Jingkun

iTrader: (4)

Yeah I've been wanting to go up a couple inches cause its hard to find options for 13s. If they are really that light then I might have to give them a shot eventually but everyday my + wheels grow on me more and more, as does the corrosion...

-Gamah

iTrader: (1)

Fully inflated I would guess them to be ~25 lbs

nff

i'v been thinking of this same question. except my wants are much difrent.

i live in some pretty hostile conditions badly maintained gravel roads snow and such. so i'd like to have the car handle better. but i'd actualy like to raise the car up slightly because unless my springs are tired and the car is sagging my car would bottom out when i would go over the small gravel windrows that happen when the roads get graded then people drive and push the gravel up int the rows my car would hit those and its really cringe worthy.

so i was wondering if the coilovers would be able to raise the car up a bit wile improving handling.

heres a pic of the front passenger wheel well with 155x80x13 snow tires on

Alex84GSL

^ Perfect example of how the stock tires just don't look like they fill the wheelwells. I think they look very small on the car. But I better get my baby running before I spend money on wheels

nff

i run even smaller tires in the summer. 185 60 13's on the aparently rare rotor mags.

-Gamah

iTrader: (1)

^ i must have those

NanaimoRx-7

I ran RB springs with Tokico Blues for a few years then added in the RB front sway bar, while the improvement was great over stock I still found the setup to be way too soft in the front. I definitely plan on going the RE-speed route next time with a 200/125 spring rate, possibly stiffer as it will probably be a summer fun car.

What kind of summer fun? The kind where your future wife is in the passenger seat yelling "Riiiip the lid off of it!!!" while you're already doing 160 and half an hour after she asked to stop to buy a hat because the open window is blowing hair in her face and mouth but she doesn't want to close it because she loves that sweet rotary song as you redline gear after gear.

Kentetsu

Close, but not quite correct. The roll center blocks help to correct the ackerman geometry, which is how far each wheel actually moves when you turn the steering wheel. This improves handling at low speeds, when the wheel is really cranked (like parking).

They have nothing to do with actual roll control.




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rwatson5651

iTrader: (5)

I beg to differ.

They do nothing to change steering geometry at all. They are spacers that go between the bottom of the strut and the LCA and there is no way they affect the steering. What they do is change the angle of the lower control arm which is the biggest thing that determines the location of the roll center. The location of the roll center determines the moment the car rotates around when it corners. when you lower the car the lower control arm angle changes and this screws up the relationship between the roll center and the center of gravity. When the correct relationship is mantained there is a much lower tendancy to roll. Basically you want to make sure your lower control arms are lower on the outside than on the inside. The guy from G-Force engineering used to send out an excellent explanation of how it works with some of the front end pieces he used to sell.

The confusion comes from the fact that some people call them turn in spacers. This is not from steering angle but from the fact that with the proper roll center makes the car turn in much better.

That having been said there have been some spacers on the market that were made in such a way that they did change the ackerman geometry, by changing the angle of the steering knuckle, that is a facter of the steering knuckle angle and not the spacingpart, that is all roll center adjustment. They kill two birds with one stone.

Kentetsu

You are correct, I had a brain-fart moment.

The confusion came from G-force's method of combining ackerman correction in their roll center blocks. Hard to keep all this stuff straight when it's just a hobby. lol

challer2000

So what kind of body roll should I notice? just the nose dive under braking? Should I notice this just from street driving or would it be more from a autocross standpoint? Can it hurt anything in the long run?

rwatson5651

iTrader: (5)

It wont hurt anything really, nothing to worry about , especially if you will not be auto crossing or tracking the car, unless you are like me and want the thing to corner like a F1 car. If you don't lower the car alot and are not really concerned with the last tenth of cornering performance then you wont miss the spacers, but if you lower the car a good bit and want it to handle it's best then you need the spacers. most people don't realize they could benefit from them anyway. Comes down to personal preference really.

Are you planning on using the Re-Speed roll bar?

If not, the spacers will not be your biggest concern, the roll bar will be.

theNeanderthol

iTrader: (1)

That was a really long sentence, and a really cool story. Cool girlfriend

challer2000

Ok, I have been reading Haynes manual and looking at finally installing my coilovers. I just had one question is there an easer way to access the front coil without taking out the strut assembly? The rears look easy.

82transam

iTrader: (18)

No the whole assembly must come out in the front in order to get the spring out. Be sure to use a spring compressor to before removing the upper nut that holds the strut top on.

Kentetsu

Loosen the top nut before you raise the front of the car, then you don't need a spring compressor. Everything will just ease apart as you raise the car.



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Twilightoptics

iTrader: (1)

I trimmed a little bit off my stock springs some time back, after that they are loose when the strut is fully extended. There isn't a lot of pressure on these. Just be careful and do as Kentetsu said.

I did a wheel bearing service at the same time. I pulled the hub off the spring, two bolts on the bottom ball joint flange, and the 4 nuts for the strut mount and the whole spring assembly comes out. Minutes.

FB331

Just tried exactly what u just said about the two lower bolts and tops four and I must say the two bottom ones didn't come lose. I used some pb blaster but couldn't get them to budge. Tried a snipe and no luck. It's a tight spot under there. any tips? The rear was simple. But got stopped in my tracks trying to do the front struts.
Another question the rear springs I got were racing beat with a coil cut off I think....? Should I replace these?
Thanks

RxTex

iTrader: (4)

Use an impact with a good air compressor on those lower two bolts and you're all set..

As for the Rb springs; You wont have an issue with them having a coil removed, as long as the springs are still relatively fresh and have some life left in them. That being said, they could still probably sag pretty far before you'd start to have problems.

challer2000

I got the rears done. Couldn’t not have done it without the impact or pb blast. It was more fun bolting everything back up. Did everyone remove the upper spring seat on the rears? Just making sure I did remove them. Hopefully the fronts this weekend.