Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Coil-over questions

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Coil-over questions

    Okay, so FamiliaGT and I worked on my GT this weekend (thanks FamiliaGT) and we got around to swapping out my Intrax springs and Tokiko gas struts and installing some coil-overs. I got them from a forum member (mazda323performance.com) and was pleased but they did not come with any instructions and some of the parts were packaged confusingly. So, we weren't sure which cap was supposed to go on the front set-up and which caps were suposed to go on the rear. I'm going to try to post or attach a link of a pic. If any of you have some experience with coil-overs, would you be so kind as to let me know if we did it right or wrong? Thanks.



    Also, only one washer was shipped. I'm gonna guess that one was lost if there was supposed to be one on each fron or back or maybe 3 were lost? We couldn't really tell where they were supposed to go. We ran out of time because i had to go to a special dinner, so we assembled my car without the washers. The suspension does make noise like there's something loose or that there's play somewhere but I can't pinpoint it. I'm wondering if it's because of the lack of washers. Do any of you who have coil-overs know anything about the washers? How many should there be and where do they go?

    The car drives well for the most parts except for the loose rattle which I'd like to figure out and I need to get the car re-aligned. Can't wait until it's all taken care of.

    Any help is greatly appreciated.
    Last edited by LN323; 03-09-2009, 12:22 AM.

    #2
    The one on the left is for the front and the right one is for the rear

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by mx-3_4evr View Post
      The one on the left is for the front and the right one is for the rear

      Crap..... That's what I was afraid of. Okay, it looks like I'm going to have to take everything apart unless someone knows of an easier way?

      Comment


        #4
        Hey larry, Try doing what we did when we swapped them out before. Leave the strut mount bolted in the car, and unbolt the actual shock shaft from the mount and drop it down far enough to swap out the caps. You can do this with the rears as well, but you have to know what your feeling for, but it should still be accesable. Should only take you about an hour to do all four would be my guess.
        Mazda
        1988 Black 323 GT
        DOHC 16 VALVE TURBO

        2013 Velocity Red Mica Mazdaspeed3

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by FamiliaGT View Post
          Hey larry, Try doing what we did when we swapped them out before. Leave the strut mount bolted in the car, and unbolt the actual shock shaft from the mount and drop it down far enough to swap out the caps. You can do this with the rears as well, but you have to know what your feeling for, but it should still be accesable. Should only take you about an hour to do all four would be my guess.
          Yeah, I might give that a try, but we got a couple of inches of snow this afternoon and it's supposed to drop down to 24 degrees tonight. Crazy. when the weather turns better I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, I'm criving the RAV-4. Woot!

          Comment


            #6
            So, if I understand you correctly, then here's what I'm going to try to do this weekend.

            1. Open hood and trunk lid.
            2. Drink a beer.
            3. Loosen (maybe even totally take off) the nylon nut using my cool socket
            wrench and appropriate allen wrench.
            4. Jack up car slightly and loosen the lugnuts on both the front and rear
            wheels.
            5. Drink another beer.
            6. Jack car up way higher and pull both front and rear wheels off.
            7. Go leak the lizard after drinking two beers.
            8. Pull the center rod down in order to access the caps.
            9. Swap caps (front to back and back to front).
            10. Go in the house and take a nap and warm up.
            11. Add two washers beneath the strut assembly as I push the center rod of
            the strut back through the hole to see if that doens't get rid of the rattle.
            12. Add two more washers on top of strut assembly to see if that also helps get rid of the rattle.
            13. Retighten the nylon nut with handy-dandy socket wrench and allen wrench.
            14. Get car off jacks.
            15. Jack car back up and put wheels on.
            16. Finish the job anyway I can before the sun goes down on me.
            Last edited by LN323; 03-11-2009, 12:03 AM.

            Comment


              #7
              i dont think you will have to take the wheels off, as they drop down far enough. Just jack car up, one side at a time, and unbolt the shafts from the mounts. Drop shock shafts just far enough to take off the caps. Swap, add washers as desired, then bolt back on. Simple as that.
              Mazda
              1988 Black 323 GT
              DOHC 16 VALVE TURBO

              2013 Velocity Red Mica Mazdaspeed3

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by FamiliaGT View Post
                i dont think you will have to take the wheels off, as they drop down far enough. Just jack car up, one side at a time, and unbolt the shafts from the mounts. Drop shock shafts just far enough to take off the caps. Swap, add washers as desired, then bolt back on. Simple as that.
                If that's the case, does that mean I can change steps 4 and 6 to drink more beer?

                Hey, if I'm going to put the Motegi's on, I think I may need to do those steps.....

                Comment


                  #9
                  Okay. Things are getting better, but not complete. Now a rubber seal seems to be loosening up and coming out of the top of one of the rear struts. Damn... The rear struts also aren't very strong. My macheanic said he could push and pull the center rod fairly easily and didn't think I would be able to corner with them very well. The seller thought they could be recharged. Anybody know anything about this?

                  Got them adjusted to the height that I like. Tomorrow, I'll go to get it re-aligned. I'll see what the mechanics at Les Schwab says about the struts. My bet is that they will say that they need replacing (so that they can sell me some different ones).

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Okay, so my car drives tons better since I took it into the shop and had it re-aligned. However, the round rubber gasket-like rings have sort of oozed out of the top of the rear struts and I'm not sure what they are, what they are for or exactly what to do about them. Any of you ever have experience with this kind of thing? Please let me know.

                    Thanks.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      got any pics lars?
                      No car! I soldz it. Now I have a truck. I like it, but apparently it has a hard time keeping up with a slightly modified 4WD protege with half the hp. Neat.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by almighty4wd View Post
                        got any pics lars?
                        Good idea. I'll work on that. Going through Protege withdrawals yet?

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Theres these funky rubber rings, pretty thick that where used on the stock spring setup, but im pretty sure I didnt put those in when we swapped the coilovers. Are they big rubbers? Pics would help.
                          Everything working out the way it should though?
                          Mazda
                          1988 Black 323 GT
                          DOHC 16 VALVE TURBO

                          2013 Velocity Red Mica Mazdaspeed3

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by LN323 View Post
                            Good idea. I'll work on that. Going through Protege withdrawals yet?
                            After we got it running and cleaned up, we took it for a break-in drive. Good god that was awesome. It wasn't punchy like the truck is, but the power was smooth and fast. Then the next day we took it up Hyalite Canyon, a most badass mountain road with more curves than straights. Watching Sarge rally it out, was awesome. Made me remember how awesome it is to race that thing.

                            I will miss it. But 245ft-lbs and 190hp lessen the pain.
                            No car! I soldz it. Now I have a truck. I like it, but apparently it has a hard time keeping up with a slightly modified 4WD protege with half the hp. Neat.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Pfft.... Pansy...



























                              :D
                              Mazda
                              1988 Black 323 GT
                              DOHC 16 VALVE TURBO

                              2013 Velocity Red Mica Mazdaspeed3

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X