e30 rear(true?) coilover options < 2000$ and spindle questions

[logic factory]

.

[acolella76]

First off, why do you want true coilover, and what are you trying to achieve?

You're going to need a lot of chassis bracing in the rear for the true coilover setup. Also keep in mind that when switching to true coilover the spring rate is effectively different. If you have a 1000 lb/in spring it is effectively a 500 lb/in spring.

MCS, AST/Moton, JRZ all make shocks that are true coilover in the rear but like you said they cost a pretty penny. Some companies prefer that the buyer supply the spindle, some companies like AST and Ground Control will supply a spindle but give you a core charge.

In short, it's not going to happen for less than $2,000. If it does, it is not properly set up.

[CHIF8008]

you will tear your rear shock towers off. there- i said it

[Adrian_Visser]

There just isn't room for tire with a true coilover on the rear of an e30. There already is a lack of room and adding a spring limits your back spacing even more. What do you think you'll gain with a true coilover in the rear anyway?

[pantelones]

i will start off by thanking you for advancing this community on your dollar. i would hate to cause you to re-live(?) your tragic experience but if you do not mind sharing the details of your catastrophic failure i would be forever indebted. which coilovers were you running and about how many miles when you experienced the failure? what is the weight of your vehicle with driver and what spring rates were you using? any other details you can share would help my decision.
thank you in advance.

Really? Look at the way the stock suspension is designed. Look where the load is, and now think about where you are transferring it to. Energy cannot be created nor destroyed, only transferred. You are moving the load from an area that has adequate support/strength, to an area that is already problematic under the stock conditions. You need to do some sort of reinforcement to the shock towers (And trailing arms) to allow it to handle the added stress you are putting on it. And to be completely honest, if you are putting a true rear coil-over set up on an e30 that thing better have a cage. Also, I can't really take someone seriously when they can't be bothered to capitalize letters and use punctuation. I'll bet you "helped your uncle jack off a horse" right? :giggle:

Anyways........

Something like this

http://www.e30tech.com/forum/showpost.php?p=633150&postcount=233

Or better yet

http://www.e30tech.com/forum/showpost.php?p=768517&postcount=287

Garey here on the forum did a true rear coil over set up like this....

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showpost.php?p=2507493&postcount=148

And for shits and giggles look at the DTM m3

http://www.s14.net/jakesdtmtours/image-html/sus42.html

[Northern]

DTM M3:

[e30 gangsta]

a lot of people in the uk and europe run gaz coils on their drift cars with no reinforcements. Doesn't mean that not one of them has had a failure though. You would have to research more. Gaz coils are great stuff though hands down.

[SmokeE30]

d2's are much cheaper and available stateside, if your looking for a cheap setup just to have a "true coilover" do that, but as many have stated the e30 is not designed to have that much force applied to the rear shocktowers, i belive it would work for sometime but if this is a car you want to drive hard or want to last long take others advice and pony up for the good setups with added bracing or stick with springs on the trialing arm as the suspension is designed for there is a reason you can find many cheap options that use that design

[EDirtyZ]

Megan coilovers mate :) Best bang for your buck! Refer to the official E30 megan coilovers thread i made!
http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=253877 cheers!

[einstein57]

lets try and bring this thread back inline with the questions asked in the op; e.g. are we forgetting any other options?

I think people brought up some very valuable points. You never stated what your intentions were even though that is pretty much the most important aspect of picking any suspension upgrade. Seeing as your looking at companies like D2 and Megan i can only assume you have no plans on making a track car. In which case anything will do so buy what ever is the cheapest. Your probably not going to notice any difference between a $1200 kit and an $1800 kit for the type of performance driving you'll be doing. If you want the best bang for the buck build our own setup. Start browsing the Koni catalog for their double adjustable race dampers.

[Hey_You]

Run a spring/shock combo. It's what your car was designed for. Coilovers are for indecisive sissies :P

[EDirtyZ]

i looked through some of that thread and another install that was linked within but that does not appear to be a true coilover setup? does megan have a true rear option for any bmw?

How exactly is the rear not a true coilover set up?

[maneeno325e]

true coilover set up is a spring coil over the shocks, just like the front suspension of the e30, where as the rear is a modified version and the spring and shocks are seperated.