Easiest Custom Suspension options

[aj_gilbs]

Hey guys, so I took my Corolla rallycrossing this weekend, and it was way awesome! However during tech the guy said my struts are going and I had actually been noticing this too. The problem is I don't want to use GR2s or Koni Inserts (Koni says that they will blow in any kind of rally driving). I would love to be able to use Bilstein HDs as people use these even for cheap Stage Rally suspension and I've had a few people suggest them because they are very strong and easily revalved. However they don't make them for our car.

So my question is what car would be the most similar to ours that I could just modify the holes where it mounts to the hub. MR2 or Celica? Bilstein makes the HD for the SW20 but only as a whole strut assembly and they don't have them for the Celica. However I may be able to find something else that would work with a Celica.

Anyway how different are the hub mounts on the struts front and rear from these cars to ours. I'd be down to modifying the holes and reinforcing if needed.

[eage8]

one thing to consider is springs too... an AE92 spring isn't going to fit on a car with a different diameter spring... one easy way to fix this is to get some ground control sleeves. with rallycross you'll want some really tall springs though and also mount them really low (cut off the bottom spring perches and push them down to the ears)

If you go to dirtyimpreza.com they are a great resource for stuff like this.

Here is an example of a set a guy made himself:


that's using STi inverted monotube struts though.

sorry I'm not more helpful about the strut ears.

I know MR-2 ones should fit. I'm pretty sure rdyzz was running them for a while with koni inserts.

Here is a link with some info in it I think:
so i changed my suspension setup again.....

Welcome to rallycross, it's a lot of fun

[aj_gilbs]

Ok so I looked into it and form what I understand the SW20 cartridge works, but not the whole strut. I did find out it wouldn't be too bad to use ST165 or ST185 struts (fronts are the same as ae92 but st185 has larger bolts and rear requires slight modification). I found a how-to from a guy in Japan that used AE92 coilovers on his ST165. However there is still almost no suspension options for those cars either.

I did find a guy who used MK2 VW Golf Bilstein HD inserts on his Neon. He had to weld the threaded part from a stock golf strut onto his strut. So right now I'm looking at maybe doing a similar thing. I believe the inserts will fit, but I can't remember the AE92 inside diameter of the strut. The bilsteins are 1.507 so if KYBs work (which are 1.5) then these should hopefully work. If all else fails I found a guy who made completely custom struts for his AE92 out of steel tube and some inserts using the strut ears off his OEM struts.

Also if anyone knows the overall length of OEM struts and the travel of our cars that would be awesome! The Golf insert is 318 body length / 511 Extended / 352 Collapsed with a 158mm stroke (6.25 in).

[kwint]

Custom Coilovers

I don't have any personal experience, but I do plan on getting a set from them.

[eage8]

Sorry, this is the thread I was referring to:

using koni yellows from fronts in rear.

It might be in other threads too... I remember him using SW20 struts...

but yeah, something to think about is the rear struts and the front struts have different bolt sizes. front is M12? and rear is M10? something like that... It might be M14 and M12

[aj_gilbs]

Ok I found the OEM dimension off ae92gts.com. Looks like the body length for the insert is shorter so I would have to cut them down a bit, I would gain .67" in ride height in the front, which I wouldn't mind, but in the rear I would lose 1.73"in ride height, not good. So I would need to make a spacer to use in the bottom of the housing to raise that back up. (These were found using the extended length of the Golf Insert vs OEM so am I thinking of this right?)

the other thing is the stroke length is shorter on the inserts so I would lose 1/8" in the front and 3/8" in the rear. Not ideal but not enough to make me worry.

All of the dimensions I found for the Bilstein were off some other website so I emailed Bilstein for the exact dimensions, we will see if they get back.

[eage8]

you're not going to loose 1.73" of ride height... you're going to loose 1.73" of droop travel... right height is mainly determined by where the spring perch is and the spring stiffness

[aj_gilbs]

oh yeah sorry not sure what I was thinking. So I may have to mess with ride heights. I would still need a spacer though right because at full compression I would be lower (less ground clearance) assuming my ride height doesn't change?

[eage8]

yeah, spacers would allow you to space the strut lower so the stroke of motion would be lower down which would help.

basically you can move the stroke around all you want, but the range of motion would still be smaller.