Almost Done Swapping The Stock Supra Struts.

[Bubbles]

I found an add online for a set of 93 supra tt shocks/springs. I paid $65 and picked it up locally. The front shocks say KYB and the rears say Tokico. That's odd because they both have Toyota and a part number on it.

Well so far I've done the fronts only. Before I installed them I measured the height at 5 different points: 1 point slight above the highest point of each wheel well, and the tip of the bumper right above the air intake.

After doing the front springs the height dropped (.4375) inches on the Front Passenger wheel well, (0.40625) inches on the Front Driver's, and 1/32 of an inch in the back. All measurements are +/- 1/32inch or .03125.

I test drove the car around and the steering response is helluvalot quicker. Ride quality is barely worse if it even is.

The front shocks are of the same height, but the front springs are the difference; the supra's are roughly 3/4 an inch lower, but they both have the same number of coils. To the naked eye, coil thickness is the same.

Hopefully I'll be done with the rears tommorow.

Note: However, my data may be a completely wrong for the back because I wrote 27 13/32 inches for initial height and then after the swap I got 27 25/32 inches, which would then increase the rear height by 12/32 inches, which doesn't make sense, so I must have written 27 13/32 instead of 27 13/16

[AWJ]

Interesting - good info bro.

[Bubbles]

Doing the fronts only actually did raise the rear end a bit. It makes sense if you think of a car facing downhill, the center of mass shifts forward and the front looks lower than the rear.

Well's here my measurements. I follow up in a week or so because the rubber insulator probably still needs some time warping in.

Height lowered:

Front Passenger: 1/4 inch - .25

Front Driver: 3/8 inch - .375

Front Bumper: 11/32 inch - .34375

Rear Passenger: 15/32 inch - .46875

Rear Driver: 13/32 inch - ..40625

So basically the front's lowered the car a tad over a quarter of an inch, and the rears lowered a little less than half an inch. It doesn't seem much, and it probably isn't, but there's only 3 inches that you could possibly lower until the car is useless (unless you are behind your car and want to stop bullets ricocheting from the ground).

If you just do the fronts, the front will be lowered 7/16 inch (14/32 P, 13/32 D), the bumper lowered 21/64 inch, and the rears raise 1/4 inch (3/8 P, 3/32 D)

I would personally like this setup because the car will be more aerodynamic and the front wheel gap is larger than the rear stock, so this would even things out more.

*Just remember that this may take some time to settle.*

[AWJ]

It always does my man.

Nice work.

[mktbully]

sounds like a good price for a small drop. thanks for the info

[Bubbles]

Final Update:

Well during the week the springs started to settle. After two days the fronts almost dropped half an inch! But to my amazement, the front springs gained a little height from that. There may have been some errors such as +/- gallon of gas, friction in suspension, +/- 3 degrees F, blah blah blah, well here's the readings:

[Bubbles]

OMG, my brother's computer is screwed up! His keyboard is jammed or something...

Front Pass:..... 10/32 inches or 0.3125

Front Driv:...... 12/32 in ..........0.375

Front Bumper:. 9/32 ...............0.28125

Rear (both): ....19/32 .............0.59375

As you can see, the rears dropped quite a bit- almost 3/5 an inch! However the fronts didn't drop much, which is probably because the rears dropped so much that the center of mass shifted back and less weight is on the front, which would also explain why the fronts and the front bumper gained heigh from the initial drop.

So... if you want that raked appearance then these springs aren't for you. It may work if you get front Eibach's and use the Supra rear springs - the springs rates are similar on average. Oh well, I did my objective description. The subjective part is up to you.

[Theodore]

I was lookin to buy shocks and have been confused as hell. So u baisiclly used stock supra shocks. How about the springs? Were did u buy them

I my self wqas looking for a better grip but not to stiff didnt wanna lose that lexus luxuiry bounce. Im very intreset Were can i pick them up?

[Bubbles]

I bought the used springs and shocks from a person. Occasionally you'll see an ad on www.thepartstrader.com , and there's quite a few ads on www.supraforums.com , but you have to register (it's "free" though). But you have to be careful on this, the shocks were on a supra. So just look for ads in your area and email them or call them up.

Actually it feels as if my car is softer now. Yesterday I was on the highway and there's this bump that always gets me, but this time my car seems to glide over it. I remember reading that someone said the spring rates in the rear are softer to cope with the stiffness of the anti-roll bar. I guess that means a rear bar is next.

[mktbully]

I bought the used springs and shocks from a person. Occasionally you'll see an ad on www.thepartstrader.com , and there's quite a few ads on www.supraforums.com , but you have to register (it's "free" though). But you have to be careful on this, the shocks were on a supra. So just look for ads in your area and email them or call them up.

Actually it feels as if my car is softer now. Yesterday I was on the highway and there's this bump that always gets me, but this time my car seems to glide over it. I remember reading that someone said the spring rates in the rear are softer to cope with the stiffness of the anti-roll bar. I guess that means a rear bar is next.

so basically if you get eibachs for a supra it will drop the car even more?...not eibachs for SC..correct?

[Bubbles]

Yes the supra eibachs will work on supra shock absorbers. Supposedly anything dropped more than an inch will make the alignment go out of spec, and I'm guessing you can't get it back to spec unless you buy a camber kit. I believe Daizen Sport Tuning makes it.