LA to LB,LC and the rest

[lance]

HI all . One quick question before we go out for tea.

What is the difference between la springs,struts to the rest like lb , lc and gh struts and springs ?
If you lb-lc stuts on an la what springs would you you use ?

[75wagon]

No difference in the struts, but LB/C hatches have larger brakes calipers and pads.
Lancers share the same struts as Galants as well (the only difference being the insulator bearing at the top, Galants have 3 bolt Lancer have 4 (the same as a Sigma insulator bearing).

[lance]

Dave ,Thats what i thought.
What l have done which l have to laugh is this...
I wonted to lower the car but 1 inch. So being a tite arse l tryed to do it on the cheep.
I went on line to the King spring online catalouge to the part nos. Found the lowered spring part number for a lb ,lc ..... Then looked for the same part number for the same spring on a car which would use this spring as a standard ride hight. That way l can go down to pick a part and find and find some. One of the cars that had them were early B M W s, so l got a pair and quickly came home and strait away put them on. So easy , very happy with mysalf till l droped the car down , now its 1 inch higher than what it was .
What l did notice on Ebay and the kings spring catalouge is that La lancers have a different spring no than the rest.Mine is a very early lb?
Mark

[davetrees]

I have a feeling that the LA has a slightly smaller strut tower than the LB/LC/Galant/etc, and that LA struts have a smaller diameter spring platform & spring than the others ? (ie. LA struts will go into an LB, but not vice versa ?)

[BIG26L]

Correct! The LA has smaller strut towers.

Complete LB/C, GH, etc..... struts will not fit in an LA without swapping spring seats from the LA strut to the choosen strut of your choice.

[lance]

l think you guys are right.
The car l have is one of the first lb hatches in aust .
It now has green struts with the lbs springs on them. l put them in over a year ago. I forgot that the sigma springs were alot taller than the lancers. When l went to lower the car on the weekend l had the 3 types of springs together . The BMW spring was 10mm taller than the Lancers 350mm and the Sigmas was 440mm opprox. In the end l installed one side with the BMW spring mounted . It sat about 5mm higher than before, not 30mm which l first thought and said above.
So my questions are.... If you put a la lancer spring into a lc .. etc it should lower it buy 30mm ?
What springs should l use ? The la 1 inch lower springs or the super lows for a sigma?

thanks Mark
.

[Rally_2.6LC]

BIG26L is on the money.
LA lancers are different to the others in spring diameter due to a skinnier strut tower. They share the same 4bolt pattern on the strut top as other lancers though.
So If you have a LB hatch (not coupe, some ppl here will get on your back about that) with green strut's from a GH Scorpion, you need springs to suit those struts.
I applaud you for trying to do things on the cheap, however spring rates and sizes will differ in their ride height depending on what car they are put in as opposed to what car they were designed for.
If I was you I would put your research from King Springs to good use and simply buy the springs to suit the struts, they aren't that expensive....if you cant afford it, leave it standard for now, better than stuffing around with handling and performance etc just to get that fully sick lowered look (couldnt resist a stab there, sorry).

Not sure why you keep mentioning LA Lancer if you have an LB hatch with 'Green Struts'....LA has nothing to do with the price of fish in this equation.
Other factor is, what motor are you running? 1.6L or other? Extra weight in the front will affect the ride height too.

Other thing you could do is get weld on coil over kit then you can adjust it as you please and get what ever spring rate you want.



Cheers Matt

[lance]

Hi all
Matt These are the pics of the springs . The 1 on the left is the original lancer and to the right is the sigma that was originally on the green struts. Why l am confused is in the hight of the two springs. Trying to work out why thay are so different. Even in my GH workshop manual it dosnt show spring free length .
The engine at the present is a 1.6 but wthin a year it will be a 2.6 injected. I have all the gear - loom , computer, cut and shut manifold etc..just missing the engine.
You are right l am going about it the wrong way, but l just want it to look a little lower than it is. At the moment it sits at 220mm from ground to the very bottom of the pinchweld on the sills.
It only came back from Pedders a couple of weeks ago . It went in for a suspension check and wheel alingment . Its got new ball joints. bushes idler arm etc... ( With l installed) It got the thums up apart from the back shocks. But after the front end work it just dosnt seem right.
Steers and tracks strait but will not salf center after turning.
Tinker , tinker , tinker thats what its all about and that were im att Mark

[lance]

The front end is all sorted. Replaced the front springs with Nissan Exa and changed the strut tops to 3 bolt gh type. These to 2 things has lowered the car by 20mm .
What l did notice is from the top of the mounting plate to the bottom of the bearing on the strut tops there is a difference of 12 mm , the Sigma one makes the car lower.
As far as the larger brakes go , thay seem to fit into my old steel 13 inch wheels . But the backing plate wont , thay are too big buy 20mm . Cutting down the backing plate it all should fit !!
The back of the car gives a very coppy ride .It all is standard with new bushes and shocks.

[A112H]

As far as the larger brakes go , thay seem to fit into my old steel 13 inch wheels . But the backing plate wont , thay are too big buy 20mm . Cutting down the backing plate it all should fit !!

Is this with or without the caliper? My stock Galant 13's didn't fit on the GH brakes. Thats why all GH's had 14" or bigger wheels, the GE's ran 13's but they had the same front brakes as Galant I believe.

[lance]

Sorry ,forgot about the calipers,thay were still on the car. The two sets off struts were on the ground side buy side but l fogot about the calipers.

Am l att least right about the bearing plates ?

[astronturbo77]

Galant spring perches are larger dia then la's. If you put gd struts in a la you have to cut the spring tag so it sits in a different spot and dosent crease the strut tower when turning.

[75wagon]

Yeah, trimming the backing plate should solve that problem, but I doubt you'll get a 13 inch rim (unless it's alloy) over the caliper. I've tried that also and failed. Just for the record, not all 13inch alloy rims fit either. Out of all the 13inch rims I have (or have had here) only the 13x6 Cheviot Hutlsers have gone over the GH calipers, and the backing plate would still needed to be trimmed (or flared back) so they don't rub, but it's damned close to making it.