DIY Coilovers

cdavie2002

cdavie2002

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Has anyone converted the original front struts to coilovers themselves?





I have seen & am enquiring about the coilover kit, threaded sleeves available from.
www.rallydesign.co.uk
www.iemotorsport.com

I have seen these fitted using rubber o-rings to centre over the strut, or welded on the lower end of the threaded sleeve only. I would prefer if these sleeves could be welded top & bottom and still allow the locking rings to be wound all the way off/on.

Im after a bit of advice re, the positioning of the sleeve, and if the strut should be shortened any?

Please share your experience.

Thanks
Chris
 
Iv got access to all the kit required to fabricate, just need to know what to buy and where to cut/weld....
 
My car has 2 1/2 inch coilovers , I did it a bit different , I wanted to lower the car and run a taller wheel wider to. I run 17 x 8 on the front, I cut stock strut off about 4 inches up the tube then welded in a solid roundstock with a flange machined iin it to bolt on a coilover from a front wheel drive car (shorter) so now I have room for a wheel and tire and it dosent rub anything.
 
Spoke with IEMOTORSPORT.

Im told, shortening the strut housing is entirely optional. This is done to preserve suspension travel on cars which will be lowered aggressively (~2" or more), and does require special, shorter strut inserts. There are also ramifications in regard to wheel and tire size and the clearance between tire sidewall and strut housing. I was advised that unless planning on running a radically low ride height, it is much easier and more cost-effective to stay with a stock-length housing. *E9's are fairly long-travel, so with reasonable ride height there's not a big problem with travel.

They weld-on the collar at 3" from the top of the strut housing. The threaded coil sleeve is also 3", so it is flush with the top of the housing. A longer threaded sleeve cannot be used or placing the perch lower except in very specific circumstances, as there is usually insufficient clearance between the tire sidewall and strut to permit the hardware to mount any lower.
The 3" placement keeps the adjuster hardware just above the shoulder of the tire at its lowest adjustment.

Some great info, Im just curious as to what other owners have done with regard to shortening their original struts.
 
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good information on putting the perches on. the next question is going to determine what spring rates give the best handling for spirited road driving, but comfortable enough not to jar the fillings out of your teeth.

keep us posted.
 
my coilover setup
 

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OK, now you have my attention! I currently have Bilstein HDs with Carl's springs and I'd love the have the front end lower by another 3/4" or so. Are you saying I could do this with the same shocks and springs using the IE pieces? I was always led to believe that shorter springs or those that were lowered required the Sport version of Bilsteins.

I know, its a lot of effort and expense for 3/4"...
 
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Thanks for the link, helpful information was in there. Seems like a lot of trouble to lower 3/4". I wonder what the change in driveability/handling would be?
 
there are many benefits to the coilover -

1. the use of progressive springs
2. different spring rates to dial in the suspension to your driving needs
more distance between the spring and the tire -
3. to allow more negative camber or to use a wheel with more offset (to keep the outer edge of the tire further from the fender lip.

the problem is that you could spend some money on spring sets to get the suspension dialed in.
 
I put the IE do it yourself coil overs on the front of my car two or three years ago. With the help of a friend that is. I had the exact same conversation with IE as you did csdavie2002, and we did the conversion just as you describe. No shortening of the tube.

Spring rate and length will vary depending on driver, intended use, car, etc. Springs are about $100 plus shipping. Gets expensive if you don't get it right the first or second time. My car is light, the list of whats been removed is long. I'll weigh it one of these days. Lets just say I didn't get it right the 1st or 2nd time. Or the 3rd. Because my car is far, far from stock, it was hard to gauge from reading the intenets or talking to IE about what spring to get. For the record, Jeff at IE came very close the first try.

Six inch springs ended up being the right length for my altered car. I'll probably end up with 300lb springs. Rear springs are stock with coils removed. Can't remember how many, but you don't want to know anyway because your car is hopefully nothing like mine. I have plenty of height adjustment with this conversion.

Oh, one more thing. About all those springs that were wrong for my car.. they are for sale in the classified section! Guess I should bump that post. Here's a picture of my car as it sits today. Fun. Don't look too close, it may hurt :-) Think Rat, not Bat!
 

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Hey Tod, so that's what my car is suppose to look like! Your's is fantastic. Give me another ten years or so. Maybe :-)
 
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