the car is at least 1/2 inch lower and still needs to settle. Thanks to everyone who responded.

Only problem is.....when he drove around the block to test it, the driver's side front shock broke?!? The bolt where you do the adjusting (the part that sticks out from the strut tower) snapped right off!!! So now there's nothing holding the shock in place. I had to put my OEM shock back in there again until I can get this thing warranted....yeah fun stuff eh?

It seems that every time I do a any mods to this car, something goes wrong, and it always happens just before I have to go out of town or something. I love my RX-8, but sometimes it drives me freaking' NUTS!!!!!!!

the bolt snapped or it came loose and went flying off?! (the latter of the two I've seen happen before)

wowsers..

Hi everybody,

I have the same problem, however I do not understand what is the “preload” and how should I tell my mechanic to do that. Can someone please post some photos showing how you preload the front springs?

Thanks

Easy fix! loosen the control arm bolts, let sit for 30 minutes, retighten. The springs weren't preloaded so you're up too high.

Just trying to understand you mean to just loose that control arm bolts (a pic would help a lot) and let the car to sit for 30 minutes?

here ya go


http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d37/Jedi54/preload.jpg

There were instructions that came with the RB springs. Follow them!

If you don't have them, then tell him to jack up the car, loosen the two 17mm lower bolts on the A-arms(they look like big "A's"). Then take the car back to the ground with those two bolts loose, then you can bounce the front end up and down a little bit using your hands/arms(don't dent the side panels), then turn the wheels(while still on the ground) and get in there and tighten those bolts back up to torque spec.
This is called "loading" the suspension. If he can't figure that out....find another mechanic.

Or................follow the magic Jedi master finger in the next post!
The force would never steer you wrong! :icon_tup:

Thank Jorge for the pic!

Dave

p.s. If you really, really, really need the instructions, PM me and I'll send them your way.

Thank you very much guys !

This gets posted about once every two weeks.

Well the problem is fixed but not exactly the way you have advised me. So it goes like this:

I go to my mechanic and I tell him that the front suspension should be preloaded and the way to fix this is to loose the A arm while the car is lifted and then let the car to sit for 30 minutes and tight the A arm while the car is at the ground.

We did this but nothing change as it concerns the front height !!!

So after I gave my mechanic the idea of preloading the front suspension (thanks to you guys) my mechanic just lifted the car he looses the A arm and then disconnects the third bold of the A arm and lifts with his hands the A arm up. Then with a hydraulic pressure underneath the wishbone he lifts the wishbone to the point that he can bold on again the A arm.

After the above procedure done to both front sides of the car then the front height dropped to normal level !!!!

It seems that every time I do a any mods to this car, something goes wrong, and it always happens just before I have to go out of town or something. I love my RX-8, but sometimes it drives me freaking' NUTS!!!!!!!

Every time YOU do something it breaks? You paid some other idiot to install these, and apparantly he has no clue how to do it if parts are breaking.

And here's a smart idea: Modify your car AFTER the important trip and not before it? Sure saves a lot of headache.

Guys,

Just want to say thanks! I had my RB springs installed last fall and recently I noticed how bad the back end was sagging. Drove me Fing crazy for the last month. Took it to a couple of mechanics and everyone said it was installed right. I was not convinced. I kept reading this forum until I got the answer.

Today I loosened the control arm bolts. Let the car sit for an hour and re-tightened them (also jumped on the front a little). Now the car sits level and looks to much better. The car even drives better and feels more stable.

Just goes to show you, if you want to do it right, do it yourself (or find and RX-8 expert)

Thanks again! This forum has helped me countless times

Guys,

Just want to say thanks! I had my RB springs installed last fall and recently I noticed how bad the back end was sagging. Drove me Fing crazy for the last month. Took it to a couple of mechanics and everyone said it was installed right. I was not convinced. I kept reading this forum until I got the answer.

Today I loosened the control arm bolts. Let the car sit for an hour and re-tightened them (also jumped on the front a little). Now the car sits level and looks to much better. The car even drives better and feels more stable.

Just goes to show you, if you want to do it right, do it yourself (or find and RX-8 expert)

Thanks again! This forum has helped me countless times

do it again and drive it slow around the block once or twice. then get it aligned.

beers :beer: