RXeckless

iTrader: (11)

Thanks, for that info. I'll be doing my Stage III in the next few weeks. No testing till April as I'm in the Land of Ice & Snow, but it's got to be ready for DGRR and the 1500 kilometer drive there.

GodSquadMandrake

Thanks BlinD26. That's cool information.

BlinD26

iTrader: (27)

Just another quick note, these measurements are of the coilovers OFF the car with no weight on them... Last thing I need is more mis-information in this thread

ArmenMAxx

iTrader: (21)

I am on edge of buying the stage 3's and would really appreciate it if someone who switched from KONIs with Ground Controls could chime in......

Is it an UPGRADE to switch from Konis w/ GC to the stage 3's. Is it worth the price difference? I have konis but dont know whether to buy GC's or sell the konis and get the track pros. My car is more of a track car vs street.

Thanks for the info.

CYD

Side note, I see JRZ as a "Top of the line" brand for suspension, then looking for JRZ alternatives, here's what I found:

http://209.177.55.37/rx7suspension.htm

The Iaseti/Pettit "problems" seem miniscule in retrospect.

ptrhahn

iTrader: (9)

Those aren't even "problems", they are really just the engineering you need to do since nobody sells an off the shelf bolt in kit for Penske, Moton, or JRZ shocks for these cars. When you buy them, you get shocks for $4-6k. It's your job to source springs, helpers and couplers if needed, upper mounts, and figure out a way/space to mount external reservoirs, and likely new drop links for the rear sway bar... never mind what to do with little things like brake line brackets, which none will come with.

Meiogirl

iTrader: (2)

Hey guys, its been a few weeks since I did the install. I had the car aligned/ corner balanced a few weeks ago by a reputable track shop 2 weeks ago. They set me up for 'aggressive street' since I told them its my weekend warrior/ track 3-4 times a year. They also set up a 1/4 rake, feeling this would work best height wise so its at 25 in the front and 25 1/4 in the rear.

The clamps I listed previously, did not work with the coupling I bought (too thick). However, I bought some 3m foamy tape is working great.

I have driven her up on Mullholand Dr and to work up and down the 405 (bump bump bump bump) a couple times, terrible freeway at speed. I initially had the car set to 12 in the front and 8 in the back on the dampeners and it was too stiff for the 405. I reset it to 10 in the rear and while that works great on the 405 it felt smooshy on the canyon route.
I have used my hand to feel around to see if I have that dent or any sort of damage on the rear coil, but it seems to be ok.
This is my first set of coil overs so I can't judge, but they are 10X better than my tein/tokico setup. The weight is so different. The rear doesn't pull around like it used to and it was a bit scary taking turns on on ramps at first. The car also feels more...jumpy? Over smaller bumps if I take them too fast it seems as if the wheels want to come off the ground with the car.

Now to get it out to the track!

ALPSTA

iTrader: (3)

Thanks for the update Meiogirl. So basically you've wrapped foamy tape around the ss brake lines? Did your lines not have clear silicone coating on them or you did this for extra measure?

If I remember correctly, Howard's recommended settings for street was something like 6/3 but if 10 feels smooshy I can't imagine how 3 would feel. On the other hand in regular shocks the jumpiness is related to too much lowering or soft shock hard/low spring combination. These are also my first set of coilovers (not installed atm) so I'm not sure how it all works in coilovers. You might need to play around with the settings a bit.

Meiogirl

iTrader: (2)

So basically you've wrapped foamy tape around the ss brake lines? No. My setup looks like this:



MINUS the coupling now. The clamps I used to secure the brakeline to the tower:

http://www.speedwaymotors.com part# 910-15762. The largest ones they have.

are too tight for the coupling to fit. SO I used the foamy tape to insulate the coupling from the tower. I used a bolt that fit through the hole on the clamp and a wingnut to secure the adele clip to the clamp/tower.

The coilovers have 24 settings, 3 would make the car really tight. For track use I am sure it would make the car feel like an awesome go-cart.

ptrhahn

iTrader: (9)

If you're really that concerned about the brake line, why not just "hang" it with a zip tie or two from the bracket that holds the ABS line.

Meiogirl

iTrader: (2)

because when i was a kid my dad used to do some really ghetto things to my car and i had no money to fix it right. i dont do ghetto anymore if i can help it.

yzf-r1

iTrader: (1)

In the good ol days we used to call that n***** rig

Ah yes, the good ol days, before the PC police

ALPSTA

iTrader: (3)

Sorry, I meant 6/3 clicks from softest setting. Are you running 10 clicks from hardest setting?

Meiogirl

iTrader: (2)

they come out of the box on the hardest setting. my teeth know this so 12 clicks out on the front and 10 clicks out on the rear.

the alignment shop I went to recommended to start in the middle for the front and tighten up the rear a little bit to start and then work your own comfort from there. thats where my #s came from. not really rocket science, makes sense.

Meiogirl

iTrader: (2)

I'm mexican so thats what it can be called persay as well. Its really an economic status though and that comes in ALL races.

RXeckless

iTrader: (11)

Well I finally got around to installing stage III's with the specs above which actually raise the stock height I believe over a inch and a half , but I believe this setting made the install easier and a good starting point. Stock 16" rim and tire size, floor to top of wheel well now sits at: front 27.25" and rears 28". Took the car for a little drive in my neighborhood and was quite impress with the handling and ride quality with 8 clinks up from the softest setting, even at this ride height. Tomorrow, weather permitting we'll attempt to lower over 2 inches, first by trying to compress all four springs a .25" and the balance screwing up the lower strut, hopefully without any disassembly. I'll keep posting till I get it right and post my final setting to help anyone else out with the install.
cheers

<track>7

iTrader: (2)

Just got back from another weekend at the track with my Pettit Trak Pro's. They performed flawlessly as usual without tying brakelines up, using spacers, or worrying about who builds them. Took some advice from Cam and disconnected the rear sway bar and lo and behold the car wasn't near as "nervous" but still had plenty of front grip. I was able to "push" quite a bit harder than normal with the comfort that the new setup brought. Never touched the shocks just dropped the bar and got after it. Thats another reason I bought Cam's stuff and will continue to do so. If you have any issues you can call him and he has the answer, or at the least a direction to go.
Drove the car an hour each way to the track and back Sat. and Sun. and put a few hundred track miles on it to boot. Made the trip home in air conditioned comfort without feeling like I was ride in a milk truck either.

Your mileage may vary.....

Thanks Cam!

ArmenMAxx

iTrader: (21)

Could you give a bit more details about your setup (spring rate, which swaybar up front, tire size and type)

When I order my suspension, I may go for alittle stiffer spring rate and ditch the rear bar and use the oem front. Seems like a lot of the fast FD guys out there are either not using swaybars or sticking with OEM.

ALPSTA

iTrader: (3)

OT but for anyone interested Pettit has a new website.

<track>7

iTrader: (2)

Trak Pro's with 12K front 10K rear
Tannabe Front bar
235/40's front 265/35's rear

A stock rear bar is drivable with my setup it just tends to be a little "nervous". I can drive it at the limit with the bar hooked up it's just easier and more relaxing with no rear bar.

FYI: Cam runs no rear bar.

t-von

iTrader: (8)

Yep prices just went up.

ArmenMAxx

iTrader: (21)

Thanks,

To be honest I am surprised you aren't pushing!

R_1

iTrader: (19)

Well today I had a little free time and decided to start the Track Pro install. I got the car on jackstands and removed the rear shocks. I was looking over the coilovers and noticed the supplied spanner wrench fits the spring perch ring nicely but doesn’t fit really well with the spring perch lock ring and the shock body lock ring. The “tooth” engagement of the supplied wrench grabs at the very edge of the mentioned lock ring notches. Looks like when you apply some torque to lock the rings the wrench could slip off and gouge your new anodized rings and you’ll also end up with scraped up knuckles. I have Carrera coilovers on another car and discovered the Carrera spanner wrench fits the spring perch and the shock body lock rings perfectly. I just ordered one for the FD, at Pit Stop USA for $17.87 and If anyone is interested, QA1 now owns Carrera so the part number QA1-T120W http://pitstopusa.com/i-5063098-qa1-...es-shocks.html
Oh by the way, you’ll definitely want to shim the space between the lower shock mount and the coilover mounting perch, which leads to the mounting bolt protruding being shorter… oh well one minor problem atta time.

GodSquadMandrake

The TWD to USD exchange rate just dropped and that is what's causing the price jump. Remember who is, or going to be the #1 world economic super power soon... it ain't America or Japan...

I talked to the manufacturer again and they confirmed it's just the exchange rate causing problems. It's been dropping since last year and just fell 10% more.

mefarri

iTrader: (2)

I just got done reading all 19 pages. I'm in the market for coilovers in the sup $1500 range and have narrowed it down to 3. Tein SS (since it doesn't use pillowballs), Stance GR+ (apparently Rishie can get them with different top mounts that eliminate the pillowballs) and the Trak Pro stage 2's.

I was actually leaning towards the Trak Pros because of the nice top mount and what everyone was saying about the ride, but all these little things make me weary. It's not so much that they're made in Taiwan (although that does bug me a bit, but as long as these people make a good product, that's fine. I'd like to know where the stance's are made actually.)

It's the fact that it seems like they are 95% the same product with a quickly designed and thrown together mounting system per application. You know the same valving shouldn't be used for the FD as say, an EG hatch, but that seems like what's going on. And no one will ever know because for some stupid ******* reason, Pettit won't come in here and speak a word about their product. It's not like they don't know rx7club exists, or even this thread as Howard is answering people's questions on here by calling them. It just seems like they don't want to answer all these questions because they probably don't have the ******* answer. Sorry for all you people that are getting all butt hurt because people are picking at something you paid money for or because you like Cam as a person. That's fine- doesn't change the facts. Take yourself out of the equation and say it's not so.

I'm still not totally unsold on the Trak Pros but I'd like a bunch of questions answered. Here are a few.

What's the deal with the lower mount being too big?

And the control arm hitting?

What's the deal with the rear not being able to be at 25" to the fender? It could just be that people are using larger diameter wheels and tires and thus pushing it past the point of being able to get down to 25", but I've never heard this problem with the other brands. 4

One thing that would be nice is having them be rebuilt and serviced at Pettit. But who knows if this is even possible because they could just be popping them out of one box, putting some Pettit paraphinalia in the box and shipping them out. If Pettit can't custom valve the shocks, how can they repair them? It would probably just be a case of sending yours back to Taiwan while you wait.

People are talking about buying new spanner wrenches, brake line holders, and SHORTER SPRINGS and acting like it comes with the territory. Buying $1500 coilovers and then spending $100 a spring to get the rear where it should be is RIFUCKINGDICULOUS. Maybe you don't need to do that-maybe it's the user's wheel and tire package (although as stated, haven't heard this from anyone else) But you can't defend the idea that if that's the case, that's stupid as hell and an obvious problem.

I'm starting to think the easiest thing is Stance with the better top mounts or the Tein SS with new factory top mount inserts.