4th gen Front coil overs into 3rd gen Conversion
11-16-2010, 03:00 PM
#2
Anything can be done with enough time and money but sometimes its just not practical. There is nothing whatsoever even similar to the two so everything would have to be fabricated. The first obstacle would be physically mounting the K-member. The two generations do not share any K-member mounting hole locations, both vertically or horizontally, so everything would have to be mocked up and mounts fabricated for all 6 K-member bolts. This will more than likely require notching the OE front frame rails and possibly even replacing them altogether to accommodate the correct mount locations.
Once a K-member was physically mounted that would take care of your engine mounts, rack mount, and lower A-arm mounting. Assuming this positions the motor in the proper location to not interfere with the firewall, the next major hurdle would be modifying the upper strut towers for upper A-arm mounts. The towers are stout enough but probably not large enough or shaped properly to accept an upper A-arm without a lot of fabrication and reinforcement. It may be possible to build a narrowed custom upper a-arm that would fit in the confines of the OE strut tower but the inclination angle of the 4th gen spindle is going to dictate your upper A-arm location which may or may not fall in the desired position within the strut tower. Altering the length of the upper A-arm to compensate would not be advisable as it would throw off your camber curve, defeating the whole reason for this upgrade in the first place.
It would probably be easier to cut the front of a 4th off from the firewall forward and graft it onto a 3rd gen. Still a lot of work but your suspension geometry would not be effected....
These examples just touch on what you will go through, there are still issues like track width differences, possible firewall interference, motor mounts (if you are not planning an LS swap), rack conversion, etc...
Once a K-member was physically mounted that would take care of your engine mounts, rack mount, and lower A-arm mounting. Assuming this positions the motor in the proper location to not interfere with the firewall, the next major hurdle would be modifying the upper strut towers for upper A-arm mounts. The towers are stout enough but probably not large enough or shaped properly to accept an upper A-arm without a lot of fabrication and reinforcement. It may be possible to build a narrowed custom upper a-arm that would fit in the confines of the OE strut tower but the inclination angle of the 4th gen spindle is going to dictate your upper A-arm location which may or may not fall in the desired position within the strut tower. Altering the length of the upper A-arm to compensate would not be advisable as it would throw off your camber curve, defeating the whole reason for this upgrade in the first place.
It would probably be easier to cut the front of a 4th off from the firewall forward and graft it onto a 3rd gen. Still a lot of work but your suspension geometry would not be effected....
These examples just touch on what you will go through, there are still issues like track width differences, possible firewall interference, motor mounts (if you are not planning an LS swap), rack conversion, etc...
11-23-2010, 12:13 PM
#4
K-member
Trans X-member
Trans X-member w/torque arm mount
