Looking to make my own 3/4 way coilovers

this might be the wrong forum but id like to get pointed to the right forum if it isn't

I'm looking to make my own 3 way (prefer 4 way) coil overs for forest stage rally racing.
i know what you're thinking why not just buy some already made. there aren't any currently on the market that would work on my land rover LR2 for this application.

sure I could work with a known company and I am for my main set of coilovers (ceika)

there is a guy local to me that makes custom suspension for Polaris Rangers, I'm wanting to gather enough information and education so i can bounce ideas and measurements back and forth between us to achieve the best possible setup.

so far what I've gathered is that i want to use Bilstein internals. Would it be even possible to convert a Bilstein set from gas to oil cooled? how could i make it where the dampining is adjustable by a key inserted into the top rather than a special bilsein wrench.
also I would like for the strut to in the inverted configuration.

call me crazy but I know what money we're looking at here. $7,000-$12,000 maybe even cheaper if I can use a few off the shelf extremly high quality parts.


thanks for the replies.

Have you contacted Bowler? That would be my first stop for performance Land Rover questions.

I'm not sure what you mean about "gas vs oil cooled" shocks.

If you want to adjust damping at the top of the shock, you need a hollow shaft which will not be as strong as a solid one - that may be a significant factor here because struts take side loads. I don't know enough about the internal construction of Bilsteins to say if it's possible to adjust one that way.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

my biggest fear is having a coilover snap while on a stage. i know the $10,000 estimate is about right.  i've gotten multiple quote at that price point. 
I'm all about learning, because in racing its all about how effective and efficently you can get the power to the ground. 

First thing, verify that any rally sactioning body would be okay you driving that vehicle...

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

First thing, verify that any rally sactioning body would be okay you driving that vehicle.

Yes sir, and they already said I can run with my auto transmission as Land rover didn't supply any LR2 with manual transmission for the North American market. So I'm open to all options for a 4way setup that can take the abuse. I have a buddy that does cad work for a big time medical supplier so I can take the info given here and see what he can mock up. 

Bump

The guys over at Corner-carvers.com are pretty high-level. Possibly the folks over there can help.

Keith Tanner said:

Have you contacted Bowler? That would be my first stop for performance Land Rover questions.

I'm not sure what you mean about "gas vs oil cooled" shocks.

So far you haven't really asked any questions or really made it all that clear what you're looking to learn. Lots of knowledge on this forum but it helps to have a bit of a direction. You want to build your own coilover setup...and that's about all we know.

So... as far as I can tell you don't need to make your own coilovers from scratch, you need to piece together something that fits your vehicle right?  Here's what I'd do:

• Get the vehicle on a lift or on stands, and take the current shocks off of it.  Post those, and measurements extended/collapsed.
• Cycle the suspension through its' travel without shocks.  Take measurements, figure out what extended/collapsed length you COULD fit.
• If there's more travel to be had, figure out where the mounting points need to move to make that happen.
• Now it's time to go hunting for shocks that are the right length, and figure out the valving.  I'd look at Fox, Bilstein, AFCO, and maybe some other offroad brands.
• Make your adapters and mounts, buy your shocks and springs, go drive it, figure out what tweaks are needed... and there you go.

EDIT- wait, we're talking struts?  At the budget you're talking, get your measurements ready and call up Reiger.  For a lower budget option, Bilstein universal stuff would be the choice.  Struts limit your options greatly.

And what would you need coil overs for? If you were doing rally you don't really need camber, toe isn't going to help you all that much on dirt.  And I guess there's something to be gained with caster?  But I digress.
what you're really looking for is a high-end shock absorber that will soak up the bumps. therefore, I would be looking at a high-end aftermarket off-road shocks such as fox or Ohlins

I'm with Vajingo, etc here. Making things far more difficult than absolutely necessary doesn't always make for a better racing platform. That $10K for custom coil overs could be better used in other areas imo.

Vajingo said:

And what would you need coil overs for? If you were doing rally you don't really need camber, toe isn't going to help you all that much on dirt.  And I guess there's something to be gained with caster?  But I digress.
what you're really looking for is a high-end shock absorber that will soak up the bumps. therefore, I would be looking at a high-end aftermarket off-road shocks such as fox or Ohlins

IIRC Fox doesn't do struts, only shocks. So that's not really an option.

Coilovers (adjustable perch height, generic spring sizing) give you setup options that may prove to be especially useful when trying to adapt to different road surfaces.

Oh man, I just realized the LR2 is the second gen Freelander and is actually closely related to a bunch of Volvos and is even tangentially related to the European Ford Focus. Maybe Bowler won't be able to help. Does it make sense to spend this sort of money on this platform?

The obvious thing to do here is to get a standard Freelander strut, and slide a quality insert inside. Or take a steel bodied strut and weld on the appropriate tabs for the Freelander uprights, etc. Inverting gets cool points but I don't see the benefit for the effort.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

I keep going back to what someone said on Specialstage a ways back... "We did our first three rallies on stock Forester struts and General Altimax snow tires and didn't die."

I'm still somewhat amazed that they are letting someone run a turbocharged car before they have enough coefficients in a lower spec vehicle.

I did my rally license school in a rented Hyundai Elantra or Sonata or Eldorada or whatever the sedan was in 2007. Terrible tires. Washed the mud off the roof before I returned it, though.