I just spent the day with a friend putting in a slightly used set of Tokico Illumina 5 ways with the springs that come in Tokico's Handling Kit. We had no instructions as usual but found which were lf,rf, and rears and guessed that the bigger diameter springs were the front ones (they were not marked). 5 hours later on the test drive we got about 100 yards and the front wheel were scraping like crazy. We put the flashlight on all the wheels and the front had settled and was extremely low and the back was still as high as it was with the old stock stuff (which was realllly high). Did I put the springs on backwards? If I didnt then what can I do? The car is undriveable. I have 17" rims with 245's on the front. The wheels have always seemed a little out to me and they are now rubbing on the upper fender lip. It seems to me that the springs we put in the back may have been taller (but definately smaller diameter). As much as I hate the prospect of doing this whole project over again I hope that I mixed them up.

Thanks for the info,

Shawn
www.3rdgenrx7.com

 

i'm curious how this turns out

i bought my car and it had tokiko's iwth eibachs, it rides really bouncy, and i jacked it up

it has spacers on the front springs, and evidence of rubbing that you are suggesting, so maybe mine are on backwards...as are yours, or maybe its the nature of the tokiko's

also running 17" 245's in front, 275's in the rear...

how do you adjust the firm/soft settings on the tokiko's, obviously by turning the screw...but how do you tell when its' on 1 or 5?

 

I have the same shocks installed with no-name shorter springs on my 95 PEP; lowered car approximately 1" Ft and 1-1/2" rear.

The attached Excel spreadsheet shows the spring dimensions per the 95 factory spec, and actual measured values for the OEM's and my shorter springs.

In each case the front springs compared to the rear were made with equal or larger diameter wire, and the diameter of the coils themselves were smaller on the front. The number of active coils varied between the sets.

If I understand your post it does sound like you might have the springs reversed. But if you know or can accurately measure the springs in question you could copy the equations to calculate the spring rates as another check.

 

Excellent info from both of you - thanks!

93BlackFD - So you have some kind of inserts on your front springs that doesnt allow them to compress past a certain spot? Do you think these spacers are causing your bouncy ride? Have you ever removed them? I have no idea how to tell what setting the shocks are on but it seems you should be able to tell if you keep turning in one direction and then press down on the car at that shock - one time when it goes from 1 to 5 or 5 to 1 there should be a big difference. I have not tried this yet, but am planning to once I get this other issue sorted out. Hopefully someone with the shocks will chime in...

FDjunkie - It makes sense to me that if the springs are made out of the same exact metal then the one with the smaller diameter would be stiffer. You sheet will help as far as speculation goes and it does encourage me that this kit will work on my car but before I get out there and pull them all again I would like to hear from someone who has them already installed and working. I will e-mail the guy I got them from (address was at work so couldn't last night) and try to call tokico today.

Anyone actually have this kit installed that could enlighten us?

Shawn
www.3rdgenrx7.com

 

when I installed my Tokico's with Racing Beat springs, I had some rubbing issues with the front tires as well. Turns out I needed to replace my Front Upper Strut Mounts. Once they were replaced, no problems at all.

My car had 75K on it, and the strut mounts were worn out!

Good luck!

 

All else being equal, the spring with longer amount of wire will have the lower rate. IOW, if the wire is the same size, increasing the spring's overall OD or adding more coils will make the spring softer. And those would be the rear springs on an FD.

 

any one with shocks want to explain how ot adjust them?

 

Update:

I spent the day reversing the springs and now the back is too low. The front looks great and doesnt rub but the back sits a little low at rest, lower with two people in it at rest and when I accelerate or go over a big bump the tire hits the fender lip. Looks like I am going to have to get new springs. With the 17" 275/40 with a 35 mm offset the tire just doesnt tuck into the back fender. There is plenty of room back there except right at the top fender lip. I was talking to a few guys at a local shop here and they suggested getting that lip rolled to allow the tire to clear that lip on the inside. Anyone ever have any success with that? It looks like it is really close to making it and that lip does stick out a good bit.

Another question would be can I just get 2 springs for the back? I know that some setups have to have match shocks/springs does it matter?

The car does ride better and feels much more nimble at least....

93BlackFD - I adjusted mine today and noticed that with the way the cap is the line that you use to adjust them (with a small flat head) only points to one number when you have it in the right spot (you can feel the notches when you turn). For instance one side of the screw line will point at 4 and the other will point at the line between 2 and 1 - this would be set on 4.

Shawn
www.3rdgenrx7.com