Does anyone have any technical data that explains dampening/rebound rates for Tokico Illumina struts?

I am trying to determine the maximum spring rate these struts can effectively work with.

I would prefer data and not anecdotal evidence like, "I run 600# springs and they are fine".

Finally, does anyone have a good reference for determining a range of acceptable spring rates for a vehicle given it's total weight? For instance you wouldn't run a 6000# spring on a Honda Civic and you wouldn't run a 600# spring on a Mack truck. Just looking for a little more technical resource.

Thanks

Ausmith - who is trying to anticipate what to expect when trying to sort out a 1700lb Civic autocross car, which is different than a 2500lb Integra.

 

I used to have some shock dynos that I found in one of CRX Lee's posts.
I can't remember if they included Tockicos, and I lost them.

It was a long post in this Forum about 2 months ago?...
Search for all posts including him?

 

Thanks..

Didn't find anything, but I sent him an IM.

So what spring/shock combo are you running on the EP Civic?

 

Ausmith, have you found any data concerning the Illuminas?

 

Nope. I should send one to Lee and have him dyno it.

 

how i decided my "ideal" spring rate:

first, i set my car to the ride height i wanted based on camber needs. then i measured the available shaft travel i had left. using the motion ratio of wheel travel to shock shaft travel i picked a spring rate that would theoretically keep my car from hitting the bumpstop's in a 1g corner.

of all the changes i've made to the car this year, the front spring rates have never changed. they are really the only thing on the whole car that i'm happy with.

as far as how much spring rate the tokico's can handle, i have no idea. i would guess there upper limit is similar to the ots koni's upper limit, around 500-600lbs/in.

nate

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by solo-x &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how i decided my "ideal" spring rate:

first, i set my car to the ride height i wanted based on camber needs. then i measured the available shaft travel i had left. using the motion ratio of wheel travel to shock shaft travel i picked a spring rate that would theoretically keep my car from hitting the bumpstop's in a 1g corner.

of all the changes i've made to the car this year, the front spring rates have never changed. they are really the only thing on the whole car that i'm happy with.

as far as how much spring rate the tokico's can handle, i have no idea. i would guess there upper limit is similar to the ots koni's upper limit, around 500-600lbs/in.

nate</TD></TR></TABLE>

So what rates did you end up running?

I agree that the Tok. strut has an upper end around 600... I would love to see some data.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ausmith &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

So what rates did you end up running?

I agree that the Tok. strut has an upper end around 600... I would love to see some data.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I dunno---my experience tells me that they start getting *very* bouncy around 450lbs. I'd much rather have an OTS Koni running 450+ lb springs than a Tokico Ill.

 

give ground control a call. I know that they dynoed quite a few shocks and should be able to help. I'm currently running 500#f/450#r on stock type r struts. Ground control said they were suprised to find out that the stocks struts were stiffer than the koni yellows (I think that's the ones they said). Anyway, the guys at gc were a big help.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ausmith &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
So what rates did you end up running?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

what i'm running doesn't matter. the method i described is one of many ways to get into your "sweet spot" for spring rates. daddio uses the static weight each wheel carries and gives it a wheel rate of half that. (ie, your front wheels have an average static loading of 800lbs, your wheel rate would be 400lbs/in) you could also use natural frequencies to determine your spring rate range. these methods only get you into the range that works for your car. it may or may not be a range that works for you, or you might discover something about the suspension geometry that forces you to do something slightly different.

nate