How to test KYB strut out of the car?
- Thread starter Yves
- Start date
Dr.Jeff
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And that seems to be very true for many other things as well, which are often not fully realized. It can be tempting to look at a race spec "high performance" item and think it is a good for the street. But simply not true.
bjwhite
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I think your problem is that your tires are wwayyyy too huge. Those sidewalls are massive.
Alain - The Red Scorpion
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The AVO coilovers have arrived. Rear has camber adjustment (oval upper hole), not the front. Damper rebound adjustment from the top. One outstanding issue: inadequate steering provision on the front struts. Working with AVO to solve this issue. Will report back with photos when installed. Here's what they look like.
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Dr.Jeff
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I wonder if they think the rears are the fronts? They look alike for the most part, someone not familiar with the X1/9 would not know the difference. Otherwise it makes no sense to have camber adjustment on the rear only.
I'm assuming they mount by fitting the coilover's top cone into the X's stock top mount:
Yves
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I can't wait to see more!
Bjorn Nilson
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The taller ones are for the rear. Difficult to see if they are adjustable in this view. Top plates and lower mounts seems to be missing?
Alain - The Red Scorpion
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Here's a view of the oval mounting hole. The small square peg is used to lock the camber angle. Total adjustment: 3 degrees. The next photo shows the assembly order, using the existing top plate.
Alain - The Red Scorpion
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The rears have lower attachment on the strut, as shown here. And they mount using the X top alum cone on top the red spring perch.
Dr.Jeff
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What I was saying is the manufacturer might have mistaken the rears for the fronts. Otherwise I cannot understand why they would make the rears camber adjustable and not the fronts. Makes no sense.
Take a look to see if the part I've circled (pic below) can be eliminated. I'm thinking the cone shape of the upper spring perch might(?) be close to the cone shape in the stock upper mount, so that aluminum part (circled) may not be needed. Eliminating it will allow the coilover to fit higher up into the upper mount and therefore lower the car without affecting the travel - a big plus.
Dr.Jeff
True Classic
These don't use a top plate. They fit directly into the stock Fiat top mount. The camber adjustment is done at the lower mounts, by way of slotted holes.
The lower mounts are there, just not adjustable height - they are welded at a fixed location.
Bjorn Nilson
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Ah, you use the lower mount to adjust camber. I do that on my D2 coils as well but only to adjust a neutral camber. Then I do the "real" adjustment on the top plate which has reference markings. This makes it easy to quickly return to road settings from track settings without measuring tools.
Alain - The Red Scorpion
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Yes, I thought of that. But the red perch does not fit in the rubber doughnut, unless I machine the silver insert in the red perch (removable) to be able to insert in the doughnut. Something to consider.
Dr.Jeff
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I saw that silver part and had the same thought - it may not fit. I made a set of coilovers from some Koni struts and used a similar top spring perch that is cone shaped, but doesn't have the silver thing. Mine happens to fit nicely into the stock rubber top mounts. So there's where I got the idea for yours. Either way I like that they use the rubber top mount. It will offer a much nicer ride and comfort for a street car.
I don't mind using the lower mounts slotted holes for camber adjustment. The Konis, the VAS coilovers, and others I have all do it that way and it works fine. I think camber top plates are only needed if you want to make a big camber adjustment. Which to me would be a track only car. But I know it can be different for others.
Regarding the AVO units. How does the overall length (end to end), main body length, and travel (stroke) compare to the stock struts?
Alain - The Red Scorpion
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Dr.Jeff
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Although the AVO appears to be shorter. If the lower mounts were equally aligned, the top of the main rod looks like it would be at least an inch shorter? That would be a good thing, as the X sits way too high in stock trim. And lowering the coilover by moving the lower spring perch down lessens the available travel by the same amount. The better answer is to have a shorter overall length.
That is one of the issues with the VAS coilovers, they are actually longer than stock struts and make the car sit way too high. And the lower mounts are not adjustable (same as the AVO). Even if the VAS had adjustable lower mounts it would not help because the bottom of the body already sits as far down as it could go without contacting other components...they are just way too long. So the travel is severely compromised by the time you adjust the ride height and they bottom out.
There are lots of little factors that will make a specific coilover design work properly. Sadly with so few choices on the market for the X, most of them are not ideal.
Alain - The Red Scorpion
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The photo makes the AVO appear shorter. It is not. For road use, I will attempt to place the adjustable spring perch so that approximately half the shaft length is apparent to allow equal travel both ways. Now I need to find proper bump stops since not included in AVO kit. By the way, for front camber adjustment, I have received the adjusable camber bolts from Eurosport : https://www.eurosport-uk.net/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_11&products_id=600
Alain - The Red Scorpion
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AVO struts are on the car. Not able to try them out with snow still on the ground. As a reference for car height (should have measured before removing original struts!), what is "normal" front and rear height with standard 13 in wheels and 185 60 tires?
