Numbchux Posted December 13, 2007 Author Share Posted December 13, 2007 Ok so let me get this right. Miata short rear struts with the adjustable coil kit and 92 FWD Legacy Fronts.Do they make a coilover kit for the legacy fronts or are those stock springs you are using in there? Just found that the 93+ Impreza and the 92 Legacy use the same struts in the front. yea, front struts didn't really every change much. the '03 legacy stuff I have sitting here is also virtually identical. the springs are cheap generic coilover sleeves for a GC impreza. used 'em on my 4-lug all-EA82 setup, and still using them on my goofy hybrid setup now. btw, just found the attached picture on ebay. this is of a NB ('99-'05) Miata front shock. I'm working on getting my hands on a pair of these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calebz Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 yea, front struts didn't really every change much. the '03 legacy stuff I have sitting here is also virtually identical. the springs are cheap generic coilover sleeves for a GC impreza. used 'em on my 4-lug all-EA82 setup, and still using them on my goofy hybrid setup now. btw, just found the attached picture on ebay. this is of a NB ('99-'05) Miata front shock. I'm working on getting my hands on a pair of these. Great reference pic. Do you happen to have a stock EA82 rear strut around you could do a comparison pic with? Second, is it me or does the perch on that miata strut look weird? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted December 14, 2007 Author Share Posted December 14, 2007 Great reference pic. Do you happen to have a stock EA82 rear strut around you could do a comparison pic with? Second, is it me or does the perch on that miata strut look weird? I don't actually have the newer miata shock. but got a guy from the local AutoX forum who's going to sell me a pair cheap. so no direct comparison. I'm going to see if I can't find where I put my stock EA82s though so I can take some more comparison measurements and yes, the spring perch looks extremely goofy. what can I say.....mazda.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calebz Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 I don't actually have the newer miata shock. but got a guy from the local AutoX forum who's going to sell me a pair cheap. so no direct comparison. I'm going to see if I can't find where I put my stock EA82s though so I can take some more comparison measurements and yes, the spring perch looks extremely goofy. what can I say.....mazda.... I was just hoping you had a stock EA rear strut laying around that you ocould do a similar type of pic with. Since that one has the measuring tape next to it, a true side by side isn't really needed. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discopotato03 Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 Hi all , here in Australia people have fabricated brackets to lift the back of their L series . These brackets bolt to the L's rear top strut mount holes and extend the mount holes downwards . If you did something like this you may be able to refit the rubbers and give the poor old damper shaft some "give" . Cheers A . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted December 14, 2007 Author Share Posted December 14, 2007 I was just hoping you had a stock EA rear strut laying around that you ocould do a similar type of pic with. Since that one has the measuring tape next to it, a true side by side isn't really needed. Thanks I do.....somewhere.....I'll see if I can find them Hi all , here in Australia people have fabricated brackets to lift the back of their L series . These brackets bolt to the L's rear top strut mount holes and extend the mount holes downwards . If you did something like this you may be able to refit the rubbers and give the poor old damper shaft some "give" . Cheers A . that doesn't really help me. the bushings have to be removed because the NA miata shock shafts don't have the narrower portion at the top for the bushing like the EA82 ones do. BUT, from that picture, it looks like the NB shocks do aswell..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 Well Chux, I'm going to be doing a swap for the rears here soon (when the shocks I ordered finally come into work) and this is what I'll be running with:banana: KYB AGXs all the way around but the rears are going to be from a '96 Miata w/o ABS (less bracket crap on the shock) with my ebay coilovers and Impreza struts with the same coilovers up front. Now I just gotta figure out what to do with my bad understeer:rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted February 4, 2008 Author Share Posted February 4, 2008 sweet! a pair of '99 stock miata shocks with springs and top mounts just arrived at my house a couple weeks ago. these do have a bushing on the top much like the EA82s do....when I stop being lazy, I'll see if I can't make the miata bushing fit in the EA82 bracket......that would be the holiest of grails! although, I've put about 12k miles on this setup using the '90 Miata shocks. works muuuuch better than the EA82 stockers. and holding up fine (knock on wood!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Well I can get all four corners done for less then $400 ($370 or so) through work. Gotta love discounts:banana: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted February 5, 2008 Author Share Posted February 5, 2008 Well I can get all four corners done for less then $400 ($370 or so) through work. Gotta love discounts:banana: nice! all 4 (using '99 rears) AGXs cost 418 before tax and shipping from tirerack..... although I haven't researched any local sources yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted February 9, 2008 Author Share Posted February 9, 2008 finally started taking apart the '99 miata fronts that I have.....here's what I found. comparable length to the EA82, and substantially longer shock body (substantially less travel). so these aren't a very good option if lowering is high on your list of priorities.....but should work fine from a performance standpoint. I also just saw a post mentioning flipping the upper bracket upside-down for a small drop.... the NB miatas ('98?-'05 I believe) have a bushing in the upper mount much like the EA82s: so I think these will work a bit better with the EA82 upper mounts then the NA ones. I got a nice deal on a pair of 1200.250.0250 Eibach/Ground-Control springs (12" long, 2.5" ID, 250 lb/in) on ebay: these are very close to stock EA82 springs in dimensions (in fact....could make for a decent upgrade for EA82s....). Here on the EA82 shock): and similar height to the stock miata ones: the miata upper bushings go on like this: replace the lower washer (won't fit inside the 2.5" spring) with the EA82 spring perch: and stick the upper bracket (only ones I have are currently mounted on my car :-\ so not test-fitting) in that bushing, and you're hot to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted March 10, 2008 Author Share Posted March 10, 2008 UPDATE!!!! I only have a few minutes before I have to leave for work. but.....just as WJM warned......I had a shock break last night. I had been monitoring them rather closely, looking for stress cracks or anything, and they appeared to be in good shape. but last night while I was delivering, I suddenly noticed a rather severe clunking sound coming from the rear. and it seemed to get very bouncy today I jacked it up, and sure enough, the top of the shock rod snapped off. Good thing I've got another set of suspension to go in there........oh wait, the shock mounts that I bought from subaruguru aren't supposed to get here until Thursday....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Is this because you removed the bushing? I'll see if I can help out with this little quest since I'm getting ready to do this myself. I have a set of rear Miata shocks at work and I'm going to throw those in until I get my AGX's for the rear and maybe I can help come up with something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted March 11, 2008 Author Share Posted March 11, 2008 yea, with the arc'ed travel of the trailing arm, the lower shock mount needs to be able to move forward/backward in reference to the upper mount. BUT!!! WJM just sent me a pm about this. apparently he's tried this. BE legacy stuff with a custom solid upper mount. and it became apparent that the top of the shock needs to pivot some. and by removing that rubber bushing, you're making the shock rod flex. soooo.....any ideas how to allow for some pivot there, without using the bushing. I was thinking just slot the 2 holes where the upper mount attaches to the car, so it can all be angled a bit towards the front. it wouldn't eliminate the problem entirely, but it would lessen it. I loosened the upper mounts a bit, and pointed the bottom of the shock a bit further forward before tightening it. And I'm pretty sure I got more out of it that WJM did (I'll see if I can find his pm......). but I got a healthy 15k miles before this one failed, and there are zero signs of cracking or anything on the other side. also, it occurred to me while I was at work tonight (delivering in my girlfriend's '96 OBW.......how luxurious ) that the side that failed, was the side that I was having trouble getting those bolts to torque down all the way. I was having a hell of a time getting the bolt on the rear-most side of that bracket tight enough. so it's possible it wasn't supported sufficiently. well, I've got these miata shocks from a '99 that will allow me to run a bushing on the top. so I'll try those next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 I compared a stock set of the Miata shocks to my stock RX shocks tonight since I did the AGX's up front. The Miata shocks had like 50k miles on them whereas my RX shocks have 220k on them. My RX ones seemed to be better as far as recoil then the Miata ones in stock form so I replaced my bushings with some poly bushings we had laying around and dropped the back end back down to where it was before winter. Seems to do pretty nice now. I also noted that the REAR Miata shocks will not work since the length inbetween the pressed on ring where the upper spring perch sets on, isn't as long as the EA82 rear. So you're using the front Miata shocks on the rear then? If so, then time to get to ordering again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted March 12, 2008 Author Share Posted March 12, 2008 So you're using the front Miata shocks on the rear then? If so, then time to get to ordering again! nope, the ones I've been using are '90 Rears. only difference between fronts and rears are the length. the short distance between that ring and the end of the shock is the reason the rubber bushing can't be used.... the ones I will be replacing them with are '99 (different design, these use a rubber bushing in the upper mounts like the EA82s) fronts with 250lb/in springs instead of 450 lb/in springs that I've been running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted March 14, 2008 Author Share Posted March 14, 2008 alright......ver. 2.0 here's the '99 miata shocks, with their stock rubber bushing, the EA82 upper mount/spring perch, and these GC springs. stock miata bushing, minus upper mount/perch. put a spring under it, the EA82 perch to replace the lower washer, than the EA82 bracket between the bushings: these springs are way too long. Had to really crank on the spring compressors to get the tops on. less than ideal but I gotta have this thing back on the road tomorrow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManYaiK Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 So, whatever became of this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted July 6, 2008 Author Share Posted July 6, 2008 the EA82-length springs compressed to fit on NB Miata front shocks made the rear of my wagon sit about 4" higher than stock, and would not compress.....zero travel at all. So I bought a pair of Monroe shocks for the EA82 to run until I can get my hands on shorter springs (I'm going to skip right to the Ground Control setup.....when I can afford it. and then I'll continue to experiment to see what shock will work best). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted July 31, 2008 Author Share Posted July 31, 2008 alright, update. my birthday present to myself came today I called Ground-Control directly, and they were nice enough to give me the subaru impreza front coilovers (on the left) and NB miata rears (right). turns out this was unnecessary. as, when using the miata shocks on the subaru, you use the subaru upper mount/spring perch. the ground control upper perches don't get used. with that in mind, the only difference between the subaru kit and the miata kit is this: little ring pressed into the sleeve. this doesn't fit very snug anyway, so could easily be done without. here's the sleeve/spring on the miata shock: notice how the top of the spring sits right where the upper perch would be. this is the lowest setting they recommend using. I went with 250 lb/in front springs and 275 lb/in for the rear. I also opted for 8" long springs in the front and 7" in the rear (that's what they recommended....we'll see how the ride height works out when I put it all together). SO, these will be installed on my car next week. EDIT: just noticed a typo. the rear springs are 275, not 200. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted August 7, 2008 Author Share Posted August 7, 2008 rears are in. This is a '99 Miata shock, with the ground-control 275 lb/in coilover and EA82 subaru shock mount (modified to fit upside-down to help drop the car a bit...): still rides a bit high. I think I'm going to get my hands on some Miata rear shocks (about 4" shorter), and re-flip the upper mount and crank the spring perch up a bit to drop the car some. took it around the block. these used shocks are definitely not as strong as the virtually new Monroes I took off.....little on the rough side, but not too bad. tomorrow I plan to do the fronts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted August 8, 2008 Author Share Posted August 8, 2008 after putting on ~140 miles today at work.....I'm pretty sure the rough ride was because I'm riding on the Miata bump stops (and I cut ~ 1/2" off of them too....). so, I'll crank up the ride height tomorrow to solve that.....and start looking for a pair of the shorter rear shocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted August 12, 2008 Author Share Posted August 12, 2008 well, guess I'll keep this updated in case someone might be interested at some point. took the girl's Kia on the road trip this last weekend, so I didn't tinker with it before the trip. but at work today I cranked the rear springs up ~3/4". definitely smoother, but I'm still hitting the stops on larger bumps. currently sitting with ~4" of fender gap, with the springs set as low as I dare, and the upper mounts flipped upside-down, and 215/45r17 tires. the ~4" shorter Miata rear shocks will definitely work fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Abides Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 well, guess I'll keep this updated in case someone might be interested at some point. took the girl's Kia on the road trip this last weekend, so I didn't tinker with it before the trip. but at work today I cranked the rear springs up ~3/4". definitely smoother, but I'm still hitting the stops on larger bumps. currently sitting with ~4" of fender gap, with the springs set as low as I dare, and the upper mounts flipped upside-down, and 215/45r17 tires. the ~4" shorter Miata rear shocks will definitely work fine. can you estimate how much you lowered with just the top hats and how did you half to modify them. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted August 12, 2008 Author Share Posted August 12, 2008 probably 1.5-2". had to do some grinding on the mount, probably did more than I needed, but better that then not enough. also had to drill a hole (happened to have a 7/8" hole saw handy from my ebrake cable rerouting project) in the sheet metal above it for the end of the shock rod and it's nut to poke through. and still had to use some impact technology (mini maul and air hammer worked well) to force it up there a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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