Has anyone lifted their Celica?

underscore

Well-known member
Thanks guys, I put the rear strut assemblies together so I just need to shorten the tubes and notch the brake line supports (so I don't have to disconnect the lines) and then they can go in. Assembly ran into a few annoyances using front strut inserts in the rear but nothing major.
 

underscore

Well-known member
I shaved down the support tubes and cleaned up the poly plates and assembled the rear struts with the new dampers/isolators/mounts. Lesson learned, when doing stuff like this fit everything to the strut mount *before* you assemble the strut. Otherwise you'll learn one of the studs holes is a hair too loose as you're trying to press-fit the tubes on and go through a bunch of hassle securing it again while trying to avoid disassembling the whole thing.

Anywho, they're together now and I can move on to the fronts. Ignore the oversized nuts, they were just there to save turns pressing the poly on.

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Domspun

Member
I'm on the same route as you. I plan to use 215/75R16 BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2. Now I'm using some crappy tires just for testing the setup. I just had the car aligned, I'll take some measurements and pictures.
 

Domspun

Member
I have CX Racing coil-overs, so I can raise the shock body and coil is at it's highest position.

Result:

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Tire diameter is 24.5'' versus OEM 23.9'', not much of a difference, but helps comfort because I have to keep stiff springs since shock travel is around 3''. I need to find a way to put longer shocks.
 

underscore

Well-known member
Wow, that's a lot of clearance. Springs seem easy enough to get in whatever lengths and rates you want, but it seems tricky to find dampers that have a decent amount of travel. From my understanding the diameter of the dampers and the top/bottom mountings are pretty generic, but they're always sold by vehicle and not by size. You either need to find a good sales rep who can find what you want or pick through the application guide to try and find another car with the same ID but longer springs (going on the assumption that the dampers have more travel to match) and hope that they mount up.

For example here's the application guide for BC: https://www.bcracing-na.com/files/websi ... heet11.pdf

The ST185 coils come with 62-180-8 front springs and 62-200-4 rear (62mm ID x 180mm long x 8kg). There's 3 vehicles in there with 62-260-8 springs (same ID and rate but 80mm or 3" longer) so my assumption would be the dampers for those cars would have 3" more travel as well. But they're for a Lexus LS4x0 which I can't imagine actually has 3" more travel than a Celica so I'm doubting the damper is actually any longer. I have no idea how to decipher the damper part numbers either but if anyone does here they are.

Celica: 260-120-MF-12.0-M12
Lexus: 280-155-AR1-12.5-M12
 

awdmofo

Member
I can't wait to see what you guys figure out. I'm going to rally my 90 next year after I get the engine sorted out and brakes etc :D
 

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underscore

Well-known member
I finished getting the fronts assembled, I broke my vice so I was using the nut to press the tubes down onto the studs when one started to spin free in the mount. A couple seconds with the "angry end" around each stud and a quick weld and now they aren't going anywhere. Adding to the list of things I've learned/suggestions so far:

- skip the reinforcement tube around the studs, I don't think it would actually do anything and it has been a big PITA. You're better off making the spacers to fit snugly over the studs directly.
- unless you're working with much better equipment than I am, put a couple of tack welds on each stud to secure it to the mount while you have them off the struts. Because of the way the rear spring isolator works you'll need to do this on the top side and then countersink the holes in the spacers a little to clear the weld.
 

underscore

Well-known member
All 4 corners are installed, if you're doing this learn from my mistakes and

- just weld in high grade bolts and skip the studs (M10 front, M8 rear)
- remove both front struts, or at least disconnect the sway bar, before attempting install
- loosen the rear control arms at both ends before you take the strut out (you need to reset the arms at the new ride height anyways)

This is without settling the suspension at all, so it should drop a bit. For reference those are 205/55R16 tires.

VtGn16Hh.jpg
 

FC Zach

Active member
underscore":25k50n2k said:
This is without settling the suspension at all, so it should drop a bit. For reference those are 205/55R16 tires.

VtGn16Hh.jpg

:shock: That's neat! are the axles angles ok?
 

underscore

Well-known member
This is all with the stock springs + struts + the 1" spacers on top. I haven't taken any measurements yet but I will once I've settled the suspension. Measurements off a stock GTFour are 14.25" from the center of the hub to the fender lip directly above, so I'm expecting 15.25" with the spacers. That gives you a true ride height to compare to without things like variance in tire diameter affecting it.

The axles looked fine when I was assembling everything but we'll see if there's any funny noises once it's on the road. I imagine they'll be fine as Toyota made these cars tough as nails and my Jeep that also has IFS has a 2.5" lift and the CVs are fine.
 

underscore

Well-known member
I put the car through its paces at a TSD this weekend, the suspension is definitely settled in now. Loaded up with all our gear, a full sized spare and a full tank of fuel the front sits about 1.25" above stock and the rear was only 0.5" above stock. For normal use I expect it'll be more level but I'll be adding another piece to the rear so it's level when prepped for an event.

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underscore

Well-known member
I still love it, I've since added another 0.5" spacer to the rear to try and cure the saggy butt it got from having a full sized spare and a trunk full of gear but I haven't driven it like that much. Eventually I'd like to make it easier to swap the lift in and out too, getting the struts assemblies in and out in the rear is really annoying (the front is a breeze)
 
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