ozzy

Well after fitting the rears yesterday, I thought I give the fronts a crack. Thankfully, these were just as easy once I got the car up onto the ramps. The MY99's front spoiler is a bit low, so I need to use plenty of 2x3 pieces of wood to reduce the angle of the ramp.

The top bolt is 14mm, the bottom is slightly shorter with a 12mm head & nut.



They were a bit stiff (oh, er) but plenty of WD40 loosened them off nicely.



It's best to fit the lower bush first, using plenty of the grease supplied with the kit. Once the bottom bush is in-place, you need to pull the ARB down to align with the top bush.



The bottom nut & bolts are 13mm, but the top bolt has a 15mm head with a 14mm nyloc nut.



Stefan

SeepyScoob

Stefan,

Have you noticed a big difference with these fitted?

If so what, I'm keen to reduce the overall body roll will these drop links do that?

Cheers
CP

ozzy

Hi,

I haven't driven the car in anger yet. I'll do so tonight on the way home as I know some quiet single-track roads.

I *think* the road noise has increased, although Scoobies aren't the quietest things on the planet. No one has mentioned any substantial increase in noise today, so it can't be that noticeable.

I've still got some vibration in the steering after having the wheels balanced, before I fitted the drop links. Not sure if that's related or something still wrong with the balance.

I'll let you know how I get on tonight

Stefan

ozzy

Did I notice a difference? oh yes

Was it a £1500 Prodrive Pro-Kit full suspension difference? well, no. But for £70 and about 1.5hrs work, it's been one of the best mods yet IMHO.

Fast sweeping corners and the car feels much more sure-footed. Before it felt like it was wallowing about a lot, but the body roll has definetely been improved somewhat. A good bit of the understeer has been dialled out (although not as much as I'd like) and now I find the emphasis is more on getting the front wheel scrabble - but the next plan is bumpsteer/anti-lift and geometry to rectify that.

Now onto one of my favourite roads. It's a nice wide single track road with old, but nice and smooth tarmac. It's about 6-miles long with low hedges, so you can see around bends and lots of short straights and quick left/right, right/left bends - lovely stuff

I had a blast along it on Friday so it was still fresh in my head. All I can say is Wow Now part of that could be that I've more confidence since I know the road well and I was up for it, but the car just felt a whole lot smoother and stable through the bends. Even under braking it was more stable and the turn-in seemed a good bit sharper. Before I was aprehensive on carrying too much speed, but now I can brake hard, turn-in immediately and just nail it through the corner. On the exit, I'm still wary with the front-end lift, so I'm hoping the ALK can dial that out.

All-in-all, £70 well spent

spec of the car is:-

MY99 standard RB5 (MY99/00 with 17" alloys to you and me )
17" Speedlines
Toyo Proxes T1'S 215/40/75 tyres
Eibach Pro-Kit springs
Standard MY99 dampers
Cusco front strut brace
RB5/STI rear strut bar
FUBAR'd 4-pot OEM calipers, discs & pads

Stefan

Dyney

Good news Stefan and excellent instructional pics!

I'm doing mine in the next week or so

Can't wait now.
Iain.

ozzy

You'll not be disappointed

I noticed there's still the dreaded understeer at low speeds i.e. I went fast into a roundabout tonight and braked late, then truned sharply and it did understeer - just not as badly.

If you try to carry your speed and keep it constant, then you can get round the same corner at a much higher "constant" speed and power out quickly. The front end is now more point & shoot, which is just the way I like it

It's inspiring more and more confidence, but it does highlight the lift when you power out of corners.

I think the Anti-Lift kit & geometry is next on the list - oh and the uprated Whiteline sway bar (anti-roll bar) is supposed to help even more. My Bank Manager's not going to be happy this month; you're only young once, so what the hey

Stefan

AJbaseBloke

Good one! There's got to be a reason why they are one of the most popular mods (if not the #1) for Scoob owners here in Japan

And yep - the bank for buck is pretty unbeatable (unless, of course, you buy the Prova links like I did ).

And I think you'll like the ALK, too

SeepyScoob

Stefan,

Thanks for the info, I've had knocky drop links for a while now and I've been holding back until I could get some good info on Whiteline or some other more expensive but pretty ones.

I don't give a stuff what they look like, just want to get rid of the knocking and the wallowing feeling.

I've noticed this from day one with the scoob, I had a Pug 306 XSI before and that had much less roll. Of course the scoob handles much much better than the pug but always disliked the wallow.

Will be one the phone to Demon Tweaks tonight and get them fitted at the weekend. Cheers for all the pics should make the job much easier.

Scott.T

iTrader: (2)

£70 well Spent !!

Is that for front and rears ?
If so where from... I can see myself spending a few hours under the car

7 Foot

Demon Tweaks are the cheapest IIRC. £70 sounds about right for the lot.

ozzy

Yes, Scott; £70 was for the front & rears. I got them through a SN Groupbuy, but as 7 Foot has pointed out Demon Tweeks are about the chepeast for them.

Stefan

Cheesy Puff

Ive just ordered a set for my MY00 yippee, on whitelines website there is a review/faq page where their kit is reviewed (rex on Rails) and they say that the uprated adjustable rear roll bar makes a huge difference more so than the ALK.

Maybe when girlfriend asks what i want for birthday I try to get both (ALK and Rollbar).

Cheese.....

Cheesy Puff

Recieved my droplinks today fitted them in about an hour and a half, rears were easy fronts are a sod without the car lifted unless you are really thin. lol.

Cant believe the difference these have made for their price, I advise anybody who hasnt got a set to at least fit them on the rear(will only take 30 mins to do).

Happy as a pig in a WRX
Cheese.....

DeanF

iTrader: (1)

I fitted the whiteline Drop links & was not impressed at all, It actually felt spongier, I now have Solid Aluminium ones front 7 rear, Don't now if my suspension setup made it feel cr@p, Perhaps they do feel better on a standard setup ?. APEX coilovers, Lower front 4 point brace, Top Brace & rear Upper Brace so felt really taut anyway, Also noticed that the Bushes on the Whiteline were much more sqidgey then these Noltec Ones

Dean

[Edited by DeanF - 5/30/2003 4:28:01 PM]

Scott.T

iTrader: (2)

Dean,

Where did you get the Noltec Drop Links from.
Were they sourced from the UK or did you get them from Aus/Nz.

DeanF

iTrader: (1)

Scott

They came from the U.S, Delivered in 5 days from day of order & were about $68 dollars, Let me know if your interested & i will send you my contacts Details Etc.

Dean

Pentlander

Hi DeanF

Do you still have your contact's details, for the Noltec droplinks?
At $68, I wouldn't mind getting a couple of pairs.
Best I've seen them for is $99!!!

Hope you can help me out.

Regards,

Derek.

MorayMackenzie

Hi Dean, YHM .

Floyd

iTrader: (9)

I wonder if they do the Noltek ones in red?

F

Callum Ferguson

iTrader: (1)

Hi Dean,
Would appreciate contact details as well if possible.
Many thanks,
Callum