KE17 Front Suspension Issues

[JMANKE17]

Hey. Hoping this post makes sense and can get some assistance please.

I bought a white KE17 around 7 years ago and used it for my every day driver until 18 months when I had to take it off the road due to front suspension problems.
The previous owner upgraded the front suspension and replaced the original transverse leaf spring front cross member with a system from a later model. It looks like the new system has new cross member, new struts, strut bar brackets welded to the chassis under the radiator, disc brakes, wheel hubs with a different PCD to the rear wheels etc etc. The interface between the strut bar brackets and the chassis keeps cracking. I have had it repaired 3 times and am ready to revert back to the original cross member and put KE30 backing plates and disc brakes on the original struts.

I am new to this forum and was hoping someone could help me with some direction.

First, I am trying to identify the components that are currently on the front suspension. I have uploaded some images. Any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks.
http://imgur.com/a/3bRwT

And second, I would love a second opinion regarding my plan to roll the suspension back to the original cross member and KE17 struts with a KE30 disc brake upgrade.

Thanks

[oldcorollas]

what is the current disc diameter? PCD, calipers?
No idea what the struts are.. they have 2 bolt bottom end compared to 3-bolt for KE1x
The LCA's have inner rod ends.. could be from anything

KE17 struts, with KE20 hubs which have same PCD as KE17, will fit KE10 to KE70 discs. KE30 to KE70 discs are same diameter and not much larger than original KE17 discs (i forget.. 200mm vs 218mm?) but will all bolt to KE20 hubs
I had KE15 struts, KE20 hubs, KE70 discs, backing plate and calipers (long thin pads, not the square ones). all bolt up

you could beef up and strengthen the chassis around the radius rod mount.. but it was never designed for that.
the chassis rails are double thickness up to the cross-member, but then single thickness in front of that (since no strength was needed there)
same with the top of the strut area not being so strong, as most of the load was originally taken by the leaf springs


i'd be temped to strengthen the front end, then put KE20 cross-member in there (or KE30 for a small increase in track)..
but original with original struts (cut down an inch for shorter KE20 shocks), with KE30-KE70 brakes, would be ok (and change master cylinder to something with dual circuit and booster.. or Galant GB? GD? for a dual circuit non-boosted MC)

[JMANKE17]

Cool. Thanks for the feedback oldcorollas. I'm kinda keen to get the cars front end back to close to what it was designed for.
The car is currently lowered with 13" superlites. Front pcd is 4x114. Rear is 4x110. That needs to be fixed with this mod. Need to confirm the disc diameter and calipers.
I'm intrigued about the suggestion to cut down the original struts so they are compatible with KE20 shocks. What is the main driver for that?
If I go back to original cross member I was planning on resetting the transverse leaf to lower the car some so it maintains the current look. Not sure if that is enough by itself. And haven't thought of what I would do with coils either yet.
But I like the idea of getting some kE20 hubs and the options that gives with discs. Have been hunting for them for a while. Will post a wanted ad.
Thanks again for the great info!

[oldcorollas]

so, the original shocks and ride height have far more droop than bump.
that's basically because of length of shocks and how they sit.

Ke20 shocks are an inch shorter, so you can either put a 1" spacer above the KE20 in the KE17 strut tube, or cut the tube down 1".
that means you gain 1" bump travel, and lose 1" droop, but you have too much droop anyway. from vague memory it was 2/3rds droop, 1/3 bump.. should be other way around

KE20 shocks were available in things like Koni-Red etc, moreso than KE1x shocks..

there are both single and double leaf fronts, btw. single leaf soft, double leaf rides high... reset double leaf would be betterer maybe? or custom leaf?
the original coils you can compress by hand... they do buggerall.

I think all the KE1x struts are same, and can put disc backing plates on the drum struts... been a while tho

fwiw, compared to the original KE15/17 discs.. the later KE30/70 discs are about 10% larger... and the pistons are also ~10% larger, giving roughly 20% better braking power.. which is still buggerall
with good pads (not bendix metal king LOL), they can stop almost ok... but never great.