Struts & Lowering Springs... Help! - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

GTSgirl · 11-22-2005, 01:23 PM

I'm new and will properly introduce myself later, but right now I need some help (hope I'm not being too forward...). I have a 1990 Corolla GTS and I am in the process of "pimping the ride" a little. I purchased Eibachs (1" drop), new slotted/drilled rotors, new SS brake lines, HKS cat-back exhaust, my calipers as we speak are being re-built and coated and loaded with new Hawk street pads. My dilemma is this: the adjustable Koni struts I ordered are not readily available for the rear. I can get the fronts, but the rears are back-ordered 8 weeks. I need to get my car back on the road and I'm afraid to settle for non-adjustable KYB or Tokico. I've head that I will have problems bottoming out, that they will just wear out in no time on a lowered vehicle and the ride will be too bouncy. I'm thinking maybe get the front Konis and just waste the KYBs in the rear until the Konis are available. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated, I need to order something today as I've been without my car for almost 3 weeks now. Thanks.

GTSgirl

toyotaspeed90 · 11-22-2005, 01:26 PM

possibly look into kyb agx's.... i believe they have 8 settings?

GTSgirl · 11-22-2005, 02:05 PM

Thanks. I didn't see them come up as available for my car but I'll check again.

GTSgirl

***BLUEMEANIE*** · 11-22-2005, 02:22 PM

with Eibach's or anything with a 1" drop Tokico HP and/or Kyb Gr2 will out last most other things on your car.

I had Tokicos handling a 3.5" drop on my Camry and my rolla is even lower (1.5 finger gap at all 4 corners) and the Toks NEVER bottom out. If they do its your springs that suck not the struts.

***REN69*** · 11-22-2005, 06:10 PM

There are no KYB AGX available for the 88-91 Corolla GTS, however they exist they're just not listed. The KYB AGX for the Corolla GTS is the same as the 88-89 Celica GTS and the 91-99 MR2 Turbo. They're only available for the front though, no KYB AGX rears. I have the part number somewhere and its been posted here a few times already too so its easy to find.

Eibach springs are the mildest you can get as they're only 1" drop but they perform really well and they're very high quality. Hope you post some pics of your car before and after you're done.

As for bottoming out, you will with ANY strut, I have OEM struts on my 90 GTS and KYB GR2 on my 89 GTS and they both bottom out. There are also other people with different setups that have the same problem.

toyotaspeed90 · 11-22-2005, 06:47 PM

um, isn't the ae102 suspension practically the same? if they're made for the rear of the ae102 then i would get those

**edit**

ACTUALLY...... lets be smart about this..... the GTS has serviceable struts (just like my mr2)... you really only need the strut insert.... if you can find a listing of AGX insert listings, then all you would need are the dimensions of the stock strut. I've had to do that tons of times for random customers at work......

GTSgirl · 11-23-2005, 12:44 PM

Thanks to all of you for your advice.

But here's a new question: have any of you heard of K-Sport? The dealer I bought the Eibach's from and who I had also ordered the back-ordered Konis from, is telling me the non-adjustables (either KYB or Tokico) will not be good for my particular application, and has suggested that I return the Eibach springs and buy a set of K-Sport coilovers. I have never heard of K-Sport (www.ksportusa.com) or seen them advertised in any tuner mags. I've heard they have only been around for about 2 years and I have seen mixed reviews on other forums on other vehicles apps. The cost is about $1,000 for my car, which was just a little more than the Eibach-Koni combo I was planning on, but I don't know if the quality is there. They only warrant their products for 1 yr.

GTSgirl

***REN69*** · 11-23-2005, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toyotaspeed90

um, isn't the ae102 suspension practically the same? if they're made for the rear of the ae102 then i would get those

**edit**

ACTUALLY...... lets be smart about this..... the GTS has serviceable struts (just like my mr2)... you really only need the strut insert.... if you can find a listing of AGX insert listings, then all you would need are the dimensions of the stock strut. I've had to do that tons of times for random customers at work......

I already looked at ALL the listing for AGX inserts against GR2, none of them match up except for the Fronts, there was one listing that came close but you would have to look at them in person to really see if they will match, they were only like 2 numbers off on the part number.

toyotaspeed90 · 11-23-2005, 09:31 PM

well if they're too short you could easily have a small piece of metal machined to the thickness you would need & slide it to the bottom of the strut casing (or do the ae86 strut housing case shortening mod)..... would be cheap & easy

GTSgirl · 11-30-2005, 01:08 PM

Hi, everybody. Thanks for all your feedback so far. I guess no one had any experience on the K-Sport coilovers, but I decided against them (the 1 yr. warranty turned me off and my mechanic wasn't impressed with them either). I'm going to stick with my original plan with the Eibach springs and the Koni adjustables. Since only the front Konis are readily available for my car, I'm going to put KYB's in the rear temporarily until the Koni rears arrive sometime in January, assuming no production or shipping delays. Too bad I have to go this route, but I've been without my car for almost a month now and can't go much longer, rental car costs are killing me. So, I'll have some nearly-new KYB's available for sale in the near future if anyone is interested.

GTSgirl