Ultimate Street suspension guide

[fudge]

Thanks again! You are right and I am going to stop being a rebel and just buy the things that were specified for convenience in the guide

I'm surprised at how expensive 2001 Kia Rio front strut mounts have become since last year!

[Advancedynamix]

No, you want the threaded body coilovers that Hottuning sells. They are basically the same price as those standard non adjustable shocks your looking at. The shocks your looking at are essentially around 100 bucks a piece shipped. The Hot tuning coilovers are 200 for the pair, shipped. You aren't saving any money by looking for them on rockauto, your just finding the wrong shocks. You may need to email hottuning for the MK3 Caddy front coilovers. They don't always have them up on eBay because we didn't get that vehicle here in the U.S.

[fudge]

Dang I did not know that! Thanks for the info, seems like I am better off buying coilovers for the front even though I will be replacing the springs. In the post above you said, "According to Hot Tuning, they are the same part as the MK3 Golf front coilovers" so I found these VW golf mk3 front coilovers - $77.79: http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo....282036&jsn=449
Will those work? I could not find caddy coilovers though I did not look very hard. Also there are "economy" coilovers, are those something to consider being $25 cheaper? Here's a link - $54.89: http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo....=1002&jsn=1002

After doing all that typing and looking I found golf mk2 front coilovers on Amazon - $96.88: https://www.amazon.com/Gabriel-G5700.../dp/B005XH6PEK

Out of these I'm thinking best bet is mk2 coilovers from amazon.

[Advancedynamix]

You'll still need to get sleeves/adjusters for the front, and top spring hats. Then you'll need to cut off the existing spring perch. After all that, plus shipping on those shocks and you'll be within 50 bucks of the threaded body shocks. The quality and servicablity (the eBay coilovers can be rebuilt) of the threaded body coilovers is worth the extra 50 bucks. Not to mention you will have more adjustable travel with the threaded body shocks.

[fudge]

Hey I've been looking into upgrading my suspension lately. I too did not want to buy the full coilover set when I was only going to be using half of it. I just wanted to post two cheaper alternatives while basically doing the same thing.

VW mk2 front strut - $43.79: http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo....sn=376&jsn=376
VW mk1 rear strut - $31.79: http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo....503018&jsn=238

Rock Auto also has 2001 kia rio front strut mounts and the VW bumb stops

The only things I could not find better deals on were both springs and the coilover kit. If someone knows of better deals you should let me know, I'm a penny pincher!

[nitrofarm]

^ 10-4 I like the fact that I'm only buying the fronts only.

[Advancedynamix]

Make sure it's mk3 caddy. VW only imported the MK1 Caddy to the U.S., but those won't fit a Festiva. So you're buying front coilovers for a vehicle that wasn't imported into this country. MK3 VW Caddy (that's the Golf Pickup truck.)
Chances are pretty good that the valving is the same, since they probably use the same inserts in all these coilovers. There was 1 member who used these and complained that they were riding on the bump stops at the ride height that he wanted, but not much else has been said. According to Hot Tuning, they are the same part as the MK3 Golf front coilovers. I have not ordered them this way myself, so I'm only giving a colaberative of second hand info.

[mikemounlio]

Is Charlie recommending the Caddy Struts up front rather than the previously highlighted Mk2 vw coilovers?

I think others have started to use the caddy struts because they came in a kit with just the front. They have said the caddy struts work just fine. I am not sure if the valving is the same tho. It might be different.

[nitrofarm]

Is Charlie recommending the Caddy Struts up front rather than the previously highlighted Mk2 vw coilovers?

[shorestiva]

I'm using sketchup because it's free fiddy free lol. It's my first time using any kind of cad software so I'm learning as I go.

You need a guinea pig? I have a aspire beam, a festiva beam and a alignment rack.

[Advancedynamix]

Those printed parts should be strong enough to test fit.

[skeeters_keeper]

Awww you suck wanw I've been working all weekend on that lol. Is that for a aspire beam or a festiva beam?

Both. The upper slots are wide enough to accommodate both Festiva and Aspire bolt patterns. The real question in my mind is if the adjustment range will be OK for both Festiva and Aspire beams, at a "normal" lowered to ~21" fender height, the beams make different angles and probably different toe/camber settings.

I use Sketchup at home for modeling simple stuff to be 3D printed, but it's really a pain to work with. The solidworks model probably took me 30minutes and is much easier to edit the base sketch etc than in sketchup.

Oh yea, I printed some prototypes out too... great minds, right? helps that I have a 3D printer on my desk at work.
Aspire:


Festiva:

[Advancedynamix]

You looking for something like this Shore?



Just need to talk them into buying another 4axis capable mill... been swamped with parts the past 6+ months and haven't got the time in to knock some out.

Awesome stuff here guys! I'm sick of making these for my cars. They take me a long time to set up. I'd much rather buy them.

[shorestiva]

As in they deform too much to reuse?

You have to trim them to fit the studs and stay in the correct place. So if you don't get it right in the first try you have to pull it back out and trim it again then it won't stay centered where you want it. Our alignment machine at work will tell you where to trim it and position it but that is only accurate if you're at stock ride height.

[shorestiva]

Awww you suck wanw I've been working all weekend on that lol. Is that for a aspire beam or a festiva beam?

This is for a aspire beam. I was going to have my cousin take it into his college library and print it out. (3d printers are free for student use lol) I want to make sure my dimensions are correct,
[IMG]Screenshot (3) by Joseph King, on Flickr[/IMG]