New King SL springs fitted, front WAY too high

[sirchAU]

Ok so it's been a week since I got a pair of King Super Low springs (2nd hand) and brand new Ultima shortened shocks fitted to my AU, part #'s KFFL-57SL (front) and KFRL-27SL (rear).

The rear has begun to settle in nicely, but the fronts are looking higher than ever. What's going on here? What could cause this? Anyone with any knowledge on this, please help!

I don't know what to do, some people have said to be patient and that it'll continue to drop over the next month or so. Others have said they're no good and won't get anywhere near as low as I'd like. I'm pretty ****sed about it tbh. The rear is perfect as it sits now, but the front is even higher than the original Tickford springs i had. It looks awful.

It's got me worried and thinking about getting my old Tickford front springs put back in, as I was actually reasonably happy with the height of those at the front, but just felt the rears were too high. I know it's only been a week and I have only done about 250km on them since they were put in, but I'm really worried that they just won't get as low as I'd like. They're supposed to be Super Lows, not standard height! Anyway, I've decided to just wait and see for the next couple of weeks and keep my fingers crossed that they drop and even out soon. But it's causing me a fair bit of anxiety, and it just looks **** IMO.

Here's some pics to show you what I mean (mind you, being parked on an incline makes it look even worse).








Springs when I got them, previous owner apparently only did 5,000km in them before swapping back to stock as it was "too low for towing". Showed me a pic of how they sat on his car, looked really good.


And here's a before and after.

BEFORE

AFTER


As you can see, the front is a tad lower in the before pic (only by probably 10mm, but still lower).

I'm stumped! Has anyone else got any experience similar to this when lowering their cars?

Thanks in advance for any helpful info and advice.

Cheers,
Chris

(posted this in General Tech forum, but was after some opinions from the AU community too)

[Silver']

The same part numbers fitted to the front of my car (though V8). This was taken a day or so after they were fitted. They settled a few mm's after that but about 5mm is the most you can expect from what I've heard.



It's a weird one this one - have you checked that the springs are seated properly?
Yours really should be 90% pre-settled as they are used springs.

[SLO247]

They won't settle by that much!

Perhaps not seated right or upside down even?

Did you see that part number on the springs themselves?

[BZINGA]

Hendersons Suspension in Seaford like i told you on facebook .. go see them, they will sort it out.

[Silver']

Originally Posted by SLO247

They won't settle by that much!

Perhaps not seated right or upside down even?

Did you see that part number on the springs themselves?

Part numbers visible in the OP pic. I too am suspicious about the possibility of them being fitted upside down...would love to have a gander at the car - where are you?

[SLO247]

I'm not sure if fitting them upside down will have that effect, but its an idea.

[sirchAU]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Darren, yep I'll give Henderson's a call when I get a chance, but so busy with shift work atm and got a couple of things on on the weekend so it will have to wait for now.

SLO247 - Yep, checked and double checked the part numbers before handing over the $$ to make 100% sure they were the correct springs.

As for them being on upside down, how could I tell? When looking at them inside the wheel arch, I think the part numbers are visible and are indeed upside down, i.e. they're fitted to the car the same way they're shown in the OP photo above. Does that sound right? Will try and post a pic of the inside of the wheel well to give you guys an idea.

Got them fitted at Midas in Dandenong by Brent down there, seems like an honest bloke. I've gone to him for about the last 10 months and haven't had any issues at all and have grown to trust him. He seemed surprised at how high it was too. He did mention something about the new apprentice fitting them in, so perhaps they are fitted incorrectly. Might have to get them to check again and see, if they are fitted incorrectly or not seated right, should be able to get him to re-do it free of charge.

SilverT2TE50 - I'm in Endeavour Hills (South-East too). You're more than welcome to come down and check it out or I can drive to you. Not tonight, but at some stage when I get a spare moment, thanks for the offer.

[White_sr_taxi]

Working in a auto parts place i have seen them be mis packaged more than once but id give it a little time around 100ks and see what happens. if it still sits like a tractor take it back under parts and labor warranty.

[KIWI-1]

Sounds like bump stops too me. Are the dampers original?
So I just checked King Springs catalogue and it says
"+ STRONGLY RECOMMEND MONROE GT SPORT SHORTENED SHOCK ABSORBERS WITH SHORTENED BUMPSTOPS BE FITTED WITH THIS PART NUMBER"

http://www.kingsprings.com/catalogue..._catalogue.pdf

[sirchAU]

Originally Posted by KIWI-1

Sounds like bump stops too me. Are the dampers original?
So I just checked King Springs catalogue and it says
"+ STRONGLY RECOMMEND MONROE GT SPORT SHORTENED SHOCK ABSORBERS WITH SHORTENED BUMPSTOPS BE FITTED WITH THIS PART NUMBER"

http://www.kingsprings.com/catalogue..._catalogue.pdf

The shocks are brand new Ultima short travel shock struts with, I'm assuming, shortened bump stops, like these ones on ebay HERE. Cheap I know, but I'd heard and read some good things about them and couldn't really justify the extra expense for Monroe GT Sport as my budget is very tight atm. So far so good comfort wise, it rides really nicely now. Just can't figure out why it's sitting so high.


Took some pics:
LH (passenger) side



RH (driver) side

Driver side actually sits higher than the passenger side

[Sox]

They are 100% upside down.
The front coils are wound to a taper.
Small taper should be at the bottom, large at the top.

You can see in your photos the small taper isn't seated in the rubber saddle at the top properly, this is what's causing it to sit high.

The large taper at the bottom may not be held properly in the shock saddle either, maybe even dangerous.

Take them back to the mechanic, and point this out. They will have to redo them free of charge as it's their mistake.

The back are likely upside down too, if you say they are mounted as the other picture shows. The tightly wound coils should always be up. Not as big problem as the front, but they should still be right if you paid for correct fitting.

BTW, it has nothing to do with not having shortened shocks as someone else mentioned.

Here's a photo of how it should look.
.

[KIWI-1]

Email King and ask for advice.
Give them the vehicle ride heights (centre hub to guard) and the open strut length (length of coil when jacked up with wheel of ground). Looking at the pics it seems they are fitted 'full wide open' at the top and 'full wide closed' at the bottom so worth checking that with King as well.
On my AUII Ute I'm pretty sure that closed end is at the top and the top is wider than the bottom. Perhaps someone with an XR could check XR originals (Utes have differnt springs).

Post above came through and totally agree - no need to email king!

[Whoosha]

Quite right Sox; saved me taken pick of mine

[MAD]

I bet the wrong shocks were used (e-series vs AU) and the small taper didn't match with the spring seat so they flipped them.
It would also explain the extra height in the front as AU springs are about 25mm longer than E-series springs) and the shocks have a lowered spring seat to suit the longer springs.

Straight back to the mechanic with a big WTF?!

[borry]

now, this could be a complete guess...

but has someone stolen your motor ? lol!

[KIWI-1]

Originally Posted by borry

now, this could be a complete guess...

but has someone stolen your motor ? lol!

...replaced it with a 4-cylinder ecoBoost?

[phat_stak_tipa]

Upside down and maybe V8 springs?

[sirchAU]

Originally Posted by MAD

I bet the wrong shocks were used (e-series vs AU) and the small taper didn't match with the spring seat so they flipped them.
It would also explain the extra height in the front as AU springs are about 25mm longer than E-series springs) and the shocks have a lowered spring seat to suit the longer springs.

BINGO! We have a winner!

Finished work at 2:30 today so got the chance to head down to Midas Dandenong to get this sorted out.

So i asked them to re-fit them and turn them up the right way around and he explained it wasn't possible. MAD was spot on. Turns out the Ultima shocks weren't the right ones (probably E-series) and the small tapered end didn't fit the seat, so they flipped them. Because I supplied the parts, and they did fit perfectly and were completely functional despite the springs being upside down, they didn't think anything of it other than it was odd that it was that high. They lifted the car up on the hoist to explain and show me what they meant. Was ****ed at the idea that I would need to buy new shocks AND pay for labour again, but Brent said he'd sort it out for a slab of beers. All things considered, I'm pretty happy with that. Ended up buying a pair of Monroe GT Sports, and getting them put in tomorrow.

Am so ****ed at the ebay seller who sent the wrong parts, but have already left positive feedback, and can't be bothered raising a dispute and posting them back (interstate) etc. Think this might be the last time I buy parts off EvilBay! Tried to cheap it out, and ended up getting burned an extra couple of hundred bucks... Lesson learned. Hopefully I can move them on and get some $ back for them. Only done 500km with them.

So anyway, hopefully that's that all sorted. Will take some pics tomorrow, hopefully looking nice and low.

Thanks everyone for the replies, it was very helpful.

Cheers,
Chris

[KIWI-1]

Good to see it's sorted and looks like you'll be happy with the final result.

[Silver']

I freakin' love these happy endings threads!

And MAD, I've forgotten about 100 times to bring those HID shrouds to work to give to one of my guys (who lives in the street next to you). I'll remember tonight and get him to drop them in your letterbox Monday.

[MAD]

Good outcome, pity they didn't stop before fitting them backwards.
But all's well that ends well.

No worries Al. I had forgotten about them.. Lol.

[sirchAU]

Got the car back just now, looking freakin sweet! Will chuck some pics up over the weekend. Sat and chilled with Brent at Midas after knock off and had a cold beer with him, top bloke, funny old bugger!

And got some more good news today... Emailed the ebay seller just to let him know that he sent the wrong parts, but not raising a dispute or requesting a refund etc. He was really apologetic about the mistake and offered to replace them with the correct shocks, just gotta send them back next week (reply postage paid) and will be getting the correct ones once he receives those.

Luckily for me, a mate at work needs some new front shocks for his AU1 XR6, so I'll sell them to him for what I paid for them and won't be out of pocket at all. Would prefer a refund, but this works out well too.

Happy endings are great.

Have a good weekend everyone, I'm off to go enjoy this beautiful Melbourne weather a sink a few cold ones!

Cheers,
Chris

[sirchAU]

In the shop yesterday, sorted