Thanks for the vid. I have seen write ups but your vid really made me understand the process in much simpler terms. I was thinking of going coilovers but this has me thinking of Koni's as a viable option.
I was in the Frankenstein Motorworks discord and all the track guys in there said that Konis are a better shock than you can get in a coilover unless you want to spend really insane money. For SW20s Wilhelm raceworks in fact makes Koni shock coilovers that are 3k. That's what the serious SW20 guys run supposedly. You do miss out on the ride height adjustment which actually does have a large benefit toward the reduction of body roll effects based on simple leverage so having the "best" possible shock may not result in the best performance. I will investigate the world of springs and everything later on. For now I am trying to get the most performance per $. (Except the exhaust lol.)
@@ErikSeastead I agree, I ended up pulling the trigger this morning on a new never installed set with used Tein springs for $500. Once I get the 2zz in going to run stock for a few weeks to get a feel for the car then swap the Toni's in.
@Erik Seastead bushings can handle a good amount if stress within their normal range of motion. When you flex them too far past that normal range it's much worse than wearing normally. This is another reason they say to torque suspension parts with the weight of the car on the ground rather than on a lift hanging.
Do you mean which option (Koni vs other brands?) or making sure I got the right shock that fits an MR2 Spyder? These Konis come highly recommend by people that I talked to who do autocross (E Street was won last year by Bartek driving an NB Miata with Koni yellow shocks). I used Tirerack.com to order these and you will put the year make and model into the website.
@@ErikSeastead I mean, how did you determine that the Koni inserts that you chose were the right ones for your car? How did you determine that they would fit so snugly inside the strut tube?
I used Tirerack.com to order these and you will put the year make and model of the car into the website. Then you select Koni sport (yellow) shocks and it'll make sure they're the right ones for you.
You don't need to undo any arms, there is room to remove the shocks. I've done mine recently and didn't undo any arms or antiroll bars, only the fixtures that are holding shocks.
Thanks for the video I'm in the process of doing mine now. Spring compressor is $34 and a hell of a lot safer than just loosening the bolt might as well get one they're going to end up using it anyway. How do you like the adjustable inserts? Do you crank them all the way down for track days and when they're cranked back up do they feel like stock struts
I honestly hate the style of spring compressor with two separate threads. I've heard stories of them breaking and I just wanted to avoid that. I just trusted my jack more, personally. For shock tuning im running them pretty soft, half turn in the front and a full turn in the rear (from full soft) and I run them like that all the time. You can watch my autox videos where I test the shocks if you want to see what I think about them for autox. My shocks were blown so these are much more comfortable than OEM, I'm not sure how they would compare to healthy oem shocks. They're much more comfortable than the teins on my rx8.
@@ErikSeastead i've replaced dozens of springs. Even big ones, off heavy vehicles. If you break a spring compressor, you're using it wrong. On the other hand, i have a friend i visited in the hospital for a week while he was having his jaw reconstructed because he used his jack.
@@Ioughtaknowbetter if you have the experience with them, more power to you. I recently did quick struts on my Sequoia because I didn't want to pull the same trick with the much heavier springs, so I get what you're saying.
@@ErikSeastead that's the best thing about good spring compressors; no experience is required, just follow the instructions. Anyway good luck I'm going to try to put up video of my assembly when the cut struts come back from the powder coater
I was truly bummed. I read online that all that does is supposed to keep the shock from wobbling inside the shock body and mine didnt appear to do that. If they did I suppose you could pinch the top of the shock housing or make a little collar, rather than chasing down another set of rears.
A few $$ would have made this job much better. The appropriate step bit would have prevented that narly hole that is always a risk when hand drilling. Also, use oil on the bit to drill. Even if its just 3 in 1, it will make a huge difference. Use a darn hand hack saw. Yes it would.take a long time and much effort, but if you don't have the proper equipment to do it mechanically, a simple hand tool gives far more control of the cut.
You're totally right. It was really hard to do this with limited tools in my driveway. I lived really far from any shops to buy things I needed. But, it is possible. I have a new house with a garage now and will be collecting more tools so that I will have an easier time with projects like this. Hopefully this video wasn't too offensive. But I'm just learning and my channel reflects that accurately, for better or worse, lol.
Thanks for the vid. I have seen write ups but your vid really made me understand the process in much simpler terms. I was thinking of going coilovers but this has me thinking of Koni's as a viable option.
I was in the Frankenstein Motorworks discord and all the track guys in there said that Konis are a better shock than you can get in a coilover unless you want to spend really insane money. For SW20s Wilhelm raceworks in fact makes Koni shock coilovers that are 3k. That's what the serious SW20 guys run supposedly.
You do miss out on the ride height adjustment which actually does have a large benefit toward the reduction of body roll effects based on simple leverage so having the "best" possible shock may not result in the best performance. I will investigate the world of springs and everything later on. For now I am trying to get the most performance per $. (Except the exhaust lol.)
@@ErikSeastead I agree, I ended up pulling the trigger this morning on a new never installed set with used Tein springs for $500. Once I get the 2zz in going to run stock for a few weeks to get a feel for the car then swap the Toni's in.
Great video I was rolling when he crapped himself and said he ate cheese! Gonna do this exact mod this upcoming we
Just a fart lmao
The reason you should use spring compressors is to prevent putting so much unwanted flex and stress on all of those bushings.
I’m a physicist not an engineer, but I think my autox days do worse damage than this. 🤷
@Erik Seastead bushings can handle a good amount if stress within their normal range of motion. When you flex them too far past that normal range it's much worse than wearing normally. This is another reason they say to torque suspension parts with the weight of the car on the ground rather than on a lift hanging.
How did you determine which inserts are suitable for your car?
Do you mean which option (Koni vs other brands?) or making sure I got the right shock that fits an MR2 Spyder?
These Konis come highly recommend by people that I talked to who do autocross (E Street was won last year by Bartek driving an NB Miata with Koni yellow shocks).
I used Tirerack.com to order these and you will put the year make and model into the website.
@@ErikSeastead I mean, how did you determine that the Koni inserts that you chose were the right ones for your car? How did you determine that they would fit so snugly inside the strut tube?
I used Tirerack.com to order these and you will put the year make and model of the car into the website. Then you select Koni sport (yellow) shocks and it'll make sure they're the right ones for you.
You don't need to undo any arms, there is room to remove the shocks. I've done mine recently and didn't undo any arms or antiroll bars, only the fixtures that are holding shocks.
Did you take the whole strut out as a unit and use a spring compressor to disassemble it or did you decompress the spring with a jack like I did?
@@ErikSeastead yes, took it all out and used spring compressors which I bought for £15
Yeah that would help since you don't have to lower it as much if the spring is fully compressed. To each their own. 🤷
@@ErikSeastead spring compression was done after the shocks were out.
Thanks for the video I'm in the process of doing mine now. Spring compressor is $34 and a hell of a lot safer than just loosening the bolt might as well get one they're going to end up using it anyway. How do you like the adjustable inserts? Do you crank them all the way down for track days and when they're cranked back up do they feel like stock struts
I honestly hate the style of spring compressor with two separate threads. I've heard stories of them breaking and I just wanted to avoid that. I just trusted my jack more, personally.
For shock tuning im running them pretty soft, half turn in the front and a full turn in the rear (from full soft) and I run them like that all the time. You can watch my autox videos where I test the shocks if you want to see what I think about them for autox. My shocks were blown so these are much more comfortable than OEM, I'm not sure how they would compare to healthy oem shocks. They're much more comfortable than the teins on my rx8.
@@ErikSeastead i've replaced dozens of springs. Even big ones, off heavy vehicles. If you break a spring compressor, you're using it wrong. On the other hand, i have a friend i visited in the hospital for a week while he was having his jaw reconstructed because he used his jack.
@@Ioughtaknowbetter if you have the experience with them, more power to you. I recently did quick struts on my Sequoia because I didn't want to pull the same trick with the much heavier springs, so I get what you're saying.
@@ErikSeastead that's the best thing about good spring compressors; no experience is required, just follow the instructions. Anyway good luck I'm going to try to put up video of my assembly when the cut struts come back from the powder coater
All yellow everything, I also cut the rears wrong too
I was truly bummed. I read online that all that does is supposed to keep the shock from wobbling inside the shock body and mine didnt appear to do that. If they did I suppose you could pinch the top of the shock housing or make a little collar, rather than chasing down another set of rears.
A few $$ would have made this job much better. The appropriate step bit would have prevented that narly hole that is always a risk when hand drilling. Also, use oil on the bit to drill. Even if its just 3 in 1, it will make a huge difference.
Use a darn hand hack saw. Yes it would.take a long time and much effort, but if you don't have the proper equipment to do it mechanically, a simple hand tool gives far more control of the cut.
You're totally right. It was really hard to do this with limited tools in my driveway. I lived really far from any shops to buy things I needed. But, it is possible. I have a new house with a garage now and will be collecting more tools so that I will have an easier time with projects like this. Hopefully this video wasn't too offensive. But I'm just learning and my channel reflects that accurately, for better or worse, lol.
I don’t even get it😂
Don't give up your Day job.
:(