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raise ride height>

4K views 26 replies 8 participants last post by  Mrspydersteve 
#1 · (Edited)
Has anyone added spacers between top hat and mount to increase ride height? My 2 came with h&R and I was thinking of making ~1/2" spacers to bring the height closer to TRD/Sportiva. Couple that with some Koni yellows and Whiteline adj sway bars and go for a suspension in the ballpark of the OEM Sportiva.

'01 if it matters, Solar Yellow 'cause that always matters

Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.

Thank you
 
#3 ·
That could be one way. My goal is sporty but not worry about a couple of the pothole/speed bumps/rail tracks around me

Why do you believe Koni are over prices? what would a fair price increase over kyb be to you? Not being facetious, genuinely curious. Looks like you have been around here for a minute and suspect you have good perspective/knowledge/wisdom.

Context
~~~~~~SOLAR YELLOW~~~~~~
Koni are going for $500 a set shipped right now.
2zz, open diff, Whiteline adj sways/corky breast plate
casual autocross at best
185/205 yoko sdrive
not commuter, but daily second car
already have aluminum stock on hand
have access to lathe/bridgeport
know how to use lathe/brideport
This is a hobby to me, so being slightly dumb isn't the worst thing. Not saying I like to burn money, just that the tinkering is part of the fun for me.

thank you!
 
#27 ·
That could be one way. My goal is sporty but not worry about a couple of the pothole/speed bumps/rail tracks around me

Why do you believe Koni are over prices? what would a fair price increase over kyb be to you? Not being facetious, genuinely curious. Looks like you have been around here for a minute and suspect you have good perspective/knowledge/wisdom.

Context
~~~~~~SOLAR YELLOW~~~~~~
Koni are going for $500 a set shipped right now.
2zz, open diff, Whiteline adj sways/corky breast plate
casual autocross at best
185/205 yoko sdrive
not commuter, but daily second car
already have aluminum stock on hand
have access to lathe/bridgeport
know how to use lathe/brideport
This is a hobby to me, so being slightly dumb isn't the worst thing. Not saying I like to burn money, just that the tinkering is part of the fun for me.

thank you!
I have a set of OEM springs if you are interested
 
#4 ·
When I've priced koni's it's about 1set to 2.5 sets of kyb's . I know Koni's are adjustable but most people just set them 1 or 2 clicks up from soft and leave them . I have one set of Koni's that came on a spyder I bought and I think you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference . Just that you'd have some extra monies in your pocket .
 
#5 ·
lets put the strut issue to bed and say I went kyb. I am convinced. I would also consider keeping the h&r springs use spacers to get ride height with additional spring rate, similar to the sportive set up.

I guess that's the crux, has anyone added spacers?

cut studs, drill out, use beefy bolts.

get ride height, spring rate, better geometry
 
#7 ·
An issue with all lowering springs is reduced travel. So even if you raise the suspension with some type of spacer, that doesn't change the travel. Go back to stock springs if you think the H&R are too low. We are currently running H&R and they are lower than stock, but not as low as Tein-S which we had on previously.

As for Koni vs KYB, with stock springs there isn't much difference, and many people can't justify the cost. The Koni do work better, but mainly because they seem to have less compression damping. However, if you go to stiffer springs like H&R or Tein, the KYB work OK, but the damping is mismatched to the spring rates. With the stiffer springs, the Koni work much nicer.

If you just want a nice ride and decent control without spending too much, go with stock springs and KYB
 
#8 ·
Have a look at the spring rate table.
You will find that the Sportivo has a trick up the sleeve; the rear are double the front rate whereas stock and most aftermarket have the rear 50% stiffer.
This changes the effect of the arb rates too.

Yes, ground clearance is a pita with lowering springs.
Also the lower the ride height, the shorter the wheel travel, the stiffer the spring needs to be.
This creates two problems:
  • The damping needs to be upgraded equally or the car will be underdamped which will be the more appearant the harder you push it.
  • A stiffer spring equals raising the suspension frequency asking quicker driver responses.

A refreshed OEM set up is for real world circumstances very, véry hard to improve upon.
What works on a track is often and for mortal drivers the wróng way to go for real world roads.

Since Sportive stuff has gone the way of the Dodo, KYBs with stock springs is thé affordable combo imo.
Adding Whitelines would reduce a bit of body roll and not affect ground clearance.
 
#10 ·
Cool. Thats fair.


Alright, so if shorter travel and higher compression springs benefit from Koni dampeners. do Koni need extra shock travel?

If the spacers are then used to increase ride height to TRD height under the assumption Toyota engineers put it there for a reason. I SPECULATE that part of that reason was for geometry travel? Maybe? (I am a big ol moron just spitballing, and assuming Toyota engineers did it for a reason and smarter than me)

Thats kinda why my dumb thought. HR springs, Koni, white line and spacer seemed to check off the concerns while getting close to sportiva at a reasonable cost ($200 more than kyb for struts, nuts & bolts,)

The machining is no big deal. alignment either way.
 
#16 ·
I literally do not know what ARB stands for. I googled but got silly results.

I am working on the assumption Koni would be able to dampen the h&r springs effectively. if so, why would they not with a spacer?

The ride hight spacers would put the front geometry to what Toyota set with the .75. Conceptually like a bump steer kit along with extra ground clearance.
 
#19 ·
thank you, I feel like an idiot for not knowing anti roll bar.

the sportiva springs and kyb seem like a good option. they would be in Koni cost territory.

From what I have read on these and other mr2 forums, it seems like Koni and h&r are a tried and true street set up

for the same cost, what would you all do?

kyb and eBay sportiva springs?

keep h&r, put on Koni (and still make spacers cause idk, kinda feel committed to the idea now and don't see a down side with Koni dampeners)

either would have whitelines
 
#22 ·
We are running H&R springs and Konis, with a stock front bar and no rear bar, and it has a decent ride and works very well on twisty back roads. We had been running Tein springs, but the H&R doesn't lower as much
 
#23 ·
I have the Sportivo kit (dog bones incl.) with Whitelines and set the rear one a hole stiffer than TRD spec. as that is just that bit less understeered still. All in all, because of the harder rear, wáy more grip at the front, proportionately less rear and I lóve the extra confidence it warrants on the mountain back roads. I just about always tíghten the line.
 
#24 ·
First off Koni's don't have clicks for adjustment, there is a 720 degree dial for adjustment, making adjustment not perfect. I have about 90k + on Koni's. I currently use them with a 3k/4k spring set and have them adjusted at about 360 degrees, in the middle. I have used OEM KYB's, Koni's with Swift springs and OEM springs, PowerTrix and KW v3 coilovers. Now I have Koni's installed in the PowerTrix coilovers with spring rates of my choice at OEM ride height. I have read suggestions about modding the OEM strut to take common 65mm ID springs which could give you the desired ride height, OEM travel and balance using Koni's to match the spring rate. I very much enjoy the shock adjustment range of Koni's for street use, KW's are a nice second choice but starts a bit stiffer then I prefer, spring rates I would change and not the ride height I want. I don't mind a little understeer, but I also use a softer rear anti sway bar and run 195's in the front with 205's on the rear (Dunlop ZII's). A balance I am happy with. I believe Koni offers a lifetime guarantee.
 
#26 ·
I really want to thank the old timers for chiming in.
Old timers?!? OK, we have owned our 2002 for 14 years, and we are no longer young, so I guess we qualify. Most of us "old guard" are very familiar with the Spyders and various modifications as we have tried many of them, personally know another Spyder owner who has tried a mod, or followed the experiences of others on various forums. Often thousands of dollars have been spent on "experiments", both successful and failed. Some of us have been professional technicians, and been there, done that, and we try to give our thoughts when we can.

Our goal is to help others have as much fun with the cars as we have had.

Everyone has slightly different requirements in a suspension, and depending on driver experience, may want a different feel or behavior. Someone else's "hot" setup may be completely wrong for another driver. Decide what is most important (and what you want to invest), and focus on that.
 
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