Interrobang Posted October 6, 2013 Report Share Posted October 6, 2013 Coilover noob question: My 280Z needs moar low. Leaning heavily towards these sleeves: http://www.cosmoracing.com/productinfo.asp?cid=259&pid=1543 (Mostly for budget reasons) Unless anyone has bad experiences with them they are as good as bought. Now my question is, for a 2.5" drop, will I be able to use stock height struts, or do I need to find something shorter, like MR2 struts? Also, anyone have brand preferences? I did love me the Tokico Blues that were in my Z31, but they are about twice the price of KYBs for the Dat... I'm stuck overseas for work right now, but as soon as I get back the 77 is coming apart to get less monster trucky. Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted October 6, 2013 Report Share Posted October 6, 2013 I would say that if you stiffen the coil rate substantially you should be able to get away with a 2.5" drop on the stock struts. Two and a half inches of drop brings you that much closer to bottoming the strut or suspension travel out. A stiffer spring will resist this and give better handling. Quote Link to comment
Interrobang Posted October 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2013 Thanks, Mike. These sleeves come with springs at 280 lb/in front and 336 lb/in rear. Stock is something like 180lb/in if I remember correctly. Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted October 6, 2013 Report Share Posted October 6, 2013 Probably right. I have Maxima struts (the Maxima is built on the Z/ZX platcorm and shares suspension parts) and I worked out the spring rate to 150 so 180 for a sport car is good. Quote Link to comment
Interrobang Posted October 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 Sounds good. Alright, now, brand recommendations? KYB is tempting because they are pretty damn cheap. Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted October 7, 2013 Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 Well if you are not shortening the struts you can do like I did. If these are original and have not been replaced with cartridge style dampers. I emptied out the thin watery damper fluid and substituted 20W motorcycle fork oil. It's thicker so is harder to push through the valve orifices. Fork oil can be bought in a variety of 'weights' so you can 'tune' the suspension. On my wife's 710 I used ordinary auto trans fluid (ATF) it's around 7-12 W and works well. Next time I have them off I'm going to try 30W in mine. Quote Link to comment
Interrobang Posted October 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2013 Not actually sure what's on the car right now, but I suspect stock. They seem totally worn out and don't damp at all. I hear rebuild kits are no longer extant. Would I be able to replace the oil in a KYB or Monroe oil filled shock? Quote Link to comment
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