[twowheelin]

Long story short: My Eibach springs were way lower in front than in the back. I was having problems with curb cuts and speed bumps scraping up my lower bumper. The problem was that the lower wishbone was positioned too far up on the bottom of the shock tube causing an extra 1" drop. (on top of the 1.4" drop the Eibachs provide. :huh: ) There is a divet on the lower shock tube where the wishbone clamp bolt should be positioned. The wishbone can be positioned up to about 1" higher on the shock tube before hitting on the stop.

The wishbone can be repositioned higher (or lower) as follows:
1) Raise the front of the car and remove the wheels. (jackstands please.... )
2) Remove the bolt for the brake line bracket and the sway bar link nut and unfasten from lower wishbone.
3) Remove the big bolt/nut holding the bottom of the wishbone to the steering knuckle.
4) Remove the clamp bolt attaching the wishbone to the lower shock.
5) Wiggle the wishbone loose and re-postion to a higher location on the shock tube.
6) Replace and tighten the wishbone clamp bolt.
7) Repeat for the other side making sure that the wishbone clamp positions match as exactly as possible.

I didn't discover this until I had already purchased Tanabe GFs to replace my "Too Low" Eibachs. :swearin: Hopefully this may help some other 6Clubers doing front end work or mods.

 

[HedsIc]

Hmmm. I'v enot had this problem with my sprotlines which sit lower.

 

[skatingzooyork]

So you are saying that on a stock susp. you could lower the front by an 1" ? :huh:

It seems odd that no one has ever figured out before...

But if it works, nice find!

Any chance you have pictures of what you talking about?

 

[sl1200]

Um, on my 2004 there is a small rectangular piece of metal welded to the shock body that matches with a relief in the upper portion of the split of the wishbone clamp. These are obviously intended to match up directly (they were like that originally and that's how I put them back when I replaced the spring/shock assemblies after switching springs and installing konis). In order to get the wishbone clamp further up the shock body the rectangular piece of metal would have to be removed (ground off or something similar). That wouldn't be advisable, however, as that would eliminate the positive stop for the clamp.

 

[Waldo]

Yes, all stock shocks should have that rectangle to correctly position the "wishbone" on the shock. This rectangle helps distribute the loads into the shock body, rather than relying on a pure clamp load. I did hear of some problems on very early build 03s where that rectangle was actually getting broken off.

 

[ChicagoKid]

What about the rear shocks?? Can it be lowered too?

 

[sl1200]

neither front nor rear can be 'lowered' in the stock configuration.

 

[RoX]

You can also cut the spring itself to gain even MORE of a drop!

*the above is sarcasm*

 

[twowheelin]

Yes, all stock shocks should have that rectangle to correctly position the "wishbone" on the shock. This rectangle helps distribute the loads into the shock body, rather than relying on a pure clamp load. I did hear of some problems on very early build 03s where that rectangle was actually getting broken off.
[/b]

Interesting... It looks like I got one without a rectangle on either side. :swearin: Man I was going nuts trying to figure out why the front was so low. I had reassembled the wishbone all the way up to where the shock tube expands. There is no evidence of any broken spot welds or other wierd marks in the paint on the lower shocks. :headscrat:

So you are saying that on a stock susp. you could lower the front by an 1" ? :huh:

It seems odd that no one has ever figured out before...[/b]

Uhm err, it seems most people would have to cut the positioning rectangle off of the lower shock tube which is not a good idea.
Sorry for the bum steer... :slap:

 

[blackmagik_13]

Yes, all stock shocks should have that rectangle to correctly position the "wishbone" on the shock. This rectangle helps distribute the loads into the shock body, rather than relying on a pure clamp load. I did hear of some problems on very early build 03s where that rectangle was actually getting broken off.
[/b]

The metal rectangle piece almost got broken off on mine when I was reinstalling everything from changing out my eibachs. 03 here also, damn 1st production year luck.

Interesting... It looks like I got one without a rectangle on either side. :swearin: There is no evidence of any broken spot welds or other wierd marks in the paint on the lower shocks.
[/b]

Yeah, if it breaks off, what's behind it is just the part of the strut so, having the wishbone clamped back to that w/o it would cause it to wear smooth, leaving no trace that it was there You might be able to tell if you look REALLY closely.

 

[sl1200]

twowheelin, you may want to look into replacing the rectangular pieces (have something welded on so that the 'wishbone' has a positive stop).

Out of curiosity, do the coilover kits for the 6 include any kind of positive stop for the wishbone (assuming they don't replace it entirely)?

 

[dawei213]

twowheelin, you may want to look into replacing the rectangular pieces (have something welded on so that the 'wishbone' has a positive stop).

Out of curiosity, do the coilover kits for the 6 include any kind of positive stop for the wishbone (assuming they don't replace it entirely)?
[/b]

The Ksport do have a positive stop so you know where it's held in place.