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BC Coilovers and Rear Brake lines

mitsuturbo

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 2, 2008
Messages
3,544
Location
Near Seattle, Washington
I picked up some BC RM series inverted ram coilovers not too long ago. They seem to be pretty well built, and sturdy. I checked them over before installing, and found one nut to be slightly loose behind the adjustment knob, which is at the bottom on these, inside the lower housing (fronts only, rears are top mounted and not the inverted design). I removed the adjuster knob and tightened it up so that strut shaft wouldn't spin in the bore. I think that once the weight of the car is on it, it won't be an issue anyhow, but i just wanted to make sure everything was right and tight. Seeing as how these are still a *budget* coilover kit, I don't want anything to be remotely questionable upon installation.

I mounted all four to the vehicle, and immediately noticed the rear brake line mount bracket left a bit to be desired. For one, it clamps around the threaded portion of the strut body. I don't really want debris accumulating in those threads and leading to corrosion, but more importantly, the factory brake line brackets DO NOT bolt up to these. Initially i tried bending the bracket so it would mount to the strut. No dice. The "clamp" simply doesn't hold tightly enough against the strut. I could see these would spin round a bit, vibrate, stretch (very weak metal design) and eventually fail miserably.

After looking at this for about an hour, and trying different configurations of the stainless brake lines i bought via JNZ Tuning, i came up with the following solution.

Attach the SHORT hose that would ordinarily go from the strut to the caliper at the other location. Attach it directly to the hardline.
Flatten the factory bracket on the end where the hose goes through, so that it's almost a straight 90deg angle from the mount point.
Drill a hole in the frame (there are 2 pieces of steel you have to get through) and tap it with 8x1.25 tap, or whatever suits your fancy, provided you've got a bolt to match. I've got TONS of spare bolts, so I used a standard body/interior bolt found on mitsubishi vehicles. You know, the grade 4, with the self tapping tip on it, about 20mm long? About the same as what holds the Dash to the firewall. The stock bracket bolt is a bit short and wouldn't reach the threads in the 2nd piece of metal.

Mount the bracket to the frame install the long brake line and route it to the caliper.




This clears the wheels/tires, and allows enough flex for any normal amount of suspension travel. This is a far better way to mount than to the strut. I junked the brackets that came with the coilovers. They're simply not fit for use.
 
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