c10/c110 rear coilovers

[73skyline]

okay just wondering if anyone has made rear coilovers for their c10 or c110. im about buy a pair of coilovers sometime this week or next. im going to have to modify the mount a bit and extend but looks like a fairly simple job, i believe i found the right size coilover for my application, now all i need to do is buy the parts so i can get to work...anyway if anyone out there has already done this,.,,,your input would be gladly accepted. thanks

mikey

[khughes]

wow, that would be pretty cool... i would imagine it would be some pretty major work though wouldn't it? and what advantage would it give over the current setup(other than not having to buy lots of springs for different heights)?

[73skyline]

well shouldnt be to hard, i was looking at some c10 coilover setups and didnt look hard to figure, i measured my cars shock length with full load as it stands, it was about 12.5 inches at rest...and my tires are actually tucked under the flare at this ride height, i found a 13.1 inch coilover shock at rest and has 5 inches of stroke which would work great...i found also a 12 inch coilover shock with 12 way dampening but only had about 3" of shock travel. i feel the 13" shock would work better...im gonna buy the 300lb spring with the setup.

as for mounting, it isnt that bad...i can either change the eye hole style coilover shock to stud type or just run a u bracket and bolt it down on the stock mount and mount the coilover that way....either way should work...only thing to worry about the spring hitting the arm, since the coils are roughly 4" in diameter....i found some mount extenders i might buy to move the shock out more...as soon as i get all the parts ordered ill do a little right up when it gets done.

mikey

[Mat Big Hat]

wow! i'd like to know what you found out. i believe we had a thread on this a few months back, but nothing came of it. i myselfy haven't had time to look into rear coilovers, but i know that's be the way to go if the weird c110 rear lower shock mounts can take it

[73skyline]

ok so heres what i got so far, still doing more research and refining....so far im running 10" springs with 300LB rate...with this setup theres barely any room for height adjustability....at highest point the car is about a tight 2 finger gap from top of tire to bottom of flare....i bought some 2" stud extenders to give more adjustability when they arrive hopefully next week i should have a 90% complete coilover system....i will brace the lower shock mount to get more strength. also i bought some top bearing mounts that will hopefully clear the top mounting stud,,,,i had to mock up some washer and such for now to mount the shock for test fitment...so far the axles clear...as soon as everything is done ill post up the finish product....thanks

mikey

[khughes]

that is looking great!

[Mat Big Hat]

so, if i didn't want to go as low as you did, i'd need taller springs or shocks or both?

[73skyline]

well i bought a 2" stud extender to get a little more height we'll see how much more height ill get...right now im about 2 finger gap between tire and flare which is not a bad height...and have about 3.5" of shock travel which is plenty. i also havent adjusted the damper on the shock so its on the lowest setting right now..i have 12 adjustments. if everything goes well...if you run same shock with extender and 10" coils you should be happy with the results....ill let you know when i finish the mock up....

how low are you looking to go?

im sure i can go higher right now if i compress the coilover more...the coils arent even compressed...if i tighten the coils more i can get more height. im pretty happy with the setup so far...once i fine tune it more it should work well...

[73skyline]

ok i found some reading....since the shock mounted is close to about 45 degress...because of the angle to get close to a 300LB spring setup ill need a 600LB rated coil because of the angle...i might have to play with some rates. ill check in later..

mikey

[aarc240]

Am I right that you are aiming for an effective 300 lb/in at the WHEEL?? That's an EXTREMELY high spring rate and would unload the tires on a 2500 lb car over a matchbox bump!

Once you get your (factory configuration) spring rate and damper rate set up to work well on the surfaces and types of roads / tracks you frequent then you can vary the static ride height easily by adding a nylon spacer ring on top of the spring. You DON'T need to replace the spring.

Unless you are prepared to keep a very accurate and detailed logbook of track / road surface, weather conditions, spring and damper rates used at a minimum then there really isn't much point in spending the cash required for a COMPLETE coil-over setup.

Don't forget that just because the coil-over is easily height adjustable that does NOT mean you can change the spring rate without changing the actual spring, so you still need a spring selection for smooth to washboard roads.

Have a look at any good suspension book or talk to a spring manufactirer and you will find that there are three main factors involved in a spring - the wire thickness, the number of turns and the Young's Modulus of the spring material.

Cut a turn off and you will both stiffen the spring and lower the car.

Reset the lower spring perch further down and you will lower the car, period.

Ask some questions of the circuit racing guys, some will give you a quick look at the type of logbooks they keep to know where they are going with the suspension. Just don't expect to get any sort of detail!!

For Australians, just get to a racetrack when the V8 Supercars are there and ask them how many springs are in the parts drawers.

Also keep in mind that they are now effectively illegal in all Australian States and Territories for public road use unless you can prove that the car either came with that setup from the OEM factory or can not be adjusted to below the 100mm ground clearance requirement. Then you have to get an engineer to sign off on the insurance risk!

On a road car coil-overs are good wow factor but not much else. On a circuit, hillclimb or several other competion cars they are good value (and we run them on my wifes hillclimb special).

[73skyline]

im not gonna do a true 300lb rate...my setup right now to me is good...with the 40-45 degree angle my setup it is equal to 177LB which is a bit soft right now and perfect for daily driving but at the same time the dampning is still set at "0" so i can still play with the shock dampning which i can turn 12 steps. im actually over the recommended rate for the rears....according to the manual a 150LB rate is perfect for weight in the rear....im just going over because of my motor pushing close to 350whp. i wanna make sure it doesnt dip so hard. imma try what i have now and if its still to soft ill up the rate. i dont have much access for springs and shocks here in the US thats why im doing the coilover setup,,,i can get a setup that i like...just tryin to give us U.S. guys an option since its hard for us to get any parts for our cars.

im keeping the 10" spring...i think once i mess with the damper it should be where i like it. thanks for the input.

[Mat Big Hat]

my car measures about 7.5" from rear rocker to floor, and i don't want to go much lower as it will skew the camber/castor and force me to slot the xmember

you're probably a lot lower with the flares and all

have you done the front coil overs yet?