Fiesta ST Rear Axle Beam coilovers & general setup

Hello Racecraft team!

1. How you would approach setting up rear coils on a Fiesta ST. It has a beam suspension in the rear, and the dampers are independent of the springs. Would you still follow the same procedures as a front suspension?

- leave the springs out

- find the maximum suspension travel for the wheel/bump stop

- set the springs back in the perches and set the spring preload

2. I've seen cars with the spring platform on top of the spring, and I've seen cars with the spring on top of the platform. Is there a correct way vs a wrong way?

Hi Matt, regardless of the location of the spring and damper, the process is the same. The damper essentially controls the total suspension travel along with the ratio of bump to rebound travel from your desired ride height and the maximum bump travel to prevent wheel/tyre to chassis/body contact. The only other consideration with a beam suspension design is that if the trailing arms aren't horizontal then you'll introduce a degree of roll steer.

In regard to your second question it doesn't really matter which way the preload is applied to the springs - The result is the same.

Well I wouldn't think there was a rear trailing arm? I've attached part diagrams of the rear setup (This is difficult to ask questions without being able to load images in the post).

Am I missing something? I am uneducated! LOL

Sorry, when i use the term 'railing arm' here I'm referring to the component of the beam axle from the chassis mount to the hub.

Ahh. Gotcha. I haven’t inspected the beam recently, but I run rear camber plates. -1.5°

What a huge grip difference that made!