Definite Weld On Coilover Parts List For s12 suspension

S12 Weld-on Coilover Conversion - Adjustable Suspension for the S12.
Written by Justin Carter

The following is a write-up of the coilover setup we have come up with here in SoCal. Engineered and tested by us of the Low.XII.Position crew, it is a for sure way to lower your S12 without converting to the S13 suspension. It is what I am running in addition to Andrew (demonic_s12) and Sterling (sterlingps12). The only difference between between our S12s and what Sterling did was that he used S13 tubes in the front. It can also be verified by Colin (draconis) who road passenger in Andrew's car last year.

In the past many months there have been much interest and many emails inquiring as to our suspension setup so the following is the list of our suspension setup.
This setup allows one to retain the factory S12 tubes.

You will need a welder and a grinder as the front tubes must be sectioned 40mm shorter to accept a shorter SW20 shock. Also, once can use S13 camber plate and in doing so, inform Techno Toy Tuning that you will be running S13 camber plates with SW20 AGX socks and they will send you two small collars that will slip onto the camber plate to take up the slack. They are aware of the situation, so do not worry about their confusion. You will have to grind off the stock perch and weld the Ground Control perch in its place. Other than that, the necessary steps for the modifying the front suspension.

For the rear, the setup is easy and literally drop in straight out of the box. The Mustang Foxbody struts however will require some shimming. To do so, one will need four washers on each shock on the lower mounting bracket on both sides of the car to take up the slack.

Parts list -------------------------------------------

FRONT:
ROLL CENTER ADJUSTERS- http://technotoytuni...etail.php?p=815
S13 CAMBERPLATES- http://technotoytuni...etail.php?p=819
280ZX GC SLEEVES- http://technotoytuni...etail.php?p=802
MR2 SHOCKS- http://cgi.ebay.com/...=item255c19e4ab

REAR:
SPRING PERCH [MUST USE SS-85500-A] Click for SPRING PERCH
SPRINGS [MUST USE 5"X8" SPRING] Click for REAR SPRINGS, various rates as high as 500 lb.
FOXBODY SHOCKS- http://cgi.ebay.com/...=item4cf6ee146b

This is what to expect throughout the process

Awesome work justin! Andrew talked to me about going thia route and i might do this in the future

Very well thought out and takes out the guessing game on which parts to buy from where.  Super legit.  Your the man Justin!

THANK YOU JUSTIN FOR THIS AWSOME WRITE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOW.XII.POSITION FTW!!!!

Stickied.
$882 before shipping though.
Kinda pricey for something that needs to be assembled.
BUT! It can be bought over time. That's nice.

And please, if you could, change it from being all caps? It's kinda ugly and a lot harder to read.

I understand everything except what it means to "section the tubes by 40mm".

remove 40mm from the total length of the tubes between the perch and the spindle...

Great write-up.  For those who want to get the basic idea of what to do take a look at what they did on a corolla

->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDbraWBPRys&feature=BFa&list=FLF84MfElKGTM&index=2 (go to 1:10)

That video cleared everything up. Thanks SlickS12.

hey eightysix, do you have any binding issues? hows yours setup between the upper seat and camber plate?

This is the exact set up I run and like alot. Bart did my fronts when he was still around and I got the rear set idea from ModMaster. This info is already out there but not simply put in one thread like this. Nice job!

i am going to be doing this eventually...we are moving next month and i will be within walking distance to work...so the notch is getting parked for some time...

silvia love on 07:22:59 PM / 06-Jul-11
hey eightysix, do you have any binding issues? hows yours setup between the upper seat and camber plate?

did the bearings come with the gc sleeve kit? any pics of it?

links are funky =(

mentalxpreshun on 02:34:05 AM / 08-Jul-11
links are funky =(

Part numbers instead of links would be better but otherwise, this is serious write up!  Much props EightySix!

A good write-up, but even though he screwed some people over, we need to give Bart the credit he is due, because he did this years ago, and Sterling got the design from him:



Sterling took a trip up to Idaho to see his setup and found out what he needed. But yeah, Bart is the one who sorted it out. Interestingly enough, my RS-X had the same kind of setup on it using a Ground Control kit w/ Eibachs, albeit crudely done.

I second the motion for adding part numbers so we can hunt for more than one vendor for these things.

for the shocks....

92 MR2 Front Shocks (Part Number: 765015)
96 Mustang FoxBody Shocks (Part Number: 743021)

you can use either the 96 style or older mustang shocks as they are almost identical anyways...through most places i found the newer mustang shocks where cheaper though and that is why i went with them for the canuck/agx set up.

Just for the record, the 96 mustang is not a "fox body".  That body style ended in 1993.

^ correct sir.... 94-98 = SN95
1999-2004 = SN95 "New Edge"

Props to Bart too, wherever he is and oh yeah. Could this be done without camber plates? Could you just use the oem upper strut mounts w/ GCs?

the rear suspension on a mustang though hasnt changed pretty much since the day it was designed...sra is just sooooooo simple.

sam31183 on 02:37:08 AM / 18-Jul-11the rear suspension on a mustang though hasnt changed pretty much since the day it was designed...sra is just sooooooo simple.

Yeah.  I thought about that before but never looked into it.

but.. when you lower them theyre ganna... preload the strut i guess you could say..

What will preload the strut? Please elaborate.

Deezus on 08:20:34 PM / 18-Jul-11but.. when you lower them theyre ganna... preload the strut i guess you could say..

8SixS12 on 09:23:36 AM / 19-Jul-11What will preload the strut? Please elaborate.

What he's trying to say is the actual strut body is a fixed size. If you lower it too far the the strut will no longer preload the spring. No spring preload means you can have a spring that doesn't permanently sit in/on the perch and can come unseated..

No spring preload is bad juju.

Easy enough to work around though. A couple helper springs will solve that little issue.

Errrm.
Links are broken. I've already seen them, but others who haven't might not be able to.
Just a heads up guys :)

thats not what im talking about jay, but good point..

Most coilovers, the lower spindle mount spins around the sturt itself... so you can lower and raise the suspension without moving the spring or strut.

If you take oem struts and cut the springs or throw on shorter springs, its going to quickly blow the strut.

With this method, you have the ability to adjust the height... but you really cant without damaging the setup.

Yeah that feature is only seen on the really good coilover kit$.  I see your point but, isn't that the reason the shorter mr2 strut insert is used with the coilover sleeve?

Yes, but you still cant adjust the sleeve lower without harming the strut.

damn... anybody wanna buy some canuck lowering springs hahaha

Deezus on 07:34:23 PM / 20-Jul-11Most coilovers, the lower spindle mount spins around the sturt itself... so you can lower and raise the suspension without moving the spring or strut.

If you take oem struts and cut the springs or throw on shorter springs, its going to quickly blow the strut.

Yeah. I see your point now.  Besides, I stArted adding up all the cost of all the components and meagans or BCs aren't too far off in price.  Come to think of it, the added benefits of the s13 conversion +coilovers outweighs the money you spend IMO.

If you look at the image of sterling admiring his work, you can see that the appropriate drop is only really like an inch or two.

8SixS12 on 06:03:40 AM / 02-Aug-11Yeah. I see your point now.  Besides, I stArted adding up all the cost of all the components and meagans or BCs aren't too far off in price.  Come to think of it, the added benefits of the s13 conversion +coilovers outweighs the money you spend IMO.

Deezus on 08:22:00 AM / 02-Aug-11If you look at the image of sterling admiring his work, you can see that the appropriate drop is only really like an inch or two.

Tires and wheels have no effect on what im talking about. With 15s or 18s you can still only drop the car an in or so before you start compressing the strut.

Im talking about lowering at the strut itself.

Jay on 02:56:39 AM / 02-Aug-11So you were talking about the other half that I completely forgot about.
Yeah, that IS another thing. Bottoming out struts is very very very very bad.....

Wait a minute.. We're BOTH right!

Awesome

I don't have that issue with my K sports. Adjustable length struts for the motherfucking win.
(Even if the springs are way to stiff....)

sam31183 on 02:37:08 AM / 18-Jul-11the rear suspension on a mustang though hasnt changed pretty much since the day it was designed...sra is just sooooooo simple.

Deezus on 06:35:26 PM / 02-Aug-11off topic, but do you have the ksports with the dampening knobbies on the bottom?
such a stupid design =/

^the ksport I had on my corolla were the same design, adjustable from the top... although the rear ones were not that easy to access...

sam31183 on 02:37:08 AM / 18-Jul-11...sra is just sooooooo simple.

if the rear spring falling out worries you, then just get some limiting straps :P problem solved

oh and i thought id share this here. haha free front 5 lug :D and reverting back to 4x4.5 is as easy as removing one wheel stud and bolting your 4 lug wheel and rotor (unless drilled for both) back on.
http://ignitesoul.blogspot.com/2011/08/front-5-lug-conversion.html

that is the dumbest thing ive ever seen... whats stopping the stud from spinning when you try to tighten or loosen a lug? If you dont drill straight then your studs will be all pigeon dicked.

Its like masturbating at work... just dont do it.

Deezus on 01:31:10 AM / 05-Aug-11that is the dumbest thing ive ever seen... whats stopping the stud from spinning when you try to tighten or loosen a lug? If you dont drill straight then your studs will be all pigeon dicked.

Its like masturbating at work... just dont do it.

I would be very careful about casually grinding away the webs on the back of the hub.  They are there to strengthen the flange of the hub, they are spaced for Four studs.  You may never have a problem, if you are lucky.  However, if done poorly you could cause stress risers which lead to cracks and ultimately failure. 

That means a wheel coming off at what would be a very bad period in time.

I just don't get it sometimes...

Come on guys, honestly, there is already a number of cheap option to convert from 4x4.5 to 5x4.5, why would someone weaken a perfectly good hub?

Plus IMO, there is enough good looking wheels that are 4x4.5 to stop anyone from wanting a 5x4.5... and those starion wheels are not what I'd call "a must have"... I really hope that guy didn't do that only to fit those wheels...

Anyways, for those that don't want to convert to an s12 SE, z31 or s14 front suspension, this is the REAL way to go





5 lugs billet hub, fits right in place, with stock bearing and stock brake.... but don't get to excited, they were designed for rwd corollas)

TPR motorsport was able to price them at 315$ a pair including shipping to the 48 lower States.  Hell, they had a group buy going on that reduce the price to 250$ a pair if 10 pairs where sold...

It wouldn't cost more than that to have some done with the specs of the s12 spindle instead... and it is dirt cheap compared to the cost of a what Wolf was describing above... a front wheel leaving at 60mph