steering and suspension Lowering my 2002 and handling improvements

[jdeitch]

I've started the process of lowering my 2002 while at the same time, IMPROVING the handling WITHOUT making the ride harsh or jarring. I have sourced my components from Le Tran at Garagewerks in Ontario, Ca.

I've been looking for a system to lower my 2002 while also stiffing up the handling but without the harsh ride or jarring bumps I've always associated with these conversions.

Le has a spherical upper mount that is encapsulated in polyurethane. Firm but quite and smooth.

I will update this thread as I put everything together and get it all installed.

BEFORE

READY FOR TRANSPLANT

STRUT HOUSINGS READY FOR FINISHING

(Tempted to clear coat.)

Powder coating is great, but this stuff is cheap, extremely durable, comes in a spray can and can be touched up later if necessary.

BEAUTIFULLY MACHINED/FINISHED SPACERS (No bump steer here.)

READY FOR ASSEMBLY

HIGH GRADE HARDWARE

(Drilled for safety wire.)

DRIVER'S SIDE INSTALLED

Edited April 21, 2015 by jdeitch

[blackmesa533i]

Cool..very sanitary looking under there. How low do you want to go?

[jdeitch]

Cool..very sanitary looking under there. How low do you want to go?

I'd like to eliminate the gap above the tires in the wheel wells.

Something very close to the height of this red 2002:

Edited April 21, 2015 by jdeitch

[jrkoupe]

NICE RD HT CHOICE.....

 

HOW MUCH WERE THE HOUSINGS SECTIONED?

 

OoPS..

 

what spring length and rate?>

[jdeitch]

NICE RD HT CHOICE.....

HOW MUCH WERE THE HOUSINGS SECTIONED?

OoPS..

what spring length and rate?>

I bought everything from Le as a package. To use buying a suit as an analogy, Le offers tailored parts/service in a largely 'off-the-shelf' business. I suggest you contact him directly or, if at all possible, visit him at his shop for details! (He's a great guy and a wealth of knowledge.)

When I get everything dialed in I will let you know the component details.

Edited April 21, 2015 by jdeitch

[MalagaGorilla]

I have to imagine pretty low if you needed the bumpsteer spacers.  Looks really nice, im about to blast and coat some carriers and subframes too.  Hope they can come out as clean as yours!  

[jdeitch]

Passenger side prep. The HOURS of work you don't see on automotive TV shows. Nasty job but now is the time to do it while everything is out. I discovered the frame rail is actually body color

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I wonder what caused the bare, surface rust, patches? Exhaust heat? Brake fluid leak? Driver's side does not have these patches. Paint is fine on the engine compartment side?

PS: OCD kicking in... I'm going to go back and take the driver's side strut assembly out so I can clean that fender well properly too.

Edited April 22, 2015 by jdeitch

[Cyclone101]

If you go that low you will have too much rear camber and toe. You will have to modify the rear subframe to fix that.

Harshness has much more to do with shocks than springs, something like the AST 4150 coilovers with a double-digresive piston would have different rates of high and low speed rebound/compression resulting in a very capable handling car with reasonable comfort.

Too much high speed compression/rebound is all to common on cheap shocks.

['76mintgrün'02]

With H&Rs and Bilstein HDs, I have too much camber in the rear.  Not sure about the toe, but I am tempted to install adjusters in the sub-frame I will be swapping in.  Spacers might help, as I am only on one dot pads.  It does not take much lowering to throw off the camber!

[jdeitch]

Passenger side strut assembly installed along with new front sway bar.

[jdeitch]

The front end is complete!

[Rocan]

Looks great!

I hate to point this out... but your safety wire is attached in the wrong direction. It should wrap clockwise around the bolt head, to prevent the bolt from being able to rotate at all. Also it looks like one of the bolts isn't fastened all the way. 

 

 

Edited April 23, 2015 by Rocan

[jdeitch]

Looks great!

I hate to point this out... but your safety wire is attached in the wrong direction. It should wrap clockwise around the bolt head, to prevent the bolt from being able to rotate at all. Also it looks like one of the bolts isn't fastened all the way. 

 

 

Thank you for your reply. I have already taken care of the offending bolt. It was tight but bottomed out. I trimmed the bolt and redid the safety wire. I did not know about the proper wiring technique. Thank you for educating me. Always something to learn.

[Rocan]

Anytime! It's actually a fairly involved procedure, if you want to do it "right". Do a search on the subject if you ever have free time... It's pretty interesting stuff. 

 

Keeping your nuts in place is essential to longevity

[jdeitch]

Now to lower the rear end...

BEFORE:

NEW vs OLD:

AFTER:

I will be updating the Bilstein shocks in the rear when they arrive. Running with the existing HDs in the meantime.

Edited April 23, 2015 by jdeitch