fitting of ground control front coilovers

[AL DAT]

Hi guys, i just brought a pair of the ground control front coilover kit. The ones with the collar you just slide over the strut... I was wondering about a few things with the kit.. With my kit i recieved a small metal collar which is around 1mm thick and maybe 3-4 mm wide..... Is this to weld to the strut so the sleeve can sit on? Also i was wondering what stops the sleeve from spinning on the strut itself? I assume that little metal collar stops the sleeve from sliding down but does anything stop it from spinning? Does it matter if the collar spins on the strut? I tried emailing ground control but they never get back to me so i thought i'd try here as i see a few people have used this set up on their car.... Thanks

[thisismatt]

Yes, the steel collar is to weld to the strut, but frankly it's quite ugly and protrudes unnecessarily far outward. A better solution is to cut a piece of snug fitting pipe and weld that around the strut. You can also notch the piece of pipe in order to compress or expand it to fit better and the notch will allow any water that may get in behind the coilover sleeve to easily drain out. I've never heard of anyone having trouble with the sleeve spinning on the strut, but sometimes they are a bit loose so you may want to shim it by either wrapping the strut tube with pipe wrap tape or I've even read where someone cut a piece of yogurt container to wrap around as a shim.

[AL DAT]

well the little steel collar i have is already notched so it does fit tight but it doesnt even look barely thick enough to hold the sleeve on? I brought the kit from ssw not cround control but it is a ground control kit. Maybe he put in this smaller collar instead of a thick one you talk about? i thought of machining up a slightly thicker one with a lip on the inner edge for the sleeve to sit on? i dunno?

[okayfine]

i thought of machining up a slightly thicker one with a lip on the inner edge for the sleeve to sit on? i dunno?

If it's a GC kit, the dimensions of the steel ring should be about what Matt describes. In any case it doesn't much matter as long as the ring is wide enough diameter to fully support the coilover sleeve. The CO sleeve is only marginally larger ID compared to the OD of the strut, and about 3mm "wide" lip, so it doesn't need much to sit on.

The spring won't really turn once it has the car's weight on it. That's why you still need either the stock 510 steering bearing and top hat, or a GC replacement top had that incorporates a thrust bearing if you're using camber plates.

[thisismatt]

Sorry, I kind of glazed over your measurements. The GC collar that I received was more like 1/8" thick. Perhaps post a picture of the one you have.

[510ER]

instead of using a yogurt cup which im sure works well, especially the key lime flavor There is a small recessed area on the bottom that looked to me like an O-ring should go there, So i put an O-ring in the bottom of the Collar.

[Byron510]

I did a set of struts for a fella on Vancouver Island a couple weeks ago - he purchased everything from T3. I found there was a machined recess on one end of the collars, so I tossed out the ring that came with his set of collars and machined one that would fit inside this recessed area to fully support and center the sleeve at the bottom.










Just another idea to throw out there - 101 ways to skin a cat!
Byron

[510ER]

Byron I have those same coilovers I put an O-Ring in the recessed area that you showed there. Nice pictures by the way that turned out really nice!

[wilderb]

Byron I have those same coilovers I put an O-Ring in the recessed area that you showed there. Nice pictures by the way that turned out really nice!

only problem I see is that if water gets in between the strut tube and the coil ovet sleeves it has no way of dreining out, that could mean rust in a very structural part of the car.

what about running a few vertical beads of silicone before sliding in the sleeves? that way if water gets in there it will have a space to drain out.

[Byron510]

only problem I see is that if water gets in between the strut tube and the coil ovet sleeves it has no way of dreining out, that could mean rust in a very structural part of the car.

what about running a few vertical beads of silicone before sliding in the sleeves? that way if water gets in there it will have a space to drain out.

That is a good thought –good to see you’re watching and thinking outside the box In practice through I don't feel rust is a problem. I have been building set ups like this for over 15 years, and some of those original set ups are still around. I have taken them apart after years if use, and not found corrosion to be an issue. I agree that over time this may be a problem, however an 8 year time span showed nothing of interest in one of my own cars. Merlin has a set up that I build over 11 years ago now, and has been driven in the salt belt in winter by the PO’s. His bits would be the long term/ worst case test scenario at this point, if he ever gets a chance to take those apart in his wagon. Maybe we'll have to wait for an update on this.
I do like the silicone idea used at the top of the sleeve however. It has been done for years in cars around my area, and is a simple way of locating the top of the sleeve against the strut tube. I locate the top of the adjustable sleeve 6 t0 8 mm (1/4 - 5/16") from the top of the strut tube, to allow for carless wrench action on the strut nut itself. This added clearance also allows for the use of a bead of silicone to locate the top of the sleeve.

Byron

[merlin]

Byron wrote" Merlin has a set up that I build over 11 years ago now, and has been driven in the salt belt in winter by the PO’s. His bits would be the long term/ worst case test scenario at this point, if he ever gets a chance to take those apart in his wagon. Maybe we'll have to wait for an update on this."

update... 1. rust was an issue... the bigger long term issue was spring contact with the threaded collars... lots of contact wear... i'll post pics today.
"

[wilderb]

update... 1. rust was an issue... the bigger long term issue was spring contact with the threaded collars... lots of contact wear... i'll post pics today.
"

that is one reason why I would never think of getting welded steel collars, but maybe with the steel this wouldn't be so much of an issue