DIY Coilovers

[pilt]

Hi,

Ive had a look and it appears you can make your own coilovers using spring perchs from rally designs http://www.rallydesign.co.uk/product_in ... ts_id=3450

I had a search on here and there seems to be a bit of info on them but not a huge amount, I am interested in doing this myself but am not sure how exactally how it is done. Has anyone on here fitted these themselves who knows exactally what needs to be done?

Thanks

Dan

[gareth]

the rally design stuff is not a straight fit, some machining needs to be carried out to the spring caps as well as the welding / fabrication to the struts themselves. but in principle, they do work and can be a lot more cost effective than new dedicated coilovers.
Keri-WMS may be able to help you out though, send him a PM

[BadDave]

Before buying any coilover conversion kit it's best to get the Internal diameter of the tubing supplied in the kit and double check the measurement with that of your struts.
Sometimes you'll find that the advertised 2 1/4" kits wont slip over a 51mm strut casing.

[UweM3]

Before buying any coilover conversion kit it's best to get the Internal diameter of the tubing supplied in the kit and double check the measurement with that of your struts.
Sometimes you'll find that the advertised 2 1/4" kits wont slip over a 51mm strut casing.

The rally design one won't. You need to get the parts of GAZ to fit over the 51mm strut.

But there is enough reading and pictures already posted IMHO

[stoneyV6]

These are the rally design coil over kits,, i think the lock nut that holds the damper in needs to be turned down a little on a lathe. I fitted mine by just cutting off the original spring pan but left the weld intact, i then just dropped the threaded part down with no welding needed. One thing to consider if wanting to lower the car is that standard dampers will bottom out quite quickly,, i have bilstein dampers which work ok for track but aren't ideal.

[MarkT]

So you can use the rally design kit then. Stoney, what length springs are you running?

[stoneyV6]

I am not sure tbh, either 5.5 or 6" i will measure one when i get chance this week.

[handpaper]

These are the rally design coil over kits,, i think the lock nut that holds the damper in needs to be turned down a little on a lathe. I fitted mine by just cutting off the original spring pan but left the weld intact, i then just dropped the threaded part down with no welding needed. One thing to consider if wanting to lower the car is that standard dampers will bottom out quite quickly,, i have bilstein dampers which work ok for track but aren't ideal.

Interesting to see that, looks like the RD threaded tubes are much shorter that the GAZ version. Mine reach fron the top of the strut down to the brake pipe hanger.

[stoneyV6]

That's one tube cut in half to do both sides,, it was all i needed for what was a very cheap track biased setup which has got me through a couple of years till i buy something better.I cut the other tube in half and used them as adjustable spring perches for the rear,, cheap as chips.

It is a very compromised setup but has at least cut out lots of body roll on track,, not such a pleasant setup for the road however.

[Donfrondo]

Where did you find the springs? looks like they only go down to 7" on rally design, and what spring rates are you using?

This sort of conversion has been going on in america for a while, ground control and cosmos racing both do kits.

There seems to be lots of variations on springrates people are using too. Anything between 400-900lbs! on the rear and usually with about 100lbs less on the front.

Would be grateful for your opinion on how well it rides, i've been researching, im definatly considering it. Might try it on std dampers first with a high spring rate around 500f/600r, then if its that bad supersport do shortened, higher rate dampers all round for £140.

Dan

[gareth]

be careful with spring rates on the rear. most people who know their spring rates are using coilovers. some 'coilovers' (cosmo for instance) use the rear spring perch still, others (like leda and gaz) use a true coilover on the rear shock. due to the difference in leverage the spring rates differ wildly depending on the spring position used.

oh, faulkner springs can do any rate / length you can think of really. i got my 6" 500lb 2.5" ones there recently. sat on the shelf, ready for collection
he's a nice bloke too and really knws his stuff. they also make springs for the likes of ohlins, leda (before the went under then got resurrected) and various other places i've since forgotten

[MarkT]

Where did you find the springs? looks like they only go down to 7" on rally design, and what spring rates are you using?

This sort of conversion has been going on in america for a while, ground control and cosmos racing both do kits.

There seems to be lots of variations on springrates people are using too. Anything between 400-900lbs! on the rear and usually with about 100lbs less on the front.

Would be grateful for your opinion on how well it rides, i've been researching, im definatly considering it. Might try it on std dampers first with a high spring rate around 500f/600r, then if its that bad supersport do shortened, higher rate dampers all round for £140.

Dan

Have a look at the thread I started on coilover spring rates mate. Rear spring rate is dependant on location.

[UweM3]

Where did you find the springs? looks like they only go down to 7" on rally design, and what spring rates are you using?

This sort of conversion has been going on in america for a while, ground control and cosmos racing both do kits.

There seems to be lots of variations on springrates people are using too. Anything between 400-900lbs! on the rear and usually with about 100lbs less on the front.

Would be grateful for your opinion on how well it rides, i've been researching, im definatly considering it. Might try it on std dampers first with a high spring rate around 500f/600r, then if its that bad supersport do shortened, higher rate dampers all round for £140.

Dan

7" long is plenty of not too long depending on spring rate.
400lbs front is still "street" IMHO anything above is more track biased.
With stock dampers I would not go over 400lbs, even that could be too much already.
Also when you say shortened damper, which part of the damper are you talking about?

[Donfrondo]

Useful stuff guys

I've never seen the supersport dampers, but i assume, when they say shorter they mean shorter bodied and throw. The ground control kits come with shorter dampers too, the front ones i believe are off a g60 corrado.

Obviously with a shortened damper the housing is going to be too long on the fronts. The solution is to cut the top part of the housing off (the bit with the thread), then you cut the desired amount out of the hight of the housing, then re-weld the threaded top on.

This tends to mean that you have to remove the antirollbar mount, and weld it on lower down too.

Apparently you can also use the e30 IX dampers as they're lower too.


*Disclaimer* Everything i've just said is based purely on what i've READ on forums like e30tech and stanceworks, whilst researching coilover conversions

[stoneyV6]

I bought the springs of gunni some time ago and tbh i am not sure of the exact spring rates, i think the fronts are about 375-400 lbs , which on uk roads is a little to much for the dampers to handle.

the rears as stated vary widely,, mine are not a coil over at the rear but are adjustable spring perches that locate in the stock position, i think they are about 600-700 lbs again i am not sure tbh.

Its been a good cheap set up that has got me through many trackdays but i think when i am ready to spend a little more i would probably go for a GAZ race spec set up or similar.

[jono]

Hi guys, i converted both front and rear to coilovers using the rally design stuff, i use my E30 for rallying, spring rates are 280lb fronts, 14inch long - which are stiff, and 140 / 110lbs, 14 inch progressives on the rear, not too stiff but allow for excellent trackion both on tarmac and gravel

[UweM3]

Hi guys, i converted both front and rear to coilovers using the rally design stuff, i use my E30 for rallying, spring rates are 280lb fronts, 14inch long - which are stiff, and 140 / 110lbs, 14 inch progressives on the rear, not too stiff but allow for excellent trackion both on tarmac and gravel

280lbs stiff? I run 680lbs front ( I don't think this is really 1:1 comparable, I only run 5" long springs)

But a rally and track car are very different. 14 inch long spring!! Crikey, show us a picture please. With road rubber and rims you have trouble to get 6 inch long springs to fit. No room for the spring platform, it has to sit above the tyre.

[MarkT]

Where did you get the progressively wound coilover springs from?

[UweM3]

Where did you get the progressively wound coilover springs from?

www.dfaulknersprings.com