strut choice for my ke70

[trikzlane]

just asking is there any differences in using an ae86 strut or an xt130 strut in my ke70 e.g bolt straight in and better

thanks,
mereki

[shift_rook]

an xt130 has a twin piston caliper so you won't really have to do any further brake upgrades, much better IMO, someone please correct me if i'm wrong or they just disagree

[trikzlane]

will it bolt straight in tho or wat else will i need

[resol]

xt130 bolts straight in 100% garranteed, only thing that you must change, is to keep and use your ke70 springs, and strut tops (that bit ontop of the spring which bolts into the strut tower).

advantages: bigger twin piston brakes, larger shock tube which means aftermarket replacements are availiable (same as ra60/ma61/ae86 etc shocks ).

only downside, is the steering arms are ~10mm longer off the top of my head maybe 5mm? which means you do loose a little bit of lock. also the king pin angle (angle of the stub axle to the strut) is bigger meaning you get a slight change in camber (with stock ke70 LCA it may be +.5 degrees camber)

my advice, xt130 struts, and xt130 LCAs, with a lock spacer.

-dan

[marvis]

Agreed with resol and you can always cut and shut the steering arms to make up for the lack of lock with unmodified ones.

marvis.

[KE70]

or use AE86 arms?

[slydar]

yeah xt are 100% compatible with ae86 steering arms. its what i have im my car.

[trikzlane]

um just wondering how much should i pay for a pair

[Konakid]

just use 86 struts, far lighter, still 2 inch for good shock options, ps arms will give awesome lock, FC brakes are easy and as big as you'll ever need, retain factory geometry.

[shift_rook]

but then you have to fork over for fc brakes which cost an absolute load, just the bare basics will cost about $800 where you can pull rona struts from the wreckers for bout $100 for thr pair with everything you need then spend $150 on ps arms and for $250 you get something that's sweet

[Hokey]

can u run ps arms on xt130 struts and will they achieve same amount of lock as with 86 struts?

[Konakid]

Well doing things right does cost more money generally.

Seeing as you are going to be spending money on shocks, steering arms etc, you may as well use the proper gear to start with.

[shift_rook]

how far out is the geometry on the xt130 struts??? is it really worth more than double the price to go 86 stuff?

[seek]

just use 86 struts, far lighter,.

did you weigh them? got any figures?

because from what i recall, xt130 have a bigger stub axle, cheaper to do the hilux/pug setup then an the 86 rx7 setup, and cost $50 from the wreckers, whilst still can be used with PS arms.

so unless your keen to pay $200+ for a set of stock (flogged) set of struts, xt130 struts arent exactly a worthless excercise...

[shift_rook]

exactly, can you get weight figures or both struts, would be helpful

[Konakid]

I have had the struts out of my corona twice in the last week and they definitely give a few kilos to 86 struts, may not sound like much but it is unsprung weight that you're increasing.

Oh and as far as $1000 for a 4 piston brake upgrade, that is farking cheap for how well they perform.

Alcon brake upgrades etc cost over 3K, 1K is cheap as chips.

Would an aggressive pad JDM vented setup be enough braking for you? If so then the cost would be quite similar i reckon.

[sr_rolla]

Use the corona struts man, they have a bigger stub axle, dont weigh that much more than a 86 strut once they are coilovered (which im assuming u will probably do in the long term anyway) and give you the option of running the pug/hilux/rona brake upgrade further down the track. And whilst the Hilux setup is fairly heavy (caliper mainly) they are an incledibly rigid caliper, provide massive stopping power and best of all they are cheap. When i did mine a while back it cost me $700 for calipers, rebuild kits for them, struts, new rotors, hubs, bearings, paint, coilover kits, cheap shitty shocks and a new M/C.

Also, in the case of the geometry change, its so minimal its not funny, like at the hieght most of us run our cars you still end up with more neg than a stock keto has and in 80,00kms of driving i havent noticed any detremental effects.

[sonsta]

hey man id recommend the fc brakes and 86 strut setup if you can afford it!!

but if not the xt130 setup will work fine for your first setup

[LittleRedSpirit]

If I could build my struts again, Id use XT130 struts as a base any day of the week.

The bigger stub axle is preferred, especially when doing further brake upgrades. Bearings will last longer and be generally smoother.

I know for a fact the group A Ae86 my mechanic pitted at bathurst in 1993 had bigger than standard stub axles and therefore bearings for high speed work, and hard braking forces. Its the weak point in the ae86 strut design, IMO.

The point Kona Kid made about factory geometry, I don't really understand. I mean if you wanted factory geometry as Toyota intended for the AE86, you'd be running standard full height suspension and factory camber, and we all know thats never gonna work, or happen, on anyone's car on this forum. What we need to do is correctly design the system for whatever application is relevant.

The drawback I see is the fact that they are heavier. I see the weight as much needed. The extra weight is unavoidable due to the extra meat on the stub axle and the cast caliper bracket. Id far prefer this caliper bracket to build on with a piggyback style upgrade than the AE86 one. The flimsy pressed steel bracket flexes a tonne, and is way weaker than the TTT piggy back adapter that sits on it, on my car.

AE86 parts aren't often the best.

I'd see a nice setup as possibly 86 power steer arms, XT130 coilovers, whatever dampers you prefer, same with springs and rate. There are Wilwood narrow mount calipers (88.9mm)that fit perfectly with no adapter to the xt130 struts, you just need to find a rotor that suits. The wilwood calipers can be adapted to almost any width of rotor. When you look at the price of new Wilwood calipers, even with the shitty exchange rate, you will never pay hundreds of dollars for old, massive Mazda or Hilux calipers again.