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KWv3 Height Adjustment question
Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 10:01 pm
by sync24
I've had my KWv3's installed by AMD last week and I am happy with the settings I chose. 7 Bump from Hard, 8 rebound from Soft [Apparently 'fast road' from Doug at MRC].
I ended up grinding down the front/rear liner mudflaps a little at the weekend to stop minor rubbing but this mod was very straight forward IMO.
I want to fine tune the ride height at the front as I am not 100% happy with it just yet but I can't find a PDF describing the process - even the guide booklet that came with the suspension does not mention how to adjust the height. I assume it's just a case of moving the purple collar with the supplied C spanner? I guess I can do this at home with the front wheels off and the car on stands if I take care to adjust both the same. I am not a mechanic by any means but have reasonable skills to tackle minor jobs
Can someone enlighten me the 'proper' way to adjust the ride height [I am happy with the bump/rebound settings]
When I'm done - I'll post some before and after pics.
Cheers
Kev.
Re: KWv3 Height Adjustment question
Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 10:25 pm
by Rick_RS4
raise or lower, measure from floor to top of wheel arch both sides, trial and error, there isnt a specific 3 turns and its 20mm lower
Re: KWv3 Height Adjustment question
Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 10:31 pm
by sync24
Cheers Rick - just measure and then use the cspanner to adjust height then?
Re: KWv3 Height Adjustment question
Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 11:30 pm
by RS4pete
I measured/counted threads on coilover body to lower equally on either side.
Re: KWv3 Height Adjustment question
Posted: Wed May 15, 2013 4:07 pm
by slowmonkey
I think the trick with adjusting coilovers is to ensure that you have level ride height all round before you do any adjusting to where you want the ride height to be. I think from memory if you raise the ride height say 1cm on one side it'll drop the opposite side by half the measurement so you have to factor all that in. A vernier gauge to measure lock ring to a fixed point on the car is also a good idea, but of course you can count threads.
Re: KWv3 Height Adjustment question
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 2:43 pm
by sonny
Use a metal ruler, measure the lower ring, say 5mm down, then lower the top collar (with spring) to the bottom collar. Then mark with a bit of paint (tipex) to check for slippage.
Easy really.
If car has been corner weighted then the measurements will be different on all for corners unless the correct ballast weight is in driver seat,
Re: KWv3 Height Adjustment question
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 4:58 pm
by sync24
Thanks everyone at the moment it's very light rubbing on the passenger side and the driver's side is visibly higher - FFS - I can't be going back to AMD for a 3rd time - I am going to see if my local friendly tyre
Shop will help me on Sat...

Re: KWv3 Height Adjustment question
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 5:15 pm
by Jph
You can actually adjust the front KW's without even removing the wheels if you have long skinny arms - I've done it several times on my own car
Where in kent are you? I'm in E-Sussex but would be willing to lend a hand this coming saturday if you aren't too far away.
Re: KWv3 Height Adjustment question
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 5:27 pm
by sync24
PM'd u jph
Re: KWv3 Height Adjustment question
Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 10:00 pm
by sync24
Rule 1.
For reference...
Re: KWv3 Height Adjustment question
Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 6:03 pm
by scaghead
Is it me fella or is your rear ride height higher than it was the other week when it was at amd? When I looked at your motor when it was there I thought it looked lower?.
Re: KWv3 Height Adjustment question
Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 8:08 pm
by sync24
scaghead wrote:Is it me fella or is your rear ride height higher than it was the other week when it was at amd? When I looked at your motor when it was there I thought it looked lower?.
It's not you fella

When you saw it at AMD it had 275x30x19's on it with SS+ springs & DRC shocks and no spacers and the rear looked pretty low. I think now now I've gone back to 255's the car is a little higher and when I had the coilovers fitted I asked AMD to match the SS+ height - This ended up with some rubbing so they have been lifted up a little which is why it looks different. Now I know how to adjust the coilovers and I know the cause of the rubbing I can get this sorted and then adjust the ride height to get it lower than when you saw it.
Re: KWv3 Height Adjustment question
Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 5:43 pm
by sync24
Had my inner arch lips rolled yesterday - guy did a good job and I can see no paint cracking ETC - this has resulted in a nice fit for the front
I am back running 8mm spacers and I've dropped the front quiet a bit -a two day test ride has resulted in zero rubbing even with the car 4 up and some spirited national speed limit B road storming. I am happy with the height now - off to see Jonathan [JHM] in a few weeks to get rears sorted.
Got there in the end!