FAILED Update ! Suspension **HELP**

[Guest]

(New Post) - dont mind if u argue this conclusion cus i wished they were suitable

*99 Wrx sti struts ARE NOT SUITABLE for a GEN1 S1 RS LEGACY*

Spent most of the weekend trying to solve the issue of having too much camber default camber. As the original write up below describes, i had replaced the standard S1 legacy struts with those from a 99wrx sti. did a bit of research and it seemed as though these would fit up, but u never really know until u DIY... After 2 punishing days working outside and mostly in rain me and a mate have come to a conclusion based on many Trail and Error procedures, they DO NOT fit. / Simply due to the Sti's struts have a shaft length of around 30mm shorter > which once bolted back up raises the control arm (rotor etc) which then gives a negative camber of at least -3 deg and the with the camber bolt unadjusted. A camber bolt does not give enough adjustment to fix this and after feedback on a possible Top Hat rotation fail this has also been checked/changed and does not make 'much' difference at all.

(Old Post)

Replaced the 89rs legacy struts with some later struts from a 99sti type r (red ones) as an upgrade. installation went smoothly apart from having to use the original strut tops and springs on the rear but was expecting this. Was stoked until the hoist was lowered and found that the camber was WAYYYY OUT NEGATIVE and its not due to the minor adjustment from the camber bolts. I have a few images to show the results including a print out from a laser alignment machine. the alignment dude suggested putting the old struts back in!! defeats the purpose of an upgrade. Im sure that this strut conversion has been succesfully done before?? appreciate any info or suggestions, if it cant be fixed then what other suspension options could i do? also at the point where money doesnt really matter as long as i can drive it again cus it has new P6 tyres and dont want to ruin them.

This is the front passenger side

Rear passenger side

Alignment print out ignore the year model

cheers

Adam

[gotasuby]

where abouts you located?

[Pappu1]

are u sure they were not shortened shocks - that is some pretty mean camber

[newsuba]

That's real racecar styles !

;D

[Guest]

gotasuby - located in aus thought id outreached to an nz brother as there are many more legacys over there. will be coming over in august snow but unfortunatley the car cant come. got any ideas

struts look to be normal and are in good condition dont think they have been shortened.

haha yeah its looks pretty mean atm full race spec drive like glue on a paper but those tyres are brand new so not willing to bald the insides for an agressive look

dont really understand why so much camber? cus u should only be able to get a 1-2degree adjustment on stock camber arms.

thanks

[Swindog]

Looks like you need camber bolts

Unless there are hell low springs on it it maybe the strut is a short stroke and then you need the camber bolts. Just a suggestion. As above short struts will do it.

[BC5RA]

I'd say you've aligned the Top hats incorrectly, they can swivel; should be paint marking or a mark of some sort to align it with the hub.

[Guest]

 BC5RA said:

I'd say you've aligned the Top hats incorrectly, they can swivel; should be paint marking or a mark of some sort to align it with the hub.

dude think ur spot on! going to try sus it out asap

cheers buddy

the struts came with camber bolts and the springs are standard sti in the front and standard rs legs in rear

jelouse of all the legacy over there thinking about sourcing a S1 rs turbo front bar and bringing it home after

the snow ;D

arrrg just want to drive the car as its new

cheers

[pl0x]

you can grind out the hole, making it oval then put the bolt where you want it, kinda like the how the fronts have it.

then get it on the wheel align and move the shock to where you want it, i thought the friction would be enough to stop the shock from moving anymore, but to be safe - tack weld a washer or something to keep the bolt in place

[EJ20T]

Are you sure u have to top hats around the rite way?

[BC5RA]

 EJ20T said:

Are you sure u have to top hats around the rite way?

Read through the whole thread before posting, gives you a point of reference

[Guest]

Made an edit to original post ^^^

suspension upgrade FAIL

So question would be what suspension upgrades have been done ??

never new that S1 AND S2 have a different suspension setup well apart from knowing that S1 rear uses a tapered spring.

if have an opinion that differs let me know.

Cheers

[Koom]

Your problem possibly stems from the differing top hats. If the centre of the strut is off its intended position, then you will end up with screwy camber. I've put a picture below which I think is the one that shows the difference between GC8 and BC5 rear top mounts (when I originally made it I didn't label anything or name it with any description, so I'm guessing its the right one as I don't have any tophats close by to compare).

In my drawing, the centres are concentric yet I haven't measure up the distances to the respective centres on the BC5 or GC8 tophats so one of them may have the centre offset (i.e. imagine if the studs at the top of the drawing where lined up, then the centre on one tophat would move up about 5mm which would move the camber). We usually re-drill the tophats that came with the struts to fit the different chassis mounts. But also all the cars I have done this too have had adjustable lateral arms so then the camber could be adjusted to suit (may have increased the rear track by 5-10mm by doing so).

I'd suggest doing what the others have mentioned and slot the top or bottom hole where the strut mounts to the hub. The top one gives quite a coarse adjustment (i.e. move ~1mm out and get ~1 degree difference) and the bottom one gives a tighter adjustment range (i.e. move ~1mm and get ~0.5 degree camber difference).

With the amount of camber you've got, I'd slot the top holes about 1-2mm outwards and test and measure from there.

[Guest]

cheers koom ill have a read over it tonight see how it goes.

just confused that im having these issues as they are correctly installed

[BC5RA]

 untouchable_rs said:

cheers koom ill have a read over it tonight see how it goes.

just confused that im having these issues as they are correctly installed

Must be as Koom say's anything I've had to do with a conversion like this goes okay.

[BC5RA]

The struts must be damaged somehow, what did you get them out of?

[Guest]

havent had much time to reflect on the car since some handy info from u guys that could sort the issue. but im almost

veering towards one strut at least being damaged? unless the top hat is rotated/not level, this issue i think can be fixed

in the rear its the fronts esp the passenger side that has more significant camber issue.

the struts were brought by a mate who tried to put them in his series2 LX (FWD) when i found out he had them i quickly

snapped them up as my application is AWD and these would normally fit!!??? haha but def do not fit in the rear of the FWD

cars.

soon a conclusion will be made and i hope its not because of a technical error on my behalf ;D

[pl0x]

afaik all front shocks are the same between models so you shouldnt have problems there.

are you sure there from a gc8? V7 upwards has different rear shock design, and when putting into a legacy bd5 it makes to much postive camber

could it be posable that there different shocks with gc8 top hats?