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mopar stage 2's blown.. what to do
Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 2:32 am
by Praesepe559
well one of my coilovers is blown.. oil everwhere. KW USA is only about 20 minutes from me and said they can repair it for $150. Problem is i got to looking closer and it appears the other three are starting to leak also. i could get all of them repaired for $600 which isnt bad, but apparently where i have them set is too low (removed stop rings, about 1.5" up from the bottom of the threading) and i do not want to raise up the car since it isnt even that low now, i had been thinking about lowering it even more.
it just sucks because i thought i was doing the smart thing by just biting the bullet and spending the cash for a top-notch set up and it doesnt last. if i get them fixed, i dont know if they will blow again at that setting. i could fix them and try to sell them and get some tein ss, but thats tons of $$.
i dont know if this is more to ask for advice or just to rant. either way, some talking about it may help me to cool off.
Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 10:22 am
by OB
man thats terrible, they dont have a damn warranty? for that kinda money u should make sure they cover damage like that next time. id go for teins if i were you, but that might be a hassle getting the KW's sold and new ones bought, not to mention having to install and remove em all. sorry dude thats uncool.
Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 10:28 am
by Diablo0
If you remove the stop rings... no more warranty. Only thing you can do if you want them fixed is bite the bullet and have them rebuilt then sell them for $600 or so to get your money back. The KWs can be lowered more than a stock strut but it does have it's limits just like with every strut. I'm dropped around 2.5" or so on KW V1 (not the Mopar labled coils)... mine are holding up just fine.
Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 10:31 am
by OB
oooh shit the stop rings removed voids warranty?! ouch. whats the point of getting rid of those, to allow the car to drop more? anyone ever suppose maybe theyre not meant to be removed for a reason....?

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 10:47 am
by Diablo0
Yeah it's to drop them more but Mopar adds them for reasons like this. They put them on there for reasons like this so people don't lower them down all the way causing them to blow them cash in on the warranty.
Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 11:09 am
by OB
so basically if you get rid of em and screw up the struts, your effed? couldnt he just put em back on and act like he dont know what happened?

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 11:16 am
by ACHEAPSHOT
He could, but that would be a shitty thing to do.
Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 11:19 am
by OB
I guess im the type of person to do shitty things.
its not like KW isnt FILTHY rich after having a deal with Mopar and selling many more products than they would on their own. the world is all about doing what u have to do to get what u want. it prob dont cost KW 600, much less 100, dollars to fix those things anyways! would they be able to tell they how they broke?
Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 11:47 am
by dblsg
i believe once the plastic rings are snapped off, there is no real way of putting them back on without it being noticible. i had looked into these way back before i even got the neon. at one point i was toying around with getting a pt cruiser. i think the only way you can take the rings of is if there broken off.
Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 12:36 pm
by grambo
It does pay to read the instructions sometimes.....Bushing Kits, Coil Overs, Sway Bars, the Devil is in the details...
Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 1:27 pm
by Diablo0
Yeah and KW does some good work on coils and helped me out. My set screw in the perches siezed up due to dirt, one call and an e-mail to explain the problem and they sent me out new redesigned perches free of charge. They're more than happy to answer questions and really friendly to talk to. Doesn't seem like they have a huge staff either since every time I have to call or e-mail them it's always the same person.
Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 2:52 pm
by Praesepe559
i bought these used, and 2 stop rings were removed (why only 2 i have no idea). the other two are aluminum and i had to cut them off. i understand the rings are there for a reason, but i figured the reason was that dodge did not want the car to be that low for other reasons. like jason said, the KW version has NO stop rings, so you can hammer it and still have your warranty, thats why i figured it would be safe running them that low.
edit - btw car is dropped about 2.25" all around.. less than jason on the KW version

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 1:34 am
by scneonchic
ouch that sucks

I hope nothing like this happens w/ my IPP's
Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 1:38 am
by JRM
dblsg wrote: at one point i was toying around with getting a pt cruiser.
wow....
i just lost my respect for you....
j/k
Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 1:20 pm
by 01rtgurl
I've got the S2 CO's and the rear's I think have TWO threads left on them. (cant see any b/c the stop ring). The front's have about a .5" of thread. I haven't had any problems as of yet.... always wondered what happens when you blow em, guess I know now lol sorry about the situation, I think I'm headed that way...
Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 7:14 pm
by OB
^ then effin raise em!
Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 8:04 pm
by 01rtgurl
orangeblastsxt wrote:^ then effin raise em!
I physically CANT. Sure, they won't rust because they're stainless steel, but what the heck happens when you combine ALUMINUM into the mix?? You get one heck of a bond, along with all the road grime stuck to it. I cannot raise them. I tried.

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 9:28 pm
by 03sxt
Aluminum corrodes. Especially cheap shit.

Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 12:32 am
by OB
this is why its a good idea to shell the 1200-1500+ for a good set of top notch coilovers and not have to worry about that kinda thing. the bump stop deal on em is gonna ruin any set, but steel and aluminum? yuck
Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 4:23 am
by Praesepe559
orangeblastsxt wrote:this is why its a good idea to shell the 1200-1500+ for a good set of top notch coilovers and not have to worry about that kinda thing. the bump stop deal on em is gonna ruin any set, but steel and aluminum? yuck
these coilovers DO cost 1200-1500, and they pretty much are top notch when it comes to our cars. (S2 and S3 have the same housing, perches, etc)
01rtgurl - if the perch is stuck, you may have tightened the set-screw too hard, which bent the threads.. or just failed to clean the threads before you adjusted them last time and now have a bunch of crap smashed in there.
try using a cleaner/lubricant to soak in there, and then twist like hell.. i have had mine stuck before and always were able to bust it loose eventually
Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 7:35 am
by 03sxt
Praesepe559 wrote:01rtgurl - if the perch is stuck, you may have tightened the set-screw too hard, which bent the threads.. or just failed to clean the threads before you adjusted them last time and now have a bunch of crap smashed in there.
try using a cleaner/lubricant to soak in there, and then twist like hell.. i have had mine stuck before and always were able to bust it loose eventually
PB Blaster.

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 7:44 am
by caustic neon
PB Blaster =FTW
Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 10:33 am
by scneonchic
caustic neon wrote:PB Blaster =FTW
x2!
Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 10:49 am
by OB
Praesepe559 wrote:orangeblastsxt wrote:this is why its a good idea to shell the 1200-1500+ for a good set of top notch coilovers and not have to worry about that kinda thing. the bump stop deal on em is gonna ruin any set, but steel and aluminum? yuck
these coilovers DO cost 1200-1500, and they pretty much are top notch when it comes to our cars. (S2 and S3 have the same housing, perches, etc)
I wasnt referring to yours pal

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 4:05 pm
by Praesepe559
orangeblastsxt wrote:Praesepe559 wrote:orangeblastsxt wrote:this is why its a good idea to shell the 1200-1500+ for a good set of top notch coilovers and not have to worry about that kinda thing. the bump stop deal on em is gonna ruin any set, but steel and aluminum? yuck
these coilovers DO cost 1200-1500, and they pretty much are top notch when it comes to our cars. (S2 and S3 have the same housing, perches, etc)
I wasnt referring to yours pal

she has the same ones pal

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 4:20 pm
by dblsg
orangeblastsxt wrote: the bump stop deal on em is gonna ruin any set, but steel and aluminum? yuck

then whats left? titanium?

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 4:51 pm
by lilolneon
unobtanium

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 5:00 pm
by Praesepe559
duck-tape-tium shocks filled with wd-40-ite
Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 5:09 pm
by dblsg
^

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 12:27 am
by OB
dbl= i meant steel ON aluminum, not steel OR aluminum. its not like i have something against metals here haha i was just noting that it sucks that they made them out of materials that tend to stick to eachother thats all
preasepe= I didnt know that i retract my previous statement.
only thing i have left to say is maybe dont remove the bump stops, or get coilovers that allow a lower drop safely. sorry im a doomass and dont know what everyone has
