merc-blue Posted April 10, 2006 Report Posted April 10, 2006 G'day guys I'm about to embark (possibly) on a early KE project and they have rear leaf springs which are all bad!! would it be worth the time to mount up some rear coils into the baby the improvements in handling would be handy what do people say? also on the not what about early AE steering worth having a crack? i have lots of time, welding gear, oxy,mig tig and arc, even have a hoist to use. I'm interested if people think its worth the time? Quote
Redwarf Posted April 10, 2006 Report Posted April 10, 2006 (edited) WTF is it with people being scared of leaves???? I believe it to be a waste of time and money and effort. Any half competent numb nut should be able to set up your leaf pack so it will do anything you want it to. If you really want coils, by a KE70. I believe your money would be a lot better spent on some really decent (Koni, Bilstein etc) set of shock adsorbers. No, not Munroes, Gabriels or cheap Pedders, real shockies. If you want proof of what leaves can do, come and drive either of my Corollas. :) Edited April 10, 2006 by Redwarf Quote
merc-blue Posted April 10, 2006 Author Report Posted April 10, 2006 i was planning full whiteline bits (shocks,swaybars, strut braces you name it ill do some research into a good leave setup Quote
Redwarf Posted April 10, 2006 Report Posted April 10, 2006 (edited) *Caution: Personal opinion coming up* I believe that a complete suspension rebuild shouldn't be done in one big hit. You can change a whole heap of bits, and find that it handles, well.... not how you want it to, and you don't have any idea which bit caused it to do what it is doing. You can ask people what set up they run, which is all good, however, they are not you. You need to set the car up for what YOU want. It needs a number of things to happen and to be considered. What are you doing with the car? How do you want the car to handle? What is you driving style? do you have a driving style yet? What do you want it to be? What settings are you comfortable with? Do you like soft springs, hard shocks? Or the other way around? Or another combo? The list goes on. Two people can set up essencially the same car to do the same things in two very different ways. For example, Demuires car and my Evo1 Corolla in Tarmac spec. Two different suspension philosophies achieving the same end, due to the individuals preferences. I'm not going to say who's right, as set up is a very personal thing. Some people drive my cars and say "this rocks", however others get in and crap themselves as the car doesn't suit the way they drive. Start with springs and shocks. Get them right before even thinking about touching swaybars. Alot of people change swaybars, and all it ends up doing is covering other evils in the car. Get each step right before moving onto the next one. I very rarely alter swaybars, FWIW. Hope this helps. R Edited April 10, 2006 by Redwarf Quote
st.nick Posted April 10, 2006 Report Posted April 10, 2006 The most successful rally car of **ALL TIME** had a leaf spring rear end... Its ALL in the build and setup. Quote
TRD ke70 Posted April 10, 2006 Report Posted April 10, 2006 Sorry Rob!!! 5 bar link rear ends are the way to go, leave springs are an old design, they still use them on commercials because they can carry greater weight and are cheap to make. look at all the RWD cars from the mid 80's on and most use 5 or 4 bar link rear ends, if not IRS. the best setup would be IRS, but you're talking big bucks. 5 bar links do put more power on the road = more traction. but like Rob said, you have to know what you want out of the car, increasing the traction could be as simple as an LSD if that's all you want. requires some serious thought. Quote
st.nick Posted April 10, 2006 Report Posted April 10, 2006 How much is a 5-link setup gonna cost, as opposed to a fully re-built leaf spring setup with excellent shocks?? Keeping in mind engineer's certificates and mod plates for registering the car after the job is done?? Quote
Redwarf Posted April 10, 2006 Report Posted April 10, 2006 (edited) Aahhh, Chris! :) I'm not arguing the fact that leaves are better than the 70 back end, far from it. I just can't see the point in changing an older car to a link back end, when with a bit of energy and thought, a good set-up can be achieved with what it already has. People seem to think that leaves are something evil, when all it really is is a lack of understanding and knowledge. Chris, you know I'd run coils in the back if I could! :D (Insert gratuitous rally car photo here!) Edited April 10, 2006 by Redwarf Quote
TRD ke70 Posted April 10, 2006 Report Posted April 10, 2006 (edited) i know rob, i have done a 5 bar link conversion on a starlet, a lot of work but it was worth it. i think a good thing would be for him to buy "how to make your car handle". st.nick: keeping in mind that he has all the tools and should beable to get a cheap KE70 for parts, not that much. an engineer only has to look over his work and the design, if it's kept along the same lines as the donor car there shouldn't be any problem. i like the idea, but i've done this conversion and it's a lot of work. the benifits for me were worth it, but i did drive the starlet on it's limit and beyond. see pic Edited April 10, 2006 by TRD ke70 Quote
merc-blue Posted April 10, 2006 Author Report Posted April 10, 2006 could some one point me in the direction of a site that has info on rear leaves setups and so forth? any way to measure leave rates? lol Quote
towe001 Posted April 11, 2006 Report Posted April 11, 2006 http://www.chris-longhurst.com/carbibles/s...sion_bible.html Another good site is http://google.com.au i think a good thing would be for him to buy "how to make your car handle". Or you should be able to find it at the library, or get it ordered in... My opinion is that if the car's going to be used on the street then work on the standard suspension. If its for racing with a "who gives a rats ring about cost" then go for multi-link suspension Quote
David[RL] Posted April 11, 2006 Report Posted April 11, 2006 the te27 TTE ( Toyota Team europe ) WRC/ Gr.B rally car they won the 1000 Lakes Rally in '75 actually had leaves AND equal length 4link arms! that's the first production rally car toyota used.. with the 151E engine ( 16v 2tg ) I'll post a picture of it later Quote
boosted ke15 Posted June 19, 2006 Report Posted June 19, 2006 leaf springs can't be that bad if they are on 8 second drag cars , just get them reset and go from there Quote
Taz_Rx Posted June 19, 2006 Report Posted June 19, 2006 The most successful rally car of **ALL TIME** had a leaf spring rear end... Its ALL in the build and setup. one of the most successful japanese race cars ever.........also leaf sprung!!! Quote
Killswitch Posted June 19, 2006 Report Posted June 19, 2006 doesn't the new vette still come with leaves or something weird? And it's meant to handle ok too I thought? They're old technology, but it works! Quote
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