Rear coil over thoughts...

[Sweeps]

I'm in the process of preparing my car and i'm working on the rear suspension.

I intend to run coil overs on the rear of my car.

Ok guys here's my thoughts.

The KYB dampers that came off it were;

22 inches open from bush eye to plate at the base of the pin

13 inches closed at the same point.

9 inches of travel (Not rocket science i know)

I'm assuming that they are replacement dampers ie the same length as standard.

So to my question, if i were to replace these with coil overs that measure;

20 inches open

12 1/2 closed

7 1/2 inches of travel

Thats with 2 inch Diameter Body with 16mm Rod and Bearing

Now i realise that they are 2 inches shorter but i intend to lower the car by the min of 40mm anyway, so when the springs compress the damper will be in or around its optimum position.

Have i got that right?

Does that make sense?

What are your thoughts on spring rates and what to use?

I've read that for drifting/road use 8kg fr and 6kg rear, then in another article 6kg and 4kg, shall i go in the middle?

The car will be used as a weekend run about and some times for drifting.

Your thoughts and suggestions please?

Mark

[domi]

Overall, i've been hearing the best comments on what appears to be close to my target combination of daily/track to be 6.25/4.5 or 6.5/4.25. Now, you will be hearing a lot of people saying that it depends on what you're aiming at, those numbers are for mainly daily with occasional drack action. Do what feels right, if you know people in your area with different suspensions - ask them for their experience, if worse comes to worst offer them beer in exchange for a ride
Seriously though, consider non-coil over rear suspension as well. I'm thinking over suspension stuff for my car as well and am almost decided not to go coilover. Truth be told - the rear of the hachi is designed for seperate springs and dampers and there is a chance the springs which will be carrying most of the load when going straight and about all the time load is not shifting around[which, let's face it, is most of a car's life... for most cars] in which case transferring the springs on the holding perches designed for dampers alone might be too much. I can't recall a case of the support actually braking with coilovers, all besides one which happened in a crash and is not counted, but still - the possibility is there and in the endless search for relieving a 20 year old car from as much stress as possible - i'd say go for seperates. I hope the gurus correct me if my assumptions are wrong.

P.S. I've recently moved to the US and the one think that i can almost respect in most people here is the fact that they go about life based on 'gut feeling.' Although highly irrational, it may be best that you proceed in your suspension endevour with gut feelings first - customizing cars is all about individuality and besides that - it'll be your guts that suffer all suspension irregularities

[Sweeps]

Thank you for that.

My car is currently a bare shell and i fully intend to seam weld the turrets and add some support in form of a plate here and there.
I used to race on the grass track ovals with kp61's and we never had an issue with the turret and the combination worked well for that application.

I think i'll go with my gut feeling and go for them.

Thanks once again for your input

[jnk]

domi Wrote:Seriously though, consider non-coil over rear suspension as well. I'm thinking over suspension stuff for my car as well and am almost decided not to go coilover. Truth be told - the rear of the hachi is designed for seperate springs and dampers and there is a chance the springs which will be carrying most of the load when going straight and about all the time load is not shifting around

and what about the way it is done here:
http://www.pdm-racing.com/features/AE86_buildup.html

?