Questions for st205 Owners Options

[jordisonjr]

What's up guys. I finally have all my student loans paid off, and was starting to think maybe a 205 would be right for me.
However, I have some concerns, and some questions for current st205 owners.

My main concern with purchasing a gt four would be the super strut suspension in the front end. From what i've read, when it wears out, its pretty hard to find (correct me if im wrong) if you live in a country that the gt four was not produced in (im in canada). and also, if you can find the parts, its really exoensive.

How have you guys found the super strut on your cars. Are they hard to diagnose issues, when parts wear out? Has it been extremely difficult to source parts when needed? and how was the cost on doing work on the front suspension?

My next question would be mods. Of course, I wouldn't be able to keep it stock. From my understanding, theres no coilover manufacturer that makes coilovers for SS, except for Tien, but those are either discontinued, or once again, extremely hard to find. Is this true?

I know there was a mod floating around here, where you can cut and weld BC racing (I think) coilovers, to work with the super strut suspension, however, I don't really have the knowledge to do this. Running lowering springs on the stock struts would probably cause them to blow out quickly. Is there any replacement struts that work directly on the SS suspension?

Has anyone ever had issues with dealerships/shops refusing to do work on their car (timing belts, clutch jobs etc.) because it is RHD ad has not been produced in that country? Thats another thing I would be worried about.

I guess the super strut is really the only thing putting me off from bringing one in, as I don't want to be stranded without a car for long periods at a time, while trying to source out parts.

Hopefully some of you st205 guys can enlighten me on this, and I'm sure ill have a couple more questions to post up in here.
Thanks!

[Malek]

Buy my superstruts so you have a spare in case yours wears out.

Problem solved

[dudeofchaos]

Hard to say as I've mine for not 2 full years yet and I didn't use it for about 1/2 the time I've had it.

Nothing has broken down or worn out yet (Might need new top plates though, but haven't changed them yet) but everything for St205 is a lot more expensive (if you're used to St204s like me)

It is not THAT hard to find stuff though but you have to know where to look for since you won't find anything here in Canada. (Since I've subscribe to Gt4oc.net I've found a lot of stuff for quite cheap)
Most of the time you'll find yourself looking for parts oversea. (Price, most of the time, is cheaper over there but shipping kills it)

Suspension is what's killing me. There are only Oem suspension, Tein and TRD that make SSS for the Gt-Four. There is also the option to get BC racing coilover and weld them with the SSS oem part but like you I'm not really into this cause I don't have the knowledge for this myself. (Thinking about it still.. Maybe my mechanic would agree to do it. He's THE BEST ever.)

I haven't had any problems yet but I would not look into dealerships anymore. I've been there and they don't know **** about our car.
Like I said, my mechanic is the best. He could tell everything about my Gt-Four even before I showed him the car haha and even if he never worked on one before. He's the only one to work on my car when I am not.

Best hint I can give you is to learn the most about this car by yourself (Forums help a lot) so you can do most basic stuff by yourself and find a good mechanic you can trust to do the complex stuff.

But in the end, it'll all be worth it when you look in your driveway and see this beast asking you to go take it for a ride

Hope it helped! Good luck in your purchase!

This post has been edited by dudeofchaos: Apr 6, 2013 - 7:23 PM

[azian_advanced]

I've had my gt-four for almost 11 months. The front suspension is definitely a pain to work on compared to McPhersons, but as long as you have the right 'special tools' like ball joint separator tool for the top ball joint on the knuckle and 3-jaw puller for the figure 8 link, its really not that bad. Also, front suspension parts are not difficult to source (tcbparts.co.uk is awesome btw), but they ARE expensive.

Diagnosing is a bit difficult since prefer to remove most of the front suspension to accurately test for worn bushings and joints individually. Wiggling the wheel horizontally or vertically isn't enough for superstrut. Right now, I've identified an inner bushing that needs replacing on the front lower control arm on the RH side. Also, I know I have some knocking on my rear passenger side and now I'm not looking forward diagnosing since I don't have a garage anymore.

Clutch or timing belt replacement should be no different on a RHD or any alltrac

The thing about suspension parts wearing out is that you can keep driving even if your struts are blown or bushings/ball joints are worn so waiting for parts to arrive should be no issue.

This is somewhat off topic but I'm curious on where you plan on getting a GT-Four if you decide on getting one. If you need help importing one yourself (like what I did), I can give you some pointers.

[Nial]

Superstrut isnt the pain that people think it is, diagnosing which joint is worn is simple and takes about 2 mins.

You need a couple of friends to help you and no tools what so ever.

With the car on level ground and the handbrake (e-brake) on get a friend to try and rotate the wheel forward and backwards.

While your assistant is doing that you need to hold your hand across the link between the shock and the figure 8, if you feel movement here then the figure 8 is worn and needs replacing.

Then whist your assistant is still moving the wheel back and forward, hold your hand across the joint between the lower arm and the figure 8, if you feel movement then the lower arm bush is failing and the lower arm needs replacing.

Obviously if you feel movement at both locations then both the lower arm and the fig8 need replacing.

If the wheel moves alot within the wheel arch then check the crush tube on the banana arm.

This method of checking movement can be done on all suspension joints on a faff.

If you have gone a step further and have taken the front wheel off then you can grab the brake calliper and try to rotate it around the disc, this gives even more movement on the various joints and is the best method for testing worn bushes, but obviously you need tools for this.

This post has been edited by Nial: Apr 7, 2013 - 4:26 AM

[jordisonjr]

Hard to say as I've mine for not 2 full years yet and I didn't use it for about 1/2 the time I've had it.

Nothing has broken down or worn out yet (Might need new top plates though, but haven't changed them yet) but everything for St205 is a lot more expensive (if you're used to St204s like me)

It is not THAT hard to find stuff though but you have to know where to look for since you won't find anything here in Canada. (Since I've subscribe to Gt4oc.net I've found a lot of stuff for quite cheap)
Most of the time you'll find yourself looking for parts oversea. (Price, most of the time, is cheaper over there but shipping kills it)

Suspension is what's killing me. There are only Oem suspension, Tein and TRD that make SSS for the Gt-Four. There is also the option to get BC racing coilover and weld them with the SSS oem part but like you I'm not really into this cause I don't have the knowledge for this myself. (Thinking about it still.. Maybe my mechanic would agree to do it. He's THE BEST ever.)

I haven't had any problems yet but I would not look into dealerships anymore. I've been there and they don't know **** about our car.
Like I said, my mechanic is the best. He could tell everything about my Gt-Four even before I showed him the car haha and even if he never worked on one before. He's the only one to work on my car when I am not.

Best hint I can give you is to learn the most about this car by yourself (Forums help a lot) so you can do most basic stuff by yourself and find a good mechanic you can trust to do the complex stuff.

But in the end, it'll all be worth it when you look in your driveway and see this beast asking you to go take it for a ride

Hope it helped! Good luck in your purchase!

Yea I'm definitely no stranger to the forums, as I've had my Celica for 5 years now, and I've pretty much learned everything on it through 6gc, or other forums. I guess hitting up gt4.oc wouldn't hurt as well. thanks for your input!

I've had my gt-four for almost 11 months. The front suspension is definitely a pain to work on compared to McPhersons, but as long as you have the right 'special tools' like ball joint separator tool for the top ball joint on the knuckle and 3-jaw puller for the figure 8 link, its really not that bad. Also, front suspension parts are not difficult to source (tcbparts.co.uk is awesome btw), but they ARE expensive.

Diagnosing is a bit difficult since prefer to remove most of the front suspension to accurately test for worn bushings and joints individually. Wiggling the wheel horizontally or vertically isn't enough for superstrut. Right now, I've identified an inner bushing that needs replacing on the front lower control arm on the RH side. Also, I know I have some knocking on my rear passenger side and now I'm not looking forward diagnosing since I don't have a garage anymore.

Clutch or timing belt replacement should be no different on a RHD or any alltrac

The thing about suspension parts wearing out is that you can keep driving even if your struts are blown or bushings/ball joints are worn so waiting for parts to arrive should be no issue.

This is somewhat off topic but I'm curious on where you plan on getting a GT-Four if you decide on getting one. If you need help importing one yourself (like what I did), I can give you some pointers.

Thanks man, from what you've said, it doesn't seem like its all that big of a hastle as i thought. I'm not exactly sure if Im even going to get one, I was just considering options for a car as im no longer in school and working full time, and a gt four was always something i've liked since picking up my celica. So at this point, I don't really know where I would go through, but I don't htink I'd be doing it myself.

There's a webiste/importer (idk what you'd call it) located out of, either calgary or edmonton, (zenautoworks.com) that seems to import some of the cleanest gt fours that i've seen. And the seem to raelly know their stuff aobut it, since that was the car that made the owner want to get into importing, and owns one himself as well.

I've also heard some good things about jdmconnection, and 2 of my buddies have imported through them as well. not sure i'f I'd want to import, or just find something thats already in canada, but thats something that could be determined later on.

Thanks for your input, its definitely reasuring to hear its not as bad as i assumed.

Superstrut isnt the pain that people think it is, diagnosing which joint is worn is simple and takes about 2 mins.

You need a couple of friends to help you and no tools what so ever.

With the car on level ground and the handbrake (e-brake) on get a friend to try and rotate the wheel forward and backwards.

While your assistant is doing that you need to hold your hand across the link between the shock and the figure 8, if you feel movement here then the figure 8 is worn and needs replacing.

Then whist your assistant is still moving the wheel back and forward, hold your hand across the joint between the lower arm and the figure 8, if you feel movement then the lower arm bush is failing and the lower arm needs replacing.

Obviously if you feel movement at both locations then both the lower arm and the fig8 need replacing.

If the wheel moves alot within the wheel arch then check the crush tube on the banana arm.

This method of checking movement can be done on all suspension joints on a faff.

If you have gone a step further and have taken the front wheel off then you can grab the brake calliper and try to rotate it around the disc, this gives even more movement on the various joints and is the best method for testing worn bushes, but obviously you need tools for this.

Doesn\t seemt oo difficult at all. Thanks for the input!

[schmooot]

I thought my ss supension was easy to work on compared to some honda's I've worked on in the past. *cough* 94 Accord *cough*.

Parts sourcing was easy with tcb parts (love them).
I replaced endlinks, figure of 8's, wheel bearings and balljoints in my shop with no special tools (besides a press and snaprings of course)

I've got good fig8's I can sell you if you need to replace yours, at a fraction of the price of new ones.