Rear coil over?

[Patrick]

I've been thinking about the rear spring alignment issue and thought of a more radical way to solve it!

Has anyone attempted to convert the Sportster's rear suspension to a coil over instead of the stock BMW layout?

[Patrick]

I've emailed Gaz shocks who apparently do a coil over for the E30 rear. I'm waiting for them to get back to me now.

I found this while browsing which looks interesting:



The one thing I am worried about is if the mounts will be strong enough with all the weight of the back of the car on them.

[Patrick]

Here's the email I recieved back from Gaz shocks. They didn't elaborate on spring rates and the sportster being a lot lighter than stock E30's but its a start!

Hi Patrick
we do make a coilover conversion for the E30 model the part no is GP8-2015
these cost £72.50 each with the spacers and we will require your rear top
mounts so we can convert these to rose bearings to take the spring load
these cost £40 each to convert.
kind regards
David Lyon

[MartinClan]

Good find Patrick - the onlt thing is I don't see why we should have to shell out to fix what appears to be Marlins error....

I have tought of another approach - haven't taken a close look yet to see how practical it will be though. The theory is:

Cut off the existing stud on which the spring plate mounts and grind what is left flush to the chassis.
Mount (weld) the stud to a 2mm steel plate (My welding is rubbish but I know a man who can....)
Fix plate to chassis in CORRECT place using 6 M6 bolts and rivnuts. Most of the load is compressive so I think the fixing would be more than strong enough.

What do you think?

[Patrick]

That does sound like a good way to fix it. I can't weld at all, but the person who's going to paint it for me shares a workshop with a someone who can! I was going to get their opinion on what to do.

I see changing to coil overs as an upgrade over the standard suspension, but yes they should be in the right place from the factory.