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PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 8:16 pm 
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2nd Banana
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Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2005 1:16 pm
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Location: San Diego, CA.
I recently did this swap. I figured it would be a decent little budget-minded suspension upgrade. I procured a set of 1g AWD KYB GR-2's and a set of stock 1g AWD springs. The swap was very straight-forward, everything seemed to bolt on just fine. I had heard rumors about how low the rear gets when you do this swap, and those rumors were definitely true. The rear dropped about 2" altogether. As soon as we finished the rear my friend and I noticed that the spring perch was dangerously close to my inner tire sidewall. I hadn't anticipated this, as most people who do this swap aren't running 225's all around, and some who are running 205's still experience rubbing now and then. Anyway, I had to see what it would do, so I drove it like that. We cut the front springs about one coil each, and that still left the front WAY higher than the rear, and it looked ridiculous. I didn't take any pics of it like this.

Here is a pic of the rear, you can see there is a little groove worn into my tire. It's like this on both sides. It only hit maybe 4 or 5 times total on the drive I took it on, but that was enough to do this. Needless to say, it's not safe to run it like this, there needed to be a solution.
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So I threw my stock 14" wheels back on the rear, and drove it back to my buddy's shop. With the 14's on there it didn't rub at all. The solution he came up with was very simple, yet effective. He would make little brackets out of sheet-metal, and weld them to the stock rear beam where the strut normally mounts. That is exactly what he did.
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Here you see it completed, with the strut bolted in place. This raised the rear of the car about 1.5", and made it fairly even with the front. Now the spring perch sits well above the top of the tire, and it does not rub anymore. I wish I didn't have to sacrifice the ride height to do this, but I can always use some 1g AWD lowering springs in the future to lower the car down. For now, the car rides fantastic like this, and handles great, but does feel like it's really high off the ground.
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Here's how the car sits now:
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In summation, I highly recommend this upgrade. The 1g AWD struts and springs are just stiff enough to make the Mirage handle and feel better, while not being so stiff that they jiggle your internal organs loose everywhere you drive. I took the car on a spirited drive this afternoon through some local twisty roads, and it was fun as hell. No bottoming out, no rubbing. For most people, you won't need to weld on the car like I did to raise it up, only those of you running really big wheels/tires on your cars would have to. Now that my car is basically set up for run 1g AWD suspension, there are a lot of options if I decide to get more hardcore with suspension stuff. 8)


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 8:44 pm 
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Nobody Important
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Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2002 2:19 pm
Posts: 1994
Location: Rochester, NY
My gut tells me that he should have used thicker gauge on the left side (looks thin) and put a cross brace in. Better safe then have your rear fall off


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 8:58 pm 
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Negative Nancy

Joined: Fri Jul 08, 2005 12:50 am
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Location: Falling Waters, Wv 25419
Looks like your ready for the trail tony...LOL
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You had the option of cutting the lower shelf of the spring perch 1/4-1/2 an inch(still plenty of shelf left) and clearancing the actual spring with an angle grinder on that side maybe 2-3 mm and can you still cut the spring more or is it progressive? If not, if you cut one more ring off there, you should have 4 inches of travel or so.

Rich


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:04 pm 
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2nd Banana
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Location: San Diego, CA.
Quote:
My gut tells me that he should have used thicker gauge on the left side (looks thin) and put a cross brace in. Better safe then have your rear fall off
The thickness of the sheet-metal is the same on both sides, it just might not look that way from the pictures.


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 10:41 pm 
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CSM Junkie
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Joined: Mon Jun 26, 2006 1:48 am
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Location: Old Forge PA
Did you happen to get any pics of the rear end lowered 2 inches?



-Mike


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 11:07 pm 
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2nd Banana
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Location: San Diego, CA.
Quote:
Did you happen to get any pics of the rear end lowered 2 inches?
No. I was able to get two fingers between the top of the tire and the fender. Now I can get the whole hand in there. Haha.


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 12:59 am 
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Some call me a god

Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2002 8:01 pm
Posts: 1108
Location: Sask. Canada
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No. I was able to get two fingers between the top of the tire and the fender. Now I can get the whole hand in there. Haha.
Nothing wrong with two fingers, thats what I got :D . After I changed my lower mounts I think I had a fist and maybe a finger more... until I adjusted it anyways. The roads are not that rough in Cali are they?

My friends are always asking me, "Joe, why in the world did you build a 4x4 car for the summer only?" I dont really have an answer for that one, but honestly, when I do drive the colt I have to watch what lane I am in when driving in town, in a few spots its almost a 4 inch drop in ruts all year long. I cant say I have heard bad things about roads down there, but I never have been there either.


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 10:02 am 
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Some call me a god
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Location: Las Vegas, NV
Roads in Cali are good, there is this new style called DONK that he is going for. I think he is just waiting on His AMC eagle suspension and 24" :P


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 11:35 am 
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2nd Banana
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Location: San Diego, CA.
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Roads in Cali are good, there is this new style called DONK that he is going for. I think he is just waiting on His AMC eagle suspension and 24" :P
First he makes fun of me for buying Rota wheels, now this? What a dick... :lol:


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 2:47 pm 
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Some call me a god
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Location: Las Vegas, NV
Dont Hate :axe:

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PostPosted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 2:58 pm 
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2nd Banana
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Location: San Diego, CA.
LOL, that reminds me of that one dude who recently posted his Mirage on here from Georgia or whatever.


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 7:39 pm 
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Some call me a god

Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2004 2:45 pm
Posts: 2158
Location: All over SW Asia
Well, by modding the shock brackets Tonus has basically built in some adjustablilty to his rear end. He can now ADD a decent coilover setup, and now drop his car to get rid of that wheel gap without damaging his tires.


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 7:49 pm 
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CSM Junkie
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Joined: Mon Jun 26, 2006 1:48 am
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Location: Old Forge PA
So, theoretically (SP?) you should be able to run stock 1G AWD springs in rear, and 2 inch FWD or AWD DSM springs in front and the car would be level. What kind of issues did you run into in the rear before you fabbed the spacer bracket? Did you have to press the bushing out of the lower strut mount?



-Mike


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:13 pm 
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Negative Nancy

Joined: Fri Jul 08, 2005 12:50 am
Posts: 1540
Location: Falling Waters, Wv 25419
Quote:
So, theoretically (SP?) you should be able to run stock 1G AWD springs in rear, and 2 inch FWD or AWD DSM springs in front and the car would be level. What kind of issues did you run into in the rear before you fabbed the spacer bracket? Did you have to press the bushing out of the lower strut mount?

No issues on this mod. Capt'n didnt want to clearance the spring and or cut off more height to make up for the lift. Search the tire widths that will fit.



-Mike


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:51 pm 
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The Silent Administrator
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Location: Ottawa, ON, Canada
This is archiveable material and very worthwhile, so let me know when we've got enough on this topic to consider it the be all, end all of 1G AWD installs. 8)


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