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#31
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Re: STI Suspension Swap Project
Why would that be a concern? The studs on the struts are barely structural (they're tiny little M6 or M8 bolts) and all the load is upwards. The top mount of the strut is a circular aluminum plate that distributes the load into the strut tower. All the studs do is keep the strut where it is.
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Chris 92 Ebony Mica LS-L "A Rolling Restoration": 223,250 KM - Sleeping 2007 STi 6MT, Stance GR+ coilovers, PWR Rad, JDM hood badge, svxfiles 6000K HIDs, JDM Clear Corners, $15/15 min mod, $20/20 min mod, Energy Swaybar Bushings, Hella Supertones horns, Gold STi BBS rims, Group A lightweight crank pulley, A/C system removed, Custom header-back exhaust, Hybrid carbon/metal rear sway bar, restored headlights with CCFL halos 2008 Subaru Legacy Spec B - Diamond Grey Metallic - Sold 2020 Ram 1500 Longhorn - Red Pearl |
#32
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Re: STI Suspension Swap Project
TADA!!! 50% done. I only have the fronts installed at the moment, not enough time to get to the rear.
Before and after: The drill plate I made to locate the new holes in the shock tower: Camber plates!!! And pillow balls! And voila, installed: WOOO!!! I'm happy. I still have to install the rears, so I haven't yet felt the full effect, but so far this is awesome. Of all the coilover-equipped cars I've ridden in this one is by far the best. The ride is firm but not jarring and there's zero "bouncy-ness". There's minimal body lean when cornering. Specs on this system is 8kg/mm front and 6kg rear, or ~450lbs front/335 rear. If I try to bounce the front end of the car by hand... Nothing happens. There's no rubbing, no odd clunking... And LOTS of height adjustment left. I could drop the car another 2-2.5 inches if I wanted to. Kind of ridiculous actually. Now, the installation. If you have an aversion to grinders, drilling holes in your car, and making a set of coilovers non-resellable, this modification in not for you. Here's what I had to do: 1. Drill 2 holes in each shock tower 2. The Stance camber plate is a circle. I had to grind the sides down in 2 places (rear and outside) where it didn't fit inside the shock tower. The SVX top mounts are very triangular and the shock tower doesn't fit much more than them. 3. Grinding the knuckles heavily. The section the strut attaches to is a few mm thinner on the WRX. I took the knuckles right out of the car to do this, it would have been almost impossible to do on the car. 3. Oval the holes of the coilover lower mount. The two bolts on the SVX are more widely spaced than the WRX. This took me an entire afternoon to install these (~7 hours) with the car on a hoist and air tools. A fair amount of it was the grind-test-grind-test-grind process, and a good hour was lost getting the two ABS sensors out of the knuckle. This job is not for someone who has only done oil changes. If you're not comfortable with fabrication work and custom modifications just get someone to build you a Koni/GC system.
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Chris 92 Ebony Mica LS-L "A Rolling Restoration": 223,250 KM - Sleeping 2007 STi 6MT, Stance GR+ coilovers, PWR Rad, JDM hood badge, svxfiles 6000K HIDs, JDM Clear Corners, $15/15 min mod, $20/20 min mod, Energy Swaybar Bushings, Hella Supertones horns, Gold STi BBS rims, Group A lightweight crank pulley, A/C system removed, Custom header-back exhaust, Hybrid carbon/metal rear sway bar, restored headlights with CCFL halos 2008 Subaru Legacy Spec B - Diamond Grey Metallic - Sold 2020 Ram 1500 Longhorn - Red Pearl |
#33
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Re: STI Suspension Swap Project
Lookin' good! What are the springrates on these units?
I would't be afraid of doing any of the things you had to do! haha
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Jesus is the remedy 2015 Expedition EL Ecoboost Ebony Pearl '95 Subaru SVX LSi Home of the Bontrager Works 22mm rear sway bar!! |
#34
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Re: STI Suspension Swap Project
8kg/mm front and 6kg/mm rear (about 450 lbs front/335 rear).
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Chris 92 Ebony Mica LS-L "A Rolling Restoration": 223,250 KM - Sleeping 2007 STi 6MT, Stance GR+ coilovers, PWR Rad, JDM hood badge, svxfiles 6000K HIDs, JDM Clear Corners, $15/15 min mod, $20/20 min mod, Energy Swaybar Bushings, Hella Supertones horns, Gold STi BBS rims, Group A lightweight crank pulley, A/C system removed, Custom header-back exhaust, Hybrid carbon/metal rear sway bar, restored headlights with CCFL halos 2008 Subaru Legacy Spec B - Diamond Grey Metallic - Sold 2020 Ram 1500 Longhorn - Red Pearl |
#35
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Re: STI Suspension Swap Project
Gotcha!
Sorry if you said that before and I missed it.
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Jesus is the remedy 2015 Expedition EL Ecoboost Ebony Pearl '95 Subaru SVX LSi Home of the Bontrager Works 22mm rear sway bar!! |
#36
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Re: STI Suspension Swap Project
Installation complete!!!!
Decided to change it up a bit and modify the camber plate instead of the car, since only one hole had to be moved. Press out stud, drill 5/16" hole, press in stud, done. Took the rear knuckles off, ground them down, bolted everything together aaaannnnd: When the car is in the air and the wheels are already at stock ride height you know you're in for something interesting. On the ground: This thing is LOW. The picture doesn't really convey just how close to the ground it sits. I can't get my baby finger between the front tire and the fender. It feels very strange walking up to the car now, and even weirder when the hood's open. I'm very accustomed to having the engine at a certain height, and now that it's 2-3" below that... Weird. I also tagged my exhaust on a small speed bump on the way home. The insanity begins!!! The trunk is still full of tools and parts, so I haven't been able to give it a good drive to figure the handling out yet. Tomorrow!
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Chris 92 Ebony Mica LS-L "A Rolling Restoration": 223,250 KM - Sleeping 2007 STi 6MT, Stance GR+ coilovers, PWR Rad, JDM hood badge, svxfiles 6000K HIDs, JDM Clear Corners, $15/15 min mod, $20/20 min mod, Energy Swaybar Bushings, Hella Supertones horns, Gold STi BBS rims, Group A lightweight crank pulley, A/C system removed, Custom header-back exhaust, Hybrid carbon/metal rear sway bar, restored headlights with CCFL halos 2008 Subaru Legacy Spec B - Diamond Grey Metallic - Sold 2020 Ram 1500 Longhorn - Red Pearl |
#37
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Re: STI Suspension Swap Project
^ lol you have a baby finger?
besides that, looking good!!!
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94 Acura Integra GSR 97 Legacy Brighton - EG33 Swap still in progress 03 Silverado 2500 - Duramax |
#38
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Re: STI Suspension Swap Project
Good work, Chris, but damn that's LOW!
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1991 SVX L JDM |
#39
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Re: STI Suspension Swap Project
Wow. I'm in love with the new ride height.
Have you reattached the front sway bar endlinks yet? You referenced how you might do it in the first post , but I didn't see you go back and say you actually followed through with that yet, or maybe you did and I missed it. |
#40
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Re: STI Suspension Swap Project
Thanks guys. I'll grab a few pictures when I get back this afternoon, it looks even crazier in the sunlight.
Quote:
shotgunslade and I had a good discussion about this in another thread. Modifying the endlink mounts like this effectively softens the swaybar a fair bit, but I do have another version in my head that may take car of that.
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Chris 92 Ebony Mica LS-L "A Rolling Restoration": 223,250 KM - Sleeping 2007 STi 6MT, Stance GR+ coilovers, PWR Rad, JDM hood badge, svxfiles 6000K HIDs, JDM Clear Corners, $15/15 min mod, $20/20 min mod, Energy Swaybar Bushings, Hella Supertones horns, Gold STi BBS rims, Group A lightweight crank pulley, A/C system removed, Custom header-back exhaust, Hybrid carbon/metal rear sway bar, restored headlights with CCFL halos 2008 Subaru Legacy Spec B - Diamond Grey Metallic - Sold 2020 Ram 1500 Longhorn - Red Pearl |
#41
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Re: STI Suspension Swap Project
That looks very good, I can't wait to see the pictures in the sunlight.
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#42
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Re: STI Suspension Swap Project
Pardon the iPhone shots, I don't have access to a proper camera at the moment.
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Chris 92 Ebony Mica LS-L "A Rolling Restoration": 223,250 KM - Sleeping 2007 STi 6MT, Stance GR+ coilovers, PWR Rad, JDM hood badge, svxfiles 6000K HIDs, JDM Clear Corners, $15/15 min mod, $20/20 min mod, Energy Swaybar Bushings, Hella Supertones horns, Gold STi BBS rims, Group A lightweight crank pulley, A/C system removed, Custom header-back exhaust, Hybrid carbon/metal rear sway bar, restored headlights with CCFL halos 2008 Subaru Legacy Spec B - Diamond Grey Metallic - Sold 2020 Ram 1500 Longhorn - Red Pearl |
#43
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Man that's awesome.
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"That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence." '92 Dark Teal SVX LS-L, >146,000m 3 pedals, 5 speeds., restoration underway. 2012 Honda Insight, slow but cute. |
#44
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Re: STI Suspension Swap Project
Yes, im very jealous.
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#45
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Re: STI Suspension Swap Project
Looks Great!
No way I could get away with having a car that low where I live though. |
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