using koni yellows from fronts in rear.

[rdyzz]

so im basically doing a short stroke conversion in the rear. some people have made their own strut tubes to use agxs. seeing as with the coilover setup im running 7kg in the back it would be fine to run koni yellows from the fronts in the rears. also i trust a cap holding the struts in more then an allen bolt witch is provided with the koni struts for the rears. although this might affect the droop seeing as the rear struts are 2.5"-3" longer than what the fronts struts are. i did some outside diameter measurements of the strut tubes and hers what i got.

corolla gt-s rear black painted kyb (original) 1.920"
mr2 sw20 front struts 2"
corolla gt-s (and fx-16) 2"
1984 cressida front struts 1.920"
1985 celica supra front struts 1.920"

anyways i ended up using the corolla front struts. since they are easyest to come by. my plan was to cut both and weld the corolla (front strut cartridge) top half to my bottom half making it a strut cartridge.

here is the measurement of the inside diameter of the tubes after i cut and gutted them.

corolla rear 1.720"
corolla fronts 1.750"

ill post some pics later. this is for a no swaybar rear setup that is why im running the stiff 7kg rear rates. im hoping this will eliminate the problem that comes with running a super stiff rear bar. cornering with one wheel off the ground isn't exactly ideal, but it looks cool.

[eage8]

interesting, I'll be interested to see how this turns out.

I'm currently running the normal ones in the rear and haven't had any problems with them.

7k is pretty stiff, you might be bordering or going over what the konis can handle, it might be a good idea to get them revalved.

[rdyzz]

7kg is only 55lb stiffer than the normal 6kg that comes in the ground control kit. im going to be ordering from tirerack. they have an autocross valved set it seems.

[eage8]

Originally Posted by rdyzz

7kg is only 55lb stiffer than the normal 6kg that comes in the ground control kit. im going to be ordering from tirerack. they have an autocross valved set it seems.

I've heard konis max out and twice what the stock springs are which I assume are like 100 lbs. 7kg is 393 lbs. you can email koni support and ask them though.

[kwint]

IIRC, its 125 lbs.

And fwiw, the honda guys run 300-400 lb springs on dd/track cars and lots and lots of people said good things about the koni/gc combo. Customer service is said to be good as well.

*sigh* gotta keep saving...

[eage8]

Originally Posted by kwint

IIRC, its 125 lbs.

And fwiw, the honda guys run 300-400 lb springs on dd/track cars and lots and lots of people said good things about the koni/gc combo. Customer service is said to be good as well.

*sigh* gotta keep saving...

the koni/gc combo is the best in my opinion (short of like $5000 custom coilovers or something). I'm just saying you might have to get them revalved. they're fine for higher spring rates if you get them revalved for them. If you don't they'll be under dampaned just like stiffer springs would be on the stock suspension.

[rdyzz]

so i got them installed. i ended up using mr2 front koni struts in front (i was planning to use them in the rear but the cartridge would get snagged by the flat spot on the swaybar tab weld). so i ended up running the corolla front struts in the rear. all in all im happy. im running 5kg up front with stock sway bar, and 7kg in the rear with a deleated swaybar. the car rides about as rough as when i had the eibach prokit springs in, which is not so rough. it defenatly rides smoother than my old cusco coilovers for my last ae92. i would have to say though that it might need to be revavlved when they blow lol. the compression valveing is defently right, but the rebound is defenatly a little to soft. if i hit big bumps the car will jump a little.

as far as response without the rear swaybar it defenatly feels like i have a really stiff bar with the 7kg in the back. the response is very sharp turn-ins. it is by no means any harsher a ride. i'll take some pics when i can get a hold of my sisters camera.

[PhatRoyale]

Interesting... most coilover setups call for 7K front and 5K rear spring rates.

I myself was running 8K front and 6K rear on coilovers and they were still comfortable on rough roads, even more so than my current setup.

In for pics.

[eage8]

awesome, I'm glad it worked out. I'm definitely looking forward to pictures. and maybe that that did to your alignment...

when they blow you should get them revalved and turned into double adjustable units

[eage8]

Originally Posted by PhatRoyale

Interesting... most coilover setups call for 7K front and 5K rear spring rates.

I myself was running 8K front and 6K rear on coilovers and they were still comfortable on rough roads, even more so than my current setup.

In for pics.

coilovers with more rear spring will handle much better in auto-x/track conditions but isn't as nice to drive on on the street which is why most coilovers come with less rear spring.

[rdyzz]

here is a picture of the springs unloaded in the rear.

here is the spring loaded, i have about a good 3-4 inches of travel still. also my impression of driving with stiffer rear springs is that stiffer rear springs does not seem to make the ride any rougher provided you have decent dampers.

[rdyzz]

i think if i had a 205/50/15 i would have less fender gap. the 195/50/15 have a way thinner sidewall. i might have to readress the fronts somtime later when i have more funds. even with this much fender gap i have at most maybe 2 inches of suspension travel. im thinking of finding shorter shocks that work up front so i can do a short stroke. other than that the car handles nicely and it rides pretty smooth for the spring rates i picked. i would suggest to people if you have good resource for doing your own work go with a ground control/koni setup. as i've said before alot of the off shelf (true) coilovers like the japanese brands but especially the chinese made ones such as k-sport and d2's do not have enough bump valving. instead they rely on the spring to do most the work. it prob wont matter if you dont care about handling but just my $.02