KYB Coilovers Installed

AZDrifter

AZDrifter

True Classic
Midwest-Bayless is offering a bunch of new suspension options for our Exies. I would really like the Koni coilover set, but finances and sanity called for more a reserved approach. The KYB's have the spring perches ground off, and the threaded sleeves are centered and secured by rubber O rings. The hardware is aluminum, there is a 1/8" Allen set screw, and the springs are 180 lb/in. The kit comes with roller bearings in the tops to reduce steering effort. The kit was just for the front, providing 30% more spring rate and a nice rake compared to the OEM turned-up nose.



Here's the original height...




Undoing the Mac strut... spring compressors are handy, as is the impact wrench.


If the shaft turns, this is a good way to secure it...


What a mess...


One of the perches has seen some abuse. A vise and some elbow grease straightened it out. I pounded the sheet metal where the struts mounts to the body with a hammer and a block of wood to get it straight.


New control arm with bushing and ball joint...


Installed...


I set the bottom of the perch to 4.5". I tried it at 5", which provided a level attitude. 4.5" gave a tiny bit of rake.


The new ride height up front...


And the overall appearance. The shadows hide the effect a bit...


Turn in is improved, and good shocks are better than dead ones. It's not a sport suspension. Still lots of body roll, though that probably has more to do with the rear suspension. Very comfortable ride. The springs don't sit on the upper perches at this ride height when the tire is off the ground, so there's that to consider. There isn't any noise up front though, and it is unlikely that the spring would come off the mounts due to the hardware. We will see- that's my only concern about the whole kit.

I didn't get a chance to flog the car on my little test track. People were out walking the dog, enjoying the sunset, whatever. Discretion was required. Overall, great build quality, easy install within three hours, even with installing control arms. Could have been done in two.
 
Looks good!

Make sure you get an alignment asap, as changes in ride height affect toe, which in turn will chew tires fairly quickly.

A couple of pieces of advice if I might for anyone else doing this job:

1. Don't let the brake assembly hang by the hose, wire it up somewhere out of the way.

2. You can stop the strut shaft from spinning, without risk of marring it with vice grips, by grabbing the inverted cone at the top of the strut mount. That's what the slots across the top are designed to do, although you need a special tool. But you can grab its perimeter with a big pair of channel locks easily.

Pete
 
bpimm said:
Looks good, that also gives you more tire clearance on the inside.

It looks like he had the vice grips on a rubber strap not directly on the shaft.

If you have an issue with the spring coming off the upper mount at full rebound you could add a helper spring to keep it in place.

http://www.swiftsprings.net/products-assist_springs.html
Click to expand...

Make sure to add the compressed helper spring height to your overall adjustment to your sleeve adjuster nut/perch distance and put the helper below the spring. It helps it from binding against the sleeve when you are adjusting things with car elevated but not fully off the ground.
 
Lookin' good John

But as Crocodile Dundee would say: "That's not a spring compressor, this is a spring compressor." :)


Nice work on getting everything cleaned up on the reinstall. I will probably get around to this type of set up after I get the d*mn car running again.
 
I used an assist spring instead of a helper spring, the spring rate was such that at full compression it matched, or was very close to, the main spring rate. I can't feel it transition at all and I know I get to full droop because it lifts the inside front in tight turns while autoxing.

I used the swift spring coupler as well and put the assist on top, no rubbing or noises and the coupler keeps it aligned.

On a street car I think a helper would be fine. Just use a coupler to keep it lined up.

Franken said:
Yes they can do that (you need a sliding perch between - and they creak on the threads as they slide).

A roadcar will not be as critical but we did a lot of tuning to get the right progression from helper to main spring when setting up the suspension. In the beginning I had some horrible issues where the car would lurch mid corner as it went to the main spring. This upset the balance - usually midcorner - and often resulted in me facing backwards wondering what the hell happened! After all the work the settings we ended up with still left the end of the spring free as I couldn't get the right combination of spring rate at the right lengths for both in the Eibach range. Sigh.
Click to expand...
 
Another full-droop option

Another full-droop option, drill the spring perches to accept nylon zip ties to hold the spring in place top and bottom. Folks I used to rally with would do this.
 
Hello :)

I'm new here :) and would just like to bring up other ways to keep the spring seated at all times. No clunking over speed bumps, or problems when your driving her like you stole her.

2 ways come to mind. 1 way is finding a shorter shock than stock. One that matches your new travel. Like when you use a vw g60 shock on a BMW e30. 4" shorter I believe... You have to shorten the strut to match the new shock, or add spacers under the shock. I prefer shortening the strut tube.

Other way I have seen is shortening the shock shaft. Best way is to have a machine shop do it, but I've seen people do it themselves with a lathe and a tap. Just put it all together and see how much longer your shock is than your seated spring & strut cap. Then shorten the shaft accordingly, and retap it. This way you don't need zip ties to keep it from coming apart. Not that that doesn't work well, but I don't like zip ties failing years later.

Both of these ways work very well if you plan to push the car to its limits on a budget. I would also love to have koni's, but it's just not going to happen for a couple years.
 
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