Advanced Suspension Mods

[moz]

I'm thinking your problem lies in your lca's being too short, as well as the Rio struts being too high.
Have you tried aspire lca's?
Are you purposely trying to lift the car?

I hope I'm not missing the point here.

[Huli]

I am using rio knuckles with festy lca's and egt tie rod ends. Works great

[Die-Laughing]

Ok so, I'm going to drill & tap my sleeve nuts for set screws tomorrow because I'm only running 1 nut per corner. No problem there but, when I machine the top hats.. Regarding the center hole for the shock shaft, is it just a clearance hole or ??
I'm thinking that it needs to fit around the threads but, no slide down the shock shaft. Is that correct or does it not matter? I plan to make it work without modifying the shock shaft so, I'm trying to figure out the best way to go about this.

Advanedynamix, I know you said to make the rear hat 1.5" thick from the spring mounting surface to the bushing mounting surface to get it in the correct travel range. Any tips for the front? I'm not entirely sure what it all looks like so, I'm going to figure it out as I go. Hopefully I can get it buttoned up tomorrow. I'll take pictures & whatnot. Any help is appreciated.

Just trying to get a head start before I start tearing into it.

[Advancedynamix]

That was 1.5" for the VW mk1 shocks, the Festiva KYB hats can be flat. On my hats for the Festiva shocks I drill the center hole to .390" id (25/64) and counter bore the hole .200" deep by .512" I.d. for a register for the sleeve that is friction welded to the KYB shaft ( stock application uses this register to retain the bump stop and dust boot).
Also, you'll want the spring register diameter ( the part that rests inside the spring and keeps it centered) too be 1.900". The springs are actually a larger I.d. than the specified 1 7/8" (1.875).

[Advancedynamix]

Also, the lip that is left over with the .390 id should be .200" thick. I wouldn't make it thicker or it will change the squish too much on the rear mount bushings.

[moz]

I've got some dummies made up out of teflon.
I'm going to try these out as we use this type of Teflon on various high impact applications in our factory and it withstands the stress better than mild steel.

What do you think charlie?

Is it suitable in your view?

[moz]

To fit, I've used a 10mm (3/8" ) thick rubber disc directly on top of that top hat and removed the stock rubber that goes under the shock tower. Just to have even weight distribution.

I'm in unchartered territory here (as far as my own experience goes). Not sure how well this will work.

[Movin]

I had to put a steel backer between the teflon and the rubber, the spring will warp the heck out of the teflon. If you are not using the high settings consider a wrap of some sort to prevent spring rattle on the adjuster.

[greywolf200]

I wonder if this might be something those of us without Dave's experience could use...

http://www.quicktrickalignment.com/

[sketchman]

Watched a mighty car mods video the other day and it made me think of this. OP needs to get "Suspension Yoda" under his name.

[moz]

Hahaha... how funny was that episode??!!
The guy somewhat resembles Yoda with that cape on.
Turbo Yoda.... lol

[sketchman]

Yeah, those guys are awesome. Just watched Pt 3 this morning.

[Advancedynamix]

Moz,

That Teflon will probably work, but I would retain the factory shock bushings (I use miata bushings in my car). This is because the upper shock mount is a pivot point, and it must remain that way or you'll have bending and binding issues with your shocks. As the rear suspension moves throughout it's range, the shock attitude changes. You may want to back the Teflon up with some thick fender washers like movin suggested. Teflon is a very resilient material, but it will distort more than steel.

[Bert]

Poor mans report: In doing my first Aspire swap I also put on Rio tops hats 2 1/2 years ago. This did require some fussing with nylon bushings, wrapped sheet metal sleeves, adapted dock washers and metal spacers in order to get the Aspire shocks to ride on the bearing surfaces of the Rio hats. That 'ease of steering' modification was wonderful but at the very same time I made the mistake of installing FMS 'sport' springs (car then sat way too low for me) and then had to stack a bunch of custom-reamed washers on top of the shock in order to get at least 1/2" more height out of the springs. Two salty winters have passed and I am pleased to report that all those Jerry-rigged parts held up perfectly. But now I'm now riding on stock Aspire springs (with one coil cut off) and there are no more stacked washers etc and the car rides nice again.

[moz]

Moz,

That Teflon will probably work, but I would retain the factory shock bushings (I use miata bushings in my car). This is because the upper shock mount is a pivot point, and it must remain that way or you'll have bending and binding issues with your shocks. As the rear suspension moves throughout it's range, the shock attitude changes. You may want to back the Teflon up with some thick fender washers like movin suggested. Teflon is a very resilient material, but it will distort more than steel.

Roger that.
I'll ask the guys if they can make the same out of metal as adding washers will limit the amount of thread protruding up top.

How are the miata bushings different? Rubber density or geometry?

I'll start off with stock aspire ones and take it from there.

I'm working on the engine conversion atm (very slowly as I have my fingers in too many pies) but as soon as I've got the conversion done, I'll re do the rears and install the front.

I have everything but the front brakes. I bought 01 Kia Rio ones thinking they were the same as the auto aspire ones. Turns out not to be the case.