Frogman

I'm considering rebuilding my front-end suspension and brake system ( booster and micro big brake kit) with a full Techno toy tuning set up ( yes i know it will be north of 5,000$ ) but iv never saw anyone on here mention them. they seem to make good parts that are serviceable with more readily available OEM Toyota parts

Yays or nays? .

Mivroum

I've bought the lower control arms from them, it is good stuff, I can set up my front camber as I wish.
They are also quite responsive when you have questions or issues (all per email in my case as I live in France).

I would order again [if I had plenty of $$$].

Frogman

Do the lower control arms make the ride softer or stiffer compared to the stock set up ? Id like to know the pro's and con's from people who have purchased parts to see if its a worthy upgrade !

Mivroum

It doesn't change the damping, but it changes greatly the feeling in cornering because you can add negative camber, which I like.
If you stay with stock geometry values, I guess you would not see the difference.
Not the best for straight lines and highway, but I live in an area with mountains and canyon roads, so it is not a big deal.

For the suspension, I didn't chose T3 (yet - that might change for coil overs), I run Tokico blue and RB springs, and I am quite happy so far, but it would be nice to be able to set the ride height.

Sh00bs

iTrader: (8)

Derek Hall will say different, BUT i've never had a problem with them. i have their LCA's, front and rear coilovers, rear drop brackets, front camber plates and roll centers. no issue's from my end, derek however (on fb // 1st gen rx7 page) has had a lot of issue's though.

aeenox

Hey,

I have pretty much all the parts T3 has available for the front suspension on my car. I bought their weld on coilover kit with 6k swift springs I had them paired with some Koni MR2 struts but I just recently switch over to tokico illumina (koni struts where better car felt more stiff) , camber plates, camber plate risers/ adapters, evolved RCA's set on NCRCA mode, the gtx2 lower control arms/ tc rods. All these parts made a BIG difference on how the car handles. Before it was super loose and old/ worn out. Now it feels stiff and gives you confidence. When getting all these parts in I also replaced all the tie rod ends, idler arm bushing and switch over to a racing beat front sway bar. The only thing I would change is probably switching over to the BC coilover setup with a stiffer spring. I like the BC coilver design the best and the price is good too. When I had started building my car only t3 and Stance had coilover kits available.

cmnork

There are plenty of threads on the forum reviewing their parts. Try searching "T3" and "LCA" instead.

I have the GTX2 lower control arms and I'm fairly happy. They didn't make the ride any "stiffer" as that is mostly related to the spring/damper combo. However, I do have the following complaints/feedback:

• No instructions provided with kit. Not really a big deal for most tackling this work, but would have been "nice." Especially since there is so much adjustability, would have been good to recommend a starting point. Or torque specs, since the hardware is different than stock.
• English hardware, not metric (boo)
• Just barely enough thread to fully engage the locknut to one of the ball joints in my kit. I still am slightly terrified my wheel upright will fall apart mid-corner one day.
• Camber adjustment is kind of a pain to set and adjust due to the shape of the frame rail where the nuts are located.
• After ~500 miles driven, in dirty conditions (i have a 1/4mile long dirt driveway) the tension rod spherical joints are starting to squeak pretty loudly.

Overall I'm happy considering the parts only cost about $100 more than stock replacements/upgrades. Definitely worth the bling/racecar factor. Parts seem durable, made well and really improved the handling feel, but I went from 30year old damaged rubber to solid rod ends...ymmv.

Frogman

how stiffs the ride compared to the OEM set up. I like the fact they seem adjustable and open up the door to mr2 parts. I'm ideally looking for a OEM like comfort level paired with my ability to adjust to more performance-oriented stiffness and camber when i do decide to have fun .

And CMnork answered my question at the exact same time i made this post haha .

turbogslse

iTrader: (3)

I have the T3 front coilovers, and a custom coilover in the rear. Car is stiff, very stiff compared to an OEM setup. You might consider just changing over to Tokico Illumina's if you want to change between an OEM feel and a "stiffer" feel for fun. Going to coil overs is going to change the car ride completely - and it won't be OEM-ish at all.

Frogman

Are the tokicos adjustable? I'd buy stiff springs if California roads were not gone to **** with huge potholes. Man LA is honestly starting to upset me at times. Seriously the roads in rural areas are in better conditions .. some roads are "paved" as in they have the rubble of the road as the road itself ..

KYPREO

I've participated in a teardown of the T3 rear coilovers and they are absolute crap. It was basically an off the shelf monotube shock from another vehicle application, "converted" into a rear coilover by loosely slipping a spring perch adjustment collar over the top. The adjustment collar is not fixed to the strut body and is only stopped from slipping down by a collar bolted in with an allen key and the stop spring perch only holds the spring captive by the weight of the car once installed.

Benjamin4456

As others have mentioned, OEM comfort and coilovers really do not go together. One of the issues is that coilovers are almost always designed to lower a vehicle, which when done properly means a shorter stroke and hence a stiffer spring. I recently installed some BC Racing coilovers on my SA, and while I personally love the change, it's nothing close to an OEM feel, especially on rough roads. You sacrifice bump comfort for getting rid of that floaty feeling and increased precision. Even though they have adjustable dampening, you'll never reach OEM ride quality simply because of the stiffer spring - eventually the low dampening turns into bounciness rather than softer suspension.

In my opinion the BC's are great, but I've got some bad patches in my neighborhood that I now go no more than 20mph across when I used to comfortably go 25+. Everywhere else they feel awesome, enough so to outweigh the occasional harshness for me. OEM however, they are not. Something else to consider is that you need to be okay with your car being at least 2" lower (with the BC's at least). If your exhaust is tucked up well then you're fine, and even if it isn't stellar you'll be okay, but that 2" drop becomes your max ride height. I've scraped on some steeper driveways now with my large resonator, and it's as tucked up as can fit. On the fly ride height adjustment isn't really a thing either, especially since the rear isn't a true coilover with BC (which I think is better than the T3 solution). Sure you can do it, but it's not a quick "I feel like being lower tonight" sort of deal, that's what bags are for.

To sum it up, coilovers are great, but not if you want to stick with an OEM feel. They make the car handle tighter and feel sportier, but comfort does decrease to some extent no matter what. I don't think it's too bad, but that's only my opinion. Then again I daily my SA so take that as you will.

tommyeflight89

iTrader: (4)

I am very happy with my T3 hardware, I have been running their lower control arms and tension rods (not the 'GTX2') for the last 3-4 years on my FB. Also their strut tower brace...

They are paired with Stance Coilovers and all new Moog ball joints/tie rod ends and Moog Idler arm.

The car is daily driven in Summer and I have had zero issues with the setup so far. I probably have 25k km (15k miles) on the setup. The spherical joints still look new, aren't noisy, and the car handles great.

I recently purchased their rear *lower* control arms which will soon be installed with all new Mazda OEM parts and a rebuild 85/85 LSD GSL axle.
*Seems most recommend against deviating from the OEM upper control arms, can cause binding issues.

j_tso

iTrader: (2)

While many people do install adjustable coilovers to lower the car with the adjustable spring perch, the real benefit is that you can now use any flat-ended spring you want since they don't have to fit in the stock perch. The T3 and Ground Control kits use a regular 2.5" Eibach spring that can be bought starting from 100 lb/in. It'd be a waste of time but you can find the equivalent stock spring rate and do the weld-on coilovers with the stock damper and have an OEM ride. The importance is to match the spring rate with the right damper, that's suspension tuning.

Rx7fb spirit r

The oem spring is working linear my eibach spring is working progressive. A lot of differenz. The secret is making the rear not to stiff and low. All you will get is headache.

Benjamin4456

Fair point. I was mostly saying how most coilovers force you to lower the car to some extent, and in order to keep from bottoming out you at least need a slightly stiffer spring and damper combo.

Also weld-on coilovers can refer to both something like the T3, BC, or Ground Control (entirely new body welded to the stock knuckle) or weld on perches. For that latter I suppose you could keep the same ride height with a stock spring rate, oh, wait, that's what you were saying isn't it. In that case I do agree on the "why would you do that" factor.

Frogman

Ideally, I'm interested in lowering the car 2 inches, retaining stock comfort,and making my steering a BIT more responsive while gaining the ability to use much more accessible parts. I'm saving up for the mini big break and booster kit. My cars outputting roughly around 120-30 hp but the brakes do feel dated even with new hardware installed, and the steering has a bit of play, and hitting bumps is a bitch. So far I'm not trying to do a full t3 swap, the lower control arms sound great through

WANKfactor

iTrader: (1)

2" lower is riding on the bumpstops. Which you will have to cut, and install heavy springs to avoid bottoming. Net result is not comfort. Or handling as geometry is now shot too, although there are workarounds. Best bet if you want to retain decent comfort and gain some agility is lowering springs, such as Racing Beat, etc and good shocks. This will also mean ypur top hats stay rubber mounted which is another plus for comfort.
It wont be anywhere near as low as you want though.

kurtf

iTrader: (3)

I would suggest you upgrade one step at time so you can see what works.

How big are your wheels? From your Avatar image they look pretty big, like larger than 15". Tires look pretty tall as well.
The best money you can spend on improving your handling(and braking) is getting good tires, like 200 treadwear super summer tires. Low profile tires will also lower your car and get you better gearing. If your wheels are larger than 15", you should go down to 15" at the most. Smaller would be better but your tire options drop in a hurry.

I wouldn't recommend spending $$$ on a big brake kit, just get decent pads. If you haven't converted to rear disc brakes, I would spend money on that.

If you have original or stock bushings, I would order the polyurethane kit. Will tighten up your existing set up and you can use with any further upgrades.

I have the T3 kit on the front of my EP racecar. Incredibly adjustable, almost too much for a street car. Very good pieces, however, and a good company to work with. But before I would pull the trigger on that investment, I would do the other things first and see how you like it. If you feel you need more, then T3 is a good place to go. Shocks, stiff springs and lowering will really change the car. I have done that on a 99 Miata that I have as a street legal track car, mostly for my sons. It handles like a dream but is very darty on the freeway. No way would I drive that car daily.

Frogman

I have no idea what size rims i have but i'v decided to keep them due to the vast amount of tire options i have