Spacers for ae85/6 struts

Steelo · Post by **Steelo** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:11 pm

Hey,

Xmas and New Years are out of the way now so it's time to get back to work on the Levin which you have probably seen on my project thread.

Now I need some spacers made up to place at the bottom the the factory strut to push up the AE92 shocks I bought. Now I know this is a pretty common thing to do.

What I ask is, do I get solid bits of alloy made up to neatly fit inside bottom of the strut? Or do I get a piece fabricated and weld it to the bottom of the shock body?

Any one have some measurements to go by?

Cheers, Steelo

Bling · Post by **Bling** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:39 pm

I would have thought welding anything to the shock is a no no

i'm sure option one is a better way to go

HachirokuGTV · Post by **HachirokuGTV** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 5:32 am

I bought AE92 strut inserts for my AE85 and they came with such a spacer. Also Eugene of 86 factory still sells similar items on trademe. They are 40mm from memory but the ones i have are longer. Maybe Mr Revhead sells them seperate?

HachirokuGTV · Post by **HachirokuGTV** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 5:33 am

I bought AE92 strut inserts for my AE85 and they came with such a spacer. Also Eugene of 86 factory still sells similar items on trademe. They are 40mm from memory but the ones i have are longer. Maybe Mr Revhead sells them seperate?

Steelo · Post by **Steelo** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 7:14 am

They came with a spacer? Hmmm weird, not too sure that Revhead would sell such an item. (anyone confirm?)

Yeah thought option one would be the best one, so the spacer has to be 60mm tall and a diameter of 38mm? Is this correct?

Post by **Mr Revhead** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 8:18 am

yes TRD do spacers to fit certain inserts into certain shocks

what shocks did you get?
you may need to put the inserts in the shock and measure what you need to do. in my ke70 is was an odd figure, like 52mm. i use steel as i felt certain alloys could be a bit soft and dont know enough about them to chose one that would work. besides, steel was cheap

Steelo · Post by **Steelo** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:51 am

I picked up some new KYB's through my dads work, just standard ones to fit AE92. So Steel would be a good option also.......yea some alloys are soft.

Can anyone confirm my dimensions?

Post by **Mr Revhead** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:53 am

you will need to measure it

Trls250s · Post by **Trls250s** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 11:41 am

40mm +/-

Check club4ag they have lots of information regarding this conversion. Garagedori also have a shock guide in the tech section of there site.

d1 mule · Post by **d1 mule** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:39 pm

you could always shorten the strut casing to suit the shock. = lower but still captive

HachirokuGTV · Post by **HachirokuGTV** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 4:22 pm

d1 mule wrote:you could always shorten the strut casing to suit the shock. = lower but still captive

But if you do this you lose even more travel and you will have to get the springs compressed, because if you cut down the strut the distance from the spring perch to the top of the strut will be dramatically decreased.

I had the same thought until Autolign explained it to me and my trd springs wouldn't have compressed 50mm+ with spring clamps so you have to go to Stocks or someone similar to have them done. $200.00 for a pair plus the cost to get the casing cut down. $75.00 each i think.

The spacer is fine. The TRD ones I have are steel and I dont think I would use alloy.

d1 mule · Post by **d1 mule** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 8:39 pm

there is many variables tho, if you take the 60mm out above or below the spring perch, the actual un compressed spring length, it its goin to be a coilover setup etc. if coilovers def cut the 60mm out, it means you can acutally have the springs captive and still be low

HachirokuGTV · Post by **HachirokuGTV** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:48 pm

I guess its a different story if its a coilover.

When i asked Autolign why they couldnt just take the section out below the spring perch they actually told me they wouldn't do it and that its basically frowned upon.
They would only cut above the spring perch and then re-thread the top for the nut that keeps the strut insert.

JT · Post by JT » Wed Jan 23, 2008 6:15 pm

I got some made up by an engineer at my old work. Best to take some measurements then get some made up, I wouldn't trust an off the shelf item to work unless it is guaranteed to fit with a specific shock.

We used steel but it adds a bit of weight, he suggested some engineering grade plastic but I just wanted it on the road so didn't investigate further.

Truenotch · Post by **Truenotch** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 8:18 pm

6061 grade alloy would work sweet wouldn't it? Although the steel would be a cheaper option. Just get a piece of billet and get it machined to the specs you need

.

JRS · Post by **JRS** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 12:17 pm

anything below the spring platform is holding up the weight of the car. so a cut and weld here is not advised. above the platform is just there to hold the shock into the strut casing. so it's ok to cut here but you change the distance from the platform to the top of the insert housing.

spacer is the the cheapest, easiest and safest way to do it. any engineering shop should be able to make them up if you can't buy them.

d1 mule · Post by **d1 mule** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 3:08 pm

i wa thinking about this, what would be wrong with alloy for spacers? think of all the suspension components you can but that are alloy, RCAs, basically any adjustable arm you can think of, not to mention wheels.

as long as the approiate grade alloy is used it will be fine IMO

Post by **Mr Revhead** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 3:36 pm

nothing wrong with alloy, just as i mentioned i didnt know enough about alloys to choose one.
just find an alloy g33k