Freshening up the suspension

[savage1987]

After a crisis over the last few weeks that almost landed me with a 300ZX import, I've come back to working on my VN. It's time for me to freshen up the suspension, so I've decided to lower it at the same time. Wilkinson Suspension Centre will be supplying the parts I need, I'm not sure about installation though. I need to know what I should be replacing (after 400,000km)

So far my list goes:
4 springs (done, King superlows)
4 shocks (fronts done, Koni adjustables)
thicker sway bars
adjustable panhard rod
lower trailing arms
upper control arms
adjustable strut tops (done)
front strut brace
new (probably nolathane or similar) bushes throughout
heavy duty z-bar setup

Is there anything major I've missed? I don't want to end up with my tyres scrubbing out or anything once I'm done, I'm set on doing this properly. Feedback appreciated.

Cheers guys
Sam

[Zuicider]

springs, bushes, shockies, adjustable rear panhard, yer u pretty much have it, plus u can come get that carpet now, if u still want it

[savage1987]

might do that this weekend actually cheers mate

[IMCRZY]

What about strut tops, link pins & bushes.... i dunno its 2:15 lol i cant think properly

[savage1987]

strut tops and link pins i don't know much about. i'll get someone to take a look at them for me or i might just do them for good measure

[hakhawk]

how low do you want to go? you're gonna need adjustable strut tops to fix the camber when its lowered.

link pins and bushes will come in under the bushes bit, if theyre stuffed, either get the heavy duty z bar type, or go the vl setup where it bolts to lower control arm instead of strut.

[savage1987]

dropping a good couple of inches, not too far though. still need strut tops?

[1991_Vn2nV]

I went with the VL setup for the link pins and I definitely reccomend it, good upgrade.

With the sway bars, be careful what you choose. If they are too large it will cause oversteer, so its a careful balance rather than bigger is better.

[hakhawk]

yep, vl link pin setup is excellent.

couple inches drop, definately go strut tops. word of warning though, nolathane ones will raise the suspension about 2cm over rubber adjustable strut top height.

[savage1987]

hmm.. that kinda sucks... that's 2cm lower that i could be... should do it anyway i suppose.

How much of this stuff can I realistically install myself? I have a trolley jack and axle stands and a fairly comprehensive tool kit.. anything I'd need to get someone else to put in? I'm going to order parts bit by bit as money comes in so yeah I'd like to know where to start and what I can do myself. Oh, and I have a Gregory's manual too, so that might help.

[hakhawk]

rear shocks and springs are easy, you can do them yourself.

front springs need coil spring compressors, these can be had for about $40 from any auto store.

most bushes will be pretty easy, sway bars will be easy.

pretty sure you can get a rubber adjustable strut top, as im sure thats whats on my vp(havent looked properly yet)

[savage1987]

good news on installing that, thanks hakhawk
keep the info coming guys, the less surprises i get the better

cheers
sam

[J_D]

My car is lowered without adjustable strut tops and the camber isnt too bad. Ive done 20,000km on the tyres that are on it now (which were second hand to begin with) and the fronts are only just coming up to need in replacing. Ive only got 16 inch mags on mine, if I was going any bigger with rims (or any lower than super low) I would get adjustable strut tops.

The only other thing I can think of that hasnt been mentioned yet are upper control arms, which you can get as adjustables to correct the pinion angle on the diff. They arent really important but if they are flogged already or you want a no expense spared suspension system they might be worth looking at.

[savage1987]

I'll add upper control arms to my list, as well as a couple of other things that have been mentioned. Cheers guys

Oh and J_D, I got 17" rims already, and will probably end up below super low, so I think I'll get those strut tops.

I'm interested in the difference between rubber and nolathane in that department (what practical difference will it make?) so if anybody can tell me more about that I'd appreciate it.

[J_D]

Ive heard from a mechanic at Pedders that the nolathane strut tops dont bond to the metal as well as rubber and can collapse the suspension thru the bonnet of the car. He showed me one that had come apart during use and the centre of it was ripped out.

[hakhawk]

ive had the nolathane strut tops on the car for about 2 years now, and not one sign of problems.

the only reason i can think of one breaking, is if the strut insert is bottoming out rear hard and eventually breaks through, in which case, get shorter strut inserts(this would be using springs lower than ultras, which i have had ultras in for over 12 months without this problem)

theres always a chance that it was a dodgy bush to begin with and hadnt bonded correctly at the factory.

[jNINE]

Mine still has standard rubber strut tops (non-adjustable) and 18" wheels. You would only really need them if you want to go for more than -1.5deg (which mine runs comfortably).

[hakhawk]

yeh, but how low is yours? mine sits on ultras, and with stock tops, camber would be nuts, hence why ive got adjustables.

[greenfoam]

When putting the front struts back in make sure the notches in the spring holder plate thingos are facing the centre of the tyres and also make sure you do up the nut that holds the shocker into the strut <paradox>Uber tight</paradox> and even put loctite on if you want, they are such a pain if they come loose because then you have to do the whole thing again

[jNINE]

yeh, but how low is yours? mine sits on ultras, and with stock tops, camber would be nuts, hence why ive got adjustables.

How? Lowering doesn't affect your front camber.

[hakhawk]

pretty sure it does, when i went from stock height to ultras, they had to be adjusted so the camber wasnt as bad. its still not perfect, as the strut tops only have so much adjustment in them.

[J_D]

Yes it does. The lower control arm doesnt sit vertical at stock ride height, it droops down. Which lowering makes it move closer to vertical and increasing the effective length of the lower control arm, this pushes the bottom of the strut further out and the bottom of the tyre as well. If you had a Falcon you might be able to lower it without major camber change, as they have a double wishbone front end.

[jNINE]

It moves in an arc, but the strut was designed so that the camber doesn't change a great deal when it travels. We had standard strut tops for about 9 years and only went adjustable to get more caster adjustment & camber - the advantage of adjustables is that you can get an accurate alignment but is not totally necessary.

[J_D]

Well its never totally necessary but it does conserve tyre life, especially when you have expensive low profile rubber.

[jNINE]

Well its never totally necessary but it does conserve tyre life, especially when you have expensive low profile rubber.

lol.. and it's probably the opposite of what we wanted - more neg camber as opposed to less! Running about -4 deg with the adjustables now. I rotate the tyres front to rear every few months and every 6 months or so, and from side to side on the rims, on my road car.