hey all
sorry if this is a repost in this side of the forum, but i did try the search button and didnt find much that was usefull when going thru all the search results. if i missed something, sorry - but please, induldge me and next time il hunt harder for the info i want.

i have a 2003 Verada with the AWD - and i just love the handling of it, really a very confidence inspiring ride.
i would like to make this a little better, as when im getting onto the limit of it i can feel it start to want to go... 'off track'

i would like to make the front end feel a little more stiff, and feel that a strut brace would be the way to go for step 1...

would i be wasting my time or might it be something worthwhile to invest in. I know it wont be a massive improvement in handling but still - i want one lol

i have hunted thru ebay for the last week or so since i got the car, and dont seem to be able to find something suitable there.

can someone please point me in the right direction of a good one?

cheers

looking foreward to starting to mod this baby :D

whiteline
nolathane

both have strut bars i got mine for $145

also why your at it adjustable rear swaybar!

that will make the biggest difference to the handeling.... from whiteline under $200


go the swaybar 1st then shocks springs tyres strutbrace then camberkits antilift etc...

You're definitely wasting your time.
It will make a bee's dick of an improvement.

If I were you I'd be looking at a complete coilover setup.
Fully adjustable, so you can get it how you like it.

whiteline
nolathane

both have strut bars i got mine for $145

also why your at it adjustable rear swaybar!

that will make the biggest difference to the handeling.... from whiteline under $200


go the swaybar 1st then shocks springs tyres strutbrace then camberkits antilift etc...

cheers for that - il look into it tomorrow :)

just on a side note, i want to lower the verada around a quater an inch front and back to help with a mean looking stance, my partner seems to think that the AWD will present a bit of a problem - stresses on the components, but i beleive thatl only happen if i was to get the car dropped excessively / RIGHT to the ground.
who is correct? me or my partner?

Quarter of an inch is 0.6cm.... that's sfa dude. I really doubt anyone - even yourself - could notice. If you're lowering for aesthetics, a 3-4cm (inch to inch and a half) drop would be a good start IMO.

I'm not sure who'd be correct out of you and your partner. As an example, arguably the most popular suspension setup on the forums is King Superlow Springs on the front, and Lows on the back. However, King Superlow springs are actually softer than Low springs. Also, King Springs only make Superlows for the front, so if you went with them you'd have mis-matched springs front and back. So if you're lowering for handling, you'd be better off with Lows (or Low SP) all around. Chisholm also makes the point (http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showpost.php?p=755152&postcount=6) that if you dump it too far, your shocks will struggle to keep up.

But then again, if you're taking willy's advice and going with a set of coilovers, I'm not sure if what I just said would really apply. I'm sure that if you dumped it on its guts handling would be negatively affected, but surely you could lower at least an inch or two before handling started getting worse instead of better.

cheers for that - il look into it tomorrow :)

just on a side note, i want to lower the verada around a quater an inch front and back to help with a mean looking stance, my partner seems to think that the AWD will present a bit of a problem - stresses on the components, but i beleive thatl only happen if i was to get the car dropped excessively / RIGHT to the ground.
who is correct? me or my partner?

dude im the AWD pioneer

i have an awd thats on 20's with no suspension lowered maybe 4" if not more?!?

and driven hard, covered many km... even bashing it off road...

car is fine!

but dont lower more than 1.5" if you after the best handeling you can get out of it...

i lowered mine so far cos i have a mental problem :doubt:

I had a strut brace in my old TE which made quite a difference but with the firewall being stronger in the TL/KL it made very little difference. As for lowering I put in kings lows which made a great difference but the best suspension mod was koni yellows followed by front and rear whiteline swaybars. As for extra stresses I wouldn't be concerned at all.

Quarter of an inch is 0.6cm.... that's sfa dude.

good point!

i am not too good with the inches Vs cm's conversion

i did mean something more than that... maybe along the lines of an inch or so - but i dont want to go to low to be honest.

1 inch = pretty much 30mm. get a set of kings or Lovells LOW springs. they arent too low but it will make the car sit a little more agressive looking than standard. remember that magnas sit pretty high to start with (or look like they do anyway..... massive wheel arches :( ).

I have a TJII AWD Sports.

You will waste your money getting a front strut brace first.

I bought the front stiffer bar, the rear adjustable bar and the strut brace 2 years ago.

At that time a lot of posts were recommending to do the strut brace first.

I tried this first, all I can say is that it looks good.

I then did the rear bar, and put on the middle setting. FANTASTIC.
Turn in on original tyre was much improved. The front end did not lurch down into corners.

Put the Strut brace on again. Again really could not tell the difference.

The did the Front bar and notched the rear bar up to maximum.
Improved again.

Then, later, changed to 17's and good sticky tyres.
This completely killed the slight hesitation before the car started to turn in.
I then tried removing the strut brace, at this level it DOES make a difference.

My recommendations.
Rear bar first.
Front bar second.
17's and good tyres third
Strut brace
Look at the castor kit
Stiffer springs and better shocks as the standard car is undersprung and damped.
If you are after handling I suspect that the King's SP springs are the way to go.
Gerry

Camber pins ont he front also go great with the rear sway bar. I've got mine set to -1.0 degree and tyre wear is even (used to wear teh ourside front quicker on stock settings)

cheers for everyones thoughts and recomendations :)

when i do start (when finances allow :S) playing with the suspension setup on the kl, il be sure to follow this order you have recomended - spud100

its nice that people are willing to share thier knowledge and experiences too.

thanks muchly :)

Camber pins,
Sorry forgot to mention them as well.

Did them at the same time as the front sway bar.

Yes agree, set to 0.75° to 1° Negative.

Have now gone through 2 sets of front tyres in the last 3 years, worn out evenly all over.

Gerry

Camber pins,
Sorry forgot to mention them as well.

Did them at the same time as the front sway bar.

Yes agree, set to 0.75° to 1° Negative.

Have now gone through 2 sets of front tyres in the last 3 years, worn out evenly all over.

Gerry
I have a feeling you could probably get away with a little more then -1.0 degrees, but I'm happy with it the way it is.

sorry to drag up an old thread (of mine too! lol - i found it - go go gadget search :) )

i was sitting out the front the other day, just looking around, and of course i could see the verada out the front - looking all nice and clean and sleek and stylish and just way too friggin HIGH!

might have been the slight angle the car was sitting at on the grass, but omg did it look like it wants to be a true 4wd offroader!

the magna n verada shape is a pretty sleek and lowslung looking one, but the standard ride height just messes the whole picture up.
that and the stock kl awd verada mags - i like em.. but they are just too SMALL!

i guess you could say... the modding bug has bitten me baaaaad now!

You are describing understeer.

Are you trying to reduce understeer on turn-in, power-down, or both?

For turn-in understeer cheap mods are:

Nice big/stiff rear swaybar, front camber kit so you can dial in some negative camber (-2 deg IMO).

As for power-understeer. Well, that's mostly due to a front-biased/heavy awd system. However an anti-lift/castor kit oughto help a bit (does whiteline make them for the awd magnas?)

If you're willing to spend more cash, upgrade to some quality shocks/springs. E.g Koni reds/yellows and higher-rate springs.

The bottom line is your AWD is always going to biased towards understeer, as it's heavy, with poor weight-distribution for an AWD (essentially you need less weight at the front and more in the back).

However with a good suspension setup the threshold for understeer will be significantly higher, and it will feel much balanced when pushed at 9/10ths (ultimately it's always going to understeer both on turn-in and power-down)

A strut brace may help slightly with feel at the front end, but it isn't going to change the balance of the chassis. Personally, in my FWD I noticed no difference with a strutbrace, though I have been meaning to take it off at the track and see if I can feel any difference.

Really since the AWD is a FWD with a bit of drive going to the rears, your best bet is provbably setting it up like a good FWD, for the best handling. If you get serious, these means running quite high springrates in the rear, compared to the front, stiff rear swaybar etc.

Also do the AWD's have an LSD at the front? If not, getting one should help eliminate much of the push-understeer on power down. However it aint gonna be cheap.