Jethoncho Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 After pricing out new 5-lugs hubs and brake upgrades for my S30 project I decided to go a different route. I purchased a complete Nissan S14 rear subframe that included VLSD differential, axles, 5-lug hubs, calipers, rotors, e-brake cables as well as front rotors, calipers, spindles, 5-lug hubs. This was a very complete front and rear suspension minus coilovers. It set me back $799 shipped to my door. I removed my S30 front struts, spindles and steering knuckles and mocked up the front suspension with the S14 spindles (left spindle on the right side and vise versa) which bolted right to the existing S30 lower ball joint. I attached the upper part of the S14 spindle to a hybrid/custom coilover supplied by BC Racing ($630). The BC coilover is a 280Z upper strut with a lower S14 mount. This S30 outer tie rod is too long to accommodate the S14 steering knuckle so to temporarily allow me to roll the car around I cut 37mm out of each outer tie rod (they were junk anyway) and welded them back together. The car now has 5-lug hubs and 4 piston S14 brakes up front for what I consider to be a pretty good deal. I was leaning toward the T3 outer tie rods to solve my tie rod length issue but after reading another post on this forum I think I will manufacture tie rod adjuster sleeves that will accept 79-81 outer tie rods that will then mate to the S30 inner tie rods... 2 '79-'81 S130 outer tie rods, 2 M14x1.5mm Left Hand Thread inner tube adapter, 2 M14x1.5mm Right Hand Thread inner tube adapters, 4 appropriate jam nuts, 12" of 4130 Chrome Moly 1"x.063 tubing and a new inner tie rod for the left side of the vehicle can be had for about $140 combine this with a little TIG welding which I'll do myself means I can have great adjustability for around the same price as the T3 outer tie rods. And I wouldn't have to drill my steering knuckle which really wasn’t exciting me. I was gonna have to buy new outer tie rods even if I stuck with the S30 original stuff so the real excess cost of the custom tie rods is only about $80. As for the rears, I don't see many options to get a real upgrade without spending big bucks. I bit the bullet and invested in the T3 rear end conversion (I'm in their 4-6 week waiting period right now). I guess someone could also buy some off the shelf 5-lug stub axles ($330), some weld on coilovers ($630), and rear disc brake upgrade ($685) or $1675 and still have a R180 or R200 open differential. When I think of it in those terms I don't feel bad about spending the bucks with T3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TUME Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 Here is mine solution, S13 spindles and R33 brakes. You do know that swapping spindles side to side, you messed up ackerman steering. Or not, depends how you look at thing. Just swapping spindles you get negative ackerman, which is used F1 cars today. Not very useful on road. So I cut and welded that steering knuckle in different position. Made also longer lca to get close to zero scrub radius. Those hubs are custom made aluminium 5-lug for S13. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik280z Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 On 11/1/2018 at 3:00 AM, TUME said: Here is mine solution, S13 spindles and R33 brakes. You do know that swapping spindles side to side, you messed up ackerman steering. Or not, depends how you look at thing. Just swapping spindles you get negative ackerman, which is used F1 cars today. Not very useful on road. So I cut and welded that steering knuckle in different position. Made also longer lca to get close to zero scrub radius. Those hubs are custom made aluminium 5-lug for S13. Did you custom make the lca and tc? Did you use a z top hat or camber plates? I want to do that same swap on mine, have the spindles, hubs, brakes and coil overs. Amazing work though, I’m going to use your build at my guide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TUME Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 Yes they are custom and lca's are bit longer than originals. You can find more on my build topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caperix Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 Did you use trial & error to find your steering arm angle? I can only find calculations for rear steer setups. I think the longer steering arms will help with ackerman as well. Do you have any advice on making a jig to locate the steering arms when welding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TUME Posted May 5, 2019 Share Posted May 5, 2019 Yep, it was whole afternoon trial and error fun. Just cut loose steering arm and tacked it in various angles. Then measured wheel turning angle vs. steering rack movement. Both ways ofc. When found best possible spot just weld couple of tacks more and moved to welding table. Then i was welded couple of bolts to table and attach spindle with them. Welding itself was pretty easy with tig. Just noticed that i don´t have any pics about this whole job...😲 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jethoncho Posted May 20, 2019 Author Share Posted May 20, 2019 Okay guys, I took a slightly different approach than my original mockup. I too ended up altering the steering knuckles on my S14 spindles. Instead of cutting and welding the steering knuckles into a different position I modified them by heating the and reforming them to restore to original S30 geometry. I ordered custom outer tie rods then had to go back and order new longer sleeves to account for the reworked steering knuckles. Right side is mocked up (minus new tie rod sleeve), I’m much happier with this setup... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbzed25 Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 (edited) Not sure if you've seen this, but same concept. Also, helps a little understanding the swap for someone randomly reading through this thread. @TUME Edited May 29, 2019 by rbzed25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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