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KW Variant 3 best settings

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  • #16
    Originally posted by exdos View Post
    The lowest you can get the rear with KW V3 is about 635mm, dependent upon tyres.
    i have about 642 i think, and thats it set as low as i can get it, but i cant remember if the black pads are in there or not, if they are ill take them out.

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    • #17
      Ben on the lowest setting do you not scrape your exhaust (front/centre section) on the top of speed bumps etc?

      I seem to just touch mine occasionally.

      Current - BMW M6
      Previous - Estoril S50 '98

      KW V3's, ACS Splitters, H&R ARB's, Rogue Engineering rear top mounts,
      Carbon Induction kit, Supersprint Exhaust, BBS 19" CH alloys, Strong Strut

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      • #18
        Originally posted by Chris View Post
        Ben on the lowest setting do you not scrape your exhaust (front/centre section) on the top of speed bumps etc?

        I seem to just touch mine occasionally.
        not on the back no, i only seem to have trouble with the skoda exhaust! like outside your old place!

        i have made the front a bit higher now as it was rubbing on full lock, and i have managed to get rid of nearly all understeer too

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        • #19
          Old thread I know but how is the rear ride height adjusted with KW V3's?
          2002 '52 S54 - Titanium Silver with 18" BBS LMs, AP Racing BBK, KW V3, H&R anti roll bars & ACS flippers (previously 2000 'X' S50 - Arctic Silver)

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          • #20
            The springs sit onto "spring perches" which are adjustable by turning one part of the threaded section on the other (i.e. the purple anodised parts) and you adjust with a large key which fits onto the "knurled" edge. If you fit the spring perches at the top, you can only adjust with the wheels off, but if you fit them at the bottom then you can adjust with the wheels on.

            Last edited by exdos; 15-08-2011, 07:21 PM.
            /// Exdos ///
            "Men who try the impossible and fail spectacularly are infinitely superior to those who reach for nothing and succeed" --Napoleon Bonapart

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            • #21
              Cheers John, exactly what I hoped someone would post.

              Just looking into the other setups that are available and wondered how they did it, simples....apart from the £1350 for the kit!

              Still tempted with the Spax offering....
              2002 '52 S54 - Titanium Silver with 18" BBS LMs, AP Racing BBK, KW V3, H&R anti roll bars & ACS flippers (previously 2000 'X' S50 - Arctic Silver)

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              • #22
                @exdos:
                What is that silver washer between spring and coil nut? I don't recall came with these... or is this custom?

                One more question. Do the rear springs make any noise when released (e.g. in city driving)? I have this problem since KW V2, and now when springs are a bit worn in (coils rubbing each other and scratching the paint off), also with V3's.

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                • #23
                  Originally posted by inside View Post
                  @exdos:
                  What is that silver washer between spring and coil nut? I don't recall came with these... or is this custom?

                  One more question. Do the rear springs make any noise when released (e.g. in city driving)? I have this problem since KW V2, and now when springs are a bit worn in (coils rubbing each other and scratching the paint off), also with V3's.
                  That washer didn't come with my KW V3, so I guess it's a DIY job. It would make the height adjuster easier to turn when turning against the direction of the end of the spring, but since it's been placed at the top, you'd need to take the wheel off, which would unload the spring so of no benefit for that. It would also mean that it would reduce the lowering adjustment by about 7mm (I'm guessing on that figure).

                  I don't find the KW suspension makes any noises. Have you kept the rubber pads (parts 14 & 15) in the diagram or have you got metal on metal contact ?

                  /// Exdos ///
                  "Men who try the impossible and fail spectacularly are infinitely superior to those who reach for nothing and succeed" --Napoleon Bonapart

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                  • #24
                    I've done as per manual and also looks like you did by the picture:
                    - top direct contact without the rubber pad
                    - at the bottom there is the old top rubber pad (the one without the hole)

                    The kw said it is normal and suggested to 'cloath' the springs in small rubber piping they provide... It is suppoused to be a known issue but surprises me you do not have it. Maybe it is the washer?

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                    • #25
                      Inside,

                      In case there is some confusion, the photo of the KW rear spring is not mine, I found it from a quick Google search, so that's someone else's fabrication.

                      The yellow powdercoating does have a tendency to come off on the KW springs, mine aren't too bad, but I have a spare set of rear springs if I need to replace. You should complain to KW and request a new set of springs because IIRC their stuff is supposed to carry a lifetime warranty for the original purchaser. Putting a rubber sleeving on the springs will make them behave in a different way if the sleeving is sufficiently durable to cope with the loading during the "spring-binding" when fully compressed.

                      Below is a photo of one of my rear springs taken a few years ago. It's whilst that suspension is loaded at rest. If there were rubber sleeving around that spring, then I suspect the constant pressure would destroy it. Even polyurethane would struggle to survive.

                      Last edited by exdos; 29-08-2011, 09:26 AM.
                      /// Exdos ///
                      "Men who try the impossible and fail spectacularly are infinitely superior to those who reach for nothing and succeed" --Napoleon Bonapart

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                      • #26
                        Thanks for the picture. I agree the rubber sleeving is no good idea. But the spring on the picture is definately much more compressed than on rest! I think the spring is 99% compressed. If in that state, it functions like without any spring... Since it's with the wheel off, you've probably loaded the wheel hub too much.

                        Anyway, I'm in contact with my distributor. They can provide me with alternate springs (KW2003 instead of KW2002), which have also higher spring rate. It should cure it, but less lowering would be possible. I'm gonna try that and see how it does.

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                        • #27
                          That's how the KW V3 (V2 and V1?) springs sit when standing at rest. The two coils in the centre do touch, but when you load the wheel the end coils compress some more and start to move inside the centre coils. I know it looks wrong but it does work. I've had my KW suspension on my MC for over 5 years now and never had a problem with bottoming out.
                          /// Exdos ///
                          "Men who try the impossible and fail spectacularly are infinitely superior to those who reach for nothing and succeed" --Napoleon Bonapart

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                          • #28
                            I understand but still don't think it's quite same as in situ. Altough the three center coils do touch, the upper coils are much further away on mine. This is my car resting on the ground:

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                            • #29
                              The point I was making in uploading a photo of my rear spring , rather than the previous photo I'd used to show the height adjustment mechanism, is that in situ, the centre coils do touch, and your photo shows exactly the same thing. Therefore, if you were to cover your springs with a rubber sleeving, then in the centre section of the sleeving, it would be permanently under compression, which I think would eventually destroy the rubber sleeving where it is compressed.
                              /// Exdos ///
                              "Men who try the impossible and fail spectacularly are infinitely superior to those who reach for nothing and succeed" --Napoleon Bonapart

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