Yes - I could (should) have posted this on the suspension forum -- but since I'm going to *use* these shocks I figured I'd ask the question here.

Here's the dilemma.

The shocks that I'm planning on having built have remote canisters.
The dry break connectors are an expensive option (especially if I use the 'good' brand).

So -
Where do you mount your remotes?
Did you need dry break connectors to route them? Or were you able to shove the whole canister where it needed to be?

I'd like to avoid mounting under the car, unless there's a semi sheltered spot to stick them. And even then - crawling around to adjust compression doesn't sound great.

My guess is that for the rears I'm going to need to shell out the cash for dry breaks in the rear. I'm hoping that I don't need to do that for the fronts. But then - there's a lot going on under the hood of the Evo -- so I may want to be able to route the line independent of the canister...

Tips?



Thanks!

-'chono'

 

I see a lot of remotes firmly zip-tied to the front strut bar.

You could possibly do the same in the rear; assuming you added an aftermarket strut bar?

 

That's the plan -- but how do you get the remote *to* the bar?

In the front - there's a lot of stuff between the suspension and the strut bar. Anything need to be disassembled? Can the canister be pushed all the way up there? Or do I need to shell out the cash for those dry breaks?

And in the rear - is there a way into the trunk that doesn't require cutting? Having a dry break would require a smaller hole..

Thanks!

-'chono'

 

There's nothing in front that should cause any issues. If the shocks are ASTs, the remote mount is on the top of the shock, so the hose is very easy to route to the strut bar. If they are Moton/JRZ/most other shocks, the canister and the hose has to come up through the engine bay. Run the canisters behind the front sway bar and up the firewall. Any interferences should be obvious and they are easily avoided. You should not need to take anything apart... maybe disconnect the front endlinks at the minimum. On the passenger side, watch the hose clearance to the A/C lines, power steering, and ABS stuff... use zipties if needed to locate the hose for extra insurance.

In the rear, I drilled out the unibody to run the canisters for my Motons... this is technically the convenient way to do it. However, I noticed recently that there are plastic vents on either side of the rear bumper that are accessible from the interior if you take the trunk panels out. You might be able to run the canisters and lines up where those vents are and into the trunk, but I'm not positive. The vents are plastic and should pop out or could be modified.

Hope that helps.

 

Thanks Andrew (your handle continues to crack me up).
Good to know that I should be able to route the front canisters up from the bottom. Likely with more effort than if I shelled out the cash for the connectors -- but its enough of a difference in price to make an attempt.

Any thoughts on the length of the line between the shock and canister? (These are the shock bottom type -- not the AST type) Having too much length is almost as bad as not having enough.

The rears: As you have alluded - my car came 'pre-drilled' for dry-breaks through the unibody. So I'm leaning towards dropping the cash for those two connectors. But I'll make an effort to find the panel.
I hunted for some part diagram 'fiche' and couldn't find anything. I guess I'll have to look directly at the car to see what you're talking about. Hopefully they're canister sized and easy to remove.
Other option is to turn those pre-drilled spots into hole saw cuts that are canister diameter. But I'm not to excited about that option.

-'chono'

 

Wait a minute, I think I just figured out who this is. LOL.

Hope the car is going well for you.

 

Fantastic car that has seen 3 (or 4) events.
The rest of the time it sits in the garage, covered, waiting. I've put maybe 1k on it.
My excuse? No shocks.
My shock guy was busy through nationals - and is now putting together my set.

If you need someone to vouch for you when you sell that MX5 - lemme know.

-'chono'

 

The front is easier , here is mine in the rear:
http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q...t=P7070114.jpg

Here is my photo bucket page, I have a BB now so I don't know how you paste the picture here. Certainly you will find more pictures there from my set up.

Rob

 

Thanks Rob. That looks like I'd have to crack out the hole saw.. but it looks pretty clean all said and done. And if I'm going to cut I may as well do it right near where I want to mount them.

 

Also the white plastic, you see arund the hose, will help to keep the dust and water out. It is secured there with 4 srcew .

 

I have the AST's also. The fronts pop right up through the strut hole and are secured to the strut bar with zip ties.

The rears were a little more troublesome. After some trial and error I ended up using longer hoses to mount them to sheet metal between the rear bumper and spare tire well. I don't really dd the car so rain and what not isn't an issue. Adjustments are easy enough. I'll snap a pic shortly.

 

The vents that Andrew mentions should work!
It's plastic and it pops in and out pretty easily. And its bigger than a remote canister.

No drilling! No hole saw!

So now I don't need to buy expensive dry connects. (Dry connects that my shock builder says to avoid using - they risk putting air in the line, air that can compress)

The only tricky part is routing the line so that it doesn't interfere with:
- the tire
- the exhaust
- moving suspension

Here's a pic of the vent.. (Thanks to Peter for, um, removing the part of the bumper cover that's over the vent so that we can see it.)



http://www.flickr.com/photos/peter_g/5955846403/

 

^^^ where is that ? (I mean the rally)

 

I bought Andrew's old setup, and had it mounted like so



No quick-connects in the fronts though.

 

Here ya go!

The fender vent idea is interesting.