McPherson to Superstrut Conversion Options

[DST94]

Alright, so this is how I swapped the superstrut tie rods onto my AT200 rack and pinion. We didnt swap it on the another Celica and we snapped the linkage in half so we found out the reason for the C curve the hard way. Here you go. Suggestions and questions welcome.

Compare


Dissasemble



They are the same



Pry the gold back then use a set of pliers and a 19mm to separate the inner rod from the rack and pinion


Separated


Difference is minor, an alignment should fix any discrepancies


Attatch


Attatched






Attatch Boot


Done, rinse and repeat for the other side.




any thoughts are welcome, I havent driven the car yet but ill post again to update with problems if any arise.

This post has been edited by DST94: Nov 18, 2013 - 11:23 AM

[BonzaiCelica]

information over load



Stock ST205 superstrut front spring and ST204/ST202 mcppherson springs are 30.5cm



OEM thin aluminum crush tubes vs Aftermarket Stainless steel Crush tubes from GT4OC.net


Superstrut Oil Filled Cartridges vs Mcpherson 6th gen Celica Gas filled Cartridges




Although the differences in length between both cartridges are different the overall length of where each cartridges fits into their own housing is the same. If you look at the picture I have with the inner housing depth of the super strut, it is 32.5cm (a bit longer so the oil can flow into the base of oil filled super strut cartridge) and the body length of McPherson cartridge is 33cm.

Mcpherson Cartridge will not fit into Superstrut housing because of the crimped sectioned toward the bottom end

I was able to fit my ST204 caliper and the caliper piston is loose so that's why it looks crooked. So I used 5 mm washers to space the rotor to center the rotor to the brake caliper bracket or you can use a 5mm spacer, but the lugs barely fit on there. I would recommend getting extended studs if you wish to drive the car or what would be best is to shave 5mm off the brake caliper mounting point on the gt4 knuckle. The circled part of the brake shield I had to hammer so that the bracket would sit properly. of course if you have the 275mm ss3/GT brake dust shields you won't need to hammer that part.

I had to force my ST204 abs sensor into the mounting point on the ST205 knuckle where abs sensor fits, but if you fit it into a ST202 superstrut knuckle, will work just fine (for some odd reason, still under research).




GT4 KNUCKLE mounting point for brake caliper


SS-III KNUCKLE mounting point for Caliper Bracket
20250604_184011 by Justin Towers, on Flickr

The mounting points for the super strut bracket are slightly further away from the center of the knuckle in order to accommodate the bigger diameter superstrut bearing. So superstrut bracket is a bit more shallow which therefore seats/sits into superstrut knuckle different than McPherson bracket.
20230910_204021 by Justin Towers, on Flickr

These SS-III brake pads are the same as 94-95 MR2 turbo pads (just to confirm http://www.fensport.co.uk/Parts/Model_27/Category_11/2672)


GT4 Offset from back of mounting point for brake caliper


BOTH ST205 and ST202 (SS-II/SS-III) HAVE THE SAME OFFSET OF 7 Centimeters








these rear end links come from 2001-2003 Mazda Protege with sport suspension and are 16cm from center to center stud








So only downside i see too converting is that superstrut parts will add 18 lbs of unsprung weight to each side. So your front end will be 36 lbs heavier.

This post has been edited by BonzaiCelica: Jun 9, 2025 - 2:51 AM