ke25 suspension upgrade

[styler]

well i am doing up the ke25 project car and suspension is a definate upgrade as all properly modified cars should be

i know a lot about suspension designs and components but even thats a small dent in all of the technology and modifications possible.

what i want to do is upgrade the front and rear to a streetable suspension package with more handling than ride comfort.

the components are to be at a reasonable price so quality off the shelf components would be suitable or if a small custom job has to be carried out to use the part its fine.

original setup:

ke25 front: MacPherson strut, Recirc ball steering, Disc brake.
ke25 rear: Leaf, Dampers.

so my plan so far:

ke25 front:

new low, not super low springs from lovell, king springs, pedders... most of these seem to be progressive rate and have some special winding process to make them work well and last.

new damper insert - seems like there is much technology in these things - gas filled, twin tube, special rates of movement and lots more,
some of them being a feature only to the specific manufacturer.
pedders, monroe etc lower end koni, bilsten higher end..

new bushes, urethane / nothelene where needed, i heard nothelene is better but perishes badly over time. maybe some bushes can be just replacement rubber too.

swaybar may be on the list, seems pretty simple, only thickness varies to stiffen the ride and same product from manufacturers. i did see soemthing about some sort of twist rate too. maybe another cars swaybar may be used.

camber adustment, only a little if at all, strut mount kits or longer control arms or remount strut in chassis or camber spacer plates or offset linkage kits or rose jointed kits or diy rose (rose is illegal i think). im leaning towards spacers for 2 deg camber if anything or adjustable strut tops if not expensive.

steering to remain original recirculating ball, i know a few people have fitted rack and pinion but this is too much work!

new tie rod ands inner and outer to tighten up play and steering box checked and tightened up if needed.

caster will be wound up a bit on the original adjustment rods, is it worth putting some more thread on the rods to wind it up a bit more or will big caster interfere with the suspension geometry or rub components?

ball joints replaced if worn(im havent encountered ball joint replacement yet btw) and new wheel bearings just stock replacements.

strut brace i will weld one up and drill the plates. maybe a tri brace? looks ugly though lol.

brakes upgrade to ke70 items with new/reco calipers and new/ reco discs (ie machined straight), new master cylinder(ke25 is non vaccum assist) or maybe a slightly bigger bore cylinder master cylinder if rear drum cylinders are swapped for bigger matched units to.

ke25 rear

leaves checked out if ok maybe swap sides, add leaf, add leaf to front of pack, add clamp like = sign to front, invert whole pack and invert eyes under heat (thanks superjamie for the last 3 methods). or maybe a lowered stiffer spring pack if avaliable or custom made if affordable?
lowering blocks are a no no, iv had a car with them, super tramp blocks haha.

dampers for rear to match front im guessing.

well thats it, id like to know any input or brands to use / not to use.

[YLD-16L]

new damper insert - seems like there is much technology in these things - gas filled, twin tube, special rates of movement and lots more,
some of them being a feature only to the specific manufacturer.
pedders, monroe etc lower end koni, bilsten higher end..

A few inserts should be available for the KE25 strut, I have Bilsteins in mine. They have been great and are about 5 years old now.

Probably aim higher than Pedders and Monroe

Swaybars....only thickness varies to stiffen the ride and same product from manufacturers. i did see soemthing about some sort of twist rate too. maybe another cars swaybar may be used.

Whiteline make an uprated sway bar to fit the KE25. I am not aware of any other vehicle having a sway bar that would fit the KE20/25?

im leaning towards spacers for 2mm (I assume you mean degrees) neg camber if anything or adjustable strut tops if not expensive.

Adjustable strut tops will get you the camber you want. The best adjustable strut tops available for the KE25 appear to be the T3 ones (they make them for the TE27 (called the Mango Corolla)). T3 = http://www.technotoytuning.com/produ...er_plates.html

The K-Mac adjustable strut tops won't allow enough range to achieve 2 degree neg camber.

NOTE: if you are going to try and achieve 2 degree neg camber using the strut tops you may find that you springs will collide with the inside of the strut tower. You may need coil-overs to get the camber you desire (the smaller diameter spring will give you much more room inside the strut tower).

is it worth putting some more thread on the rods to wind it up a bit more or will big caster interfere with the suspension geometry or rub components?

I don't think it is unless you plan on lots of caster. I can dial in enough caster (can't remember how many degrees??) for my tyres to rub on the front bottom part of the guard and there is plenty of thread left on my radius rods. T3 also make radius rods for the KE25.

leaves checked out if ok maybe swap sides, add leaf, add leaf to front of pack, add clamp like = sign to front, invert whole pack and invert eyes under heat (thanks superjamie for the last 3 methods). or maybe a lowered stiffer spring pack if avaliable or custom made if affordable?

My leaves were reset and an extra leaf was added which cost about $300 back in the day. My car doesn't tramp at all. My leaves currently are flat when the car is static.

In my car I run Bilstein shocks front and rear, Eibach springs up front on height adjustable coil-overs. As mentioned earlier the rear leaves have been reset and an extra leaf added. All bushes have been replaced, tied rod ends replaced and ball joints replaced. It all handles quite well.

Good luck with it.

[styler]

hey thanks for the info!

i have tried to find decent dampers but cant find any catalogued for koni, bilsteins, KYB,
can you give the part number for yours - front and rear
- "up front on height adjustable coil-overs" hmm this prob means the fronts suit the coilovers and not the original ke25 strut?

yeah spacers that provide 2 deg neg camber, my friend has some on his datsun 1600.
i have seen the t3 strut tops, pretty tidy units. only looking for a bit of neg camber so maybe the kmac ones will do. good note there on the coilovers, didnt think 2 deg would affect it that much!

ok so around 300 for the leaf setup, that sounds like a good price if it has stopped tramping!

[YLD-16L]

i have tried to find decent dampers but cant find any catalogued for koni, bilsteins, KYB,
can you give the part number for yours - front and rear

I should be able to stick my head under the car tonight and note the part number of the rear shocks (if it is on the bottom half of the shock) but for the fronts I would need to remove them from the strut so that might be a bit difficult. You could always try contacting the Bilstien guys in Sydney and ask what they can do for you, I think if you have the internal diameter and shock length of your strut handy then they should be able to let you know if they can get something to fit

- "up front on height adjustable coil-overs" hmm this prob means the fronts suit the coilovers and not the original ke25 strut?

The coilover kit is on the original KE25 strut tube so the internal dimensions of the strut have not been altered.

[YLD-16L]

As promised:

Part number for the Bilstein shocks in the rear of my KE25 = F4-B46-1445-HO

[styler]

cheers for that!

yeah i might have to have a measure up and cross match it from another car....

i put another thread up just about ke20 /25 dampers

[oldcorollas]

each degree is about 10mm movement, either top or bottom of strut.

you would be mad not to consider rack and pinion... it may be the single that that makes the biggest difference to the feel of driving the car
or it may not

KE70 brakes are only 10% better (diameter) than KE20. they are not much of an upgrade, but slightly better. if you are wanting to stop much better, then it might be a good idea to look bigger...