anyone build their own coilovers? koni/GC setup

So as a few of us know the koni with ground control coilover sleeve set up is very popular among other car communities, but Ground control doesn't produce a sleeve that would work for our legacy. Not to mention they are pretty pricy.

 

So I plan on doing on my 05LGT wago, is what I've done on the miata and became pretty popular in the miata autoX community which is the koni with Ebay coilover setup.

 

You basicly only buy the ebay coilovers for the sleeve and collars, the springs and rubber isolator are junk and you more or less throw those out in favor of some "good" spring like some 2.5ID swift, Eibachs, or even hypercoils.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/96-00-CIVIC-EK-SCALE-COIL-COILOVERS-LOWERING-SPRING-BLU-/270706363608?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Make%3AHonda&hash=item3f075b4cd8&vxp=mtr#ht_2727wt_1189

 

these are what I plan on getting my friend who I race with use these and the sleeves are quite nice and are holding up to 2 years of autoX. the ones I got where a few bucks cheaper and they where the chrome collars which all work the same, but his where a tad nicer and threaded a little smoother.

 

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/25079_397804242834_667552834_4895280_2272699_n.jpg

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash2/25079_397807507834_667552834_4895322_858378_n.jpg

pretty bad pic of his set up but he had a custom metal platform made.

 

the rears shouldn't be a problem to do something like this, the fronts because you use the stock strut housing, the bottom spring perch would need to get cut then some kind of platform could be used much like the picture above.

 

The problem or concern I'm encountering now is what spring rate and length to go with, and if these will hold up on a heavier car since I'm currently using this set up on a 2100lbs miata. I've had real ground controls before and a few of my friends have too so I've seen/felt what they are like, and the ebay sleeves don't SEEM that much different, but I couldn't tell you what grade material they use, this is just my observation. I also haven't worked out top hats either, I think I'll deal with those when I get to that point, these are the least of my worries

 

I plan on going off spring rates of what springs already exist on the market to mimic the ride of those springs but have the adjustably ((no saggy butt)) also have the ability to raise the car for winter and 2.5ID springs are easily found among other car communities if wanted to swap them out for a track day etc.

I'm thinking of 7inch length 5/6 F/R kg/mm setup (rallitek-ish) or a 4/6(epic springs)

 

So I'd like to hear any input from you guys about spring rate/length, if this has been done before, whatever other input. I want more of a DD oriented setup with some spirited driving mixed in. I'd rather not be the one to pioneer something but all the coilovers that are on the market arn't really made for a DD and tend to be pretty harsh, the ones that are seem to be pretty expensive.

I'm doing this from memory, but I think most coilovers use a 2.5" diameter spring (which. is probably the inner diameter). These types of springs are commonly available in lots of different rates and lengths from (online) race shops.

 

When I get a chance I'll do some research on this. I'm with you - I think we should be able to put together a decent kit like what GC offers. As far as rates, a good place to start would be to use the rates on a quality kit like RCE Tarmacs.

 

Keep us posted on what you learn and I'll make a point of posting what I learn as well.

Curious to see how this goes. Koni/gc combo is hugely popular across a bunch of other cars. Always wondered why nobody has done this.

I think if executed properly this could turn out some pretty nice results. The Koni/GC setups are pretty popular among the BMW crowd as well.

 

If it were me, I would stick with the same rates, front and rear. This will give you a nice balanced setup, and it will be easier for setup and troubleshooting purposes. Remember, you're in uncharted waters with this setup. After you get it dialed you could easily swap out the front or rears and run a staggered rate setup, but I'd start with them the same.

 

For length, it depends on the rate, but again, if I were doing this, I would go with either 350 or 400lb rates (6/7kg/mm for you kg folks) and 7" in the front and 8" in the rear.

 

Good luck, post results.

This is something you should call up GC and discuss. Who knows, it might get the ball

rolling for them to develop a kit.

 

I did GC with J-Stock Bilsteins on my E30 and they work nicely.

I'm going to order the coil sleeves pretty soon, just got to pick up a pay check pay a few bills before I pull the trigger and start building these.

 

and 2.5 is by far the most common race spring size

The ground control sleeve kit for the 08+ impreza is going to be most likely to fit. Front struts are the same. Rears are only slightly different.

^I believe all you have to do to get the rears to fit is machine the face of both sides of the lower bushing to make it narrower, and bore out the hole to fit the larger diameter bolt the lgt uses. The fronts are indeed the same.

So I looked briefly on other car forums, answer didn't jump out at me...

What is the advantage to doing this vs the existing coilover offerings?

a) cost/value?

b) end user tune-ability?

c) DIY fun?

d) performance (which would perhaps encompass a) and b) )?

e) other combo?

f) other?

pretty much all of the above. Konis + ground control sleeves gets you adjustable damping and ride height with custom spring rates for less than a grand, and will outperform any coilovers in that price range. And ride better.

 

I've also used GC sleeves to make an off-road oriented setup on a wrx wagon that sat a little higher than stock.

^ Another potential advantage since a lot of us in wagons would like to increase spring rate without dropping the car. Seems like most of the coilovers out there drop the car a little even at the highest setting. I don't know this from first hand experience, if I can find a set of coilovers that offer me higher than stock height for winter and the ability to dump it in summer I'm all for it.

 

The koni/gc setup coming out to less than 1000 bucks may not happen depending on the cost to modify them though.

Watching closely, just ordered some Koni's

 

But, what are you looking to use for spring hats/tops to hold the spring in place? I have not taken apart the lgt before, but would imagine something is needed as the stock spring is a larger ID"