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Hey Hammer,
Go with Bob's application advice on the shocks; we rallied for years on mid-80's T-bird rear shocks; I never found the Nissan app; that is good.
We rallied Opels on Bilsteins and KYB Gas-Adjusts; the KYB's were weaker but adequate (just), and should be fine for rallycrossing, unless you have really rough course.
If you are sticking with stock spring types, we ended up using 5" diameter stock car springs front and rear, and getting free lengths as needed. The stock Opel spring diameter is a bit smaller, and the front lower perch was a worry, but we just ground a bevel on the bottom coil of the front spring and it fit in well and never popped out, even with some really hard hits and jumps in a variety of rallies in the eastern US. We used 240 lbs/in in front and rear; it probably would have been more ideal to use 280/300 lbs in in the front; if you use the higher rate, the Bilsteins shock damping rate will match up better. The rears were a bit stiff for the KYB shock rate (it was fine for the Bilsteins), so maybe 200-220 would be better. Also, the free length of 240 lbs/in with a good ride height and with the sligthly longer T-bird rear shocks allowed the rear springs to 'just' get loose on the spring perches at full droop, but they never popped out there either!
We are going with coilover Bilsteins from JVL for the new rally project. We'll try to fit the rears in the stock towers with appropriate reinforcement; stay tuned for that. The fronts will go on a full new front suspension design that will go in the locations of the stock front end; the objective is to get better suspension geometry and build a simpler but stronger front crossmember. We'll be glad to share if it works out.
Regards,
Mark B. (we were introduced at Rally TN through Wilson....)
PS: Do you think you would be up for coming up to work at Rally WV next year? It looks like mid July, though that will be finalized in the next week or so; Shea Serian from B'ham came up this past summer and had a good time. We could certainly use your help; we want to form a 3rd stage crew this coming year.
Go with Bob's application advice on the shocks; we rallied for years on mid-80's T-bird rear shocks; I never found the Nissan app; that is good.
We rallied Opels on Bilsteins and KYB Gas-Adjusts; the KYB's were weaker but adequate (just), and should be fine for rallycrossing, unless you have really rough course.
If you are sticking with stock spring types, we ended up using 5" diameter stock car springs front and rear, and getting free lengths as needed. The stock Opel spring diameter is a bit smaller, and the front lower perch was a worry, but we just ground a bevel on the bottom coil of the front spring and it fit in well and never popped out, even with some really hard hits and jumps in a variety of rallies in the eastern US. We used 240 lbs/in in front and rear; it probably would have been more ideal to use 280/300 lbs in in the front; if you use the higher rate, the Bilsteins shock damping rate will match up better. The rears were a bit stiff for the KYB shock rate (it was fine for the Bilsteins), so maybe 200-220 would be better. Also, the free length of 240 lbs/in with a good ride height and with the sligthly longer T-bird rear shocks allowed the rear springs to 'just' get loose on the spring perches at full droop, but they never popped out there either!
We are going with coilover Bilsteins from JVL for the new rally project. We'll try to fit the rears in the stock towers with appropriate reinforcement; stay tuned for that. The fronts will go on a full new front suspension design that will go in the locations of the stock front end; the objective is to get better suspension geometry and build a simpler but stronger front crossmember. We'll be glad to share if it works out.
Regards,
Mark B. (we were introduced at Rally TN through Wilson....)
PS: Do you think you would be up for coming up to work at Rally WV next year? It looks like mid July, though that will be finalized in the next week or so; Shea Serian from B'ham came up this past summer and had a good time. We could certainly use your help; we want to form a 3rd stage crew this coming year.
