alternative shocks/struts

I did a bunch of research on this subject several months ago, and here's what I came up with:

http://www.celicasupra.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1117&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

The celica (ae86, right???) struts are about 0.05" longer than the Supra.

While there's a bunch of other struts that will fit in our Soups, the whole problem is weight distribution, damping rate and rebound rate will not be quite matched to our soups. This shouldn't be a problem for the majority of folks on this forum, as most don't autocross or roadrace their vehicles, and would never push their car to the limit where these areas become critical, but folks like Billy and myself (and several others I can't remember right now, you know who you are!) do happen to race these cars.
Even with TRD adjustables on the rear of my car, and GR2's on the front (that are specifically made for the MKII), the car is incredibly unbalanced on the track at high speed cornering! Coming into turn 8 at Willow Springs Race track, at around 75mph, the suspension is under so much force that the car starts cavitating front to rear because of the mismatch in damping from front to rear. Now, add in another vehicle's strut that's valved for a different weight, you'll find an even worse imbalance!
I'm not trying to discourage anyone who's thinking of using other vehicle-specific struts/shocks, but I do want y'all to know that it really is tricky to get a setup that really works well!
From what I know, there's a certain rate of pressure introduced to the strut at any given time, and this is compensated for by the valving of the strut. The amount of damping is based on the weight of the vehicle, and as you corner/brake, this pressure is increased, which the damping is to compensate for, thus keeping the suspension from compressing/rebounding too much (which upsets the balance of the vehicle, as well as the camber as it lifts/compresses).
Even with just a 100lb. difference between 2 separate vehicles will produce a different characteristic in handling! And, we haven't even added into the calculation the front to rear weight distribution! for example, a 50/50 distribution while braking will add (theoretically) 700 lbs. of EXTRA force to the front struts, change the distribution to 45/65, and you can add another 300 lbs. to that number, even if the weight of both vehicles are exactly the same!!!
So, the big question we should all be asking is, will another vehicle's struts/shocks work better than the best available strut/shock made for our vehicle???

Dammit! I'm always posting way too much! Sorry folks...

Flyin, you make it sound very scary to bring a strut from another vehicle. Where in fact it is not. Its honestly no different than using, like you said, stiff's in rear and suck in front. Even though the gr2's are for the same car, its just as dangerous as using a suck strut from another car, or a good strut, from a lighter car.

What I personally would do is try and find struts from a heavier vehicle. Someone mentioned the celica alltrac being a cantidate. This interests me in that that vehicle weighs a good bit more in the front end than our cars. If you get an adjustable for that vehicle, you can be sure that you will find a good balance.

Btw, I know what you mean about the high-speed imbalance. I went out to a pretty large autox in Nashville a few months back that had a fast slalom (45mph exit) and then a good straight away that absolutely FLEW, then turned into a long 180deg decreasing radius turn. Man... coming in at 65mph, even with my brand new HP's up front and gas-a-justs in back, I was getting a very bad *struts too soft* vibe, where my nose was actually starting to "float"... Scary crap.

I would kill for a set of double-adjustable struts.... The tuning possibilities make me... giddy...

Btw, HP's will be a nice jump for you until us racers can figure some sorta option. Not bad price either, talk to Aaron, he sells them now. Tell him billy sent you. =)

--billyM

Okay folks, I did a little research today and have found a strut insert that I think will work well.

It is a KONI sport adjustable. Externally adjustable with a knob on top.

The body length is 1-5/8" (1.625") shorter though, so it would require a spacer.
Extended length is 1-3/4" (1.75") shorter so it may not be the best for stock height cars but 1" or more lowered should be fine.
Travel is only 1/8" less so we're in good shape there.

The part# is 8641-1414 and it is engineered for the Porsche 944 turbo (1988) which should be close to our weight and weight bias.

www.classicgarage.com has them for $308.96 per pair.

I am going off of tech info from a couple of catalogs though, so if anyone can pick one or a pair up from someplace and verify the dimensions given that would be great. I would also like to see one next to ours before proceeding with making spacers. I would get a pair and check it out but ca$h is just tooo tight right now.

I hope this helps!
Jamie