1994 Toyota Celica ST

Coil-Over Installation

The Celica wasn't low enough or stiff enough for me with the springs and shocks I originally installed. So I decided to install some adjustable coil-overs.

Additional goals were I wanted to keep camber at -1.5 or less and I didn't want to use crash bolts.

My only concern about installing these coilovers was the lack of rear camber plates. Camber plates could have been included on the back and I considered trying to adapt some but it turned out not to be necessary.

Well-packaged coil-overs from Megan Racing

I installed these coilovers without adjusting the ride height, and the ride height was exactly what I wanted.

Opened box

In the front, with the camber plates, camber adjustment was not an issue. The rear was a different story. Initial camber with the Eibach springs was -1.6° so some correction was obviously going to be needed. With the coilovers the ride height was lower and the camber was -2.7°. By slotting the strut tops about half an inch as shown the camber was -2.1°. I decided to slot the bottom hub bolt hole of the coilover. I used tab washers from Moog crash bolts. The tab thickness on these bolts was 1/8" thick, so I slotted the holes 1/8" and used these washers to ensure the bolts would stay at the end of the slots. Not really necessary but why not? With the bottom slot, camber came to -1.4°.

Slotted rear holes in chassis

Due to slotting the holes and moving the strut tops outward, I had to lengthen my rear strut brace slightly.

Slotted rear holes in coil-overs

After installation I checked the corner weights and decided that no adjustment of corner weights was needed.

Car on scales

Corner weights total 2543 pounds including me and half a tank of fuel.

Wheel arch heights with Eibach Prokit: 25.5" front 25.25" rear
Wheel arch heights with Megan coilovers: 24.25" front and rear

Here's the ride height you get with the factory adjustment of the Megans.

Weight of stock springs/struts: 19 lb per corner
Weight of coilovers: 12 lb each
Weight savings: 28 lb, most of which is unsprung

Note: lowering the front produced quite a bit of toe-out which had to be adjusted.