My homemade coilovers FINISHED MAY 10, 2011

Finally finished them up tonight. Don't have them in yet but I will post again after I see how well they work and low they go.

These are KYB-AGX struts with 12" 350# springs.

I used a stock mount, the collar inside it and front sway bar end links. I had to buy a few parts from Summit Racing: thrust bearings, springs, sleeve, nut and top hats. I had tried to use Rancho shock boots as dust boots but they were just a little too big to fit inside the spring I saw someone on CGP mention a miata steering boot, might try that later on.

So I started with cutting apart the mount. Used an air hacksaw to cut away the rubber and the metal collar inside the mount. Then took a cutoff wheel and cut the metal off the bottom. Once that was done I welded the bump cup to the mount though I don't have a picture of just that.





I then took a grinder to the collar that is in the stock mount. I grinded the top so it would fit inside the top hat. This takes the play out of the top hat and the strut and makes it move up/down with the strut. Because the bore of the hole in the top hat is bigger than the strut shaft I had to use this. I also cut the collar in half to make it shorter for more strut travel but don't have a picture of it after I cut it.


Here is the collar in the top hat.


After that the top mount is done. I then moved on to the strut. Using a cut off wheel, air hacksaw, a spray bottle of water and a bucket of water I worked at removing the spring perch. I used the cut off wheel first and slowly worked around the perch just above the weld. I was spraying the strut with water to cool it down and then dipping it in the bucket every so often. Would suck to ruin a good strut! Once the perch is off I had to grind the weld down to fit the sleeve over the strut. Also, for alignment issues you may want to ream the holes out on the bottom of the strut to give you more movement. Thanks to Weirdo for that tip.

After that, pound the sleeve on.

Now on to the bushing stack up. I used stock sway bar endlinks. I cut the top off of them so one side was perfectly flat and left the other side untouched.
If you look at the picture of them below, the sides I cut off are where the two bushings touch each other. You need these since the strut has to have some movement. One goes on each side of the mount.
I also used the metal washers that came with them. I drilled both the rubber bushings and the washers larger to fit over the strut shaft which you can see in a picture later on.



After that you're ready to assemble.
Struts

Sleeve, nut, washer, bearing, washer, spring

close up of washers and thrust bearing

here I attempted to get a picture of the ground down collar and top hat while it was on

Then put on the collar and the top hat

After the top hat is on, the first sway bar bushing goes on. You can see it sandwiched between the top hat and mount.

Then on goes the mount, the second sway bar bushing, the sway bar washer and then finally the strut nut.

And admire!




Critique, suggestions and comments welcome.

those look so new and shiny nice work

industrious and inventive...I hope they hold up under hard use, but they look pretty solid.

Nice work

Is there anything you can't do? Nice job!

Wow thats awesome.

if this works, u r SOO making me some coilovers!! I dont CARE what you say! lol

Thanks Tim, I think they will hold up quite well. The only thing that is going to wear is maybe the bearings since they are open to dirt and debris. Unfortunately there is no sealed unit as of yet but hopefully down the road.

My first mount idea had them nearly completely hidden from dirt but unfortunately when they are the on the mount side when you tighten the nut on top of the strut they bind because they are too tight. So we are forced right now to have them there or on top of the spring although either way they are going to get dirt in them.

Thanks. And haha, you could do these too man with the right tools and patience, don't sell yourself short.

Yes, it is. Awesome.

I just gave you step by step instructions, now get out there. I want to see them done by tonight!

I won't have time to do another set for a little while, I'm working on finishing my little projects I have started, Got my AVIC-D3 all mounted in and working on fiberglassing my dash now to make it look pretty. You should see the mounts I made for it lol.

You know the saying "Measure twice, cut once"?, well I forgot the first step and did the second one.... about 5 times.... lol. But they work well.

That's awesome man.

How much did it cost you in parts?

Another project... just what I need...

Well I got the sleeves, nut, top hat, springs and bearings for around $225.

Then I just used old stock sway bar end links and my stock mounts and AGX's.

All parts were from Summit.

If you are looking to do it though I would take a look at Eaton Rice's DIY coilover thread on CGP, he has links to all the stuff that work exactly. My sleeves were for a Mustang coilover kit and the springs were 350# 12" springs from Summit, so it is a mix-match setup and if you were to buy the pieces that I used it would cost more than $225 because I bought mine from Hellfish on CGP.

I gotta go right now but I will PM you more info if you are interested.

I'm interested. Might just use some old stock struts.

They would last longer than using lowering springs.

Just copying and pasting from a local forum





Yep, bearing is on bottom because essentially when lowered the bearings are going to be right near the bottom of the strut where it bolts through the spindle, it will be safer there then on the top where the tires fling dirt/water up when they turn. Though Aligater is right, I would need some dust boots to keep the crap out but it would have to be something custom. I am currently working on an idea and think they will work well, just need to find the right materials.

OKAY! So on to the pics. Mike, these are the pics you asked for.

Showing everything used for this and in the order they go from left to right.


Here is pics of everything as I put it on.
Washer, then thrust bearing (took it with top washer off so you could see the bearing)



Then next washer


Then spring


Then collar

Here are some pics to show how the collar goes in the top hat:
Top of both

Side

Bottom

Now the collar inside the top hat (looking at bottom)


Then top hat


Here are the sway bar end link bushings I cut up to show which side I cut off. I also had to bore the holes out to fit over the strut shaft. Big PITA to drill this rubber.

Then mount. You can see the bushing between the top hat and mount in the last two




Then second bushing


Then sway bar end link washer


Then finally the strut nut. (not tight in this picture, I tightened it enough to squish the bushing to fill out the bump cup, had maybe 5 threads showing above the strut nut when all tightened)


And the whole thing

Installed:



And the stance. I can drop it more to have maybe a few mm of wheel gap but I need smaller tires and some negative camber. Not slammed by any means but better than lowering springs and will be a much better ride.

Once I lower it more and roll my rear fenders so I can put my sub box in I will have the stance I want.

bada$$ man, ive been looking into these for awhile now

I've just bought some parts to redo my coilover setup. Bought a bunch of MOOG and Energy Suspension poly bushings to replace the rubber ones I have now for all my suspension parts. And some MOOG end links for the rear, it's huge.

Using A1 sleeves and nuts, QA1 springs, cut up stock mount and all poly bushings.

In the bottom left corner you can see the poly spring seats. These will go between the spring and the mount. I may use the rancho shock boots to try and come up with something to keep dirt out of the roller bearings.


Here's the poly strut bushings to go on the shaft on either side of the mount. These are the perfect size I think. The centers have to be drilled out a little to fit the threaded part of strut shaft.





Moog rear end links.

Very nice.

very nice randall.

You gonna do this yet? I may get a pair of GR2's and do another set. I just need some more junk strut mounts. I am limiting my strut travel with the AGX's cause they have the adjustment knob on top and it will hit my hood. I've already drilled holes in the underside of the hood for the strut knob to go through...

Finished up the new coilovers.

Stock mounts
AGX struts
A1 racing sleeves and nuts.
QA1 springs 12-350#.
Summit bearings (already rusty, full of dirt, going with sealed ones soon)
Poly strut and isolator bushings

AND... a total weight of 17.4 lbs per side. What is the stock setup weight?

Looks like you put in a lot of time and effort to come out with a nice finished product. I'm not sure of the exact weight of the oem strut but ordered some quick struts from Monroe and the front boxes on UPS tracking are showing 27.5 lbs per package on the fronts so take out the box and maybe 26 lbs per strut assembly. Just about a 10 pound difference I would say?

Been finding this as basically being the only helpful thread on making coilovers. Do you have any pics of your rears or using something different for them? I have both a 98 GS and 98 GTP and now plan on a good GTP build. Any info is appreciated!

I'm using AGX/Vogtland lowering springs in the rear. Not sure if I am going to build rear ones or not. Depends on if I keep the car I guess.

The rears could be done using the stock mount and a coil over top hat though.

Post up any questions and I'll help you the best I can.

Thank You! on your first build you used special top hats and on these you have the little cups that fit around the inside of the springs. where did you get these? or do you have part numbers for everything you have used?

The collar that the spring sits around in the second set are actually part of the stock mount, it's under all the rubber and its actually just under 2.5" OD which is perfect for the springs.

I made a set for someone else and used new mounts from Rockauto, forget which kind but they were the cheapest ones, but what they had done was just punch a hole in the middle of the top of mount where the rubber is so I had to get some 2.5" OD exhaust pipe and weld that on in place.

Best/easiest/quickest/least messy way is to pour some fuel on the rubber of the mount and set it on fire lol. Do it in a fire pit or something. This will burn all the rubber off and turn it to a chalk so it falls off the mount so you're just left with the metal mount.

Then I got some poly spring isolators and end link bushings from Summit Racing.
Cut the isolators like I did so that they only go between end of the spring and the mount. Drill the end link bushings out so that they fit over the strut shaft.




These are just for a set of fronts. Rears would need a little different parts since they are longer struts etc.

Summit Racing:
ENS-3-6110R RED COIL SPRING ISOLATOR 1@ $11.99
ENS-9-8106R END LINK GROMMETS RED 1@ $8.95
HAL-7888-109 COIL OVER BEARING KIT 1@ $25.95
HAL-12-350 12" 2.5" 350# SPRING 2@ $47.99 (each)

A1 Racing:
A1-12452-H 5" x 2.17" Coilover Sleeve 2@ $18.80 (each)
A1-12460 Coilover Sleeve Nut 2@ $12.87 (each)

CustomMetalCraft:
Neoprene Coilover Covers - I don't have these yet but they're a must. The bearings will get dirt and bind up in weeks without them. They are roughly $100 plus shipping for 4. So I would guess 50 for 2.

You can reuse your stock mounts or buy new ones from Rockauto. Depending on how they are made you may not need to do any work to them aside from welding the bump cup onto the mount.

Then choose your struts and cut the perch off.

Go to a local hardware store and get appropriately sized washers like I have in the pics of mine. That should be all the parts you need.