ST205 GT4 Shock and Spring Replacement

[Big Lee]

Hello!,

 

My 95 GT4 is due it's MOT in a few weeks. A preview of the shocks revealed missing bump stops, leaks and missing dust gators. 

At the moment the car is my daily :-) so i dont have the luxury of a full or even partial running gear revamp so my question is do i use the potential / obvious MOT failure to upgrade the shocks and springs or will standard supply suffice? 

In addition, i notice that some of the brake back plates have eroded or are missing. Not sure if this is a failure or not but it makes a right mess of my Enkie's. Can these be sourced easily?

Finally, if i could get away with doing one side at a time (in a day) so i can keep the car mobile more than not, are there any other suggestions as to what i should be doing while undertaking the spring and shock work?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Big Lee

 

 

 

Edited 30 September 2020 by Big Lee
Mis representation of item

[_Chris_]

My preference is standard or mild upgrade, i.e. genuine or KYB. These are normally available at reasonable price from TCB or Fensport. The bump stops, gaitors etc. are also available from TCB (not sure about Fensport). From memory, the upper swivel is also part of the strut so double check the new strut comes with one. I would expect back plates to be available from TCB but I've never changed any so not certain.

 

Worth checking the superstrut components for play as these might as well be done at the same time if required. I wouldn't touch them otherwise.

 

 

[Big Lee]

Thanks Chris, a great help. 

I've looked on TCB and find the genuine shocks more expensive than the KYB, which is to be expected, however reading your message i concluded the KYB was a "mild upgrade" and as such, expected a higher price than the originals. There isn't any "shock" rating shown in their description so i'll drop them a mail.

 

One other thing. I notice they have;

 Set of Tein S-Tech Lowering Springs (approx 37mm lowering) - Spring Rates FR 241 lb, RR 207 lb.

37mm seems like a lot to drop the car (see image in original post) so perhaps i should stick to a set of originals?

 

Thanks again.

[_Chris_]

In my opinion Toyota got it about right for a practical and comfortable but fun car.  I don't find the KYB a huge change, and they seem to last ok so if they're cheaper that would be my choice. I've used both.

If you want a very stiff, lowered, highly responsive dry tarmac car then go stiffer and lower - but bear in mind you'll be crawling over every speed hump and car park ramp to avoid grounding. Otherwise, just keep your standard springs.

[99GT]

When i did the front ones on my GT I got it all from TCB, aftermarket (standard spec) springs and genuine rubber seats and bump stops, works good. It had lowering springs on before and they were a right pain for general driving. Easy enough to do yourself but it'll always take longer than planned as nuts will really tight, ABS bracket bolts will round off and may need cutting off etc...

[Sherv]

You'll get a shock when you see how much the hub backing plates are 

[Big Lee]

Thanks for all the pointers here guys. Much appreciated. 

Over the weekend my steering pump started to whine so I'm going to doing a fluid replacement before a pump replacement, before a shock and spring replacement :-)

[99GT]

Get under there a few days before and start putting penetrating oil on all the nuts and bolts ready, every little helps 

[Alistair_GT]

I have KYB shocks and Teins springs on mine. There isn't much choice of anything else now except coilovers.

 

KYB make the genuine shocks, so they are probably the same as genuine but in a different box. They do come with new upper ball joints as well. 37mm may sound like a lot but it's not. Bare in mind if yours is on the original 25 year old springs they will have sagged quite a lot, it probably won't end up much lower than it is now. Mine doesn't look any lower than yours in your pic.

 

On the back plates, iirc the fronts are available and aren't crazy money. Rears are obsolete.

[Sherv]

On 12/10/2020 at 13:00, Alistair_GT said:

 

 

On the back plates, iirc the fronts are available and aren't crazy money. Rears are obsolete.

TCB had them at beginning of the year as i was looking to replace the ones on the GT4 i had then.Rears were about 150 +VAT at the time each.But yes,you're right they're showing discontinued now