Ke30 Front Suspension/coilovers

[shiryo]

Hello Gentlemen.

 

Have a few questions regarding the suspension on my little ke30.

I have an s13 and every suspension component in that thing, however when it comes to the 'Rolla - I'm clueless.

Foreign ground.

 

It's time for an upgrade - I want the car lower, and several of the stock items are perished so why not go all out.

 

Have my eye on these products:

 

https://technotoytun...com/toyota/ke30

 

Now whilst the lower control arms and tension rods are straight forward, I'm confused about the coilover setup.

 

I can only gather the camber plates will bolt to the existing strut top.

My question is - what's the best way of utilising the GroundControl kit?

 

I'm going to need to purchase new shocks as it is anyway due to mine being old and tired.

I've read people saying you need to shorten the shocks [either corona etc]

Can I just use the ke30 shocks or no?

Is there a shorter stroke shock on the market available instead of hacking away?

Suggested spring rate? 4kg? 6kg? [i run 6kg in the s13 and that's unfriendly to the spine at times]

 

Also, I can't weld.

 

Any other help appreciated.

Thanks In advance.

Josh

Edited May 2, 2013 by shiryo

[corollaart]

I wouldnt waste my money converting ke30 struts to coil over .

 

Better off converting to xt 130 struts and get a free brake up grade.

 

ke3# struts are weak s pi## wil bend like knitting needles with spirited driving.

 

just my 2c

[shiryo]

Won't be doing any spirited driving, it's my daily grocery getter. I just want the bastard low down and dirty.

[shiryo]

So obviously xt130 struts are a direct bolt on as far as shock/strut is concerned.

Can you get coilover sleeve kits for these?

The reason I'd like to not go that route is I'd then have to upgrade the brake setup, and thus the snowball effectively takes shape.

If you can retain the ke30 brake arrangement on the 130 struts that'd be good however I don't see that being possible?

 

Mind you I'd like to keep things relatively on a budget as all my money goes towards my s13.

[corollaart]

To convert xt 130 to coil over you will need steering arms ,strut ,coil over kit ,spring .So theres maybe 500 dollars .

 

Then you will more than likely have to replace the insert theres another 200.

 

As you can see theres a pattern taking shape here.

 

Go to the sponsors section and buy some lowered coils to suit your ke30 struts.

 

Seems to be the cheapest way out.

 

rob

[B.L.Z.BUB]

don't get the T3 coil over sleeves. They are a slip on ally thread with a weld on plate.

Get an Otomoto kit to suit the KE30 struts, shorten the struts and get early AW11 MR2 shocks which are about 50mm shorter than stock.

Either way you will need to find someone who can weld it for you.

[shiryo]

Thanks for the help guys, looking into it now.

[bruce]

don't get the T3 coil over sleeves. They are a slip on ally thread with a weld on plate.

Get an Otomoto kitto suit the KE30 struts, shorten the struts and get early AW11 MR2 shocks which are about 50mm shorter than stock.

Either way you will need to find someone who can weld it for you.

 

What's the advantage of the otomoto kit over the T3 kit? Worth the $80 extra?

I can see there are a few more parts that comes with the otomoto kit. So the threaded sleave part in the T3 kit is aluminum, so it's not easily welded to the steel strut housing. It just slips over the strut and rests on a welded perch, is this what you meant?

 

http://www.otomoto.com.au/p/4116534/hsd-48mm-sleeve-kit.html

 

https://technotoytuning.com/toyota/ke30/ground-control-front-coilover-kit-ke30-corolla

 

Discussion on the T3 kit:

 

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/forums/showthread.php/21251-T3-Weld-on-Coilover-Kit-Thoughts

[ke70dave]

I would have thought you want to make srue the threaded bit fits pretty perfect on the shock tube, is directly welded to the shock tube.

 

No screws, no aluminium thread, no steel things.

 

I think i had the otomoto kit on my ke70 (ae86 struts, bought 2nd hand), steel thread directly welded to a shock tube with aluminium spring bases and locking spinning things. so long as the welds are good (you wanna make sure they are proper good, they are holding up your spring) i can't see any dramas with this idea.

 

Anything to do with grub screws, no thanks.

 

Just make sure you keep the thread a little bit lubricated, as the alumnium is softer than the steel after all so it can jam, and the steel will rust and can rust the aluminium things on. I was under the car so often that my greasy hands were enough...but a bit of WD40 every few weeks will keep them happy. I had a locking collar get proper rusted stuck on my s15 coilover, i pretty much had it in a vice with a 1m pipe wrench to turn it. Avoid this with wd40!

 

How low do you want it?

[shiryo]

Hmmm thanks for the good information regarding the T3 gear.

I don't like the sounds of what you've mentioned and have read similar on the 86 forums.

 

The HSD's seem a viable and better alternative for not much extra money spent, and I can still run the t3 camber plates etc from T3 with them.

Problem solved.

 

What size sleeve kit suits the stock ke30 strut? 48mm?

 

KE70DAVE:

 

Probably want the whole car dropped 3-4inches from standard OEM height.

It's close to 2inches lower than stock at the moment and still looks like a monster truck.

 

Cheers

Edited May 7, 2013 by shiryo

[B.L.Z.BUB]

I have T3 everything apart from HSD coilovers. T3 is good value, just the coilover kits are a bit poo.

[shiryo]

Being that ae86 struts/coilovers are a direct bolt in for the ke30 [aside from top hat] it makes more sense to just get t3 to make you a set of ae86 coilovers with the ke30 top camber plate hat.

Obviously brakes will need upgrading accordingly, however seeing as the stock ke30 brake setup is an essential death trap perhaps it's not a bad idea.