Ground Control coilover sleeve info

[kbeefy]

Just finished an install of these on KYB AGX struts last night, thought I'd share a little info that I researched here for hours trying to figure out and some I learned during the install.

Car is a '92 legacy sedan SS.

As a preface, I wanted to lift the car a little and bought the AGX's before I learned about outback/Forester stuff. Other wise I would have at least bought struts for one of those higher riding vehicles.

I asked for 225# front and 200# rear springs, all 12" long. Guess they didn't have 225#, so I wound up with 250 and 200.

First thing I noticed was the rear struts have a hex nut to retain the cartridge. GC instructs you to remove this nut, install the sleeve, and reinstall the nut. Since there was nothing laying nearby to remove the nut with, I ground it round, the sleeve fit no problem. If I need to rebuild the strut I'll have to get creative.

Next I saw how the sleeve slips down the strut body inside the lower spring perch. Also, the majority of the perch is positioned to the outside of the strut. This renders the bottom half of adjustment almost useless without removing the strut from the car. I didn't like that, so I fixed it. my way.



Thats much better. Accomplishes a few things...
For starters, you can never run a stock or aftermarket coil on these struts again, aside from a 2.5".
Second, now you can make full use of the adjuster sleeve.
Third, theres alot more clearance between the coil/strut assembly and the rim/tire.

After that assembly was pretty smooth.

Heres the info I would have found usefull...

(measured center of hub to bottom of fender)

Legacy sedan height, stock:
F 14 5/8" R 14 1/2"

Legacy sedan, 12" coils, 250#/200# adjusted all the way down:
F 15 1/2" R 15"

Jamal made the suggestion on springs and the worked out perfect for me, hopefully others can use this info to extrapolate where they'd like to be and adjust spring rate/length to get there.

[jamal]

by all the way down, are the coils still up against the upper perches at full droop? Do you think you could get the same results with 10" springs?

On the wrx wagon I put this setup on it worked out where I had a bit of preload in them.

[kbeefy]

with the adjusters 1-2 turns up (because of interference w/ lower perches) I was just able to compress the springs enough by hand to get the top nuts started. Once tightened/torqued, I'd say it's pretty close to 1" of preoad. Thats where my car is now.

I think w/ 10" springs I'd be left with about 1" of slop @ full droop. I think the 12" springs are about the same amount of preload as the stock springs.

[jamal]

is there 2" of adjuster left above the spring perches where they are? Also, where are the perches as far as threads on the adjusters go front vs. rear?

Thanks for answering all my questions.

I really don't agree with the off the shelf springs they spec for a sleeve kit for subarus. way too short of springs and not good rates imo. On a koni insert or an agx or something I think you could run rates of up to 400lb/in on a 10" spring. They provide softer 8" springs generally, which means less spring travel and the need for helpers.

[kbeefy]

Thanks for answering all my questions.

No worries, reading your posts and this forum is where I got the info to make my choices.

heres a better pics to show the install.



I still have almost all the adjuster left above the perch. If the sleeve is 4" (I never measured) less the thickness of the perch, I'd say I have 2.75" in the rear and 3.25" in the front. The only reason they're different is when I originally cut the first strut I left a little more metal than I should, and just adjusted the perch up a little to clear it. The front's were cut better and the adjusters are about 1 turn from the bottom.

The pic above is the rear, thats about how it's installed. I think it was 4 turns up from the bottom.

I agree about the spring rates, that was the main reason I went with a Ground Control kit, I could specify length and rate. Everything else that had the spring rate I wanted was too short.

[John1]

Those springs are from Ground Control as well?

Did you look into just using the sleeve and adjustment nut from Ground Control, while using a different manufacturer's spring?

[kbeefy]

The springs are supplied by GC, but they're Eibach springs 2.5" springs and GC will supply the spring rate you request (or as close as they have). If you got just the perches you could use whatever 2.5" spring you wanted.

[epicfail]

I'm not sure how they compare, price-wise, but I just found this site/store where springs are available individually, in any length and rate one could ever want.

[kbeefy]

what site is that? Link?

[jamal]

the word "this" is the link.

Those seem alright I guess, but might not be as linear or have as much travel as a swift or hyperco. With the super cheapo e-bay sleeve kits you'll have two supposed identical springs have very different rates and lengths, and the rates also tend to not be very linear. Plus they break sometimes.

[ciper]

omfg i need this! not only because i want a little more ride height but because I need to use larger diameter tires and 205 55 16 on 02 wrx wheels already rub the rear strut

[kbeefy]

the word "this" is the link.

Those seem alright I guess, but might not be as linear or have as much travel as a swift or hyperco. With the super cheapo e-bay sleeve kits you'll have two supposed identical springs have very different rates and lengths, and the rates also tend to not be very linear. Plus they break sometimes.

Thanks, I missed that.

I don't think those springs are any cheaper than eibachs.