KW coilovers bottoming out badly

[thstone]

Can you post a picture of the car on the wheels so we can see the ride height? Or can you post a pic if the entire shock body so we can see where the lower collar is within the ride height range?

My best guess is that the ride height was too low. Then the pre-load and valve stiffness was maxed out in an effort to keep the car from bottoming out and when the shock valving is set a little bit softer, it goes right back to bottoming out. Again, I can't see all of the settings so this is just my best guess.

If you want to try making some adjustments yourself, then start by setting the ride right to the factory height. Then lower the car by 20mm. Then set the preload. This should be a decent starting point and the car shouldn't be bottoming out. If it does, then there is something else going on that needs investigation.

If it was me, I'd take the car to a shop that has experience in suspension setup and have them do the initial setup. Then you can adjust from there to your liking and have a known reference point to come back to.

[dijinn]

Are you sure those aren't the rear springs on the front?

[CrisZenithBlue]

hi guys! thanks a lot for all the responses!

i bought the set from a forum member who had them on his boxster and they came installed with the top hats for the boxster which only go one way. the rounded ones go in the rear and the triangle ones go in the front. i confirmed with him and i have the right springs in the front. i also checked some photos online and it seems to be right.

there is no bottom collar, these coilovers dont allow for height and spring compression adjustment separately. that purple collar you see is all i can adjust on the shock except for the dampening up top by turning a little nob.

this is how the ride height looks like right now:



note i had this higher than this by maybe half an inch to an inch and it was the same if not not worse in terms of bottoming out.

this is how the spring looks like with this ride height with the car sitting on the ground:




i just got an answer from the PO with the settings he had on his car where he didnt have issues bottoming out so i think i'll probably try those next.

it just still looks very strange to me.. the spring just should not be that compressed regardless of the height. I've also reached out to the manufacturer maybe they have some advice for me.

thanks,

Cristian

[CrisZenithBlue]

ok i found this site that sells KW Variant 2 for the Boxster:

KW Variant 2 Coilover Kit Porsche Boxster (986) incl. Boxster S - Part Number: 15271001 - Sparktec Motorsports - KW Variant 2 Coilovers


and this is the photos they have of the set (mine look like this):



now correct me if i'm wrong but the shocks with the brackets going all the way down at the bottom for abs and brake sensor cables are the rears right? (on the right side in the photo). i dont even think you can install the shocks incorrectly.

i happened to have a photo of the rear set installed where you can see the brackets:




if you look at the springs in the photo from the website they have the ones that have the same diameter from top to bottom where as the fronts have a larger diameter towards the middle of the spring. this tells me i have the springs installed correctly front to rear.

what do you guys think?
i think the problem lies elsewhere..