Evolution Coilovers on 1g dsm

[Ravenous]

Now that Koni Yellows are nearly impossible to find in a full set and the few places that *might* have them are offering them at around $700 for a set... if they have them at all, I have been looking at the EVO 8/9 MR suspension for my 1G GSX. Tunersnation has the setup for $500 dollars with the work done but reading up on the GVR4 boards I and surfing the EVO boards classifieds I find I can work my own for substantially cheaper. The other thing I noticed is that the EVO boards have used coilovers in their classifieds and with a little welding and drilling I don't see why they can't be used on the 1G platform, which would open up a whole world of new options to us. It is my understanding that all we would need to do is:

-Weld the bottom stock rear shock mount into the new shock ears.
-Make spacers for the front shock mount brackets
-Drill matching holes for EVO top hat studs

Is there more to it than that or am I missing something?

 

[talonDSMerr]

Koni yellows are still available for 1g awd fronts, while the rears are hard to find. BUT, you can easily just use 2g rear Koni yellows in their place. The motion ratios are very similar between 1g awd rear and 2g rear. I built my rear coilovers with the 2g Koni yellows and a Ground Control coilover kit.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/articles-suspension-brakes/406746-2g-rear-koni-shocks-1g-awd.html

 

[Ravenous]

I saw that writeup and it is a definite possibility but I saw multiple sets of coilovers in the Evo classifieds and am just thinking that with very little dsm ingenuity a guy could pick up a used pair of higher end coilovers. Right now I am most likely looking at MR Bilsteins with lowering springs but if I come across a decent set of coilovers I may jump on them if they can be made to work. I haven't seen anybody do it yet but there are GVR4 guys running the full EVO shock/strut setup, top hats and all.

 

[arrowhead]

I know it is a different set up but they may work on a 2g also, any ideas?

arrowhead

 

[jtmcinder]

To the OP: the only other thing that comes to mind is the bracket for the brake line. Otherwise I think you've listed all the issues. Good luck and take pictures, please.

I know it is a different set up but they may work on a 2g also, any ideas?

The front motion ratios are very different between a 2G and anything on struts. Thus, this doesn't sound like a good plan because, by the time you replaced the springs and revalved the shocks, Konis would have been much cheaper (and probably better).

 

[Ravenous]

Just an update. I was able to source a pair of used Skunk2 Pro-C coilovers with a pair each of 8k, 10k, and 12k springs for $370. They are a little ugly as the lower mounts are painted steel and are a little rusty but that is perfectly ok to me as it was easy to figure out if they would be weldable. I also had my eye on some Fortune 500 Coilovers but they had aluminum lower mounts on the rears so they were a no go. Once I get them I will clean them up and do a writeup on the install.
I know they are not the best thing out there but it was easier to convince the little lady since they were less than AGX's. Also seeing as how this has not been done yet (to my knowledge) I didn't want to invest $1000 for something that might not work.

Stay tuned

 

[Ludachris]

Now that Koni Yellows are nearly impossible to find in a full set and the few places that *might* have them are offering them at around $700 for a set... if they have them at all, I have been looking at the EVO 8/9 MR suspension for my 1G GSX. Tunersnation has the setup for $500 dollars with the work done but reading up on the GVR4 boards I and surfing the EVO boards classifieds I find I can work my own for substantially cheaper. The other thing I noticed is that the EVO boards have used coilovers in their classifieds and with a little welding and drilling I don't see why they can't be used on the 1G platform, which would open up a whole world of new options to us. It is my understanding that all we would need to do is:

-Weld the bottom stock rear shock mount into the new shock ears.
-Make spacers for the front shock mount brackets
-Drill matching holes for EVO top hat studs

Is there more to it than that or am I missing something?

Imagine if someone stepped in and created conversion kits... then again, all this would really do is make it so the more expensive coilover options would be available to the cheap DSMer. I guess you could get some used coilovers for cheap. Would there really be any money in it for someone to fab up a conversion kit? This is essentially what Robispec was working on with the KW kit, but very few people jumped onboard due to the expense.

 

[agentorange313]

This caught my attention when reading this thread:
Evo 9 MR Bilstein Struts conversion for 1g DSM AWD [TN-M1GEVOBIL] - $600.00 : Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce

Tuners Nation is using a evo9 suspension set up for the 1g AWD.

"The rears are modifed to bolt-on & retain the Evo factory springs. The fronts are modified to accept your factory bolts. You can cut the springs to ~8" free length. You will be required to swap out the front Evo top mounts for your factory ones. You can use the front Evo top mounts if you'd like but this means you'd have to redrill the mounting holes on your car for them to work."

Apparently there is modification work that will allow you to run EVO suppression in our 1gs, but to the extent and details, we are unsure of. Maybe the same modification would be applied to a set of Coilovers?

 

[Ravenous]

Awe my friend, the very people who are selling those also wrote the how to on doing it yourself:

Here:
Evo VIII suspension | Galant VR-4 > How To and Info Archive | GalantVR-4.org Mitsubishi Galant VR4 Forum

and Here: Part 2
EVO VIII suspension, Chapter II | Galant VR-4 > How To and Info Archive | GalantVR-4.org Mitsubishi Galant VR4 Forum

You can get EVO shocks/struts/springs from the Evolution boards for fairly inexpensive. From reading the how to on the GVR4 boards as long as the coilover rear lower mount is steel then it should be fairly easy to adapt.

Chris, I would love to see someone step up and make a conversion kit. You are right however that the kit would have be budget friendly as DSMers are notoriously che.... efficient with their money and ultimately it really only opens up the availability of used parts as the guy who can spend $4k plus on Motons or Ohlins could probably afford the $500-$1000 to make them work on his or her ride. I was nearly beside myself when I found out I couldn't get the Koni yellow rears anymore and the ever shrinking market of decent suspension products is disheartening(but I understand why.)

Is there any standard to the thread size and diameter of coilover cartridge bodies? I know that a lot of the Chinese models are interchangeable and it is my understanding(could be wrong) that they are JIC knockoffs. I wouldn't be surprised if most of these manufacturers already have lower eyelet style mounts that would work with our cars.

Fortune had a threaded sleeve at the bottom of their coilovers that was also threaded on the bottom so you could thread in a different mount. Fortune Auto Replacement Parts - Fortune Auto USA Look at the Z32 lower mounts halfway down.

 

[GsxEcutioner]

I just sold my Evo shocks, I had the rears welded and also had the Evo tanabe lowering springs. Good suspension but to much rebound for my liking. These I used stock front top hats and rear tein pillowball mounts which I just parted and sold to buy a full ksport specific gvr4 setup.
-Shane

PS I sold the struts and springs for $400 stock top hats.

I ziptied the brake lines to the struts and I still have the ss braided brake line for the conversion for sale if anyone wants it. There would be no money converting them btw since you'd have to have extra struts lying around to cut up.also I went away from drilling the fronts because I did not know the structural integrity of the strut mounts. I've seen people drill it and it has to be precise for the use of camber kits.

 

[Ravenous]

Well it has been done, I just took my first drive with the Evo 8/9 Skunk2 Pro-C coilovers. The install was pretty much just like the GVR4 stock Evo suspension I linked above. The only difference was that I had to drill holes in the strut tower for the Evo camber plate. In hind sight it may of been possible to drill and press new studs in the camber plate to avoid drilling the strut tower as there was plenty of meat on the plate.

On another note, the Pro-C units comes with 10k front and 12k rear springs and they are stiff. I am going to swap out the 12k springs with the 8k springs that I got with the deal in hopes of a more comfortable ride.

 

[GsxEcutioner]

I just bought galant vr4 specific bc racing coilovers. Waiting for them to be delivered and it's 10k front 8k rear.