Rob W's Supra - Project Thread * Pic Heavy *

[mattdavies]

How are you finding the Vibratechics engine mounts ?

[Rob W]

The Rear:


Well wasn’t a bad process, just took my time with it and took me 3 evenings to get it all complete.

Starting with the rear, first take off the 2 plastic covers over the top mount in the boot. 3 screws and 1 screws clip thing, this will reveal the strut top cover.



Remove the cover, you will see the top mount with 3 nuts around the outside and one in the middle for the strut rod. Losen off the middle strut rod nut whilst it’s under weight saves you strugling later when the whole suspension strut is off the car. Do this on both sides so when you get the car up in the air it saves you time.

Crack wheel nuts off a turn then get the rear of the car up in the air. Wheel off you will have something like this.



I then undone the lower nut on the suspension strut first and removed then the ARB drop links. The Toyota ARB drop links have an hex key bit in the middle which makes it easier to get them off. Luckily as I used copaslip on the nuts and bolts when fitting all the new suspension parts a couple of years ago now it came apart without a fight.



With this done, remove 3 top mount nuts in the boot to remove the suspension strut. Levering on the lower arm down you will just have enough room to pull the strut out from the car which you will then end up looking something like this.



With the strut removed, I then removed the single center nut holding on the top mount. With my Eibach springs there was not a lot of force behind it so no need for spring clamps. With a 12mm drill bit I run through the center hole of the top mount which would then allow the strut rod of the KW to slide through.

Using some lubricant spray I the pushed the purple KW collar over the underside of the top mount. Lubricant is definitely needed doing these. Screwed the center top nut back on as far as I could and it was assembled. With how car is sitting now I have left the rear ride height as KW pre set it to, 3” off the bottom of the perch. Just make sure the small hex key screw is tight.



Putting the KW strut back on is abit easier as it is shorter in height to start with so I didn’t have to struggle levering the lower arm down whilst trying to fit it in. Slide the lower bolt through and screw up hand tight the 3 top nuts to secure in place.

Measuring the height on the wheel, I then used the trusty stock sizzor jack to lift up the arms into the position that the car will be sitting at to torque up the lower arm bolt.



I then re-attached the ARB drop link and torqued up to spec. Used the TSRM app to get the torque settings up easily and quickly.

Repeat the same process to the other side of the rear, wheels back on and get it in the ground. Torque up the 3 top mount nuts and the center strut rod nut and you are done. Only issue I found is fitting the top mount covers, the strut rod taps on the underside of them, so even tho I sprayed them up I ended up taking them back off again.

[Rob W]

The Front:

The front takes a little bit more time, a couple more things to do to remove the strut.

Same start again, loosen the 3 top mount nuts and the center nut and crack the wheel nuts a turn. Get the car up in the air and the wheel off.



I removed the ARB drop link first, I removed it completely but you can just do one side just make sure it’s the side that attaches to the lower arm as it will help you later.

Remove some of the arch liner screws, ABS sensor bolt and arch liner bolt so when you pull out the upper arm bolt it doesn’t put tension on the ABS sensor wire. Remove the upper arm bolt now, with the arch liner lose you will be able to slide it all the way out. Near side, you need to lower the stock washer bottle abit to get the bolt to slide behind it. The upper arm won’t suddenly pop out towards you just be careful.

Next remove the 3 top mounts nuts and then the lower arm bolt, your ready to pull the strut out.

With removing the ARB drop link off the lower arm out the way earlier, you can pull the bottom of the strut towards you which will then let you drop it down to manoeuvre it out. This just saves you trying to pull the strut out whilst levering the arm down.

With the strut out, remove the top mount center nut and top mount. Again 12mm drill bit through the center of the mount, spray lubricant on the top mount rubber and push on the KW purple collar.



Attach the top mount to the strut and ready to fit.

The KW fronts are set at 2” from the bottom of the perch, this was to low for me.



I set mine at 2 1/2” to see how it sits. Re fitting the strut was easy as it is shorter on height again like the rear, same process putting it back on. Using the stock sizzor jack again to correct height before torquing up the upper and lower arm bolts.



Re fit the ARB drop links, ABS sensor and arch liner.



With the wheel back on, torque up the 3 top mount nuts and center strut rod nut.


This is how the car sits now, I think I will raise the front by 5-10mm maybe as it rubs slightly on full lock down slopes like car parks etc.



Still, happy with how it looks. The ride is far better then the Bilstein B6 with Eibach springs I was running. A far better experience with the KW’s compared to the Tein Monosports I bought a couple of years ago.

[Rob W]

How are you finding the Vibratechics engine mounts ?

Used them for about 300 miles and changed them over for new OEM pre-facelift mounts and brackets. They were far to stiff for an auto.

[mattdavies]

Used them for about 300 miles and changed them over for new OEM pre-facelift mounts and brackets. They were far to stiff for an auto.

This is good to know as I will be looking to replace mine in the next year

[SupraTRD_MK4]

Swell work there mate. What was your reason for removing the Bilsteins? Old? Or wanted a lowered look and better feel of the car? Would you recommend buying 2nd hand oem Bilsteins or am I wasting my money?

[Rob W]

Swell work there mate. What was your reason for removing the Bilsteins? Old? Or wanted a lowered look and better feel of the car? Would you recommend buying 2nd hand oem Bilsteins or am I wasting my money?

No the Bilstein’s have only covered around 2k miles, but our UK spec needs some new suspension as one strut has a slight weep. I was always in two minds when I first purchased the Bilstein from Chris Wilson. They are a good set of suspension but compared to the KW’s across road lumps and bumps is no comparison, the KW’s IMO are better in every way.

[Rob W]

It’s that time of the year I change my wheels over to my winter set, whilst I’d have it up in the air I wanted to change the brake pads, brake shoes and fluid as well.

Chris Wilson Uk Spec Fast Road pad set.
Blueprint rear brake shoes.
Rear brake shoe fitting kit.
Motul 600 brake fluid 1.5l.
ACF-50.



I started on the rear first, I thought it was a fiddly job and I wasn’t wrong. Removing the rear caliper and brake disc revealed this state.



I removed all the springs and brake shoes, gave it a wipe over with brake cleaner but didn’t go too mad with it. Made sure the hub flange was dirt free and a flat surface for the disc to be re seated onto later.



Copaslipped up the contact points on the rear housing, moving areas of the brake shoes and the hub flange for future removal of the rear brake discs. The part I found the pain was pushing on the circle spring holders onto the bar. Have little to no room to get your hand in there to push them on and twist to lock.



I was happy to see, 2 years on and the refurb I did on my brake calipers using Chris Wilson stainless steel pistons were still in perfect condition, moving freely and easily. I put a light coating of copaslip on the stainless steel brake pad pins last time around which made them put out with ease.



I put the disc on, and tighten it up to the hub to adjust my handbrake to the correct postion. I done it like this so I could feel the resistance myself without the brake pads touching and maybe causing more resistance. After that was done brake caliper and pads back together.



The fronts I didn’t take any pictures, it was literally just changing the pads over and a clean up. Flushed the old brake fluid out replacing for the Motul 600 using all 1.5l of it. When everything was done, I gave the suspension parts and subframes a coating of ACF-50 for protection.










Unfortunately after all this, I couldn’t fit my winter set of wheels. My near side front schrader valve was leaking, trying to remove it to reseal I rounded off the head. I’ve had to drill it out and currently waiting for a replacement to turn up.

[RZtwin]

Next on the list before putting the side pods and lower trims on was sorting out the seals and doing the wheel arches etc.

Unfortunately the seals had been bent up by knob heads by tyre fitters etc, and bent up proper. I straightened them out and took them back to metal the best I could getting off as much surface rust as possible.

I did some stages on these which took the time, letting each coat have time to cure properly.

Rust Converter
Etch Primer
Paint
Stone Chip
Underseal

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/attachm...1&d=1501528971

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/attachm...1&d=1501528831

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/attachm...1&d=1501528971

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/attachm...1&d=1501529243

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/attachm...1&d=1501528831

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/attachm...1&d=1501528831

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/attachm...1&d=1501528971


On areas like the arches I just gave them a clean with degreaser and applied underseal. Very time consuming job and one I don't want to do again anytime soon so I hope it lasts.

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/attachm...1&d=1501529609

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/attachm...1&d=1501529609

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/attachm...1&d=1501529609

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/attachm...1&d=1501529609

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/attachm...1&d=1501528971



Tided up the rear plastic stone guard and put the rear hockey sticks back on again as I took them off whilst doing the undersealing.


http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/attachm...1&d=1501529646


As I'm putting on a facelift front bumper I wanted to wire in the front side indicators properly as I never liked having the pre-facelift indicator sitting behind the wing doing nothing. As I had the front arch liners out it was perfect timing to sort that out.

If you take off the plastic loom cover in the arch you can pull back the wiring on the passenger side without having to cut the loom to the front. On the drivers side you have to lengthen just the white & black (neg) cable and another job done


http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/attachm...1&d=1501528971


So after all this I put the side pods, lower plastics and front hockey sticks back on thinking bumper etc back on pretty much there job done.......oh no!

When I took my intercooler off as I wanted to tidy that up, what I had been thinking for awhile came the truth. I had a fair bit of oil in the pipes, more then just a mist which I know has got worse over the years. I know the engine is sound, leakdown test awhile back and compression was around 180 across all cylinders so as I thought the turbo seals were on the way out. Seeing I had bought a set of very low mileage VVTI turbos about a year ago....well you can see where this is going!

Can you tell me how you straightened out the jack stand pinch welds? Your first picture Rob.