Solid Axle Suspension

If have any springs or coilovers on your solid axle s12 please help me out and all of the other people who have the solid axle that want to do some suspension work. Can you tell me what you used and what car they were for and how you installed them, I will probably have alot more questions to come, but that is all I think of as of right now.

Here is a pic of Radracer's very nice set up:
http://img126.exs.cx/img126/5272/solidaxle4lp.jpg

Thanks

Bailey

Back when i had a live axle i did a fair bit of stuff on the suspension, all of them very worthwhile mods.
45mm lowered K-Mac springs
New shocks (I used pedders ones, but anything new will be miles better than the OEM gear)
Nolathane bushes in all the rear suspension arms.
The nolathane was really good, the stock rubber is pretty stuffed by now. It is however a bit of a mission to remove the original steel cased rubber bushes from the arms. Barring that and how tightly some of the bolts are done up you can do the whole rear end in around an afternoon.

All of these parts are available in oz easily (well they were 2 or 3 years ago when i bought them).

End result is a much more solid feeling S12 (i also did the front suspension bushes, spring and shocks at the same time).

Hey thanks Neb, I will probably do the bushings like you did, but I dont think I can find the springs, and if I could the shipping will be alot..

If any one has done anything to their solid axle s12 to lower it or just to make it handle better, please can you help me out and all the other solid axle guys that want to do some suspension work to their s12....Man radracer needs too see this he has the best set-up for a solid axle, that I have have seen.

:cheers:

If I could get ahold of the trailing arms from a solid axle car, I would make some bushings for them. Oh well...

Ok. I'll help w/dat.

Ok. I'll help w/dat.

Ok awesome :headbang:

What car were your coilovers originally for?

How did you mount them to the rear?

Those were just some random questions for now, I am going to try and put my strut bar on now. So I will probably have alot more to come... :twisted:

You can buy the threaded collar from Ground Control. It's just a universal collar, and they you tell them what spring rate and spring length you want. As for how he attached it, I'll let him answer that, but I'm sure there is welding involved.

Welding o'well my neighbor has all that stuff and knows how to weld, now I have just got to try and talk him into doing for me........

I'll try to get the part #'s soon cuz I'm planning to swap in my LSD in it as soon as I figure out how to.

Thats kool......

:cheers:

If you order the threaded collars from Ground Control, make sure you specify steel collars, not aluminum. You'll need steel one so that you can weld it properly.

What were the years on the live/solid axle? I know that the SE's and turbo's always had a live axle steup, but what are the years on the XE? Someone told me that I have a live axle, but my rear suspension looks like Radcar's. I have a 1987 XE.

You have IRS, not a live axle. I believe the solid axle only came on '84 CA20 cars, in the U.S. at least. Anyone else care to back that up?

Ya its only the 84 ca20 notches all of them got it.... :slap:

i'm in the midst of getting some gear developed for the live axle cars atm.

in the mean time, i've knocked 2 coils off the top and bottom of the standard rear springs.

i've also replaced the trailing armbushes with Noltec stuff. tomorrow i'm gonna pull the worn out Pedders Comfort/soft Ryder shocks out and put the standard ones back in.

soon i'll have some 6kg rear springs and made as well as adj. rear shocks and a rear sway bar.

Is there any kind of uniformity between which Aus delivered S12s are live axle and which are IRS? As in "they were this until this year and that after that year" or is it kinda random?

So I can use the SCC springs Indy had made?

You should be able to, Yankee, I believe the only solid axle S12's were 1984 CA20E cars.

But run me over with your RB26DETT righthanddrive evenlysprung struttowerbraced s14frontended onewipered quadprojectorlit S12 wondercar if I'm wrong ;)

Johnny you really have brought the smartass out in me. I blame YOU for this tom foolery! lol

You should be able to, Yankee, I believe the only solid axle S12's were 1984 CA20E cars.

But run me over with your RB26DETT righthanddrive evenlysprung struttowerbraced s14frontended onewipered S12 wondercar if I'm wrong ;)

Johnny you really have brought the smartass out in me. I blame YOU for this tom foolery! lol
:rofl:

Hey radracer I was wondering if you have found that part# for the coilovers....

yeah if I had a solid axle S12 I'd be on Marvin (Radracer_S) like flies on shit until he got off his brown ass and told me what I wanted to know :lol:

Marvin, be a hero man and tell the peeps how you did it.

Ok let me finish somethings first I'll get to it either tomorrow or the next day. School starting and trying to finish the paper work for my graduation.

thought i would bring this to the top for the guys wondering. Unless, of course, It has already been cleared up :D

Did you find the part number yet........

Is there any kind of uniformity between which Aus delivered S12s are live axle and which are IRS? As in "they were this until this year and that after that year" or is it kinda random?
Transition point seems to be around mid 1985.

Sorry old school but I had a lot work to finish and wasn't able to even start my vinyl project for the car. I will get to to you just ask me later.

according to the Noltec catalogue it's Feb 85 (My blue S12 is a Jan 85!!). though the Noltec catalogue is a bit messed up.

according to Gerrybg, they sold the live axle cars up to the very end of production in Japan.

Ya its only the 84 ca20 notches all of them got it.... :slap:
Um...NO

All 84 CA20's got the live axle. Some 85 CA20's got it, and yes even in some rare cases the 86 CA20 also got the live axle...

Marvin I am keeping on you about your solid axle suspension write-up!!!!!!

I just remember that Bart's rear springs are the exactly same as mine except his isn't expensive. You could ask him about his springs. As far as the rear shocks, I have pro shocks on mine and and are out of stock. :(

ok, I will go search because I rember somewhere on here Bart posted about his suspension stuff........