Now that I'm on my uni break I can get some money which will all be poured into my little blue Celica. The first things I'd like to sort out is the suspension, rust (living next to a panel beater helps here) and then new engine. and I have a few questions on these.
Suspension - the current situation is that it is way too bouncy and harsh and I have bump steer. The suspension is standard apart from lowered king's springs and a .5 degrees of pos camber courtesy of a bent strut.
Now ideally I am going to change over the struts from a rt132 corona to have slightly better brakes. Now a couple of questions about this setup...
1. These come with a solid disc and twin piston callipers correct?
2. The come from the 5 door lift back corona with twin square headlights of about 1980 vintage correct?
3. As far as I have been told they bolt up to the RA23 knuckles and you can retain the existing spring and shock from the Celica strut?
4. Can I reuse the Celica wheel bearings in the corona strut? Only reason I'm asking is because the bearings are only 10000 km old.
5. Does the strut alter the geometry of the car in any way i.e. do I need the lower arm from the corona or something?
Because I have lowered springs on a standard car I have quickly found out what bump steer was and I have rung a few places and have been told that roll centre adjusters (RCA's) will eliminate most of my problems because it will bring the radius rod and lower control arm back to factory position. Now for the questions...
6. I have been told that because I have lowered my car by 30mm (lower kings) I need a 30mm thick RCA. I have also been told that because my springs have settled a further 5-7mm I ideally need 35mm RCA's. Does it matter that much? I can't seem to find any RCA's that are 30mm anyway they are all 35mm.
7. I have read on the forum that the AE86 sprinter has the same knuckle pattern and will fit onto the Celica/corona strut with no problems. Can anyone confirm?
8. ringing around I have found that the AE86 items cost in excess of $250!!! I find this a tad expensive for machined alloy. My neighbour who works in arc? radiators can machine some down for me as long as I provide a pattern. He has also told me that it would only cost about $20-40 in materials only because 35mm alloy isn't cheap. Now could I trace out a pattern from some steering knuckles or is it more involved than that? or can someone tell me a place to get some for around the 100-150 mark?
Suspension bushings although everything seems to be replaced as needed by the old lady I'm sure it cant hurt to put new ones in just in case.
9. Is it worth putting in urethane (spelling) bushings in the car as I have heard they make the car more direct they also make the car stiffer which = more rattles on shit roads for me. I have also heard that they crack after a year or two of driving and have to be replaced. Is this true?
10. Are they hard to put in yourself? At a first glance they all look easy to change but they seem to be jammed in there good is it doable at home?
Now for the shocks.
11. How much difference will shocks make to the ride? At the moment the car seems overally stiff and fairly bouncy maybe the king springs are to stiff? Or would this be due to stuffed shocks?
12. I want a firm but forgiving ride as I live on Mt Tamborine (those who have come on the cruise know how shitty the roads are). would adjustable konis be a waste of time? I would only adjust them once when I put them in unless they were externally adjustable which I don't think they are. I have also heard about kyb from reading on these forums as a good budget shock. What are they like compared to the konis? This is keeping in mind that I will keep the king springs because I'm poor and they are perfectly good (i.e. almost new)
One last question about the rear of a car when lowered. I know that if lowered too much the transverse control rod can push the diff off centre but what about the other 4 links? Do you need to lower these to keep the original angles like on the front strut with RCA's or it doesn't matter that much.
Suspension in a RA23 LOTS of questions :)
Mon, 24 November 2003 06:08
