probs installing Battle Version #2 kit, please help

[cj]

My ae86 has a manual steering rack and very recently I bought the Battle Version #2 steering kit. I am facing some instalment problems and would like to ask for guidance, since I know many of you already have this mod.

1. Is the so called "stopper" (the large ring) supposed to be loose, when fitted above the larger bv extension? I am afraid it might move inside the rack and get stuck somewhere in-between the rack teeths. That might block the rack? Why isn't it made as one whole part with the extension?



2. What is the proper way to do the alignment after the installment? Can it be done without aftermarket outer tie rods?
As far as I know, the outer tie rods have to compensate for the proper alignment (or is there any other way to do it?). The total lenght of the bv 2 kit is about 28,5mm (5mm+23,5mm). The amount of unused thread on my car on each outer tie rod is 9mm (or 18mm total - but i'm not aware whether it is OK to compensate equally for the whole lenght from boths sides, or it should be more from one side than the other?). Also how should i compensate the remaining 10,5 mm? Should i modifie my rods by engraving addtional tread and how much on which side?

I appreciate your attention!

[assassin10000]

cj Wrote:1. Is the so called "stopper" (the large ring) supposed to be loose, when fitted above the larger bv extension? I am afraid it might move inside the rack and get stuck somewhere in-between the rack teeths. That might block the rack? Why isn't it made as one whole part with the extension?

2. What is the proper way to do the alignment after the installment? Can it be done without aftermarket outer tie rods?

Also how should i compensate the remaining 10,5 mm? Should i modifie my rods by engraving addtional tread and how much on which side?

1. Stopper can't go into the rack. It is supposed to be loose on the BV kit. Leave it on as it takes up the slack and prevents you from going off of the OEM teeth and to where you will have no steering control.

2. OEM tie rods should adjust fine. With the #2 kit you need to 're-center' your steering rack based on the new 'overall' length with the kit. That way you get equal amounts of turning/angle on each side.

3. If necessary you can tap additional threads into the outer tie rods.

Andrew

[ZDoman]

2. I had to cut some off the end of the outer tie rods and tap additional threads into it.

If you use extended lower control arms then the outer tie rod should be fine without cutting.

[Okami]

This is funny...

I have this kit also and would like to know everything there is to know about it...

Isnt it plug and play on a 1986 AE86 Levin Coupe?
Cant you just fit them on and then re-allign the wheels at a garage and be ready to go...?

Also - can somebody make a tutorial - preferably for a LHD car.
PLEASE! I beg of you!!!

[Bean]

digging in the past again - I have this kit and when I had it fitted to my car (stock LHD Levin) I had to fit spacers (30mm was enough) to my 14x6 ET20 wheels to stop them touching the chassis rail.
@Okami, no they are not plug and play. I wasn't able to adjust the steering arms (short enough) to get the alignment right, so as Zdoman said you need to cut and rethread a little.

anyway now to my questions... I'm currently looking at getting some longer LCAs and along with that want to get it right for wider wheels too.
So any of you running this kit with 8" wide wheels if yes what did you do to avoid rubbing on the chassis rail?

So far all I know is that my 30mm spacer worked, along with the 14x6 ET20 wheels. Unfortunately I didn't take any additional measurements.
So to achiev a similar clearance with a 15x8 ET0 wheel I'd need some 35mm longer LCAs which would but the wheels some 50mm further out compared to the 14x6 ET-10 setup (includes the 30mm spacer).

choices on LCAs down here are very limited so I'll try to source some MX32 ones and see if I can make them work (they have different balljoint) or I will extend some TE70 (same as AE86).

Thanks for reading and let's here some more facts

[fax0815]

S13 or S14 LCA´s fit and are cheap. We´ve tried S14 adjustable arms to size everyting up. They and some 8J with what I belive was 0ish offset and 195/50/15´s will give you loads of clearance.

Don´t use NRCA´s they make the everything is hitting matter worse!

[Bean]

fax0815 Wrote:S13 or S14 LCA´s fit and are cheap. We´ve tried S14 adjustable arms to size everyting up. They and some 8J with what I belive was 0ish offset and 195/50/15´s will give you loads of clearance.

Don´t use NRCA´s they make the everything is hitting matter worse!

I'm very familiar with the S-Bodys. Problem is S13 LCAs are 350mm and S14 are 370mm, whereas AE86 is 300mm so that's way too much for what I need.

XT130 (Corona and others) are 310 which are nice but too short for what I need as far as I'm concerned. Also I don't want to go adjustable for the ease of spares and stress they put on other components.
The whole reason I want to do it that way is down to the fact that 8J ET0 are largely available and work well with most brake upgrades too whereas negative ET ones aren't in many cases. Also I'm not planing to go with more than 2 to 3 degrees of camber and my Cisco topmounts have there limits too.

Guess I'll have to do it the trial and error way.

[fax0815]

I see your dilemma

So you should really make your own ones! Easy and as long as you`re protecting the rosejoints with a rubber boot, absolutly fine for a dailly.

S13 Arms with the topmouns won´t give you any less tha 3deg of camber I whould have thought...

[Bean]

fax0815 Wrote:I see your dilemma

So you should really make your own ones! Easy and as long as you`re protecting the rosejoints with a rubber boot, absolutly fine for a dailly.

S13 Arms with the topmouns won´t give you any less tha 3deg of camber I whould have thought...

I've seen the S13 conversion on Hybrid07s car here on the forum and other. Used to live in Belgium before I and some plans went south, so to say.
I did some measurements yesterday evening and extending the LCAs by 30mm along with 8J wheels would call for extending the fenders by ~40mm which is doable but not easy around here (me hating filler with a passion doesn't help). Hence why I was asking for other peoples setups as I want to do this with the minimum amount of extension needed.

As you say I guess I'll have to start at one point. Hopefully a friend can source me some spare arms to start with. Information on that stuff is somewhat incomplete. I found lengths of various arms and the balljoints used but not much beyond that, i.e. if the different balljoints are interchangable etc...

Anyway thanks for your input.

[Bean]

short update, the Cressida MX32 LCAs are almost 350mm too and the diameter of the balljoint portion that presses into the arm is bigger as the AE86 balljoint so that was a no go. So I now bought some TE7* ones which have the same ball joint and bushing as the AE86, unfortunately also the same length. So I will cut and extend, reinforce them in the near future and hope it will work out the way I planed

Here's the arm I bought - I'll have to cut away the lockstop as it's not needed anyway - and then extend it between the balljoint and the tension rod holes by about 20-30mm (will need to measure my camber first as I have currently only 25mm left on the positive side of my camberplate.