Dampening and Suspension life

[jef]

I DD my miata everyday to and from work and school.

I have Megan EZ Streets and 10 clicks (16-way) in.

The higher I make it (very stiff), will the life of the struts/springs shorten? Considering I'll be going on a lot of roads with bumps, holes, etc.

Thanks

[bedheadben]

I DD my miata everyday to and from work and school.

I have Megan EZ Streets and 10 clicks (16-way) in.

The higher I make it (very stiff), will the life of the struts/springs shorten? Considering I'll be going on a lot of roads with bumps, holes, etc.

Thanks

I don't believe you will significantly be shortening the life of the shocks unless you're hitting bumps so hard you're blowing through the damping.

You definitely won't be shortening the life of the springs.

Maybe you should try to avoid giant pot holes anyways? Just food for thought.

[SM16RMSM]

I would have to go with Ben on this. Avoid pot holes and major bumps and you should be fine. Changing the damper setting will only effect the strut itself, not the spring. So wear would be on the strut. Running stiff would put more pressure on the seals and you might be more likely to pop a seal out or damage the valve inside. But this is all if you have a rough surface or holy roads where you live. So there could be the possibility to shorten the life but that is something to ask like Brian at Good-win-racing or Flyin Miata about. I haven't done any research yet but I looking to go with FCM Coilovers for my car. You could email Fat Cat Motorsports. They specialize in suspension and coilovers. They could have a better answer.

I hate to ask BUT why would you run stiff for a DD? I make it more soft and fluffy as a cloud than running it stiff as hell. 10 out of 16 is pretty high. Bumps must suck to go over.

[jef]

I definitely try my hardest to avoid bumps/holes ;x but the reason I ride so stiff is because if I do hit a bump in the road/highway i will scrape considerably hard with a lower setting of dampening (at least i believe so.) if that's not the case, then i'll ride at 6 clicks... any suggestions? Ben, I'd like to say I sit almost as low as you now ;)

[bedheadben]

I definitely try my hardest to avoid bumps/holes ;x but the reason I ride so stiff is because if I do hit a bump in the road/highway i will scrape considerably hard with a lower setting of dampening (at least i believe so.) if that's not the case, then i'll ride at 6 clicks... any suggestions? Ben, I'd like to say I sit almost as low as you now ;)

Try turning your damping down, I bet you're bouncing off your bump stops if not entirely riding on them anyways. :3:

[The Driver]

I haven't done any research yet but I looking to go with FCM Coilovers for my car. You could email Fat Cat Motorsports. They specialize in suspension and coilovers. They could have a better answer.

As much as Fat Cat can do, there is not much if anything they could do to help a Megan Coilover. Lets face it, people who buy Megan can be described in two camps: They didn't know that it was not the best way to lower a Miata; or they knew, but the price was so attractive that they thought they wouldn't care.

[psulja]

As much as Fat Cat can do, there is not much if anything they could do to help a Megan Coilover. Lets face it, people who buy Megan can be described in two camps: They didn't know that it was not the best way to lower a Miata; or they knew, but the price was so attractive that they thought they wouldn't care.

What's wrong with Megan's?

[The Driver]

What's wrong with Megan's?

Valving is far from optimal, max ride height is far from optimal, internals are far from optimal. The price reflects what the shock (coilover) is good for. The two things they have going for them is that it is better than blown factory shocks, and you can't lower a Miata for less money.

[jef]

i love my megan's... :|

oh - and thanks ben, i'm gonna soften them up.

0-hardest
15-softest

i'm gonna try ~11 and let you know how she goes.

thanks for the help :)

[The Driver]

i love my megan's... :|


And as long as you understand that they will not perform like a XIDA/FCM/Tein coilover, you'll be fine.

Not trying to piss over your choice of parts, or your thread. But when a poster states that any given company could help, well thats hard for them to do, given that they do not support the product you bought.

[bedheadben]

i love my megan's... :|

oh - and thanks ben, i'm gonna soften them up.

0-hardest
15-softest

i'm gonna try ~11 and let you know how she goes.

thanks for the help :)

Let me know how it goes!

[jef]

riding well so far. i'll have a better guess tomorrow when going to school. thanks for the help guys.

[jef]

Let me know how it goes!

went pretty well today, nothing out of the usual. I'll be going up to Seattle in the next day to sell my oe struts/shocks, so we'll see how it goes...

[bedheadben]

went pretty well today, nothing out of the usual. I'll be going up to Seattle in the next day to sell my oe struts/shocks, so we'll see how it goes...

If you're around you should come to the Tacoma Mall Krispy Kreme meet tonight at 7. You could try softening it up even more just to see if it would work. Glad to hear it's going well though.

[jef]

If you're around you should come to the Tacoma Mall Krispy Kreme meet tonight at 7. You could try softening it up even more just to see if it would work. Glad to hear it's going well though.

crap man i just saw this or else i'd be going. message me your number!

[SM16RMSM]

I definitely try my hardest to avoid bumps/holes ;x but the reason I ride so stiff is because if I do hit a bump in the road/highway i will scrape considerably hard with a lower setting of dampening (at least i believe so.) if that's not the case, then i'll ride at 6 clicks... any suggestions? Ben, I'd like to say I sit almost as low as you now ;)



Aw, the missing link. I didn't even think about you being lowered so much. You could say I way out in left field now.

Driver, I still looking for a setup myself. I figure it worth a shot to call someone who knows more than what I can come up with. They do advertize the suspensions specialist. Looking at what you said, yes, your right. They don't know anything about the Megans. I was saying that they might have a better idea on wear. Even if it hard to work with a product you don't support, the idea I'm think is they know how the damping system works in general and could point him in the right direction.