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cheapskate corner

B

bent-grill

Member
Joined
May 5, 2012
Location
Portland Or.
So I am building a set of "coyote" coil overs for my 83 245 and was wondering about damping and spring rates. If I don't go crazy with the spring rate and keep it around 200 lb/in would a set of regular shocks be able to keep it from feeling "Bouncy." I am shooting for a zippy daily driver with no intentions of track time or auto x. I may be dreaming but I figured you guys would set me straight.
 
Some of it will depend on how sensitive you are to bouncyness. When I first put iPd springs on my 245 I installed Bilstein HD shocks/struts. The front was fine, but the extra weight of the wagon rear made it feel like the shocks couldn't keep up. Then it got worse of course when I added coilovers, 200 lb. Front, 175 lb. Rear. So I will go out on a limb and say dont use regular shocks.

The cure for me was a now unobtainable set of R-Sport rallye shocks/struts that had an incredible amount of rebound damping.

I suspect Koni adjustables will do the job nicely for your coilovers.
Dave B
 
I use 250 lb/in springs and stock Bilstein HDs in the front of the 5.0 powered 244 drift car, and out back it uses Gabriel Ultra shocks and cut wagon overload springs. The ride is great for most spirited driving (track days and drifting), and pretty nice on the street. It's a little bouncy up front, but not blown out stock 240 bad. With 5 people in the car, it does start to scrap mudflaps when cornering hard.
 
Those are exactly the rates I had been planning. I'll just suck it up and have beans and rice for a month or two while staring at a picture of koni's. Since I have you on the line do you remember the free length of the springs you used for your coilovers? I have been planning on 12" but I'm open to criticism. Sorry to hear about Volvo's tightening of their brand, your stuff has been a staple of the community for ages.
 
Thanks Culberro! I had a set of bills on my last 244 and they worked well with the ipd springs. not sure why i would think 30% stiffer springs would work with stock shocks.
 
bent-grill said:
Since I have you on the line do you remember the free length of the springs you used for your coilovers? I have been planning on 12" but I'm open to criticism.
Click to expand...

No criticism from me. Never tried 12" springs. Mine were 10" front and back. Fronts had a small helper spring so they didn't flop around when unloaded.
Dave B.
 
I've got 14" 150 lb/in springs with new Sachs struts and aftermarket bumpstops. Decent roll resistance and the struts can keep up. I had fancy "rally" valved Bilsteins in there but they seized up from less than one winter of use without boots (as did my regular HDs). I ran 200lb springs too with regular Bilstein HDs but something about it (possibly slightly seized single strut) caused oscillation at highway speeds.

Topic for another thread, but I might make some adapters for shorter 3" springs so I can actually fit a strut boot under the spring and run Bilsteins for more than a few months. I found some boots from Procomp that almost fit, but the boot is just too close the spring and eventually gets pinched and torn.
 
I hadn't thought about not being able to run boots on the strut with the smaller diameter springs. I may need to invent a solution because as much as I cant afford one set of Koni's I certainly cant afford the second set after I knacker the first....(furious internet clicking)....I just did some poking around and some Miata guys are using steering rack boots. When I get the Koni's I will go to my local autozone or something and have them bring in a few boots for me to measure up. I will report back on the results.
 
If you want to use the stock strut covers, you can use "barrel springs" , like what's available from Swift Spring or Eibachs XT spring lineup. The springs fit on standard 2.5in coilover perches, but bow/barrel out in the middle to provide more strut clearance and a more consistent rate. They're a bit more money at $90-100/spring, but they are very nice.
 
Thanks ben, That's a really nice solution, I'll do the barrel springs for sure in the front. If my springs rubbed on my coil overs I would defiantly hear it and it would drive me nuts. Do you think the Koni's would be a good match for a 200 lb spring rate?
 
bent-grill said:
Thanks ben, That's a really nice solution, I'll do the barrel springs for sure in the front. If my springs rubbed on my coil overs I would defiantly hear it and it would drive me nuts. Do you think the Koni's would be a good match for a 200 lb spring rate?
Click to expand...

Yea, 200x12 would be great.
 
while all of you are listening, I was planing on shortening my strut tubes for koni saab inserts because I was planning on a 2.5" drop. Would the Volvo Koni inserts be ok with that much or is a shorter insert a better idea?
 
culberro said:
If you want to use the stock strut covers, you can use "barrel springs"
Click to expand...

Are you saying you've done this and it all fits? Stock like OEM bump stops/ covers, or Bilstein?

I'm skeptical that the cloth or neoprene covers would handle ice/snow very well. Probably would work best with a little plate between the spring and Kaplhenke Luxe Steer to add a lip for the cover to grab onto.
 
While we are discussing two different kinds of shocks. Remember the Konis don't have bump stops and you will need one under the top perch inside the spring. Bilsteins have the bump stop built in so you only need a boot to fit inside the spring.

I use barrel springs on the 82 turbo and they cured the issues I had with the spring rubbing and also killing shocks because of the side loading. The barrel springs reduce the side loading. I think I use 250lb 11" springs if I recall correctly.
 
tjanson said:
Are you saying you've done this and it all fits? Stock like OEM bump stops/ covers, or Bilstein?
Click to expand...

I've used the barrel springs on much larger 50mm inverted struts, and they have plenty of clearance. I think the ID of the Swift spring (in the barrel section) is 3.1in or so.

The issues with the stock HD cover/boot is that it's pretty rigid and will probably smash into the coil-over sleeve. So... replacement steering rack boots might be the ticket since they'll accordion as they get compressed.
 
I figure if the barrel springs give me better loading and ensure i clear all the hardware it will be 20 bucks a spring well spent. I'll just get it assembled and if i can get a boot that fits inside i'll use it, but Ben sells bags that go over the springs for an easy fix.
 
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