Gtr Coilovers Into Gts-t

[sedanlover]

hey guys, did some searching and couldn't find any useful info (maybe i didn't look hard enough, but meh)

i'm keen to find out if coilovers from an R33 GTR will bolt straight in to a gts-t R33.

any info/feedback would be greatly appreciated.

thanks guys

andy

[Chris Wilson]

hey guys, did some searching and couldn't find any useful info (maybe i didn't look hard enough, but meh)

i'm keen to find out if coilovers from an R33 GTR will bolt straight in to a gts-t R33.

any info/feedback would be greatly appreciated.

thanks guys

andy

Fronts will bolt straight in, the rears have different length and bottom mount type. You CAN fit GTR rears IF you change from the cast iron GTS-t rear uprights to the alloy GTR ones, and change the bearings in them to the GTS-t type. I have done this on mine.

[sedanlover]

thanks for the feed back chris. muchly appreciated.

buy rear uprights... what exactly do you mean?

so how does your car handle with the coilovers in?

the ones in inquiry are apparently HKS items.

[Chris Wilson]

thanks for the feed back chris. muchly appreciated.

buy rear uprights... what exactly do you mean?

so how does your car handle with the coilovers in?

the ones in inquiry are apparently HKS items.

The rear uprights are the castings the hubs run in, that have bushes in and connect to the rear suspension arms. The GTS-t ones are cast iron, the GTR ones are alloy, and have different lower shock mounts cast in to suit GTS-t or GTR rear shocks.

I think the HKS ones are total junk, and here in the UK I seel loads that leak, give wildly different readouts on a shock dyno, and are not rebuildable. I believe HKS outsourced most of them, and used lots of different suppliers.

I have Eibach triple adjustables on mine, but they are a race damper, and no longer made. I think you should assess if you REALLY need adjustable ride height, and if not, buy Bilsteins, or even buy Bilsteins and have them converted to adjustable platforms and 2.5 inch ID springs.

My car is now far removed from stock, so comparisons are pretty meaningless.

I believe Sydney Kid is / was doing a group buy on Bilsteins?

[sedanlover]

yeah its kinda like an offer that here and now, given to me and no-one else at ( i think) a very cheap price. have been told they are going cheap, but no fixed price is given.

i have tein HR's in my R33 sedan. nice and cheap, but i had to rebuild them... so now they are good.

i'm thinking for my friend,(R33 S1 coupe) who desperately needs his ride stiffened/lowered.

so i decide if they're worth it, otherwise he can wait for some better ones/no mess coilovers.

thanks once again chris.

andy

[Frink]

i thought it was the other way around? i thought that GTR front struts were too short for a GTS-t cause of the 4wd gear? if you think about it, the rears should be almost identical. pls clear this up for me

[sedanlover]

mmmm...still there is confunsion surrounding this topic.

we need a concrete answer. i just thought seeing how chris wilson from the UK had done it himself he should have all the answers, but...i think there needs to be pics involved or a solid write up done.

andy

[Sydneykid]

If you had done a search you would have found this question answered many times.

Once more for those too who can’t do a search;

1. GTR rear shocks won’t fit GTST’s, GTR rear shocks have forks at the bottom, GTST shocks have eyes at the bottom. As Chris said you could buy and fit GTR rear uprights, but that would cost more then shocks. So while it’s technically possible, it’s a pretty stupid waste of money unless you intend to replace the whole rear subframe with a GTR one for strength reasons.

2. Generally speaking aftermarket GTR rear springs (designed for 4wd) are too hard for GTST’s, they result in poor traction in a 2wd.

3. GTR front springs will fit a GTST but generally speaking aftermarket GTR front springs (designed to carry 200 kgs of extra 4wd weight) are too hard for GTST’s. They result in understeer and poor ride in GTST’s.

4. GTR front shocks will fit a GTST, but they are valved for the higher spring rates, particularly bump valving to slow down the heavier weight under braking etc. So not really suitable for use in a GTST.

Cheers

PS; the search button is your best SAU friend, learn how to use it

[Chris Wilson]

It's interesting that GTR rear subframe into GTS-t has come up. here's my take on the differences. The R33 GTR has the same length rear suspension arms, top and bottom, and the same HICAS dimensions. BUT the rear driveshafts are longer and the C/V joints bigger, as are the outer C/V stub (splined) shafts, which use bigger ID rear hub bearings. So whilst, using the original driveshafts and hub bearings, you can fit GTR alloy uprights, for weight saving and the ability to use the wider range of off the shelf GTR rear dampers (with the fork type lower mounting), you can't use the stronger GTR rear driveshafts, due to their extra length. The extra width on the rear track of a GTR R33 comes from a wider subframe suspension arm pick up point set up. This is where the wider rear track comes from. Fitting a GTR rear subframe would, I assume, be possible, but I haven't PHYSICALLY tried it, however it would put the wheels outside the stock GTS-t rear body work, demanding, at the very least, extensive rear wheel arch cutting and shutting.

I am quite keen to buy an R33 GTR shell to convert to RWD, to get the wider track, and what I suspect is thicker and stiffer materials in some parts of the shell. My GTS-t is now up against the limits of the (VERY) flexible stock shell, and suspension adjustments are not reacting as well as they should due to lack of bodyshell rigidity. I am investigating a decent weld in cage, but given the cost of a good cage and all the shell prep I can't help wondering if the GTR shell is a better one to spend the money on. The car is just for track day fun and need not comply with any race regs, so I can do whatever takes my fancy, with only time and the ever present monetary constraints stopping my ideas

[Sydneykid]

It's interesting that GTR rear subframe into GTS-t has come up. here's my take on the differences. The R33 GTR has the same length rear suspension arms, top and bottom, and the same HICAS dimensions. BUT the rear driveshafts are longer and the C/V joints bigger, as are the outer C/V stub (splined) shafts, which use bigger ID rear hub bearings. So whilst, using the original driveshafts and hub bearings, you can fit GTR alloy uprights, for weight saving and the ability to use the wider range of off the shelf GTR rear dampers (with the fork type lower mounting), you can't use the stronger GTR rear driveshafts, due to their extra length. The extra width on the rear track of a GTR R33 comes from a wider subframe suspension arm pick up point set up. This is where the wider rear track comes from. Fitting a GTR rear subframe would, I assume, be possible, but I haven't PHYSICALLY tried it, however it would put the wheels outside the stock GTS-t rear body work, demanding, at the very least, extensive rear wheel arch cutting and shutting.

I am quite keen to buy an R33 GTR shell to convert to RWD, to get the wider track, and what I suspect is thicker and stiffer materials in some parts of the shell. My GTS-t is now up against the limits of the (VERY) flexible stock shell, and suspension adjustments are not reacting as well as they should due to lack of bodyshell rigidity. I am investigating a decent weld in cage, but given the cost of a good cage and all the shell prep I can't help wondering if the GTR shell is a better one to spend the money on. The car is just for track day fun and need not comply with any race regs, so I can do whatever takes my fancy, with only time and the ever present monetary constraints stopping my ideas

All good points as usual Chris. I can't speak for R33's or R34, but once you remove the 4wd stuff, a GTST weighs the same as a GTR. I have yet to find one extra piece of strengthening that is GTR unique. My R32GTST has the same roll cage as the race team R32GTR's and I have tried to measure any chassis stiffness difference. For the same applied twisting torque I get the same deflection.

The roll cage makes a HUUUUGE difference if you are doing any regular circuit work. Don't dwell on it, it's a well proven benefit, you will see it the first time you corner weight it with the roll cage fitted. Any tiny change shows up in weight shift.

cheers

[sedanlover]

done and done.

thanks guys.

[Chris Wilson]

If anyone does want to fit GTR uprights to the rear of a GTS-t the only two"gotchas" are the dust rings for the inner bearings of the uprght, that sit on the inner C/V joints, foul. they can be turned down in diameter, or just removed. Apart from that, the handbrake shoe top posts are slightly different, as are the handbrake backplates. It's dead easy to modthem, even easier to swap the GTS-t ones onto the GTR uprights. The bottom wishbone outer ball joint taper is different in the alloy GTR uprights, a taper adaptor sleeve is used on GTR's, which you need. Sounds complex, but it's all plain sailing! The cassette type rear hub bearings mean you don't even need a press, which is cool for someone used to doing Supra twin tubo rear hub bearings, which are a total PITA even with a 50 tonne floor press.

Edited June 6, 2006 by Chris Wilson