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Mounting Mitsubishi Coilovers to Volvo Knuckles

A

autoxgalant72

New member
Joined
Apr 13, 2008
Location
Peculiar, MO
So, first thing most of you are wondering is why the hell anyone would want to do such a thing in the first place? Well its pretty simple, I have a Galant that was involved in a 'moment' a couple years ago which damaged the part that mounts the coilover to the knuckle. Since replacements where not available due to them being completely redesigned I picked up another set and ran with it. Fastforward to today, and I have a 745 that is getting V8 swapped for some sideways hoonage, I needed a good suspension to go with the car. Since the dampers are in good shape I figure the cheapest solution is to adapt them to the Volvo!

So after a bit of measuring I took thick tubing and put it into the lathe and came up with this!

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So next step is to go press them in and tig it all up. Add in a set of Kalphenke roll center/ quick steer arms and it should be a pretty sweet low budget set up!
 
Theres been a few threads about a similar idea with nissan stuff, you seem to have your head on your shoulders and looks like you have a fairly sturdy "adapter" to mate the two. Is it a tight tolarance between the nuckle and your part? Volvo seems to have just swedged it in there and its worked for millions of cars so far, tig is just icing on the cake. Keep us updated
 
Its a press fit, I have to wait until Monday to get into the shop that has a press, so after that they will get welded. I feel like overkill doesn't exist when it comes to keeping the front wheels from falling off, lol.

I got the idea from the thread about using Nissan stuff, this pretty much cuts out the issues with trying to use the different knuckles and control arms.

The other news is if anyone wants a set of tubes like this I can go to my machine shop and have them made, or if you have someone with a CNC lathe that is local to you they should be able make something similar.

I will keep updates going as I put all this together. I'll be making control arms after I finish these so I can get some wicked angle out of this front end!
 
So the inside of the thicker tube is threaded? That is pretty sweet. Then you can lower without affecting shock stroke and droop. Full write up for the 700/900 guys would probably be much appreciated from them. Gives more options. All in all, that's a pretty cool mod.
 
These are from JIC Magic, they have since split from the Japanese based manufacturer to a US base since something happened with the Japanese company. Lots of support, and a quality project, but at the end of the day it is better to use something designed for the car in question. However in this instance cost was a limitation, so using parts I already own is the cheapest route.

The tubes are all one piece. They started as 2.375" tubing with a .275" wall, then turned to 52mm and threaded at a 2.0 pitch, then the opposite end was turned to the 52.35mm to fit the knuckles.
 
The internet isn't a scary place any more, we're accountable for our actions everywhere. Have you ever looked at what the first amendment actually says? TLDR? It doesn't let you off being a racist idiot.


Coilovers and that bike look pretty good.
 
Kombi said:
The internet isn't a scary place any more, we're accountable for our actions everywhere. Have you ever looked at what the first amendment actually says? TLDR? It doesn't let you off being a racist idiot.


Coilovers and that bike look pretty good.
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Exactly. Freedom of speech doesn't apply here.
 
Canadan said:
If the words slant eye offends you its time to get off the interwebs because you truely are too sensitive to be in this scary place
Click to expand...
This is a public forum, with very clear rules. When someone like you doesn't get the hint from others that any bigotry will not be tolerated here, it is my job to tell you to can it or be banned. Many forums would not give you that warning.
 
Looks like a cool setup, and you can always replace the coilovers with better units.

I like the adjustable height so that the shock range remains the same no matter what height you put it at.

How did you do the internal threads? I have not mastered that on the lathe yet. How do you know when to stop threading since you can't see it?
 
These coilovers are already really nice, just old and a little worn. They will need some revalving in order to better suit the Volvo platform, however weight should be close to the same. Someone could do this for other brands of dampers, however I know for sure that Tein uses a larger thread pattern. So thet would not be cross compatible. That is ok, because different tubes can be made.

I would not try to thread on a manual lathe, I am fortunate enough to have access to a CNC lathe that can be programmed for mm lateral movement per revolution, or revolutions per lateral inch to allow both standard and metric threads to be cut. I simply cut the threads as deep as the lathe would go. Since the strut assembly would be shorter than the factory unit I know I won't have to go all the way down in the threads.
 
Ok, got the tube pressed in to both knuckles but I'm going to work on my TIG skills a bit before I get these done. Hopefully I can get some good practice in tonight and get them all finished up!

Here we go with how they are now. The fitment is extremely tight, I could probably peen them in and be just fine, but I plan to push this car very hard and do not wish to shortcut things. Which brings me to another point, should I drill 2 new holes in the strut tower to use the existing camber plates, or pay the waterjet shop to cut me new ones out of 1/4" aluminum? I'm leaning with using the existing one's as they are made out of a fairly high grade aluminum and I'm not sure I can get similar sheet aluminum locally.

Here are the pictures so far!

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This is about maximum safe height.

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This is the lowest it goes.

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The set up will already give about 1.5-2" drop at max and then go down another 2".
 
Preheat the knuckles just a but so you see the moisture sweating out of them to help avoid hydrogen embritlmen.
 
autoxgalant72 said:
I'm leaning with using the existing one's as they are made out of a fairly high grade aluminum and I'm not sure I can get similar sheet aluminum locally.
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They are likely 6061-T6 which is absolutely guaranteed to be available at your local metal supply. It's a very common alloy, inexpensive, and more than adequate for that application.

As an aside, I'm not sure where "sh!tsburg" is but Kansas is home to many aerospace companies which generally makes it very easy to find surplus high strength aluminum alloys locally. For example:

https://www.airpartsinc.com
 
That is true, however I am a long ways from any of the major cities in KS, however Joplin likely has something. Its funny, but with my proximity to StradaFab I can get Ti easier then high grade aluminum. At least in town. I'd have to go to Joplin to get the waterjet cutting done, so you are right, they should have T6 plate stock somewhere.

I'm just wondering if spending $100 for new top plates is better than just drilling new holes and using the ones I have.

With the size of the part I will be torch heating anyways just so I can get a good weld to it. However managed to. run the damn thing out of gas, so now I have to change the cylinder out before I can get it done.
 
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