SW20 MR2 Suspension Advice Needed

My '91 Turbo swapped MR2 isn't handling as well as it should... I've worn out two sets of rear tires in 10k miles... The first was alignment but this time they are pretty evenly worn, given they are cheap tires but 235/40/17 have a pretty limited treadwear of 300. It feels kinda squirrley so I'm suspecting balljoints/bushings/struts. It has ebay coilovers sleeves on most likely OEM struts with unknown springs. I'm looking into KSPORTS/D2/BC Coilovers.. Input on difficulty level on installation on the polyurethane bushings kit?

Hard to go wrong with Koni strut cartridges and TRD bushings. I did that to my AW11 and it was really pretty good.

How are you driving? I wore out a set of Azenis in 10k on my mk1, but that was because I drove it correctly :)

That said, go get an alignment again. And stop testing out that new turbo.

Had an alignment done when rear tires were installed. They are cheap tires though Nankang NS-20, could that be the issue? I'm ordering Rear Konis this week and fronts the following week. No new tubo on the MR2.... yet anyway Lol

I highly recommend doing ball joints and tie rod ends on aging MR2s. My Mk1 never felt stable on the highway until those were taken care of. IMHO MR2s can easily feel squirrelly at high-ish speeds unless everything in the suspension is healthy and adjusted properly, much more so than most cars. Bushings can certainly help as well, but their such a PITA that I usually go after the low hanging fruit first.

dansxr2 wrote: Input on difficulty level on installation on the polyurethane bushings kit?

It's not particularly difficult once you get your technique down for removing the old bushings, but be aware you'll be dismantling the entire suspension- on my sw20 I did one corner per night after work, that broke it down into enough sections to not feel like a terrible job.

In reply to NONACK: That sounds like much better idea than what I did.

dansxr2 wrote: My '91 Turbo swapped MR2 isn't handling as well as it should... I've worn out two sets of rear tires in 10k miles... The first was alignment but this time they are pretty evenly worn, given they are cheap tires but 235/40/17 have a pretty limited treadwear of 300. It feels kinda squirrley so I'm suspecting balljoints/bushings/struts. It has ebay coilovers sleeves on most likely OEM struts with unknown springs. I'm looking into KSPORTS/D2/BC Coilovers.. Input on difficulty level on installation on the polyurethane bushings kit?

Here's the recipe: Koni Struts, H&R Springs, new ball joints. If you keep the coilovers, make sure your ride height is a little higher in the front, or the roll center will be off. Look at a stock MR2 -- they ride higher in the front on purpose. Poly bushings suck. The OEM bushings are still available for the front and rear strut rods @ $11 ea (these take a real beating and allow your caster to wander on 91-92s.) They're also easy to install, as they're just sandwiched between big washers.

The control arm bushings last forever. I've haven't seen any CAB that are truly dead on a Mk2, yet.

Thunks and rattles? I got fixes for those too: endlinks, strut tops, swaybar and steering rack bushings (poly is okay here.) Most MR2s I've had, the front strut top bearing has fallen apart when I've taken them apart. You have a lot of steering and alignment slop if those bearings are shot.