Lanos and Nexia/Astra/Kadett suspension (in)compatibility.

Rodd1s · Post by **Rodd1s** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 2:45 pm

This weekend i was hoping to get the whole car sitting lower with some Bilstein -30mm springs that came off a 1989 astra GTE.

the rear springs, although being slightly smaller in diameter were a perfect fit and makes the car sit lower like it should and has greatly reduced body roll around corners.

the front springs however had some minor differences here and there, all adding up to make evrything (in/un)compatible.

the cups that the springs sit on, on the front struts, are smaller on the lanos than they are on the '89 astra, and also the top-hats (top strut mounts) are not interchangeable.

other differences included the ball-bearings that hold the drive shaft being a different size.

for now only the rear of the car is lowered, and ive ordered SPAX SSX -40mm springs for the front. (it comes with the rear springs aswell, but i wont be using them)

anyways, i just thought i'd write what i found out over the weekend to anyone else who is thinking of lowering their lanos. if you cant find daewoo lanos specific springs, you'll be better off trying to use springs from 1998 (not 1989) and newer astras - but be sure to try before you buy if you're using springs from another car.

i got the SPAX SSX springs from www.EuroPerformance.co.uk at £110 for the set of 4. There are other springs available ranging from -20mm to -50mm from about 7 different brands. (hint: europerformance have more parts for the nexia than they do for the lanos, ie: coilovers etc.)

Pir0 · Post by **Pir0** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 8:44 pm

1998? The mk4 astras?

Can't you fit the springs from the mk2 in the actual strut of the lanos no?

What about the shocks, are they the same?

Sorry to hear they didnt fit after buying all the astra stuff.
Cheers for the tip about the nexia stuff though, i probably wouldnt have clicked the link otherwise :P]

Rodd1s · Post by **Rodd1s** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:21 pm

yeah, mk4 astra's. well its not a definite fit, but that's what we figured seeing as they are more similar to the lanos.

the shocks/dampers are the same, but because its all one unit it's still not interchangable, so you cant just remove evrything from the complete strut to give just a damper/shock.

the only way we figured it would be possible to use mk2 struts on the lanos is by getting the correct size drive shaft bearings and probly a custom top hat/strut top mount as the lanos has 3 bolts and the mk2 only 2 bolts.

but other than that, the two struts side-by-side looked very similar with the overall dimensions being very close, only the minor things which have changed over the years.

and to answer your question about putting the mk2 springs on the lanos struts... that only way for that to be done is if the cup that they sit in (that surrounds the damper/shock) is modified to accommodate the wider diameter last coil on the springs. the springs' coils are the same diameter all the way thru, except for the lanos has a narrower last (lower) coil. i reckon it can be made to fit "ghetto-style" by taking a hammer to that lower cup, but at the end of the day, i had two pro mechanics doing most the work and they werent about to go ghetto on suspension as it's not guaranteed to last.

oh well, hopefully i'll have those SPAX springs by friday/saturday before goin on a 200mile cruise. (for those in the UK that know... i'm goin to Southend, Basildon and Lakeside.)

saneone · Post by **saneone** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:54 pm

I have springs from Astra F GSI in my car and nothing bad happens... they lowered the car by approx. 40mm...

Rodd1s · Post by **Rodd1s** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 5:02 pm

well there ya go. the newer astras' springs fit easily.

Pir0 · Post by **Pir0** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:36 pm

Astra F springs are the same as Astra E springs though...

As in, mk2 and mk3, are backwards compatibile are they not?

Rodd1s · Post by **Rodd1s** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 11:42 am

apparently not all of them - or so i've been told by an ex-vauxhall mechanic (who also worked for GM Saab)

GM never made/used the exact same chassis components for more than 6 months with some of their cars.

this basically means that later mk2's had compatible parts with early mk3's. and later mk3's shared some compatible parts with early mk4's and so on.

the gte springs that i have are off an 1989 mk2, if it were from a 1990 mk2 there is a better chance of them fitting as the design of minor parts had been changed by then.

in theory, all of the components can be made to fit almost any year astra based car with some modification as the basic layout of all of the different year models are very similar. (if that makes sense)

daewoomofo · Post by **daewoomofo** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:07 pm

but if that were true then you would need to know when your car was built ( which part of the year) in order to buy any thing suspension wise. other wise if someone got parts for their 90 mk2 it might not fit cause your car usese the 89 suspension parts.... that seems kind odd. i may be wrong but i find it hard to believe that they change the suspension parts every 6 months, that would cost WAY too much money in engineering

Rodd1s · Post by **Rodd1s** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 11:23 pm

it isnt just suspension parts that were changed. and it wasnt always everything that was changed.

think of it more as small changes for improvement to various parts here n there as the car evolves.

if the exact same component designs were kept over the years, then the cars would never really see large improvements (for example: a standard mk5 astra handles a hell of a lot better than a standard mk1 - because of the change in design of individual components)

[RANT: the rest sounds more like a rant about car manufacturers being lazy. lol]

the change in this case is as minor as a change in coil diameter and driveshaft bearing sizes. over a space 15 years or so, that's not a lot and wouldnt require too much extra research & development. some changes are so small they could well be based on a mechanic or even just a customer's input or comment about a car.

redesigning a whole car's chassis would require a lot of work, which is why the astra's chassis is so widely used, because it was a good base to keep using over and over again with a little change for improvement here n there.

the same idea exists with other car manufacturers, ie: vw's polo chassis was used 10 years later for the base for a new skoda and seat at the time, and the golf chassis is was used for the seat leon. even nissan have recycled chassis throughout their silvia, skyline and laurel range of cars.

some companies even use each others' chassis designs for their cars, eg: citroen saxo and peugeot 106 - their the same car, but with small change all over.
[/RANT]

i hope that kinda explains it all.

daewoomofo · Post by **daewoomofo** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:20 am

ah i got ya, i though you were saying that they redesigned the chassis every 6 months, my bad

Rodd1s · Post by **Rodd1s** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 11:46 am

no probs. reading my post about the components being changed it does sound like it, so my fault for not being too clear on that one.

Rodd1s · Post by **Rodd1s** » Tue Apr 29, 2008 3:21 pm

i finally got my spax springs in place. i have yet to test how well they hold the road, but body roll is minimal and ive started noticing a lot more bumps in the road.

daewoomofo · Post by **daewoomofo** » Tue Apr 29, 2008 9:17 pm

Rodd1s wrote: ive started noticing a lot more bumps in the road.

that comes with lowering a car, mine is horrable, i feel the smallest stone in the road

Rodd1s · Post by **Rodd1s** » Fri May 02, 2008 11:53 am

the woo's almost as stiff on the road as our porsche boxster. lol

got slight knocking sound from the left back corner when ive got passengers in the car and going over bumps... any ideas what this could be? cos ive had a look but cudnt find anything other than the fact that i think my car's missing its cat.

Pir0 · Post by **Pir0** » Fri May 02, 2008 7:28 pm

Is the spring sitting in correctly? Is the shock tightened properly? Get people to push down the back of the car with the boot open to see if the shock moves, looking at it from the boot.