Classic celica suspension TA23

[WindeX]

I am looking at spending 1.5k-2k on my suspension over the next month to get my TA23 going around corners instead of boating through them.

Currently my list contains the following, I hope to make this a little howto aswell, with many pics to come

Swaybars front and rear 24mm 18mm I think is the standard.
Adjustable pan hard rod, yes I am hoping to lower it somewhat.
Lowered springs, probably kings.
New shocks to suit.
RCAs, not sure where I can get these from, but I read some very good things on the old forums about them and for such a small item they seem to make a big difference.
Urethane brushes all round.

Not sure if there is anything else to get, but feel free to post up your info if you got any.

[Celica RA45]

go for a 27mm fully adjustable front bar get a factory AE71 12mm for the rear, shocks bilstein any day over konis ,also go for 70,mm frt springs and you can get springs for a bout 100 a set against the kings that are double the price and not really the ride height that you would wont also rca adjusters depends on how much you lower it

[jeffro ra28]

Hey,
i to am planning to get my ra28 handling alot better for the street aswell, also lowering it alot.

But havent much idea on suspension setups as yet.

What would you call neccasay for getting them to perform well on the street with plans for occasionaly track days?

Are you also planning a 5 stud conversion? if so u may want to take into account the strut options etc with converting to 5 studs.


Please if you do end up ordering these bits, could you post up part numbers and specs? As i have no idea as to what would be a good street package. So id be very interested as to see what people are doing.


Have you seen the T3 camber adjusters, not sure on the proper name... But they are from techno toy tuning. Their website isnt working atm.

Regards
jeff

[jeffro ra28]

go for a 27mm fully adjustable front bar get a factory AE71 12mm for the rear, shocks bilstein any day over konis ,also go for 70,mm frt springs and you can get springs for a bout 100 a set against the kings that are double the price and not really the ride height that you would wont also rca adjusters depends on how much you lower it

Would call it as not being low enough or to low?

[Joshstix]

I'd advise the first thing to do on a car of that vintage would be to replace all of the bushes with urethane ones, maybe use some rubber in the rear trailing arms if you want. Then replace all of the ball joints and tie rod ends.

Once the suspension is working correctly then is the time to figure out what you want to change and by how much.

[WindeX]

go for a 27mm fully adjustable front bar get a factory AE71 12mm for the rear, shocks bilstein any day over konis ,also go for 70,mm frt springs and you can get springs for a bout 100 a set against the kings that are double the price and not really the ride height that you would wont also rca adjusters depends on how much you lower it

What springs do you suggest?

Thats pretty skinny for the rear, why so small on the rear and large on the front, I would have thought this would have increased understeer.

I am not really looking into 5 stud conversion or brake upgrades just yet, my breaks still lock up and I havent got any nasty fade yet, might check out some new pads though. I just cant be bothered getting new wheels and I am not a huge fan of big rims on old celicas, I got 14's at the moment, might go 15's but I reckon that would just be a waste of time.

[WindeX]

I'd advise the first thing to do on a car of that vintage would be to replace all of the bushes with urethane ones, maybe use some rubber in the rear trailing arms if you want. Then replace all of the ball joints and tie rod ends.

Once the suspension is working correctly then is the time to figure out what you want to change and by how much.

Ball joints have been done, the urethane I forgot to add to the list, thanks for the reminder.

[Celica RA45]

the 70mm are for the fronts only std springs as per the rear only height and springs weights would need to be changed

[jeffro ra28]

Windex, where did u source ur ball joints, i know they are readily available but some prices are nasty!

Also, wat about urathane bushes?

[Celica RA45]

nolathane are a no no for the back trailing arms as it will lock it up under braking and turn it around ,found this out years ago doing 360 %at calder at the end of the main straight .shit it was fun cars were all around going off every where to avoid me

[jeffro ra28]

usually the rubber in the trailing arms are in okay condition anyhow.

[WindeX]

I dont know, they werent crazy, but dunno how much they cost normaly, they were done as part of a RWC

[Pube]

I have a brand spanking new Whiteline adjustable rear sway bar for ta/ra23 that i bought and didnt fit my car (due to 9" diff conversion) if anyone is interested?

[o_man_ra23]

The understeer that you get is from lack of camber, not softer rear swaybars. The harder the rear swaybar, the more inclined the rear inside wheel will be to lift off the ground. Adjustable is good to fix this, but a well chosen weight is required to start with. With 5 stud, if you go the Hoppers Stoppers kit, or the MS65 crown hubs, then stock or corona RT133 or celica RA40 struts can be used. The RT133 items will fit the hilux 4pot callipers, and the RA40 items have removable calliper mounts to aid in calliper selection perfection. If the brakes are locking up, its not from the brakes being good enough. It is from them not working efficiently. Better pads will help this marginally, but bigger discs will seriously help. Either this or your tyres are crap. You will find that with good shock absorbers, good tyres, bigger discs and bigger callipers with better pads, you will have the stopping ability that a sports car should have. Check the setup Brett_Celicacoupe (and others) have, its great if you wanna fit under 14" rims. You can use this setup for 4 or 5 stud. Decide on what brakes you will run before you buy front shocks, or do any coilover conversions etc, as the brake choice will affect your shock etc choice. RT133 corona or XT131 struts with RN/LN 104 hilux calipers and machined/redrilled pugeot 604 vented discs is inexpensive and very effective. If you want this sucker to corner well, you will want high quality low profile tyres (so bigger rims is an advantage to maintain rolling diameter) to reduce tyre roll and improve grip, and you want to give some negative camber (instead of the usual 0.5 degree positive camber). These will give you the greatest improvement over standard in handling. Of course, if your shocks or any other component is stuffed, they need to be replaced first.

Cheers, Owen

[BigWorm]

A strut brace (either make it yourself or $180 from whiteline) makes a huge improvement, I found it much more noticable than my RCAs.
If you're looking at koni shocks, rav4 reds fit the rear & are 15mm shorter stroke, & rav4 yellows fit the front & give you external adjustment. But bilsteins would be favourable....

As for springs, swaybars & bushes, just about anything would be an improvement over flogged out standard stuff, just go for whatever's cheapest if it's just for street use.