Official BC Coilover Kit Development Interest.

[iTurbo]

IIRC Rich and I were considering VW Golf fronts for the front setup that I bought for my Shelby CSX. We eventually decided to stick with the SRT4 struts because the Golf strut-to-knuckle connection width were just a hair too wide to work with our knuckles. They would 'work' but the difference was too slight to make a spacer work and it would have squeezed the strut tabs over the knuckle leg which we didn't really like. Not sure about the VW rears though.

[Force Fed Mopar]

There are quite a few setups that are close for the L-body. Me and t3rse went the junkyard DSM route years ago because it was the first one we found that was close enough to work easily and were easy to find. I remember looking at Tercel stuff and thinking it was close enough to use, but since I was looking for junkyard swaps I left them alone because stock Tercel parts aren't very performance enhancing Maximas, Sentras, Eclipses, and several others are very similar in design, so when buying aftermarket you have quite a few options that can be researched.

[rbryant]

IIRC Rich and I were considering VW Golf fronts for the front setup that I bought for my Shelby CSX. We eventually decided to stick with the SRT4 struts because the Golf strut-to-knuckle connection width were just a hair too wide to work with our knuckles. They would 'work' but the difference was too slight to make a spacer work and it would have squeezed the strut tabs over the knuckle leg which we didn't really like. Not sure about the VW rears though.

The MK3 Golf rears are too long for the lbody. Earlier year VW shocks would work but they don't offer those...

The other big issue with the VW setup from BC was that they don't come with camber plates and the strut shaft is different than the cars that do come with camber plates like the Impreza or SRT4....

That makes the SRT setup a much better value because all I need to do is provide replacement to plates and spacers and not full camber plates.

-Rich

[Turbo Joe]

any updates for those following the thread?

[rbryant]

any updates for those following the thread?

I just got word today that the prototype height adjusters have been rewelded at the new angle so I need to get them and send them to Jeremy. That means I should be able to get them to him by the weekend.

After Jeremy checks the angles the rest just need to be welded and I can then send your set to you and take new orders.

-Rich

[iTurbo]

I got the revised angle adjusters back from Rich last week and did a bunch of test fitting with them over this weekend in the Shelby Lancer. I'm really happy with how the revised ones turned out. Even after installing them and doing a ton of adjustments and measurements and putting the car up on/off jackstands about a dozen times I wouldn't change anything about them. They fit the car really well too. Looking at the spring with the car parked on the ground, it appears to be compressing and seating against the upper/lower perches properly with no coil bind. That is one thing I really hated about the Eibach rear springs was that the bottom 6 coils were already bound together with just the weight of the parked car on them!

I found that the range of adjustment on my Shelby Lancer is about 2 1/2" total. Compared to the Eibach springs these replaced, I can adjust the rears to be 1/2" higher than the Eibachs were, all the way down to 2" lower than the Eibachs. Currently I have them set at just a little higher than what it was before with the Eibach springs which goes along with the uncut Eibach front springs that are still on the car.

Despite all the installing/test fitting with the rear adjusters today, I'm still on the KYB GAJ shocks. They seem to do OK with the new BC rear springs, but there is no bumpstop anymore so I don't dare push the car much until installing the new QA1 shocks and bumpstops. Might get around to that next weekend hopefully.

[Reaper1]

SWEET! That's good to know.

[rbryant]

All,

GJKHPA Kits ready for production

I have everything in place now and I am ready to take more orders for GJKHPA body suspensions. The setup will still require non BC rear shocks and a bumpstop solution (such as bumpstops on the QA1 shocks) but everything else is ready to go.

Other Updates:

Lbody:

Based on work leveraged from Harry's (tryingbe) adaptation of Tercel rear shocks and Jeremy's (iTurbo) testing the lbody kit now no longer requires an offset or custom bottom rear bushing. The top adaptation will remain the same (using the MAG lugnut) and the bottom adaptation is the addition of a 3/8" spacer on each side of the rear shocks which will be provided with the kit.

Caravan:

I also have adapters in stock for Caravan Fronts if anyone is looking to upgrade their Caravan to BCs!

Feel free to PM me with any questions.

-Rich

[BlueBaron]

Will the front setup fit behind a 7-1/2" wide wheel?

[rbryant]

Will the front setup fit behind a 7-1/2" wide wheel?

It depends on the offset. On I have 16x7 wheels on my lbody with a 40mm offset and still have over 1/2" to spare.

I believe you can fit a 7.5" wheel even with a 40mm offset but most would probably go with a 30mm offset just to keep things more centered.

If you run a tall tire or lower the car a lot then it might also have more clearance problems than I do but I still don't think a 7.5" wheel is a problem. Coilovers give a lot more room than the stock suspension does.

-Rich

[TopDollar69]

I'm running an 8 inch wide rim with stock struts and springs on my Laser with a 32mm offset. It should be fine with coilovers, at least on K based stuff.

[rbryant]

I'm running an 8 inch wide rim with stock struts and springs on my Laser with a 32mm offset. It should be fine with coilovers, at least on K based stuff.

The BC kits I provide use the same struts for all applications so there is no difference in the lbody and K based wheel clearance on the struts.. Even with lbody spindles the clearance would be on the strut not the spindle so it would still be fine.

I have about 1/2" to 3/4" left on my 16x7" 40mm offset wheels so what you are saying makes sense.

An 8" 40mm offset wheel would be pretty darn close to the strut body but if you push it out another 8mm with the 32mm offset then it is fine then it is fine.

-Rich

[TopDollar69]

They do rub a bit on the outer fenders when you hit a bump with a 225/60R16. Rolling the fenders would probably take care of the problem.

[Turbo Joe]

Thanks to those involved with this project for doing an awesome job with this kit! This kit is something I've wanted for a long time and thaks guys for making it happen !!!

[rbryant]

Here are some pictures from iTurbo.

He was having some camera issues so this is his cheap one but I think it illustrates the range of the adjusters well.

The car pictures does not have the BC kit on the front yet and is only to illustrate adjustments with the custom rear height adjusters (hi/low kit).


Really Low:


Low (1" lower than eibachs):


Medium (eibach height 25" from ground to fender center):


High:


Adjuster:



This was with a prototype version where the barrel got shortened an extra time to fix the angle so the max height may have been slightly reduced.
The Lancer is also one of the heavier cars which reduces the max height (due to the car's weight compressing the spring more).

The production adjusters will have a max height that is 3/8-1/2" higher with no change to the low setting and I can also get 3/4" longer springs if desired to allow the car to be slightly higher than stock at the max setting if desired.

-Rich

[shackwrrr]

just to throw another question out there. Can you make dual rate (or triple rate) spring setups. This would be for a rallyish setup for my car that may at times leave the ground and be on rough gravel roads.

Will the rears unseat at full droop?

[rbryant]

just to throw another question out there. Can you make dual rate (or triple rate) spring setups. This would be for a rallyish setup for my car that may at times leave the ground and be on rough gravel roads.

Will the rears unseat at full droop?

On the fronts or lbody rears you could add the tender springs in to accomplish the dual rate spring setup. If running the car lowered it might require also removing the original spring and replacing it with a shorter main spring and tender spring. At a relatively high ride level there would be room for another 3" of tender spring. The springs are just 2.5" ID springs so you can replace them with whatever you like as long as they are within about 125lb/in of the originals. I don't think that BC actually offers that setup but I can ask.

On the K based rears the tender spring would have to be welded to the main spring because of the way the rear springs are on the car (they are not around a shock/strut) or the spring halves would not stay together.

The K based rear springs are more likely to come unseated on the bottom at max height than full droop because the adjuster would be all the way up and the spring would be more misaligned. We can get longer springs to avoid that if you are raising the car.

In a rally type of setup I would suggest securely strapping the springs on the top and bottom.

-Rich

[BlueBaron]

I'm getting lost in all the info and options on the BC page.
What all do I need, to have coil-overs on the front of my LeBaron? (rear staying stock for now)

[iTurbo]

Thanks for posting the pics Rich. My good camera took a dump so I borrowed my brother's Sony Playstation Vita and the camera on it is lacking to say the least. I was hoping to get better pictures but since I took those vandals shot out the back window of my Shelby Lancer and I'm afraid to move the car now or all the glass will cave in.

BlueBaron - I believe all you will need is the "front half kit". That should come with the SRT-4 BC front coilovers, the top camber plates, and the knuckle spacers. If you want the rears later all you will need is the rear spring adjusters that Rich makes, a pair of BC springs, a pair of QA1 shocks (TN-801, TS-801, or TD-801) and a pair of QA1 bumpstops.

[rbryant]

BlueBaron - I believe all you will need is the "front half kit". That should come with the SRT-4 BC front coilovers, the top camber plates, and the knuckle spacers. If you want the rears later all you will need is the rear spring adjusters that Rich makes, a pair of BC springs, a pair of QA1 shocks (TN-801, TS-801, or TD-801) and a pair of QA1 bumpstops.

The front half kit requires the adapters as you stated. I currently have the BC front kit and the adapter kit listed as two seperate items on the webpage.

The front half kit from BC is $575 shipped and the adapter kit is $175. The adapter kit has gone up slightly in price after we changed it to have recessed bolt top but the kit is now a nicer product than the earlier ones.

That makes the total for the front half kit is $750 for the lbody or GJKHPA bodies and that includes everything you need to bolt on the coilovers (struts, springs, camber plates, spindle spacers, etc).

I am still pestering BC to try and come up with a rear shock that will work but I am not sure if it will ever happen. It will be hard to make something better than the QA1 either way but it would be nice to have a matching set and have one stop shopping.

-Rich