Handling/Suspension - Interesting facts?? - Help!

[Disco]

I'm in a dilemma and I need some help...

I'm hoping to find someone who has turned an ae101 into any sort of handling machine or knows any websites about this..

I'm about to buy swaybars and bushes for 101Trueno - I emailed around and recieved an answer from a very reliable source, however it's annoyed me somewhat...

Hi Steve,

<What do you stock if anything?>

There are bars listed for this vehicle, but none carried in NZ. Budget
around $345 for each bar.
They would need to be ordered ex Australia and would take around 4 weeks to
arrive.

One thing I will say is that the sway-bars are not the weak handling link in
the AE101's.
We very rarely fit the after market bars to this model, and when we do it is
for fine tuning purposes
after the springs and shocks have been done. (also we usually only change the rear bar)

I am not aware of any problems with insurance when it comes to changing
springs, and you certainly have the option of fitting std height uprated coils if the height is a problem.

I would recommend that first thing to change would be the shocks. We have done a number of this model
of Corolla and usually fit the uprated KYB shocks, originally fitted to the
Celica.
The valving is a lot better than the Corolla replacements and is better
suited to the uprated springs.

For the rear shocks we use the KYB replacement items.

<I asked him about fitting Nolathane bushes>

Bushes: Nolathane is a brand name (Greg Nolan) for a range of Polyurethane bushes.
Nolathane or "SuperPro" bushes are of fairly equal quality.
Having said that, there are only a couple of bushes on the AE101 that we
would recommend replacing with Urethane and these are the sway bar mounts.
The factory bushes are superior than the aftermarket bushes, and don't
usually give any problems on your model.


Let me know if you require any further info, or would like us to go through
pricing on the shocks etc.

For what it is worth, you will achieve about 60% of your handling from your
shocks, 30% from the spring change
and only about 10% (fine tuning) on the sway bars when talking AE101 for
street use.

..Cheers and thanks for the enquiry

..Ron

Now this blows my theorys out of the water - Can anyone tell me what they've done on their 101's or similar AE's or ST's? - I'd be interested to find a general consensis on what works Vs what doesn't...

[GEOFF]

I'd listnen to that dude, he does it for a living.

[Disco]

Heh... there's only one man named Ron that would know that much about suspension...

I'd listnen to that dude, he does it for a living.

...and has done since 1980. yeah, I know... - did he do your car?

[Distrb]

he'd also be right about the factory swaybar bushes......

just replaced my "D" bushes on the fx with toyota rubber items..... some muppet had put nolothane ones in there...... no wonder it handled like dogs breakfast ......

have been told the nolothane bushes last about 1/2 as long as the factory rubber items.....

[Twolitre]

If you read what he wrote carefully you will see he actually reccomends replacing the factory swaybar mounts with urethane bushes, and although he didn't write it I am assuming all of the other bushes such as contal arm bushes etc he reccomends to keep stock.

[Disco]

If you read what he wrote carefully you will see he actually reccomends replacing the factory swaybar mounts with urethane bushes, and although he didn't write it I am assuming all of the other bushes such as contal arm bushes etc he reccomends to keep stock.

Good spotting..

[t0ms]

although he doesnt post on the boards the dude to talk to would be ewan from hamilton (silver ae101 trueno from megameet)

from memory he has a full set of bilstein sdhocks camber plates blah blah blah, and from all accounts although you will need a permanant apointment at a chiropracter it handles like a race car. cant complain bout that eh

talk to nozebleed/offensive he will know how to contact him

[Disco]

although he doesnt post on the boards the dude to talk to would be ewan from hamilton (silver ae101 trueno from megameet)

Heh... *drool* I like Ewan's truvin (trueno front end/levin arse) - it sounds like a monster... cheers tom..

[Stealer Of Souls]

I think another question to ask yourself is are you tuning for street or track....

If it's street then the advice is probably correct. Although several magazines recommend sway bars as they are quite effective for the price...

Not so sure about the "superior" factory rubber bushes... probably makes the ride more comfortable than urethane, but the urethane bushes offer better response... I got some in my AE85.5 and the handling is heaps better... But it's not a 101 so, maybe it doesn't apply...

[ChaosAD]

Whats the name of that dudes buisness? cos I want one of those whiteline swaybars for my Fx.

[Disco]

I think another question to ask yourself is are you tuning for street or track....

A little of both - it's going to be driven daily but with light track and autocross. I'm not *too* concerned about the ride

Not so sure about the "superior" factory rubber bushes... probably makes the ride more comfortable than urethane, but the urethane bushes offer better response... I got some in my AE85.5 and the handling is heaps better... But it's not a 101 so, maybe it doesn't apply...

It would apply because it's still a car, still got 4 wheels...
The factory rubber is only superior because it lasts longer without maintenence - urethane cannot be left to run without grease.... otherwise it will perish..

ChaosAD Total Performance

[~SlideWays~]

Hey Steve,

Ron did the suspension on my trueno, my brothers old ae85.5 and my dads rx7 which is a weird one cos its got a heavier axle, so was a one off experiment for Ron but he was still able to get it handling much better.

It cost me roughly $1000 for lower springs and KYB short shocks plus fitting but i havent done any bushes. I have looked at them and some are getting really stuffed but it handles awesome anyway (I'll show you sometime if you want). The down side to taking it there is that he's always got lots of jobs going at the same time, but gets really good results.

My other brother took his starlet to Mag & Turbo for spring and shocks, which was a mistake cos they got the ride height all wrong, dont go there!

Dunno if that helps cos i didn't even mention ae101's ummmm mum used to have a 101 with hard suspension (from japan) which handled extremely well... no fwd understeer even with a space saver! so it can be done

[Disco]

Hey Cheers gav, (your avatar is micky buds too btw )

Rons the man, i've heard nothing but good things about him and his work and the conversations albeit minimal, have been very helpful in figuring out what i need rather than what he wants to sell me....

There is another suspension place in the Hutt that Ron actually goes through, I'm going to talk to them as well before making my decision on what to do...

(I'm tempted to flag... my insurance came out last night and it reminded me that oh yeah.. i've got insurance to think about)

[~SlideWays~]

Hey Cheers gav, (your avatar is micky buds too btw )

Rons the man, i've heard nothing but good things about him and his work and the conversations albeit minimal, have been very helpful in figuring out what i need rather than what he wants to sell me....

There is another suspension place in the Hutt that Ron actually goes through, I'm going to talk to them as well before making my decision on what to do...

(I'm tempted to flag... my insurance came out last night and it reminded me that oh yeah.. i've got insurance to think about)

Just do it dammit! you'll start looking forward to twisty corners, escpecially when you can keep up with much more powerful cars since they are boats that can't corner for shite

[Leon]

Yeah, when I did springs in my old Swift, AMI said on the phone that they would cancel my insurance. So I went in to the office armed with a ream of paperwork and receipts, prepared for an argument, and they just said "no worries" without even looking at the paper.

Go figure.

I am damned if I can understand insurance companies.

[pidge]

Will someone tell us where Ron works! Please!

[Leon]

Total Performance

[~SlideWays~]

Total Performance

its in Petone Wellington anyway

[Stealer Of Souls]

A little of both - it's going to be driven daily but with light track and autocross. I'm not *too* concerned about the ride

That's cool... As said before talk to Ewan. His 101 his quite awesome. He was behind me, then in front of me, then I couldn't see him anymore... that was on Taupo... Granted I'm still learning how to drive my car on the track, and my brakes are still dodgy... but hopefully next time around I'll do better.

My personal opinion for this would be to do the works, bushes, shocks, springs, sway bars, strut braces. Everything helps and if you don't go too overboard the ride quality for daily use doesn't suffer too much...

I did AE85.5 in this order:
Shocks/springs - made a huge difference but found, being an older car, that the increase in handle was a bit disappointing. Found that I would skip across the road and the tail was a bit more happy to break loose... but mine is RWD so go figure... (KYB Shocks, King springs (std Lower))
Wheels/rims - made a huge difference. Actually went on basically straight after the shocks and springs. But had to find out what pressures to run... (Fr:30psi, Rr: 28psi. 195/50-15 Toyo T1-S, Advanti Vallens)
Bushes/sway bar - Awesome difference in my car. The old bushes were real tired anyways. But the new bar makes cornering flatter and the new bushes have improved response. A definite track must have. (Urethane bushes and front sway bar upgrade (24mm))
Half Cage - My god... now this was the most interesting mod. Since I'm building a track car which I must be able to daily drive (no trailer) I've opted for this... The whole back end is now stiff as... rear end response is quite amazing... Now all I need to do is stiffen the front to match and I'm away laughing

Okay... from my experience in a RWD AE85.5 I would definitely rate the sway bar and bushes combo as the best bang for my buck. It cost me about $500 total and gave me the most positive improvement in handling. My shocks and springs totaled about $900 and without all the other stuff actually upset my handling... But this is an AE85.5 not an AE101...

[ChaosAD]

Do you have ron's email addy?