coilovers into gx81/jzx81/mx83

[ae95]

am going to be putting in kei office coilovers into my gx81 sometime this week.
does anyone know if the swaybar needs to be modified if i lower the car a lot?

i read about this on the jzx81.net site

Application: JZX81
Front Spring: 12Kg
Rear Spring: 10Kg
Adjustment: Multi Stage Damping

Kei Office Set Price: 268,000 Yen

Included Swaybar End-link Relocation

what is this sway bar relocation? and will i need it?

cheers

[wilbo666]

Niles was mentioning something about this the other day (he recently put some coil overs in his)...


From memory he mentioned something about the swaybar end links not really working, perhaps that kit fixes that?...

I'm pretty sure the swaybar is fine, the issue maybe with the end links that connect it to the strut...?? (Edit not LCA )

Sorry, not really much help

Cheers
Wilbo

[big_zop]

The swaybar on those series doesnt connect to the LCA, it actually goes to the suspension and the coilover needs to include this. i have a pic of both the Tien HA and Kei Office for the JZX81 and they both come with their own swaybar links (pics to come tonight) and it does appear that the Kei Office does not connect it to the coil over - but i cant quite tell. I do have another pic and it does appear that the owner tried to make up an adaptor to bolt the swaybar on in the stock location (again - pics later). I also have the fitting instructions for the Tiens and there is a fair bit on the swaybar link (i think its more to do with the fact that its adjustable) but its in Japanese.

I have heard that either the swaybar or LCA can be modified so that they bolt together but im not sure on the detail of that.

But as for lowering, i dont think there will be a problem unless some part of it clashes with anything else. Try installing one without a spring so you can move it up and down and check.

coFF33 is also getting (i think they are still on their way from Japan) the Kei Office coilovers so have a chat to him about it.

[japlish]

i dont see why you cant use the factory one's?
it all stays in its relitive postion when lowered?

[mic*]

Dunno if this helps or is even relevant but when my sway bar link arms needed replacing for my GX81 i got Pedders adjustable ones which were a bit short. I had rod to make up the length but tried them as they were. It pulled the sway bar a bit higher, but nothing fouled. They didnt last long. Looked under the car a week later and one side had snapped.

A lowered strut or coilover could move the link arm mount higher and create the same subtle changes to the geometry, unless you got a longer link arm or relocated the mounting point.

[ae95]

cheers guys

big zop if you can get pics of the coilies and instruction manual that would be great

[The Real Roadrunner]

the std mount for the swaybar is up near the spring perch and when you put a coilover kit on the std strut (or use coilovers) it needs to be relocated further down the strut and shorter links made up to suit.

if you run the swaybar on the LCA it will lose a shitload of its leverage force thus inducing more roll so it's not something i would recommend

also when making new links up remove the spring off the coilover and jack it up as high in the arch as possible, then hold the swaybar up to where it hits the chassis rail, measure the centre to centre length and add about 25mm (just to be sure the swaybar wont foul on the chassis at full compression)

cheers
linden

PS if that is to hard to follow give the job to somebody that knows what they are doing.

[Mos]

i dont see why you cant use the factory one's?
it all stays in its relitive postion when lowered?

The *X8* is different to most other cars - the factory swaybar mount is on the strut tube itself, and not on the lower control arm (Linden and big_zop already said it, but didn't spell it out).

Mos.

[Jabtronic]

I have Kei Office coilovers on my MX83



There is nowhere on the struts for the swaybar, so I'll need to make a swaybar link to the LCA, or use some other method.

[Mos]

What are those two weird ass clamps?

[Jabtronic]

They're for the brake lines clips but they were bent/broken/unusable anyway

[big_zop]

That what i was trying to say Mos, thanks for clarifying though.

Jabtronic - that is one of the pics i have and i thought it might have been the attempted swaybar mount (thats why i said it was really dodgy!)

Anyway - here is the comparison pic between the Tien HAs and the Kei OfficeType ST. For the other parts, teh Tien accessories are on the bottom and the KO are on the top.

[Mr DOHC]

how much more bling do the gold one look

[The Real Roadrunner]

There is nowhere on the struts for the swaybar, so I'll need to make a swaybar link to the LCA, or use some other method.

if you go to the LCA then make sure you buy a new swaybar that is about 3mm bigger than your current one as the load that the lca will put on it will be much higher than what the struts would.

or if the bottom section is a steel sleeve (which i assume it is) then weld on new mounts to hold the swaybar on there (or cut the orig ones off a std strut and weld them to your KO coilovers) .

cheers
linden

[big_zop]

Well, i think this is how the Kei Office links work.



Taken from here (need to be a member of Toyota Cressida forums) - and its an American company on the Cressida forums that have created coilovers in either kit or bolt on form. They are keen to get it out here so i will introduce them to this forum and hopefully something can be sorted out to get them here.