proxlamus Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 (edited) Alright well I'm in a bit of a pickle.. I followed the instructions on this link... http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/38589-strut-sectioning-faq/ to section my 280z struts to run Tokico Illumina strut inserts... BZ3099 in the front (from a Toyota MR2 rear) BZ3013 in the rear (which happen to have a 2-7/8" spacer pressed on the bottom) I made sure the final front strut tube casing measured the following : 13.5" I made sure the final rear strut tube casing measured the following : 15" I sectioned 1.25" off the front strut tubes to make the final measurement 13.5" I sectioned 2 7/8" off the rear strut tubes to make the final measurement 15" The strut tube inserts fit perfectly and the gland nuts can tighten down perfectly. Now in the rear I ended up knocking out the rear spacer to allow the strut insert to fit. Everything fits perfect and nice and snug. HOWEVER, after reading some threads about the car being too low (I can't test it because my car is on a rotisserie).. Im heavily concerned about something. I read the 280z strut towers in the rear are much higher up than the 240z. Which is why the rear rubber insulators that go on top of the 280z struts are so much thicker. Im 99% positive that I screwed up and cut too much off the rear and I should have cut 1.25" off the front AND the rear and simply trimmed down the spacer. So I need to know if I can run my struts as they are on my 280z, or if I have to go back, cut the tubes again and insert a piece of metal to make up the difference. I need to add 1.625" inches back into each strut tube, then compensate for each cut with a 1/8" blade thickness... so a 1.375" chunk back in the middle of the tubes. EDIT - I will be running camber plates Edited March 27, 2016 by proxlamus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 I'm at the beach right now. But, I think my struts (240z) with coilovers measure 24" total extended length from the bottom of the strut tube to the top of the strut rod. With your strut extended, what is the measurement from top to bottom? With the strut out of the car, put a tape measure on it and tell me what you get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerrys914 Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 I sectioned my 280z and based on what I did it looks like you did cut too much out of the rear. I cut about 1.5" out of the fronts and the rears (strut tubes) as I am using the same strut cartridge (MR2) all the way around. The 280z rear strut tube is much longer then the front so to compensate for this I added a 3" (about) aluminum spacer which goes into the strut tube first. This makes the inside dim of the rear strut tube the same as the front strut tubes (since I have the same cartridges in the front and rear). If you have the tube pieces you cut out of the front and rear you could reweld them back in???? kerry.herr@gmail.com if you need any help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 Thanks for the help. I still have the pieces I sectioned from the tubes. I'll just make a cut and add the pieces back in. 1 cut and 2 welds. No biggie. Just a pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luseboy Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 You know there are other options to raise the rear end back up, including longer insulators and/or upper spring perch. It's probably better to have the strut tubes the right length, but if you didn't want to re-do it there are other options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus Posted March 30, 2016 Author Share Posted March 30, 2016 I'm running camber plates so unfortunately there's not a lot of options Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luseboy Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 That makes sense, well I'm sure you'll get it all figured out one way or another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stock Car Mafia Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Do you have an update on how these worked out and did you get them on the car? I've removed the same amount you have for my rear struts and I've been reading and reading and reading on this. I am close to painting them which is why I want to make sure they are right... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerrys914 Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 I am making a some 1" spacer to put between my T3 camber plates and car body. Same basic shape as the T3 camber plates. The issue on mine (280z) is when the stock insulator was removed to install the camber plates I lost about 1" of height. T3 can make these (they make them for other cars, just not the Z). He said if he gets more requests he can make them. I am supersized more people haven't had this issue. I only removed 1.5" from the rear and now think I should have only removed about .75" since I knew I was using camber plates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socorob Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 I got the ones from TTT and they are too short in the back for my 280. I've been meaning to call him to see what can be done. It may be a little hard to tell since the car was on skates when I took the picture. but this is just with the springs hand tightened with no preload. I had to crank about as much preload as I possibly could in the rear, and the front has an inch or 2 of slack in the spring when I jack up the car. and I used 240 insulators in the front and 280 in the rear. It still sits lower in the back. post 88. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 MiKelly achieved a nice race lowering of his 280z just by installing camber plates and ditching the insulators. He did not section when he did his coilovers. Check the forums for pics of his gray car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerrys914 Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 If you call him he might start making them.. I had to make my own from 1" Alum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus Posted April 20, 2016 Author Share Posted April 20, 2016 Alright here's an update for anyone who searches and needs more information. For a 280z only... The final front strut tube casing measured from the bottom inside of the strut tube to the top of the threads is the following : 13.5" (originally 15" total) The final rear strut tube casing measured from the bottom inside of the strut tube to the top of the threads is the following : 16.75" (originally 18" total) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerrys914 Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 Alright here's an update for anyone who searches and needs more information. For a 280z only... The final front strut tube casing measured from the bottom inside of the strut tube to the top of the threads is the following : 13.5" (originally 15" total) The final rear strut tube casing measured from the bottom inside of the strut tube to the top of the threads is the following : 16.75" (originally 18" total) I would caution to cutting too much off. I added a 1" alum. spacer to the rear of my 280z. I only removed 1.5" from the rear and was unable to get enough height from my GC coilovers. I attributed this to using T3 camber plates and losing the added height from the stock insulators. I think .75" is more then enough to take out of the struts and still get full travel, unless you are going for a low car. With 1.5" removed and 24" dia tires, the rocker panel seam was 5" above the ground at the highest setting and I could go as low as 4" (IIRC). I wanted to have about 6" at the rocker seam to make the car usable on the city streets, which I am now at with my spacers (with1-2 turns of preload) Just my observations from my car.. Best of luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus Posted February 8, 2017 Author Share Posted February 8, 2017 Fixed... finally One of the struts fell out of the vice when I was hammering so it dented the top of the threads. Luckily it still threads the gland nut and life is good. Anyway.. I added a 3" spacer to the bottom to make the struts work properly. So 17-3/4" measured on the inside from the bottom of the tube to the top of the threads... or a total outside measurement of 16". I also ordered these from Techno Toy Tuning. https://technotoytuning.com/nissan/280z/riser-blocks-camber-plates. It's a rear riser plate that is 1" thick just I'm case I need it and it's too low on my car. Thanks for the help everyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus Posted February 8, 2017 Author Share Posted February 8, 2017 I just welded it back together and had the loss of 1/4" from the cuts from the blade. With camber plates I'm expecting to lose that 1". So let's see how this works. I probably won't have to use the spacers but just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus Posted February 15, 2017 Author Share Posted February 15, 2017 Hey guys today I wanted to weld on the spring perch for the rear and I'm not sure where to weld it? I have 10" Springs. The only information I could find was from ground control regarding a 280z is the following.. This shows that the 280z should have the spring perch welded at 5" on the front and 8" in the rear using 12" springs... compared to the 240z showing 5" front and 7" in the rear using 10" springs. So I have 2 questions - depending on how much you section off the strut, does the spring perch remain same? If I am using a 10" Spring compared to 12" Springs should I move the weld ring in the rear up 2" to compensate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 One would assume so. Although I feel like that diagram should have spring rates accounted for to really be useful. If you have the top hat you can figure it out pretty straight forward. Lookup weigh distribution, find your vehicle weight, distribute the weigth then divide by 2 (number of wheels, front, back), then divide by the spring rate to find how many inches the spring will compress. Find the ride height that you plan on running and mark the height then leave yourself room to go lower or higher (leave more room to go lower if you plan on adding flares or something at some point) then weld on. 280z curb weight (2875) wiki Weight distribution (50/50) speedhunters Number of wheels (2) Weight being held up by spring ~715ish Subtract unsprung weight 50lbs? (keep in mind things like the rims, tires, calipers, rotors, etc are unsprung weight) Down to 650ish per corner Running a 225/275 setup you would expect the front to compress the spring 2.9 inches, and the rear to compress 2.64 inches. So with a 10 inch spring the front spring would take up ~7 inches of space and the rear would take up ~7.4 inches. Keep in mind additionally if you add helper springs they will have some height even when fully collapsed especially if you run the separating collar thingy. You can see that adding a taller spring would just affect the compressed spring height, so I would think that would work given our struts are pretty much vertical allowing this kind of crude math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 (edited) I know I posted 2 pictures above but they were kind of blurry and hard to read.. I e-mailed Ground Control and they sent me some files.. Check this out... they even have a new "FAT tire" 8" spring setup. Crazy. So they list this for the rear. 280z with 12" Springs weld the ring at 8" from the bottom. 280z with 8" Springs weld the ring at 11" from the bottom. So 11"-8" = 3" difference. 12" Springs- 8" Springs = 4" difference. Find the middle with a 10" spring and it looks like I should raise the perch height by 1.5" bringing the total perch height at 9.5" from the bottom. Edited February 16, 2017 by proxlamus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 One would assume so. Although I feel like that diagram should have spring rates accounted for to really be useful. If you have the top hat you can figure it out pretty straight forward. Lookup weigh distribution, find your vehicle weight, distribute the weigth then divide by 2 (number of wheels, front, back), then divide by the spring rate to find how many inches the spring will compress. Find the ride height that you plan on running and mark the height then leave yourself room to go lower or higher (leave more room to go lower if you plan on adding flares or something at some point) then weld on. 280z curb weight (2875) wiki Weight distribution (50/50) speedhunters Number of wheels (2) Weight being held up by spring ~715ish Subtract unsprung weight 50lbs? (keep in mind things like the rims, tires, calipers, rotors, etc are unsprung weight) Down to 650ish per corner Running a 225/275 setup you would expect the front to compress the spring 2.9 inches, and the rear to compress 2.64 inches. So with a 10 inch spring the front spring would take up ~7 inches of space and the rear would take up ~7.4 inches. Keep in mind additionally if you add helper springs they will have some height even when fully collapsed especially if you run the separating collar thingy. You can see that adding a taller spring would just affect the compressed spring height, so I would think that would work given our struts are pretty much vertical allowing this kind of crude math. Thank you for this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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