Modifyng front Suspension..

[cowlum]

What options are there for modifying the front struts to drop the height of the car and improve performance.

I know with most modern japanese front suspension setups people simply grind free the sleeve which holds the hub to the strut. they move the sleeve up an inch or two and reweld it. Others (this one may be myth) have the strut that extends out of the shock itself cut off at the top and re-threaded.

The second option will work for a 2002 but ofcourse it reduces suspension travel. However it does allow for much a harder/stumpier spring to avoid hitting the bumpstop.

Another option people at work have suggested is to find a shock (cateridge) with all the same properties as the original 2002 one but with a shorter body sectiuon. Then have the original strut (outer tubing) cut down and rewelded to the same length as the new shorter shock.

I know many people will simply say go out and spend all your savings on performance parts built by a specialist but I don't won't to go down that road yet. I know how the after market method works. I want this thread to be a discussion on other methods.

What im looking to acheive is drop the front suspension about 1.5 - 2 inchs. While keeping it safe - no loose springs!

Any ideas are welcome (they may inspire other ideas)

[Lee]

Mk1 VW Golf (Rabbit) inserts in shorten struts. Do not forget a spacer tube at the bottom.

[Mike_R]

Suspension page for their shortend struts and shocks.

http://www.bmw2002.com/

[winstontj]

If you look at sites like Ireland (www.bmw2002.com)you'll find that much of what you pay for with aftermarket performance parts is "Labor to increase camber" ($60) or "Labor to shorten struts" ($250). I'm sure that you can go out and find someone who will do it cheaper but good luck finding someone with the experience that Ireland has. You put a lot of faith in their hands as you approach a turn at 100mph.

Most import cars that are new are still in the experimental stages, or take Honda for example, you have the entire line of Honda, Acura, and maybe more that I don't even know about to pull parts from. The 2002 is 30 years old and there are no new tricks. Everything to be done has been done and it's all out in the open. Shorten your struts, use Rabbit inserts, put spacers between the ball joint and the control arm to keep the numbers in line and have fun.

1.5-2" can be achieved without coilovers but that's just buying new springs. All bolt on. No fab required. If you look at coilovers it's not getting creative it's simply parts and labor. Even if you have the labor for free (do it yourself) you still need to find parts.

Ideally you would want to slide the spindle housing up the strut tube keeping the attachment points the same resulting in a stock suspension with higher wheels, or a lower car. The cost of either fabricating your own spindles or modifying a set is just too much. I've looked into it and you're talking several thousand dollars because of tooling and machine time. I've even thought about taking out the strut tube and sliding the spindle up the tube, reinforcing the base, etc. But for what? How low do you want to go? You can drop your car 3" with coilovers, more even but then you can't drive it anywhere without raised floors and on a perfectly smooth track.

[TobyB]

The normal way

is to get coilover sleeves, Rabbit struts,

then cut the strut tube and reweld it shorter. That keeps the same top nut setup, as rethreading will give you a different tube top diameter.

You tend to run into interference problems with the lower spring perch and the tire, so many of us use shorter (8", 7") 2 1/2" coilover springs. Ireland Eng has all these parts.

The practical limit seems to be when the lower control rod goes horizontal- much lower than that, and everything starts to hit everything else.

Also, your suspension geometry is going to hell at that point...

t