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Post by chooch on Jul 16, 2015 16:33:46 GMT -5
Hi,
I know that suspension upgrades are few and far between for these cars. Can you please post up what you consider the best upgrades and for year / model.
Thanks, Ewan
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Post by bizarro on Jul 16, 2015 19:26:28 GMT -5
Man, I am so ready to dig into my suspension, just reading the threads about sway bars.....
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Post by nipper on Jul 18, 2015 21:26:41 GMT -5
Replace all the rubber bits with new ones, as being over 20 years old they are tired.
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Post by chooch on Jul 20, 2015 2:00:37 GMT -5
Thanks,
I will probably replace the accessible rubber bushings.
I think I might be able to get a set of spax lowering springs, not had much luck sourcing any other suspension kits.
Ewan
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Post by bizarro on Jul 20, 2015 3:06:08 GMT -5
See, I'm now (after this while time) what's the best shocks/coils for an '88 haha
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Post by madmatt on Jul 22, 2015 18:07:35 GMT -5
define "best"...
you rock crawling, cone crushing, or picking up the kiddies from daycare?
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Post by southerner on Jul 23, 2015 18:25:43 GMT -5
hey madmatt how about a "tarmac obliterator" setup ?
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Post by chooch on Jul 24, 2015 1:53:06 GMT -5
Sorry i should have been more clear, personally I was referring to a road setup that makes the car safer and more predictable on corners. If you have other recommendations for other uses please share.
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Post by southerner on Jul 24, 2015 9:07:09 GMT -5
So, you would like a stiffer daily driver.. how old are your tires ? How long since the last alignment/balancing/rotation of your current tires ? personally iv'e changed them recently.. i got 4 Yokohama A539 in 175-60-13 (i had Pirelli P400 in 175-70-13) i reckon the Pirellis were pretty worn out but it became a different car altogether..
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Post by madmatt on Jul 27, 2015 1:51:53 GMT -5
Sorry i should have been more clear, personally I was referring to a road setup that makes the car safer and more predictable on corners. If you have other recommendations for other uses please share. Start with making sure the now 25 something year old rubber gooey stuff in the control arms is not falling out... Bushings. Make sure there is oil inside the dampers (struts), go to this thread on replacing fluid if you want a cheap fix (http://subarujusty.proboards.com/thread/255/justy-shocks). Otherwise, pick up some Bilstein HD inserts for a mk1 golf, and build your own suspension... Or you can lower it by cutting the springs, increasing the roll stiffness, but now not having a damper strong enough to control the spring and bounce down the road like every other Civic with a chop job For those that can wait... late next year I will probably tackle doing real suspension... ie part numbers for building inverted HD Bilstein inserts. But you'll have to wait.
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Post by chooch on Jul 27, 2015 4:12:05 GMT -5
Hi Madmatt,
I'd rather do things right, or the easy way depending on your opinion. I dont think anyone should be chopping springs and I'm no going to be drilling and tapping shocks. I'd rather replace the complete assembly and be done with it. But options are limited.... Do you know if the control arm and subframe bushes are still available as it seems there isn't much left for these little cars. The Golf MKI coilovers, is a good shout.
cheers, Ewan
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Post by madmatt on Jul 27, 2015 5:18:44 GMT -5
Chopping springs really isn't that bad IMO... but the point is the damper needs to be able to control the spring, and any increase in spring stiffness whether it be "real" lowering springs or chopped ones, means the damper may (not "will") be less effective depending on the road conditions. My Justy experience is limited to driving it on gravel... with big ruts and holes, and um... flying as in the avatar pic. I have 185 lb/inch springs up front and 225 lb/inch in the rear (high motion ratio...). With those springs I would say it was "slightly" underdamped with the stock dampers, and would "bounce" just a bit on big jumps, depending on the landing. Now with the heavier fluid it is better for big hits, it doesn't bounce back up in the air, but now the car bounces around too much on high frequency rough stuff like washouts... so I need a better control, from a bigger piston and better valving. I have the rears sorted, still working on the fronts. But I'm away from the car for a year, and won't touch it until next summer. So anything from me now is conjecture As for available bushings, probably depends on your location. I and others have gone to poly bushes for the increase in control, and I have the rear trailing links now as spherical joints. Dave went so far as to post all the measurements here subarujusty.proboards.com/thread/5287/rallyx-justy-revival and included part numbers. I got these: www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B004ALJVVY?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00 (as found here subarujusty.proboards.com/thread/5967/lower-control-arm-bushings ) and had to trim and install 1/2 bolts (drill out mounts)
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Post by chooch on Jul 29, 2015 7:19:01 GMT -5
Thanks for the informative post Matt.
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Post by sp0ngebob on Jul 30, 2015 15:18:09 GMT -5
on the street you can get custom wound springs from any of the major manufacturers. tell them top ID and OD, bottm ID/OD and then free and compressed length and what rate you want.
im not a fan of cutting springs. that lowers the spring rate. spring rate is how much load a spring can hold before it compresses a known amount. ex 500lb/in. it takes 500lbs to compress the spring 1 inch. 11kg/mm. 11 kilograms to compress it 1mm.
removing or deactivating coils decreases the spring rate overall.
Im not sure what suspension madmatt is running. what dampeners are you running up front?
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Post by madmatt on Jul 31, 2015 3:16:17 GMT -5
Cutting springs increases rate.
It's more complicated then this, but basically all coils compress equally under load so take a 500lb/inch rated spring, with 5 coils, add 500 lbs it will compress an inch, each coil will compress ~ 1/5", remove a coil and it will compress ~ 1/5 of an inch less as there are less coils to move. The spring rate is a function of the length of wire in the coil, where decreasing the length will INCREASE the rate. See here is the formula
k = Gd4/[8nD3]
Where k is the rate and n is the number of coils, ... the n, it's behind a division sign.
My dampers have been discussed ad nauseam here. They are stock dampers with heavy oil. They suck, but they work.
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Post by gearheadeh on Aug 6, 2015 14:05:45 GMT -5
Matt, as always, you post great info that is both informative and well sourced, thanks for all of the help around here
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Post by sp0ngebob on Aug 6, 2015 15:26:33 GMT -5
i guess that does make sense that as you go to 0 the rate becomes infinite. huh. wonder what wrong formula i used last time i did this math.
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Post by southerner on Jul 6, 2016 15:42:00 GMT -5
For those that can wait... late next year I will probably tackle doing real suspension... ie part numbers for building inverted HD Bilstein inserts. But you'll have to wait. Mister ! mister ! what ever happened with this ? a year has almost passed !.. You can say i'm a little anxious.. lol
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Post by chooch on Jul 7, 2016 16:41:29 GMT -5
Well since I couldn't get anything aftermarket, I have ordered all new suspension(well what's still available ). Hopefully fit it in the next few weeks... when final deliveries arrive...
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Post by dez on Jul 8, 2016 21:19:27 GMT -5
Anyone try to see if any Koni/KYB cut a strut or inserts would work on the justy? Im half tempted just to refill with oil for some kind of dampening, Right now Its like im driving a trampoline LOL
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