Update: E-bay Coilovers and NB Bilstein shocks

One of the readers, Rod, has sent me an update about installing E-bay coilovers on NB (1999 - 2005) Bilstein shocks. Thank you Rod and I apologize for my super-lag in making these posts!

Rod: I bought the Celica-labeled coilovers from miragepower on Ebay. I had no intent to use the springs from the kit. The kit that arrived contained four 2.5" sleeves, which are the rear sleeves off of the kit Jerry received in this post. I had no plans of using the springs that were provided.

I wanted to run stiffer springs and adjustable spring perches on my 99 Miata which already has NB bilstein HD shocks. The NB Bilstein HD spring perch is contoured to fit a spring so resting a coilover sleeve on them was impossible. Additionally, there is a tab on the shock body that matches a keyway in the spring perch to secure it. This tab prevents a sleeve from resting on the Bilstein circlip.

The NA sleeves do not have a keyway for the tab on the shock body, so tabs were cut off. Once the tabs were off we could see that the "Celica" sleeves are indeed a perfect fit for the Bilsteins and sit properly on the circlip. Turns out I didn't need those NA perches after all!

My setup is 2.5" diameter Eibach Racing Springs, 6" 525lb in front & 7" 325lb in the rear. With the front perches set about halfway up the sleeve they just snug the springs against the top hats. The resultant ride height is 12.75" hub center-to-fender. At the rear I have the perches about 4 threads up from the bottom of the sleeves and the ride height is approximately 13.25". I expect the car to settle and will adjust the perches after a few days.

Unlike Jerry's experience, there is only 1 circlip on the NB Bilstein HD shock. My sleeves are sitting on that circlip. On an NB Miata using NB Bilsteins, there is no need to machine another groove in the shock body. My ride height will be far too low if I use the bottom range of the adjustment.

In the end, I only used a few parts from the eBay kit: the perches, sleeves, the rubber "donuts" between the springs and lower perches, and the washer for the top of the shaft. No need for the set screws, o-rings, or any other parts.

Thanks for your posts, blog, and many helpful emails. I have ended up with exactly the setup I wanted and spent less than $200 rather than $400 for a comparable Ground Control-type kit.

Thank you for the kind words and the contribution Rod!

Link to main E-bay Coilover post with links to related posts