What steps do you do to make a Rx3 handle well?

Camber, caster, and coil overs. What about the rear? What spring rates do you guys use?

Thanks for your time.

 

How about swapping to RX-7 struts and a set of Racing Beat springs? It's a suggestion. Does anyone know how well it'll work?

 

On the front end you can swap to Rx7 struts. This will lower the car as well as give you a little better brakes. You will want 79-80 struts. These are longer than 81+. The 81+ will lower the car to far down. You need a bigger sway bar and some of those blocks that go under the sway bar mounts. These change the caster by pulling the bottom of the struts forward.

On the rear, you can use blocks (ok), longer shackles (better), or have the leaf springs de-arched (best). This will lower the rear to match the front.

Match this all with some new shocks and some 7" wide wheels and you will have a pretty good handling car.

BTW, you want to measure your stock shackles for me? I can donate some longer shackles if the numbers match the ones I currently produce.

-billy

 

The Racing Beat springs lower the ride height of a brand new 1st gen. These days, the stock springs have sagged so much that aftermarket springs can actually raise the ride height. But how will this affect an RX-3? Do the stock springs sag all that much like they do in a 1st gen? Aren't they about the same weight and do they use the same springs?

 

I understood that the spindles from an Rx3 and a Rx7 are at a different angle. And, if you put Rx7 spindles omn the Rx3 you end up with positive camber, is this true?

Can you tell me more about the longer shakles? If I make them longer isn't that going to make the car ride higher? I will go look again and see what the deal is.

Hey thanks for the feedback!
JEB

 

My RX4 has little deffernce then that of a RX3, and has a complet front and rear 2nd gen supension, and I could say that hands down it will out do any minner up grades that you could put on a 3

 

Wow, that sounds like a lot of work. I think I am looking for an upgrade as oposed to a re-engineer.

 

I can not say anything about the camber change. It has been a long time since I have done this mod. I remember one car had camber plates the other did not. We used to extend the lower control arms on some of the cars back then as well, but, the rx3 control arm / sway bar set up would not make that easy.

I say give it a shot. Find some struts bolt them up and see. You can always go back to the other struts - or - add camber plates.

The shackles on a rx3 have the spring eyelet centerline behind the chassis mount centerline. This means the longer the shackle the flatter the spring will need to be to mount up. The flatter the spring the lower the car.


-billy

 

there was some talk about toyota suspension parts on the front and rear of rx2/3's but i never heard a direct answer of what exactly. you can get sweet stuff if you have the money for it. I knwo a guy who has a new set of i think KYB's for a rx3, racing beat has some suspension pieces. you can get lowering blocks for the rear. Basically all i am saying is that parts are still around, its jsut gonna take money to get them. it all depends on how much you watn to spend and what you want to do with your car once its done. lates matt22 oh and btw a RX2 strut bar is a great upgrade from the rx3 one, or i know a place that will make you basically any size bar you want.

 

2nd gens are a dime a doz if they have no motor or trans, FREE BEES, thats how I got mine an then some. My thinking is Free is all ways the best price, As for re-enineering my car can be a guide, already has been then and the next time around would be better becouse of the learned mistakes. So something to cut and weld with can be found at almost any felamarket.
Ok lets talke a lettle about camber, yep it's going to be off if you put a set from a 2nd gen, easy fix, the mounting points which hold the strut to the spindle, just slot out the round holes just a little the top or bottums, so as the spindle can be tilted more

 

The 79 80 rx7 suspension is probablly your best bet. they are about 2'" shorter than the rx3 and you can get an after market spring with a different spring rates. Adjustable dampers are always good to dial in the stiffness.

The toyota front suspension are almost identical with the exception of the lower controll arm, so just use the first gen rx7.

Addco makes a good swaybar but I'm not sure if they still produce them. Quikcor engineering is another one that makes good sway bar they make em in 1 1/8 for the front. and camber plates is always good to give the wheels more agressive look.

I'm doing the rx7 suspension swap because the rx3 brake caliper sticks out too much and hits the wheels I have, but with the rx7 I dont have that problem. I just need to source out the camber plates.

 

nah. why use SA front suspension/brakes when the FB has more parts avaailble. besides, you have to use an adjustable camber kit anyway.

 

What is the goal for the RX7 strut transplant? Brakes? struts? Torsion bar?

Are there any caliper/ disk upgrades that would do?

Can good after market strut cartridges be used to improve performance on the original RX3 struts?

 

I got the good old "Stiff" konis - front and rear.

 

If you have a front swaybar made, have it made out of 1-1/16" stock rather than 1-1/8" or else you'll be needing a hefty rear bar to deal with the understeer. Have the bar threaded an extra inch and you've got adjustable caster without messin' with the blocks. An RX2 bar is also a decent option as it's thicker than a stock RX3 bar. Replace the front springs with cut RX2 springs and add a couple of leaves to the rear spring pack and have it de-arched. Run red Konis on all 4 corners. Slotting the upper strut mount holes will achieve about 1/2 degree of negative camber. This is the cheap (but effective) method.