Thread: Strut Options for making coilovers

Good info. I'll do some more digging when I have time

Originally Posted by Bakerdd

Who knows if this is helpful or not, but a while ago I had done some research on different struts looking for possible matches. I cant exactly remember where I got the info from, but I took a few measurements and I think these cars all had good lengths to work with and maybe even compatible bottom mounts or close to being compatible.

3in from center to center between the mounting holes in the front and 3.5 inches center to center for the rears. The space between the mounting tabs needs to be 1.5 inches.

So far I think some options could be 90-94 eclipse, 95-99 neon, and 00-03 maxima coilovers for the front and 93-01 impreza, 94-99 celica, 92-95 mx-3, or 07-11 camry for the rears.

The 96-99 and 00-03 Maxima knuckle is skinnier were the strut bolts up. The mounting tabs would be too close together on these.

If its only a couple mm you could easily shave the sides to match from a maxima to a gp

Originally Posted by 91parkave

If its only a couple mm you could easily shave the sides to match from a maxima to a gp

It's more IIRC. I would want to keep the full width of an aluminum knuckle too.

Gutted stock struts won't be threaded for the coilover shock.

Not sure what you're saying. Are you saying the stock strut body won't be threaded for the coilover shock to thread inside of the stock shock body?

he means that some coilovers are threaded on the outside of the shock body so you can adjust height that way without losing travel. The bottom mount is threaded on the inside

Ohh. Okay I understand. You adjust height by turning the entire shock body AND spring together. Outside of the shock is threaded and the inside of the mount is threaded. Makes sense. Never knew some were setup like that

literally every JDM style coilover is setup that way.

*expensive coilovers

for the front struts that are going in the rear of the 442, we are looking at double adjustable Mustang front struts

I don't look at JDM stuff

Originally Posted by Turbocharged400sbc

*expensive coilovers

for the front struts that are going in the rear of the 442, we are looking at double adjustable Mustang front struts

"Decent" quality coilovers for other cars are about the same price as piecing junky coilovers together for w-bodies.

Originally Posted by matt5112

$2500 for bilstein coilovers is what it'd cost. Less if you buy used.

That's what a decent set of street minded coilovers costs.

If you want to go all adjustable damping and such, be wary, you have to spend a bit to get anything worthwhile.

What about BC Racing? They make a set that would be nearly bolt-on for our cars, they cost $1250-ish. I've heard tons of great things about BCR from WRX to Supra guys. Surely just about anything would be better than AGX's (or even GXP bilesteins) and adjusting them at the spring, no?

The only thing garbage about our coilovers is the top hats....really if we had that adjustability and function of a pillow ball bearing mount it would be a lot better.

Originally Posted by WhiteLightningGTP

What about BC Racing? They make a set that would be nearly bolt-on for our cars, they cost $1250-ish. I've heard tons of great things about BCR from WRX to Supra guys. Surely just about anything would be better than AGX's (or even GXP bilesteins) and adjusting them at the spring, no?

Well what do you deem better? To me, better would start with the spring rate. You'd pick one for the car, and the roads you drive on. Next and most importantly is the damping to suit both the spring rate and the car. The biggest struggle is getting there. Most products have damping that is set, or just have adjustable rebound. The issue there is, too much rebound means the car will jack down and run out stroke quicker. The other issue is you cannot adjust the compression to adjust for the change in spring rate. Even KW V3s don't let you adjust high speed compression. Nor will they revalve them. They want you to buy clubsports at that point.

It seems many actually enjoy excessive rebound, as it makes the car feel sporty. I'm not a fan though. The car will make every tiny bump feel like a larger one, and the car will crash into the large bumps. The issue I have is the balance between high and low speed damping. My Koni Sports did not have enough low speed damping to control the vehicle over gradual changes. Meanwhile there was too much high speed damping at almost any level of adjustment.

Next struggle is the monotube vs twin tube debate. Really it shouldn't be one, monotubes are better for performance, but cost more. They also require an external canister once you require a certain level of adjustability. This adds weight, and cost. There is also the quality of the valves, seals, top hats (the spherical bearing), paint, the tube itself, the springs, sleeves, adjustable nut, etc.

My super limited experience continues to teach me, cheaper products will fail before the more expensive ones and leave you disappointed even while they are functioning to the manufacturer's specifications.

One such example is the Koni Sport shocks I installed last May. The front right shock out of the box never seemed to match the damping of the left. I pulled them off last week only to find a blown top oil seal and the piston would not extend after being compressed. Not impressed especially considering I put 10 000 KM on the vehicle in that time. To be fair, my assessment of the Koni damping is likely due to the mismatch between the two front shock inserts. On the other hand, Koni is known for having terrible quality control on their valving, and using less than stellar quality paint. I did spend a fair amount of time playing with the damping out front to make the two match by driving over the same bump at the same speed and trying to discern which setting worked best.

Originally Posted by 91parkave

The only thing garbage about our coilovers is the top hats....really if we had that adjustability and function of a pillow ball bearing mount it would be a lot better.

I'd be willing to bet the most important place to spend your money, after spring rate, is in valving.

Bump. Still curious what those coils are on the other page