ae86 struts

[RobertoX]

I just had a look at my KYBs, they are SW20 rear AGXs (4 way adjustables) the part number is 765016.
When I first rang the rep he told me that they didn't really like to sell them to people for road use as they thought they were too stiff so they didn't really like to advertise that they were available. I had no problem giving the PN to a dealer and ordering them in though.

They are 43mm shorter than the ae86 ones (ie require a 43mm spacer. If you use the spacer in the bottom of the shock tube then they will have about 20mm less open length than standard sprinter ones.
I used about a 35mm spacer and shimmed down the top with some washers (40mm OD), this kept my springs captive.
The adjustment is good for different spring rates, I've had about 4kg/mm which the shocks handled easily and 6kg/mm in the last week. I can go to a nice comfortable ride on the 1st setting to a stiff overdamped ride on the 4th setting. I've found the stiff setting not to hold the road so well, it skipps at the front through turns and locks the brakes too easily on uneven surfaces. Setting 2 on these seems to work best, it settles in nicely on turn in (good transient response) and keeps the wheels under nice control on rough surfaces with out being bouncy. Since there is more stiffness in them I would say that they would be ok if you wanted to go for a higher spring rate.
Oh also, the top retaining nut that came with the sw20 shocks was no good for the sprinter struts, the tread was too coarse. I just got some monroe nuts for about $20 from my local repco.


If you require less open length ae92 ones are supposedly 40mm shorter than sprinter ones (from top of shock body to spring hat), so you can go shorter/harder springs with these (but this is according to some pic on a jap website that only had car model numbers and dimensions).

st165 ones will also fit in sprinter struts but I am unsure of dimensions and stiffness, the KYB PN is 765015 for AGX (for KYB these share the same PN as sw20 fronts). I have been told that the sw20 rear are stiffer than the sw20 front (due to mid mount) but I don't know if this is true.

Hope there is something useful here

[myne]

How can you fit ae92 struts to an ae86?
It's my understanding that the 92 strut has brackets for the axle assembly while the ae86 slides into it. Wouldnt you have to remove the bracket from the strut?

On another topic, I dont suppose anyone has a handy list of struts and their various types and lengths?
And what the heck is a superstrut?

[roadsailing]

robertox, are you saying that the shocks handled the 6kg/mm springs fine? did the 6kg/mm springs stay captive?

cheers for the part number, those shocks seem good, not too much shorter than standard, which is what i am after (i want a little bit of droop!)

i'd say the rear shocks would be stiffer, due to the MR2 having more weight over the rear wheels than the front, might not necassarily be the case though.

EDIT: myne, i'd say you would just use AE92 strut inserts as opposed to replacement struts in an AE86

[RobertoX]

^^ yup ae92 inserts... I'm quote sure that ae92 struts will not fit into an ae86 without some serious modification. I have a drawing of the inserts but its at work, I might post it tomorrow.

The KYB agx handles 6kg/mm just fine (to my taste anyway the dorifto boys might be different). With a softer spring rate (about 3-4 kg/mm) and lowered say 1.5" the springs will be captive however when you go much higher they will not be captive and will require some sort of mod to be safe (mine are wired to the bottom perch now I have 6kg/mm, this is illegal for street use!).

i'd say the rear shocks would be stiffer, due to the MR2 having more weight over the rear wheels than the front, might not necassarily be the case though.

ever had them on a dyno? I try not to post anything if I'm not sure of its truth!

[roadsailing]

Quote:
i'd say the rear shocks would be stiffer, due to the MR2 having more weight over the rear wheels than the front, might not necassarily be the case though.

hence the long winded psuedo disclaimer. i'll make it clearer next time

more opinion on the AE92 issue, a mate of mine bought a set of pre-made coilovers which were apparently made using AE92 struts, seem to be matched ok for his 5.5kg/mm springs.

so would you drive with the shocks at max hardness with the 6kg/mm springs? i guess my definition of enough adjustability is such that you can make them "too hard" that is, hard enough to make it not fun to drive on the street, you something to tweak after all!

[RobertoX]

lol, has the rep system made our info more accurate or has it just made us all add disclaimers to our dodgy info

anyway, the 335lb springs that I have at the moment feel quite good on setting '2' of these shocks, I haven't tested them properly at max hardness but I don't really think that I would, just going by the current feel of them and previously driving them at max on softer springs (when I do test it I'll post up if I have changed my mind). Note also that the Adelaide hills (where I am) tend to have quite uneven roads so your priorities might change depending on the surface.


Lol, a different oppinion on these shocks by from my girlfriend is that my car sucks and she needs to wear a sports bra whenever she goes in it due to the harshness

[roadsailing]

either way, the rep system does stop dodgy info going around.

looks like MR2 rear shocks it is, i have heard of these being used with ~ 12 kg/mm springs, but that is probably going into "solid block of steel" territory.

as for sportsbras, as long as i (as a male) dont have to wear one i'm happy, but i don't mind turning the damping right down for a bit of comfort, and my car is pretty offensive anyway.

what are you using for rear shocks?

thanks for all the info!

[45aken]

for rears shocks, either the pergot 505 (which has shorter stroke, and the car weight ~1400kg) or use a IRS commodore AGX shock(slight modification required), but 8 way adjustable. im using the agx st204 and it is perfect with my 7kg's. (hts's would have been better, but agx's can be had for 150 each (if you know the right people))