HotBits coilovers

SG N/A 2.0 MY2006 with HotBits

Hello everyone

I am considering to go to the HOTBITs direction for my SG, however the only available in stoke in my place is the one for the SF, if I order the SG version from HOTBITs the customs in my place will double the final cost. I asked the local installer to check about differences, between SF and SG in HotBits and expecting input but can someone from you guys give me some practical info regarding issues that I might encounter if I put SF's HOTBITS on the SG what to expect etc?
By the way my SG has 4cm top-mount blocks, rear trailing arms base extension blocks and longer sway bar links in all 4 corners. The present suspension is stock with SLS.

Thanks in advance.
 
DennisMouz said:
By the way my SG has 4cm top-mount blocks, rear trailing arms base extension blocks and longer sway bar links in all 4 corners. The present suspension is stock with SLS.

Thanks in advance.
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The top mount blocks would need to go. From what I understand, because otherwise you're going to limit the travel.

The place that stocks the SF can't get the SG ones in for you?
 
Ben Up North said:
The top mount blocks would need to go. From what I understand, because otherwise you're going to limit the travel.

The place that stocks the SF can't get the SG ones in for you?
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They can but the customs will kill me, the final cost would be over 80% more than the initial price.
I could get the blocks off anyway nothing too expensive, came from Siberia some months ago! was a temp solution to gain ground clearance for cheap. Not sure what kind of lift a should expect from HotBits though.
 
I'm not sure I understand the problem with importation taxes.

You say that you can get some through your local importer but they are for SF. This is not a problem at all because they are the same on the SG, just different rear top mounts. The question is more about if the ones they have in stock have more stroke/wheel travel than oem, because if you want them with more stroke/wheel travel, you have to ask HotBits to fabricate them on special order.

As said by Ben Up North, the advantage of the HotBits is to get some wheel travel at the place of the lift blocks keeping the wheels longer on the ground.

Hope it answers your questions !
 
hi Chaps,
can anyone advise what the longest canister length can be before running into clearance issues with the body? both front and back measurement.
assume +2 inch ride height from stock front and back.
thanks
 
this forum and specifically this post was instrumental in me pulling the trigger on my project earlier this year. thanks to those that started and contributed to it.


https://www.facebook.com/Goodtimes4x4/


mine is a very very different purpose and what i have done (if i can remember at this stage!) will probably mislead others.
the major issue i have had is that i was not supplied the longer canisters requested and as a result the pressure build up on full compression is suspected to be immense and could result in failure.


so were swapping those out now.
 
Some beautiful Reiger coilovers. See at 10:56

https://youtu.be/FYbMk50awO0?t=665

They put 8bar/115psi nitrogen pressure in the canisters, This is the HotBits specs too. I went up to 12bar in the HotBits to have a stiffer ride due to not having swaybars and be able to set the spring seats 1cm lower to allow full compression without spring block. I will go back down to 9-10bar when the air piston lift will be installed as I will lower the ride height by 1-2cm.
 
I change the oil in my hotbits recently to a lighter grade recommended by jf1sf5 so I thought I would write some instructions for the process.

First step is to release the gas from the remote canister. To do this you need a hypodermic needle. Use a blade to lift the cap of the canister (very hard not to scratch it). Remove the screw and then poke the needle through the rubber to release the gas.

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Next step is to unscrew the red anodised top from the remote canister. It is quite difficult to do this without scratching the anodising.

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Next unscrew the aluminium cap from the top of the main cylinder. Again its difficult to avoid damaging the aluminium.

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Remove the internals and set aside.

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Ensure the floating piston is pushed all the way to the bottom then tip all oil from the main canister.

Fill the canister with the new oil about 2/3 of the way. I used Motorex 2.5w shock oil as per jf1sf5s recommendation.

Put the hotbits internals back into the body of the coilover and slowly push to the bottom. Re check the floating piston in the remote canister is still at the bottom and then fill the oil in the main body to the very top. Slowly raise the shaft up until the white topout stops are flush with the top of the coilover body. Top up the oil as required until full to the top.

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Whilst holding the main shaft at the top of the body screw in to upper aluminium guide. Excess oil will be expelled as you screw in the guide.
Tighten the guide and then push the main shaft to the full compressed position checking there are no leaks.

Reinstall the red anodised cap to the remote canister, checking the rubber bung is in place before installing. Tighten well.

Use a shock pump with hypodermic needle to pierce the rubber bung and inflate the remote canister to 100psi (more if you want a firmer ride). As you inflate the main shaft should rise. Its best to stabilise the pump hose to avoid wobbling the needle which could cause leaks.

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When at pressure remove the needle, install the sealing screw and cap and you are done. Check for leaks.

A big thank you to jf1sf5 for all the advice on how to change the oil and for the oil recommendation.
 
Good job Dedman !

There is one step I do different, I take the floating piston out of the canister by unscrewing the canister from the shock, it is the only way to be sure you have no air in the oil. Then I reassemble the canister on the shock, poor the oil up to the top of the canister, put the floating piston back in and push it down 1 cm before it bottoms, this way you always have pressure on the seals/no air as oil seals work better under pressure. To check if you have air/bubbles in the shocks after the rebuild with the pressurized air in the canisters , you push the shaft and if there is less resistance on the first mm/cm it means you have to do the job again....or you will have bad dampening/oil leaks sooner or later.
 
And how is the ride now, any smoother ?
 
The ride is a little smoother now and I have the rebound set near maximum rather than minimum. Compression still near minimum.

I could not get my remote canisters unscrewed to take the piston out. Was either super tight or there was some trick I was missing.

I was also concerned about the air under the piston so I put oil in the body and forced it down so the piston went up. Then I tipped the oil out and with the assembly inverted I pushed the piston back down forcing any air old oil out. Then immediately refilled the body. I think this should have got most if not all of the air out. I also did the final assembly with the piston somewhere just under 1cm from the bottom by pushing the main rod down at speed so the piston came up. This was so it wouldn't bottom out at topout. When writing the instructions last night I forgot these steps.
 
It seems to be a good way to do it too.

Have you done all four shocks ?
 
I have done all 4 now. Still fiddling around with the damping settings to see whats possible from the ride. Overall I think its a good improvement.
 
And finally, what are the lengths of the shock bodies, shafts, springs...., and how much body lift did you add ? No issues with the front CV's or did you adapt SVX CV's ? And now with a front Cusco in addition to the rear locker, you have a real beast !
 
Something new for the HotBits coilovers, I developped an air piston system to improve ride height by 4,5cm when occasionally needed. I will add more pics and a technical description soon, after some good testing.

It could eventually be adapted to other coilovers but most people in the off roading Subaru community are on HotBits.

https://offroadsubarus.com/showthread.php?t=7822
 
Kevin said:
@jf1sf5 any chance of restoring your pic links? Thanks
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I'd really like to as I've seen that yesterday too, but I'm a real noob when it comes to computers, I have no interest for them, sorry....!
 
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