ANOTHER coilover DIY

[slydar]

ok, we start with this, a standard strut with all brakes ect pulled off.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68931.jpg

my step one, as i don't own spring compressors and they scare me anyway (Ant will tell you, i am very afraid of potential energy)

into the vice, and cut the spring seat off, make small cuts keeping as close to the weld as possible. leave a few spots where the cuts don't interesect, so the spring platform stays in place untill you want it to.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68932.jpg

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68933.jpg

next step is out of the vice and onto the ground, be carefull handling the strut at this stage, hold it by the stub axle/strut top only, keep fingers clear of the spring.

place the strut on the ground, strut top down

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68934.jpg

and give the spring perch a few good whacks downward, this should be enough to break the platform off the strut casing.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68935.jpg

note *twang*

next remove the standard strut top and spring hat as illustrated, a pair of vice grips and a 19mm deep socket will be handy at this stage.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68936.jpg

this is what you should be left with.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68937.jpg

next step is to remove the stock insert, back in the vice and a pipe wrench on the retainer nut. lefty loosey.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68938.jpg

ok, time to grind. flapper disc is best for this, grind the weld right down till its smooth, and take the paint off about down to the brake hose bracket. removing the paint is neccesary with my particular sleeves, as theyre a nice tight fit, koni's will usually just slip over the paint, unless some champion down at pedders has given them a real thick coat previously.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68939.jpg

next, shortening the body.

i make the cut pretty close to the top, about an inch below the machined step below the thread for the retainer nut. you might want to cut the old welded section out if that pleases you more, than just cut slightly above where the weld was.

to make the actual cut, i use a pipe cutter, makes a nice clean square cut, but does deform the tube slightly, so you will need to finish off inside the casing a little bit, this grinding bit for a drill works ok-ish. there is another drill attachment you can get that is made from similar materila to the flapper disc, and is probably better. or a die grinder would be better again if you have one.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68940.jpg

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68941.jpg

on the other hand, if you have a drop saw with a metal cut off wheel, that may possibly be the easiest way.

now we need to work out how much shorter we want them. grab your insert, i am using a trd "green", quite short stroke, but the bodies arent all that much shorter than stock, and using the monroe style retainer nut which is quite deep, i only need to cut about 12mm or so out. for agx, from memory its around 30/40mm and for trd short strokes (yellow, or blue adjustable, ae9x second section of the part number) it is possible to take about 60-70mm out. i am going to put it out there though and say, theyre is no way youre going to end up with a workable suspension set up if you shorten your strut that much and use those inserts. around 40mm is the MAX you wanna take out to retain some suspension droop. obviously you will need a spacer then to make them work. this is what trd themselves suggest, they don't have rocks in their head, and by no means are the "soft".

anyway, make some measurements and decide what you want to do. refer to the club4ag.com tech reference for further clarification. for the greens, and agx, i would recomend just shortening the casing untill you don't need a spacer at all.

some pictures below explaining how to work that out.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68942.jpg

next make the 2nd cut, followed by tidying up the inner edge as explain earlier.

ok, now its been shortened, its time to weld it back together.

i use a coilover sleeve with a window cut into it as a jig, this perfectly aligns the 2 peices so your struts remain "straight" and ensures that at the next stage when you go to slip your sleeves on, theyll actually fit. i make 3 tack welds, grinding them down as i go and rotating the sleeve about 120 degrees each time.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68943.jpg

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68944.jpg

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68945.jpg

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68946.jpg

if youre doing this at home, you can either buy 1 additional sleeve, or use the old insert with some tape wrapped around it at the joint, till both peices are a slug fit, then align by eye, tack, check, another tack, check, maybe at this stage try your sleeve, make sure it will go on, then do one more tack and check again.

note.. most inserts say "do no open, do not heat" so don't go too hardcore with the tacks if you do it this way, you don't want it burning through and exploding. yeah it could explode. cool the weld with water after each tack.

ok, so now its tacked and aligned, weld the join completely up. probably best if you don't just start at one end and weld all the way around, as even though its tacked, it could still move a little with the heat. just do an inch at a time, swapping sides as you go.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68947.jpg

beleive it or not, youre just about done at ths stage.

next grind the weld down smooth.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68948.jpg


next, you want to tripple check the new casing is the right length, cool it off under the water again, throw and insert in, and put a retainer nut on, tighten untill it contacts the insert, and make sure youve got a few threads left for final assembly so you can crank it down hard, you want them to be TIGHT.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68949.jpg

if its all good, pull it apart, slip the sleeve on, and weld it on around the bottom edge, take your time here, people are gonna see these welds. including possibly engineers, so try to make them neat.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68950.jpg

NOTE- depending on how much youve shortened the casing/the free length of your springs, you might want to put the sleeve on lower/higher. i try to use a shorter spring, and put the sleeves on right at the top.

next step is drilling the spring hat, as theyre supplied with only a 10mm pilot whole, so they can work with a variety of inserts. toyota inserts have a 15mm shank, so drill to this size. nissan type is smaller, dunno what, maybe ask the OCS boys, they love their datsuns.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68951.jpg

finally maybe a quick wire wheel, mask up and spray job to make them look fancy.

lastly assembly. NOTE the lock ring/spring perch will not go over the retainer nut. so its, lock ring, then spring perch, insert, and retainer but. do that nut up TIGHT.

this is what you should end up with. note these are ra60 casing, being used in my brothers gz10.. but all the above applies to ae86/xt130 ma61 ect ect.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/9/3/68952.jpg

[Robo86]

well done man, holla at d for all your suspension needs :)

[70XIN]

very nicely done sir

[howee]

wow, that was actually pretty cool to read D. mad info

Got my tax file number today, yehaaa, good news for you and me :)

must show pics of these in your brothers car once there in

howee

[slydar]

cheers man, yeah ill post some pics in the custom compact demo cars thread, it is gonna be an AWESOME car. 16" mesh, trd sussy, LSD and a quad throttle 3RZ-FE (2.7 vvti hilux donk).

[driftke70]

i love the lux don't, have one myself,

good stuff.

[marvis]

Nice wright up!

[stefan]

top write up!

[Waz]

Just awesome...

Or instead of cutting and welding the gland nut thread, go get a new thread cut :P

[slydar]

yeah would be nice, but its not that easy.

you would need to bore the top of the tube..

and you would need a BIG tap, with very fine thread.. that not many people will have.

[sr_rolla]

You don't need a tap to thread that, you could put it on a lathe and cut it that way

[af300e]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (sr_rolla @ Jul 30 2008, 07:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=568977)</div>
You don't need a tap to thread that, you could put it on a lathe and cut it that way[/b]

What do you do with the stub axle when you put it in the lathe? I have a lathe with a bore that will take the strut tube, but the headstock is too long for the stub to be outside it (ie. strut pushed through from opposite chuck).
The other lathe I have is probably short enough in the headstock, but the bore is too small.
Just can't win!!

Here is a 2" pipe tap
http://www.nextag.com/CHRISTY-S-Christy-68...F11780591D78C13 (http://www.nextag.com/CHRISTY-S-Christy-68502-523628988/prices-html?nxtg=69790a1c0528-3F11780591D78C13)
It's a tapered one, but you get the idea......$50 bucks per thread!!

Cut and weld ftw.

[slydar]

yes well, a lathe would be nice... so would 3 phase power, a real compressor. an air body file, a mill, a pan break, a spray booth... haha.

[sr_rolla]

agreed cut and weld ftw, much easier.

To do it on a lathe, u use a face plate 2 mount the strut too. You might also want to use one of those support bearing thingos (can't for the life of me remember the name of them, sorry). Keep the speed down and cut a thread. Not overly difficult but if u don't have the equipment i garantee that a machine shop would charge an arseload 2 do it.

[af300e]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (sr_rolla @ Jul 30 2008, 11:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=569158)</div>
agreed cut and weld ftw, much easier.

To do it on a lathe, u use a face plate 2 mount the strut too. You might also want to use one of those support bearing thingos (can't for the life of me remember the name of them, sorry). Keep the speed down and cut a thread. Not overly difficult but if u don't have the equipment i garantee that a machine shop would charge an arseload 2 do it.[/b]

Travelling steady? Even so, bolting a stub axle to a face plate=nightmare. There is just nothing flat there to reference the tube to, thus you'd have to fabricate something. Plus after you work out how to bolt it in, you have to centre it by releasing the tension, tapping it across according to a dail reading, re-tensioning, checking, then do this again, perhaps 20 times before it's centred. If it took an hour and a half each side including fabricating the holder, you are up to around $250 at best. $125 bucks per thread!!

I think a machine shop would probably suggest cut and weld method for you. Or, buy a pipe tap and just put the cost of the tool on your bill.

[sr_rolla]

Like i said b4, cut and weld for the win, but it is possible on a lathe, and there is something flat 2 bolt to the face plate, the bottom of the strut tube that bolts to the steering arm that is extremely close 2 flat and if its a few thou off, put the strut in the lathe and make it flat, not really a massive issue but yeah, cut and weld is easier.

Slydar: good write up man

[af300e]

The bottom of the tube is flat, but the stub has a dirty great flange on it that picks up the brake shroud. It's nowhere near flat. I do a heap of lathe work and that is not a lathe suited job, there is just no need.

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/8550/sturttubewl5.jpg

Good luck bolting that to a face plate, bud.
Of course it's possible, but would be a big job get that flat against the faceplate and of course, you'd be paying the machinist for it.

Excellent write-up on the job though, and good technique for keeping the cut piece aligned!

[slydar]

cheers for the comments.

really, that tap isnt that expensive, but i am sure the one youd need would be a fair bit more? also still doesnt get you past the need to bore the tube.

i guess since we're talking about it now.. on a lathe, what about using an rca? youd gain the clearance. but i guess once you start stacking things its gonna go out of wack pretty easy.

tbh though, if i were going that all out that i wanted to cut a new thread, id be using new stub axles (have become available recently on yahoo). so i guess youd just cut the thread first.

[af300e]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (slydar @ Jul 31 2008, 09:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=569570)</div>
cheers for the comments.

really, that tap isnt that expensive, but i am sure the one youd need would be a fair bit more? also still doesnt get you past the need to bore the tube.

i guess since we're talking about it now.. on a lathe, what about using an rca? youd gain the clearance. but i guess once you start stacking things its gonna go out of wack pretty easy.

tbh though, if i were going that all out that i wanted to cut a new thread, id be using new stub axles (have become available recently on yahoo). so i guess youd just cut the thread first.[/b]

You could likely ream the tube to get it to size with a hand ream if required, but that's another tool at prob $300.

If you used a RCA you might even be able to hold it in a chuck by picking it up from the inside, but like you say, it's going to get out of whack and the RCA is prob not that tight a tolerance to be properly centred anyway. It's just a big PITA for nothing.

Building a new strut from scratch would be cool, but I don't know that I'd bother.

Cut and weld is def the best way and that's why everybody does it. You can't see the weld once it's covered by the coilover sleeve and provided you are a decent welder it will be more that strong enough.

[sr_rolla]

step 1: get 1-2" thick steel plate
step 2: drill 2 holes in plate to bottom of strut
step 3: drill opposing holes to bolt plate to face plate
step 4: use dial indicator to true it all up
step 5: cut thread
step 6: repeat steps 4 & 5 on other strut

If you wanted to get really technical u could design the plate in such a way that you could true it all up once and not need to true it up again to do more struts, u could also advertise the service and make some money off it after u have done it once or twice.

I used to work a lathe daily aswell, bud :2thumbs:

Also, there is a major jap company that is making new stub axles for ae86's (a big one, apexi rings a bell but i could b completely wrong) and then u could just use the tubes off what ever u want and weld them in, as long as they fit in the stub axle bit of course.

doing it this way also lends itself 2 changing the angle of the stub axle in relation to the strut, much fun to be had there.

[sr_rolla]

also, slydar, sorry for clogging up your thread

and af300e, travelling steady is what i was thinking of yes

[af300e]

I think you oversimplified it a bit there.............

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (sr_rolla @ Jul 31 2008, 09:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=569587)</div>
step 1: get 1-2" thick steel plate (yeah, everyone would have 50mm plate just lying around...........)
step 2: drill 2 holes in plate to bottom of strut
step 3: drill opposing holes to bolt plate to face plate
step 4: use dial indicator to true it all up (try, check, repeat. the repeat again, and again, and again, and again..............till it's right)
step 5: cut thread
step 6: repeat steps 4 & 5 on other strut
step 7: pay the machinist a fucking shit load of cash or, perform sexual favours.[/b]

Plus, you forgot all about the steady. You have to align it as well.
And feint cut a test thread, check against gland nut. Then make 5 or more passes cutting the thread etc.

Anyway, I'm not arguing that it's impossible, just that it's a huge fuck around for no reason. Why bother tooling up/paying for it when you can just cut and shut in an hour?

Slydar has already detailed carefully for us, the most efficient way to do it.

[Ksevn-T]

Looks realy good! Ill have to give it a shot!

Thanks,

Alex