Shameless

Im not sure my Z is the only z ive ever driven in but do they normaly have suspension that is so stiff it destroys your kidneys on any bump.....i mean like no absorption at all..........my car has like 171k miles on it so im thinking that maybe suspension elements are going bad........can anyone tell me if this is just typical of a z or if my stuff is going bad

CrAzY_84na

my suspension is so whishy washy **** it feels like your driving on flat tires. I would guess that your shocks are gone. but i really dont know anything.

Robert

91zxtt

If your Z has 171k miles, then the suspension is shot. Mine felt that way also. I went with Tokico Illumina 5-way adjustables and Eibach Pro Springs. The ride quality improved and thhe car handles much better.

b300z

how much of a difference did the new springs and shocks make?
and how much of a difference would just the springs make?
would the height change any at all if i got 18s with 225/45?
my dad says that my car is low enough to the ground and wont let my put the Eibachs on, but i want to replace the stock springs.

tsefreeflow

The 5-ways do wonders for your suspension performance. I first had mine set on 5 and ****, it was really tight and hard hitting over bumps. I now have them set at 1 and is still stiff to a point but is more like stock. I did not go with Eibach because so many people said it makes no difference because of the sagging, so I went with Intrax which did lower it and it looks much better.
Btw, if you replace the springs, replace the shocks and visa-versa. It makes no sense to do just one when you have to remove both to do either one. But did that sentence make sense?

91zxtt

Do you know anything about Bullett motors???


The Eibach sprongs only lower the car by 3/4". Since my springs were already sagging, you can't really tell. The performance is night and day. Well worth the investment. I have 17's with 255/40/17 Pilot Sports up front and 18's with 275/35/18 in the rear. The wheel and tire combo's are larger than stock, so the car sits higher than it would with the stock wheels and tires. The lowering springs counter that. All-in-all, you probably lose less than 1/2" in height. Plus, it really fills out the wheel wells nicely.

BTW, I agree with what Tsefreeflow said. If you replace the shocks, then you should replace the springs also and vice-versa. It's duplicate labor and you will be extremely happy you did. If your dad doesn't like how it looks when you're done, then he can yell at me. My dad felt the same way, but he can't even tell the car has been lowered. He can also really notice a difference in the ride quality. To get him to admit that he was wrong is like pulling teeth, so it must be ok.

tnkrstoyco

To get him to admit that he was wrong is like pulling teeth, so it must be ok.
Damn 91 our dads must be related.

b300z

first off whats a bullett motor
and yea tsefreeflow...ha...i got that sentence. i dont know how i will get it by my dad, cuz i want to get new springs on no matter what, but he doesnt care. ill just tell him that the height change from the rims will cancel each other out.
haha he doesnt even want me to get bigger tires and rims or add one more hp to the car.
thanks for the infomation.

Riz Z Speed

umm if you change either w/o changing the other, you'll wear it out faster. The oem suspension was designed to work with oem parts not aftermarket performance parts. If you use new springs with old shocks, then you'll sag and ruin your new springs quicker than normal. If you use new shocks with old springs, you'll compress and wear out the shocks much faster than normal cuz springs are there to hold up the car and you'll be putting extra leverage/weight onto the shocks.

It's always best to replace most things in sets that are related/dependent of each other. You wouldn't replace one brake pad and then use an old one on the opposite side. You wouldn't just replace one quart of oil when you do an oil change. You wouldn't just change out one spark plug when you do a tune up. If you're going to do it, do it right.

emo236

To add to what Rizz said, if you just replace the springs, it won't be a very fun ride. It will kill your kidneys. Everytime you hit a bump, you'll break a tooth in half.

CrAzY_84na

b300z you could alwayz do what i did...buy them and when they get there take your verbal lashing like a man...then go out and put them on

91zxtt

Just say they followed you home from school and ask if you can keep them.

CanyonCarver

Just say they're prototypes and you're beta testing them........

b300z

haha
ive already got both the shocks and the springs, thanx z_wrecker once again, and my whopping bank account wouldnt be able to handle the price for labor, isnt that sad. what i think i am gonna do is wait till i get my rims and just have the people put the shocks and springs on and allign the car and do whatever else needs to be done

b300z

my dad just shot down my hopes again...what about a camber kit or something since the lowering springs change the negative camber? i heard theyre expensive

91zxtt

I don't understand why your dad won't let you change the shocks, but will let you change the springs. Will he be paying for new springs in a year when they start to sag due to the fact they'll be over-worked by weak shocks? I thought he doesn't want you to lower the car. Replacing the shocks won't lower the car at all, only the springs will. If you lower it, the adjustable front upper control arms is a great way to go; otherwise you'll be ripping through tires in no time due to the increased negative camber. They run $359 at www.splparts.com. I bought the adjustable control arms and adjustable tension rods through Courtesy, but I'm not happy with the quality of construction of the tension rods, so I'll be returning them and the control arms and buying both from SPL. I'll probably get the urethhane motor and tranny mounts also. There's a link on the spl site to an article in a tuner car mag about suspension tuning the Z32. It's pretty awesome. It sounds like SPL makes the best suspension stuff around for the Z32. If you get the adjustable control arms, it's best to get the adjustable tension rods. The tension rods elleviate stress on the bearings of the control arms. If the bearings fail in the control arms, then you get to buy new ones. Fun, fun.

b300z

its the other way around. he doesnt want the springs on
the front upper arms and tension rods would be 500
and what about rear toe arms to fix the back? another 250
theres gotta be a way somewhere to change my dads mind

91zxtt

You don't need the toe arms in the rear. You need the adjustable rear upper control arms. According to SPL, when you lower the car and use the adjustable upper arm to adjust out the negative camber, you can run into issues with bump steer. The traction rod (turbo) or toe arm (N/A) helps you adjust out the bump steer. Those are pricey too. Actually, you may need. Come to think of it, I need both. Along with the HICAS eliminator, sway bars, rear stabilizer links, adjustable lower control arms, strut tower bars and a ladder bar. Is it me, or are those parts beautiful? I thtink I'm done doing engine mods for awhile. I'm going to focus on suspension. This stuff is cool. I'm never going to complete get to everything on my wish list.

91zxtt

Sorry, I got carried away there at the end of my last post and I forgot what i was responding to . Yes, there is. Just beat him over the head in a year with one of your worn out shocks and tell him I told you so (because he won't let you get springs).

I'm gettinig this feeling that pops isn't a car guy. My dad has begun living vicariously through me. He thinks it's cool that his kid has the fastest car in town. He likes the fact that he still knows way more about cars than I do. Whenever I do car mods he gets to help. He has all the tools, so we work on it at their house. He also likes when I'm at their house working on the car with him because Mom quits bitching at him. Menopause is the ***** according to dad.

b300z

the toe arms help adjust the camber in the back too. and according to you it sounds like i just need to get a complete aftermarket suspension from splparts

my dad is more into older cars. he wanted me to get an old sports car and restore it. id like to do that too, but everything would end up stock and i wouldnt have a car to drive until that was done.

what are the chances of me winning the lottery? i think im gonna start buying tickets. maybe ill win someday so that i can pay for the suspension, and the repaint, and the rims

CanyonCarver

If you need shocks, you need shocks. There are springs on ebay, 3/4" shorter, for $79.99, buy it now.

Tell your dad, that instead of buying the quality engineered items that you want for your car, that you want to make them yourself and you need his help getting the equipment to do that. Tell him you can make a trade of it. Start showing him pictures of welders, saws, lathes and mills, and stress the things that he could do on his old car restorations with those kind of toys. The parts that you want will start to look inexpensive then.

91zxtt

You don't need a complete suspension set-up. If you lower it, you would probably be fine with just the upper adjustable control arms. The more cutom suspension stuff you get, the more harsh the ride will be. You'll be eliminating the rubber bushings whhich help absorb some of the road noise. You don't feel every little bump on the road. With a full suspension setup, you'll feel and hear everything. Plus, it's mucho dinero.

b300z

gracias senior 91zxtt. i was just kidding about the full suspension too.

91zxtt

De nada. In case you hadn't figured it out, I think putting the full suspension set-up from SPL on the car would be pretty cool. I'll get there some day. That day may be in the year 2020, but I'll get there.

Riz Z Speed

91.... you just described my entire suspension wish list/wet dream.