S13 suspension (front and rear) into MZ11/Ma61 *LCA'S???*

[Johnzoku]

well, at first i had my coilovers set as high as i could get them... 20mm from the bottom of the bottom bracket and about 10mm preload on the springs, as i thought to my self that they would be way to short, but i found ive droped the spring perch 15mm from that first height and droped the shock body into the bottom bracket by 20mm as well, and its about 15mm off how much lower i want it. so im pretty sure there long enough to use, not much need to go to s14's unless my droop is less than allowable?

i havent cheeked how much droop ive got (ill do that soon) but im sure ive got enough say 100mm (could be wrong, ill check when im checking the lenght of LCA's)

and with the bump steer, i havnt had enough chance to check what its like just yet, but from the driving ive done so far it doesnt seam to bad at all...

[pisso001]

Hmm Sounds alright.. My S13 coilovers arnt hieght adjustable so atm ive got the springs preloaded as tight as i can get them by hand to get the hieght just so its drivable, then again i now have next to no droop making it a prick to drive as the shocks top out all the time..

Im think im gonna get some hieght adjustable S14 coilovers that way i can adjust it to the hieght i want and still have enough droop...

thanks,

Chris.

[Johnzoku]

i measured the LCA's and from the Xmember bush to the center of the balljoint on the top is about 280mm.

i measured my droop as well, and its about 40mm hell of alot less than what i thought but i thiank i can drop the shock body into the bottom bracket and raise the springs collars up so i might be able to gain 30mm in there with out adding to the height of the front end....

that sound about right?

[roadsailing]

whats the total shock travel?

1/3 droop 2/3 bump is ok, even half half isnt bad depending on spring rate etc, i think my rear shocks have about 25mm droop and they don;t "top out" all that often

that said, if your front end tops out regularly it will make the car very uncomfortable and handle bad - all the more reason to lower it more!

[The Real Roadrunner]

i measured my droop as well, and its about 40mm hell of alot less than what i thought but i thiank i can drop the shock body into the bottom bracket and raise the springs collars up so i might be able to gain 30mm in there with out adding to the height of the front end...

thought that would be the case.
drop the clevis and the spring perches also.
use helper springs to keep it captive.

you want it to droop by a min 50% travel.

cheers
linden

[Johnzoku]

well, im running 9k in the front and i hit some pretty big pot holes today (big enuf to open my boot lid while driving ) and im pretty sure i didnt bottom out once.

but ill still drop it like road runner said, 70mm should be just enough.

[pisso001]

Hmmm.. MX62 LCAs are 360mm and AE86 LCAs are 310mm.. I think a Sprinter ball joint will fit the S13 hub but not 100% (if not would the ball joint out of a MX62 LCA fit). Maybe the sprinter LCA would be the go? Get that 10mm track back plus 20mm more. Also I think thats still legal buy NSW law (dono about QLD)..

Yeah i probably have about 40mm droop.. Its shit house...

Hope that info helps..

Thanks,

Chris.

[Johnzoku]

is that total lenght? or between the balljoint and bush? 310mm seams really long?

[pisso001]

Apparently thats between the ball joint and inner bush.. Its second hand info... Thats what i thought too but i think because ke70s and ae86s have shorter crossmembers the control arms are a little longer.. Im gonna head to pick and payless soon and grab some ke70 LCAs and give it a go (thats assuming they are the same as ae86s) Im pretty sure the ke70 ball joint works with the S13 gear too...

[pisso001]

Measured my Droop.. 38mm Got some S14 coilovers on the way...

Keen for an update...

[Johnzoku]

i droped my base height the other day about 15mm and raised my springs 10mm (so overall a 5mm drop) and now i got 20mm droop i think helper springs are the way to go to get more droop... that or s14 inserts....

anyone know of a 2nd hand pair of helper springs being sold with the spring perch?

i think maybe s14 maybe the way to go....

ive been having a problem where i turn to the left and after that the car will steer left like its out of alignment but then ill turn right and the car will steer stright... might have something to do with the limitted amount of droop i have but then again, the coilovers are 2nd hand...

[pisso001]

Mate your doing it wrong.. Raise it back up at the hieght adjustment then lower the spring perches to get more droop. Adjust the spring perch down enough so at ride hieght youve got 70mm upward travel in the shock or what ever you want. then once you get the droop right adjust the hieght from the bottom. At least thats how i understand it to be done.. Will probably need helper springs yeah.. I think ill be after some soon as well..

I just ordered some brand new ISC hieght adjustable S14 coilovers and got them with a S13 bottom bracket so i dont have to drill out the S13 knuckle.. Ill let you know how i go..

Dono about your steering problem.. Maybe caster isnt even or one coilover has a slight bend, shit house wheel alignment.. dono..

Thanks,

Chris.

[Johnzoku]

yeah... i thought it thru and adding some more pre load to the spings might help it out for the time being. But if i was to drop the springs 10mm down rather than raise them they would of been un captvie on the coilovers... so ill wait till i get spring helpers before i change the settings again.

i got a wheel alignment done twice... (2nd time free tho) im pretty sure its the strut at the moment due to how it goes out of alignment it couldnt be anything else i think.

what did you get excatly for your s14 gear.... a complete set of coilovers with an s13 base bracket and camber tops? 750? i was thinking of just hitting up for the strut and hoping it fits into the base bracket i got already.

[pisso001]

Yeah exactly that.. Got the S14 strut and got them to change the bottom brackets to a S13 ones, with camber tops and 8kg/mm springs all posted for $750.. Go to www.isc-coilovers.com.. The guy Ryan is pretty good.. Ill let you know how i go, should be here in a few days...

[Johnzoku]

i did some more work on my car on the weekend, i put the damper on both front and rear up 2 steps and changed the rear droop so i have 75mm (20mm on front still but just waiting for some helper springs) and then ran it up and down both springbrook and nebo (ae86 DC cruse) and i can honestly say the set up works!!!

the loss in track is really not noticable... 20 ~ 30mm loss in total is nothing... ill be running 8" wide wheels on the front so the loss in track with be made up with the extra width.

im not to sure about how to figure out if i got bump steer but going up and down the hills with some rought spots it seamed to handle better than stock and theres no body roll at all!!!, its like driving a 1980's sexy two door ironing board hahaha. 9k up front and el falcons down the rear work well, but im going to get some custom 7k springs made for sure, to be sure on the rates... that and the el's could be a bit stiffer... a cheeper option than getting customs would be to get xr6 el rear springs... or even fronts? hummm....

the only quarms is that im not getting extra lock due to the lock tabs on the LCS's, im planing on lopping them off and jsut welding some flat steel to them to get an extra 30mm of clearance hopfully. and also the steering is quicker but harder to turn at slower speeds due to the shorter steering arms on the s13 gear.

im going to keep changing this set up till the car rides how i want it to but for now its running sweet the SR20det disks with ferado gp pads stop the car very well and at no point did i feel brake fade or smell my pads smoking (now my clutch.... thats a different story)

pisso001 let me know how you go with the s14 struts? id be keep to work this into the set up in a few months