Suspension question

I've got a completely stock '97 Miata (except for having upgraded the

14" steel wheels to lighter 15" Kosei wheels) that I'm thinking of making a little more fun.

I'm pretty much just a daily driver, stuck with driving in city traffic. I occasionally get a chance to escape to some hilly roads, but that's not all that common. I do my best to take each corner as quickly as I can (safely) and when doing so, I get a fair amount of lean, with a lot of bounce back when I straighten up.

I'm curious as to what would reduce the lean. Is that shocks, springs, or sway bars (or some magical combination of all three)? For making a daily driving into a more fun ride (don't need turbo or super charger), would you go for a shock or sway bar upgrade? I don't think I want to lower the car any, so I wouldn't think the springs need any replacing.

Thanks.

Reply to
Mark
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The sways bars will reduce the lean, but your shocks are also probably shot after 10 years.

Lanny is back and he is the suspension guru, imo, so I am going to defer this one to him. I have been following his miata suspension advice for over 6 years with excellent results. :-)

Pat

Reply to
pws

Pat's nailed it, the sway bar upgrades are amazing on these cars! I've just spent an hour or so on miata.net (product review section) of every mfr's swaybars. I'm planning this upgrade soon on my 99 and it is still the greatest upgrade I've ever done (back when I did it on my 92), you will not be disappointed.

How many miles on those shocks, Lanny's going to tell you they were pretty much dead at 40k and he's probably right. I've had good experiences with KYB AGX shocks, you might give them try.

By the way, the installation is very easy on the sway bars which is a nice plus.

good luck, Chris

99bbb
Reply to
Chris D'Agnolo

The car has 57000 miles on it, and I bought it at 17k, so I assume that all pieces are original. So if shocks don't really go that far with good performance, then perhaps it's time for an upgrade. If you were going to do shocks OR sway bars as a first upgrade, which one would you do first?

Chris D'Agnolo wrote:

Reply to
Mark

The car NEEDS new shocks, so do them first, followed by a good alignment. The swaybar upgrade is well worthwhile--it will transform the car--but it can wait if you can't afford to do everything at one time.

I like Koni shocks with stock Miata springs. The KYB AGX works nearly as well for a bit less money, though it won't last as long. Both are adjustable, so you can compensate for wear to some extent.

Reply to
Lanny Chambers

It should be mentioned that the shock tower mount holes need to be drilled to a larger diameter to accept the Konis. After that, you stay with Konis, replace the shock tower mounts, or figure out a shim system.

That said, I have finally decided to let these go instead of possibly re-using them. Everything is assembled with the stock springs in place and approximately 45K miles from installation to removal. The springs and shock mounts have 75K miles. No compressing springs, no drilling holes, just drop 'em in and keep your other shock mounts in case you ever go with something else. The boots were also replaced 45K miles ago.

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I'll send the auction link when I get them listed to anyone interested. Feel free to reply to this e-mail.

Pat

Reply to
pws

Pat, you're a shameless hussie! Highjacking a thread and hawking your wares!

What next?

;-) Chris

99BBB
Reply to
Chris D'Agnolo

I'm not sure where Lanny's 'they won't last as long as the Koni's' comes from, I've heard on many occasions that thy will basically last the life of the car on a miata (same for the Konis). Lanny, have you heard of someone wearing out a set of KYB's or are you maybe referring to failures?

Thanks, Chris BBB

Reply to
Chris D'Agnolo

I sold my pride along with my soul on Ebay, so you are correct, there is no shame.

Come on, you are talking about a guy that would sell medical waste on there if I could, there is no telling. My best one so far, imho, was a dried and cured bull scrotum sack that had been made into a pouch. The lady said she was going to put potpourri in it. :-) (seriously, and it got $23.00)

Pat

Reply to
pws

They wear out almost immediately, which is why my used Konis are a much better deal. ;-)

I have not heard of premature failure of the KYB's myself. I have the FM coilover setup with KYB's on my current miata and decided to stay with that rather than swap them out for the Konis. (which are for sale, BTW) :-)

Pat

Reply to
pws

The AGX lasts a long time, but some owners on the miata.net forum have reported them going flabby around 80,000 miles. Given that the AGX has only been around for ~7 years, not many sets have that kind of miles on them yet. Not a lot of data, but a picture does seem to be emerging.

OTOH, Konis have been available forever, and I don't recall a single report of a Koni wearing out in street use.

Reply to
Lanny Chambers

snip;

Given that the AGX has only been around for ~7 years, not many sets have that kind of miles on them yet

I think it's been a bit longer than that, not sure exactly, but you make a good point.

Chris

99BBB

Reply to
Chris D'Agnolo

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