Ae86 Coilover Dampers

[kurts1]

hi guys...

 

I am currently doing a coilover conversion for my ae86 struts which are going into my ke70 wagon...

 

my question is what dampers do i need? i have been looking around a few forums and have noticed that the kyb agx dampers have been mentioned a few time... would these do the job ? i have had a search round ebay and found some for the front of a mr2... will these do the job?

 

Heres a link to them:http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-Front-KYB-AGX-Adjustable-Shocks-1990-1995-Toyota-MR2-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem5d2926c377QQitemZ400122364791QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_668wt_883

 

 

Are these going to be a shorter stroke shock compared to my standard dampers in the struts?

 

 

I'm new to this and just starting to understand everything...

 

any help will be appreciated

 

thanks

[silverra23]

I reckon you should ask your question in the technical thread.

 

KYB do an insert that works well, and yes I have read numerous times an MR2 insert will give you less travel. However I understood this to be for the *T13* strut housing... you need to check what diameter the AE86 strut tube is internally, and whether that matches up with the inserts you are looking at.

[ke70dave]

i can't get to that ebay link at work.

 

but i have MR2 sw20 rears in the front of my car, with ae86 struts.

 

you need to chop off about 40mm (or maybe 60mm) of the strut tube. and weld it back on. and use a coilover kit thing to get the threads etc.

 

jump on the google machine, and find out the body lengths of standard ae86 shocks, and also those MR2 shocks. as well as the compressed and extended lengths.

 

then you will know what your dealing with.

[Raven]

i can't get to that ebay link at work.

 

but i have MR2 sw20 rears in the front of my car, with ae86 struts.

 

you need to chop off about 40mm (or maybe 60mm) of the strut tube. and weld it back on. and use a coilover kit thing to get the threads etc.

 

jump on the google machine, and find out the body lengths of standard ae86 shocks, and also those MR2 shocks. as well as the compressed and extended lengths.

 

then you will know what your dealing with.

 

If you do that, the car becomes slammed with not much height adjustment.

 

I suggest fitting a spacer in the bottom of the strut tube :)

[Taz_Rx]

If you do that, the car becomes slammed with not much height adjustment.

 

I suggest fitting a spacer in the bottom of the strut tube :)

 

 

.....so you're springs aren't captive!?

[Raven]

If its a sleeve kit, it would be captive as they would be height adjustable, correct?

 

I know people that have shortened the strut tube and the car ends up slammed with no way to raise it if need be.

 

So, you use the MR2 cartridge and instead of shortening the strut tube so it seats in the base of the strut tube, you fit a whatever size spacer in the bottom of the tube that you were going to have to shorten the strut tube by to get the same effect, thus giving you a decent ride height adjustment that 'can' be legal if required.

 

If it were a track car, I wouldn't even bother suggesting it, but I've seen it done to an AE86, using the exact same parts over 5 years ago and the tyres were tucked right up under the guards.

[Taz_Rx]

Most people lower their cars by the 4-6cm dave mentioned. If you had compressed or cut springs (as we all know kings superlows are far from that) with a spacer below the shock the the springs won't be captive. Move that spacer to in between the top of the shock and the top of the strut tube and it'l pull the shock down, capturing the springs. Its the same deal with a coilover sleeve kit. You basically cut down the strut tube to suit the shock, then mount the coilover sleve in a position that suit this. You could do what you're suggesting with the spacer and not cut down the strut tube, but then you'd end up at stock height.

[ke70dave]

edit: i didnt see taz's post, i took to long to write...i may have doubled up on what he said.

 

well mine is fine

 

I'm using those MR2 shocks have the following stats:

 

KYB Sw20 Mr2 back shocks are: Body L 360mm , Comp L 370mm , Extd L 542mm

 

standard 86 shock:

 

AE86 Body length: 402mm Extended length: 604mm

 

now i bought the struts already cut (to suit AE92 shocks), i just needed to put maybe 10mm spacer under my shock to get the gland nut to hold the shock in nice and tight.

 

the car is about as low as it is in my signature (around 130mm at the jacking seams), and when i jack up the car the wheels fall away from the car about 10cm or so. and there is probably about the same length of compressoin (maybe a little differnet, since stroke is ~170mm on the MR2 shocks)

 

i can make the car about another 50mm or so higher before the shock would be out of required range.

 

if you run short stroke shocks, and you don't shorten the strut AND you run the car fairly low, you run the risk of "bottoming out" your shocks. which you don't want to do.

 

the main reason for the shorter body and short stroke shocks, is so that when you lower the car the static position of the shock is about half way on its stroke. if you don't shorten the strut the static position will be closer to full bump on the shock and as mentioned previously will bottom out your shock.

 

it also depends on where abouts you weld on the thread for the coilover business, mine unfortunately have been welded on a bit low, but its still easy enough to get the car to a legal height, in fact its legal where it is now...just.

 

it all comes down to how high you want the car to be. so to the OP, pick a height of your car (say 60mm lower than standard). find a bunch of different shock strokes, pick one that puts the shock in the middle of its stroke at static height, then cut/don't cut your strut tube to suit, or add spaces if required.

Edited October 29, 2010 by ke70dave