Coilovers and mounts, yes yes I know but hear me out
- Thread starter Doat
- Start date
IF your not looking for the track performance then why not just go with lowering springs and replacement struts? I know you said you want to lower the car but i have stock springs and KYB struts and the car rides great.
IF you went with mild lowering springs and a good quality strut i think you would satisfy your drop and ride quality requirements without spending a ton of money.
IF you went with mild lowering springs and a good quality strut i think you would satisfy your drop and ride quality requirements without spending a ton of money.
I didn't say I want to lower the car with stock springs. I want coilovers so I can set to the height I want and be able to adjust it for track when I go. Most springs and shock combos I've seen the height is a bit too low for my taste.
I think something that should be noted with coilovers is that you need I have them set up right to have them ride the way you want. Adjustability is only as good as how it is tuned.
For instance, standalone vs piggy back. If your looking for a mild power increase, then piggy back would best the simplest cost effective way to that goal. You could get more performance from a full on standalone but that entails lots of tuning to get the same quality/smoothness of drive as the factory computer can give because the manufacturer put 100's of hours into its setup/tune. Same goes for suspension. It can be done, but it's much more work. Also a "comfortable ride" is something that's extremely relative to the individual person.
Depending on how involved you want to get into the setup and adjustment of the suspension is how adjustable of a suspension you should get. If your more concerned with driving it then cutting tenths off lap times I'd stick with a good quality strut. But if your extremely particular about having the exact height you want then coil overs is your only option.
Just food for thought.
As far as control arms and such, stock is fine unless you run out of adjustment when trying to dial in an alignment. Then the custom arms that are adjustable will allow more adjustment so you can properly dial it in. The arms run around $200 per pair. The rear has three lower pairs. Kinda pricy.
For bushings, I have the front and rear energy suspension kit in my car. They come with a lube. I believe it's called "gorilla snot". They've been in my car for a few years now and I have no squeeks or noises. Before you buy the kit you may want to see if your alignment eccentric bolts are corroded/rusted solid to the inner bushing sleeves. If they are the origional bolts will need to be cut and calling it a PITA is a HUGE understatement. Took me 2+ days, around 5-8 sawzall blades and around 6 4.5" cutting discs to get everything apart. IIRC to replace all the camber bolts that you cut out is around $150-200.
The suspension on these cars is old and crusty unless you get real lucky. Make sure you don't need the car for a couple days before taking it on.
For instance, standalone vs piggy back. If your looking for a mild power increase, then piggy back would best the simplest cost effective way to that goal. You could get more performance from a full on standalone but that entails lots of tuning to get the same quality/smoothness of drive as the factory computer can give because the manufacturer put 100's of hours into its setup/tune. Same goes for suspension. It can be done, but it's much more work. Also a "comfortable ride" is something that's extremely relative to the individual person.
Depending on how involved you want to get into the setup and adjustment of the suspension is how adjustable of a suspension you should get. If your more concerned with driving it then cutting tenths off lap times I'd stick with a good quality strut. But if your extremely particular about having the exact height you want then coil overs is your only option.
Just food for thought.
As far as control arms and such, stock is fine unless you run out of adjustment when trying to dial in an alignment. Then the custom arms that are adjustable will allow more adjustment so you can properly dial it in. The arms run around $200 per pair. The rear has three lower pairs. Kinda pricy.
For bushings, I have the front and rear energy suspension kit in my car. They come with a lube. I believe it's called "gorilla snot". They've been in my car for a few years now and I have no squeeks or noises. Before you buy the kit you may want to see if your alignment eccentric bolts are corroded/rusted solid to the inner bushing sleeves. If they are the origional bolts will need to be cut and calling it a PITA is a HUGE understatement. Took me 2+ days, around 5-8 sawzall blades and around 6 4.5" cutting discs to get everything apart. IIRC to replace all the camber bolts that you cut out is around $150-200.
The suspension on these cars is old and crusty unless you get real lucky. Make sure you don't need the car for a couple days before taking it on.
I have been under my car a lot lol I have not seen any rust anywhere even on bolts. Rust is not an issue where I am, TX, so I may be fine in that area as far as I know. To upgrade my suspension I need traction, camber, toe, and control arms right? Besides the coils of course. I rather get the control arms so I don't have any problems with alignment for when I want to go to the track and such and just nice to have that option of dialing in whatever I want. Also are rod ends better than bushings and if so is it just a matter of changing it on the arms and it bolts up?
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My car (luckily, I'm in NY) doesn't have much rust either, but it seems pretty Comon that the eccentric bolts fuse to the inner bushing sleeves. Can't tell by looking at it. If you loosen the nut and turn the bolt it will spring back to where it was if the bushing is fused because it's twisting the rubber.
The arms aren't really an upgrade unless you run out of alignment adjustment in the eccentric bolts. I'm on all stock arms at over 500hp. I may make my own camber and toe arms for the rear though so I can get my rear alignment better for launching. I couldn't quite get my rear camber to zero. But I was also on 28" drag radials then. Now I'm on 26" so I have to put it back up and see what I can get.
The only rear upper control arms I have ever seen are some ultra rare Japanese ones that are like a thousand bucks. Don't recall seeing any front aftermarket arms at all.
The arms aren't really an upgrade unless you run out of alignment adjustment in the eccentric bolts. I'm on all stock arms at over 500hp. I may make my own camber and toe arms for the rear though so I can get my rear alignment better for launching. I couldn't quite get my rear camber to zero. But I was also on 28" drag radials then. Now I'm on 26" so I have to put it back up and see what I can get.
The only rear upper control arms I have ever seen are some ultra rare Japanese ones that are like a thousand bucks. Don't recall seeing any front aftermarket arms at all.
What would you recommend on upgrading my suspension while keeping comfort in mind? I am just getting so much info from all sides and when I do the research some suggestions are not what I am looking for not from here mainly from outside of the forum from friends and such. I am at the point where I need a simple straight answer lol get the traction, camber, and toe arms with whatever bushings, etc. something like that.
There is no simple answer. You could spend a thousand bucks on "upgrades" and when all said and done not notice any difference.
You want good ride quality and a slight drop. And you said you don't have any real plans for the track.
With that in mind forget the arms. Get bushings and either springs/struts or coilovers. IMO springs and struts seems like it would be the way to go for you. Just put them in and enjoy. No tuning or setup required.
Changing the arms won't make the car handle better or ride better, especially if your not watching a stopwatch to look for a difference. The arms are for getting your alignment dialed in when you run out of adjustment with the stock eccentric bolts. The stock arms hold up fine.
First figure out what springs and shocks you want to get. Buy them and if you want, the bushing kit. Then get it aligned and make sure you have enough adjustability. If you do, then just drive it and see how you like it, and go from there.
If you can't get your rear camber or toe dialed in, then look into replacement arms. But get whatever spring/strut setup you decide on installed first so your not wasting your money.
You want good ride quality and a slight drop. And you said you don't have any real plans for the track.
With that in mind forget the arms. Get bushings and either springs/struts or coilovers. IMO springs and struts seems like it would be the way to go for you. Just put them in and enjoy. No tuning or setup required.
Changing the arms won't make the car handle better or ride better, especially if your not watching a stopwatch to look for a difference. The arms are for getting your alignment dialed in when you run out of adjustment with the stock eccentric bolts. The stock arms hold up fine.
First figure out what springs and shocks you want to get. Buy them and if you want, the bushing kit. Then get it aligned and make sure you have enough adjustability. If you do, then just drive it and see how you like it, and go from there.
If you can't get your rear camber or toe dialed in, then look into replacement arms. But get whatever spring/strut setup you decide on installed first so your not wasting your money.
How come you want to change the arms so badly? If you do energy bushings your stock arms will be essentially upgraded. There just metal arms and there not weak.
I just don't like the idea of using something that is 20 years old with a bunch of new stuff I know the arms are really strong but I rather just replace it with new stuff.
If you want it to stay as the grand touring luxo coupe that Toyota built, then keep the factory coilovers and just get the new ones from Tokiko.
Doat;2012154 said:
You may want to familiarize yourself with the concept of wear items and non-wear items. Freshening up a mk3 is a great idea. Replacing non-wear items for the hell of it is strange until you have a phenomenal car and a large excess of money.
Upgrade smart. Replace items that will provide some form of return on your investment. Go nuts with bushings, mounts, buy a new CPS and TPS from Toyota, replace the upholstery, etc...
Leave the non-wear items alone until you actually need new ones due to adjustment limitations or a factory defect. Or if you must get rid of money for some reason go donate to a charity or something.
I'll leave the stock control arms and just replace the bushings then I did more research and they have quite a lot of freedom for adjustments plenty for what I want to do, so I"ll just replace the bushings and the other stuff.
Does anyone know if Toyota has a bushings kit or do I have to get part numbers for each one if they even make the bushings anymore? I decided I want to go with oem bushings it would be better for what I want.
Doat;2013436 said:
Something like this? http://www.horsepowerfreaks.com/performanceparts/Toyota/Supra/Suspension/Bushings
Nosechunks;2011871 said:
KYB can even improve the ride of an old Fox body 5.0 Mustang. I am saying so from experience.