hey guys im looking at redoing my whole suspension soon and im trying to figure out what a good set up for a decent price would be i strickly want good performance thats livable on the street cause this is a daily driver what shocks and springs sway bars would u recommend? i just want somthing that works good has some adjustability and wont slam the car to the ground(cause that wont make it handle better any way)

...also who has a good tire for the stock 13's?? my car is soon about to have a lot of power and if i cant afford the 15x7's i want then i want the best tires i can get for the stock rims...
thanks

 

we have run about 3 threads just like this in the last two weeks. Hit the search or look back through a few pages.


or


www.ground-control.com


https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/looking-good-deal-replacing-my-20-year-old-suspension-453548/

 

You could copy my setup.

Take the swaybars and throw them the hell away.

For the front.... Grab the rear springs from a late 80's 4x4 Subaru Wagon (MUST be a 4wd, MUST be a Wagon, MUST be late 80's) including the spring hats. These are 12.5" long, 2.5" dia, 200lb-in springs. I had them on-hand after removing the rear subframe and entire driveline from my deceased '88. Redrill/grind out the hole in the spring hat to 5/8". Before you put them on, take the cap off of the strut. If you have aftermarket struts, you're screwed. If you have the stock "wet" struts, dump the oil, fill the center tube with synthetic ATF (which is 5W20 in weight, I may try 10W30 soon), put the shaft in slowly, then top the strut off with ATF and put the cap back on. The idea is to get the strut fairly full with no air pockets. Should take about a quarter of a quart per side.

In the rear, get springs for the rear of a '88-91 Nissan Pathfinder. I paid $40 for them from a boneyard with a 10% discount card. These are something like 17" tall 160lb-in springs. What you need to do is cut 1.5 coils off of one end, then re-shape that end so it sits almost flat again. I used an oxyacetylene torch in three spots 90 degrees from the end and each other and CAREFUL eyeball adjustment. Came out okay. The springs should now be the same free height as stock, only they will now be 200lb-in instead of 100lb-in. You will need to either cut and reweld the shock mounts an inch up, get longer shocks, or space the tops of the shocks down, because you will now have only one inch of droop travel from rest.

Next, and not required but a damned good idea anyway, is ditch the upper links in favor of a long 3 link. I haven't had chance to drive mine much since putting the 3 link in but it feels a LOT better. With no springs and the diff resting on a floorjack I can fully articulate the axle with finger pressure.

Handling is transformed. You can understeer, you can oversteer, entirely at will with no scaries. You can drive over *any* roads at *any* speed. It's not perfect but it costs next to nothing.

 

bigb3433 - I have owned a lot of 1st gen RX-7s over the years, and a lot of sports cars and sports sedans which I have tinkered with to improve the handling. If you want to increase the cornering and braking traction, the most important single thing is wider wheels and tires.

Someone here is suggesting that you throw away your sway bars and go with stiffer springs and no sway bars. You should ask yourself, why is it that every sports sedan and sports car on the market, for the last 40 years, has used front sway bars, and many have used rear sway bars. Every race car from stock cars to Formula 1 uses sway bars to control the weight transfer. If you want to know what the real experts think, read Carroll Smith's books. Those guys at Mazda were not stupid when they designed your car. The car in stock form handles quite respectably for a car with a live rear axle.

If you use springs that are stiff enough to provide all the roll stiffness you need, the ride will be atrocious, and you will not be able to keep your wheels on the ground on a rough road. You will also run the risk of eventually doing damage to the chassis or suspension parts due to the high loads.

I recommend spending your money on some high quality adjustable shocks, and don't mess with the springs or the ride height. The only other change I would recommend is new urethane bushings in the sway bar mounting and sway bar links. Of course bigger and wider wheels will allow you to use better tires.

I have two 1984 GSLs which I drive regularly, one with a pumped up 12a, the other with a 300HP Ford V8. Both have absolutely stock suspension, except for good quality gas shocks and I think you would be quite satisfied with the handling of either one.

 

IIRC KYB makes some AGX shocks for the FB..those would be a great option

 

My car with 200lb springs all around rides smoother than a stock car. Why? It's not slamming into the bump stops every time you run over a penny.

Sway bars are not required with this setup. Sway bars hurt grip on rough roads. Pavement race cars have about nothing to do with running on real world roads.

 

The first thing I do with any 1st gen I buy is ditch the rear sway bar. The second thing is to add a big (1 1/8th) front sway bar. WOW, what a difference. I much prefer the low rear roll stiffness and high front roll stiffness, similar to a race car. Overstiffening the corners is not a good compromise, in my opinion. For springs, I like the Racing Beat ones, but I'm not brand-loyal. I just like it a bit stiffer, a tiny bit lower and inexpensive. For struts/shocks, I currently run Koni Reds up front and Tokico Illuminas (5-way) in back, but that's just what I had handy. The car feels sooooo much more stable and handles better than stock. Of course, the single greatest improvement to handling is always tires, tires, tires. I'm loving my 195/60R14 Falken Azenis Sports on the 14x6.5 wheels I have. Sticky! And they even work well in the wet (I live in Oregon, so that's important!). Hope that helps.

 

this is all helping a lot guys i just want all kinds of diffrent opinions and set ups so i can pick the best stuff for my car i know a fair amount about seting up a suspension but ive never dealt with a live axle car and i dont want binding issues so far im definetly going with poly bushings all around and some shocks im thinking tockico 5 ways but if there is a good spring combo out there possibly with a tender spring id like to use it and have ground control make it for me keep em coming!! p.s. stillettoman this car is also getting a 300 plus power v8 so if u got any tricks for that let me know.

 

a budget 1st gen suspension to me would be:

eibach pro-kit springs. the front springs are progressive, so it is a comfortable ride and they stiffen up once the car leans. if you want a somewhat less comfortable ride, and more immediate suspension stiffness, Racing Beat has your springs.

tokico blue shocks. simple and effective. but nonadjustable. tokico illumina's are adjustable if you have the $$

remove rear sway bar

add 1 1/8" front sway bar

align front end with 1* negative camber

go have fun.

if u have more $$, get some 205/50/15's on a 15x8 rim, "summer tires" from tirerack.com stick better. By now all the suspension bushings on the car are worn and in need of replacement. I would replace all the rear bushings with stock ones, and front ones with stockers if you don't want a harsher yet responsive ride, and with poly if you do .

 

sounds good but whats up with this no rear sway bar stuff i keep hearing? i mean ive seen this be effective on rally cars and such but what purpose will it serve?

 

Ditto on the Blues.
Theyre cheap and effective.I still use them on my turbo/widebody 84 with no complaints.
As with any 20 year old car,its important to get everything spiffed up before any major power infusion.No doubt the springs are sagging and the stock shocks are shot.Dont forget to inspect/replace/adjust the steering system too.Idler arms,steering box play,wheel bearings and tierod ends affect handling and stability, and are just as important as suspension(although less glamerous)
If you can only afford to do one thing at a time,go for the Blues and some springs first(I use Eibach 175lb).Saving up and doing both at once will save a lot of time later on.
Then get some good tires,unless you need them right now,read:bald/cracked/cupped).
Then get a front swaybar and some poly bushings.(rear sway removal counteracts the 1st gens tailhappy nature.Personally,I didnt like the feel with it off,but then again I dont need to remove it since I have sticky,245 wide rear tires)
Dont forget that front alignment.
Save strut braces and camber plates for last since they have less effect for the dollor than the previous stuff.....

 

The rear suspension geometry is way off and the result is snap-oversteer. A rear swaybar adds rear roll stiffness, which increases oversteer. Remove the rear bar, trust us.

On another note I did have suspension technics front and rear bars. The car did turn in rather quickly, and had less body lean. BUT when I had it on the autocross or road course it was tough to keep under control. Instructors said it was twitchy and I should unbolt the rear bar. Did, helped.

 

cool so i guess im going to go with a set of blues and try to get some springs soon ill give the remove the rear bar a try but i do like the tail happyness of the car its just a lil un-nerving at high speeds....then again its a quick thing to remove so i can always put it back on if i wanna go drifto-masta for a while