Jersey Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Hey all. Thinking of swapping out my front Eibachs with a pair of custom springs on my '73. The customs are stiffer than the Eibachs, which i why i want to do the swap but, they springs is much shorter. When i jack the front end off the ground, the springs can basically fall out of their perches which has me concerned like, what if i'm moving at a good clip and hit a rise in the pavement which causes the front to lift off the ground slightly... now i've got to hope those springs fall back on their perches correctly or it's going to be a tough landing, huh? I'm sure i'm not the first to have run into this and wondered what you guys did, or didn't do Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rc's240z Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 If you look, you will notice that your top hats that hold your springs in place have holes that you can feed a good sized zip-tie through and hold your springs in place. This should solve your problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 I know a 510 guy who cuts the lower perch off a 240Z strut and welds it onto a 510 or 280ZX strut for his 510's. You can weld it on wherever you want to make it a tighter fit. Presumably you could do the same on your 240; just cut the perch off and reweld higher. I'd be concerned about running out of travel, which is why I mention this. If the spring is really short you might be running on or near the bumpstops. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Knowing that the dampers will retard the rate that the suspension drops should help as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 What about the little 'helper' springs that keep enough tension on the main coils to keep them in place, but are collapsed with the car's weight on them. I forget their exact name, but John C, or one of the racers will surely know. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Tim, can you get those for stock springs??? Unless the springs are really short, Ron's idea will work fine. If they are really short, my idea should work. Tim's idea would work if those helper springs are available, but I haven't seen them (of course I haven't looked either). Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 The helper springs are only available for 2.5", 2.25", and 2" diameter springs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jersey Posted March 9, 2004 Author Share Posted March 9, 2004 THANKS for all the ideas/suggestions. You guys are good RC - that sounds good to hold the tops of the springs to the top hats but, then the top hats woud seperate from the bearing and strut tower mount thats above the top hats and if they didn't seperate, the bottoms of the springs would lift off their perches causing the same issue. jmortensen - if i re-weld the bottom perch higher, it will take up the space so the spring fits snug with the suspension collapsed but, it will also make the front sit higher, which i'm not looking to do. With the shorter, stiffer springs installed, the ride height is just about where i want it.... about 1 1/2" dropped. These springs are short but stiffer then what my Eibachs were with full weight on them. The Eibachs were just bottoming out and only on hard hits. These custom springs will not bottom, even as short as they are. blueovalz - The dampers will not allow the suspension to droop as much? I thought these were only to soften the blow to your strut tower and protect the strut from damage if you do ever bottom? Can you explain more? Tim240z - these "helper" springs... do they make the ride height any higher then if you didn't have them installed? Might be what i'm looking for. The only ways I can think to solve this is, if the helper springs that Tim mentioned would not effect the desired ride height and are available for my size spring or to somehow limit the amount of the suspension drop with no load on i... possibly modifying the A-arm or get different spings that are longer, a little stiffer than the Eibachs when compressed and give me the desired ride height i want. Since i have the springs already, i'm trying to stay away for the last option and save some $ Gotta be a way... Thanks again for all the responces. Appreciate it and welcome any more idea/opinions/suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Jersey, they will usually only increase the height by a very small amount (1/4 to 1/2 inch? Under the weight of the car thay are fully compressed and the coils are actually flat. I will do some net searches to see if I can find a picture, that will explain everything. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jersey Posted March 9, 2004 Author Share Posted March 9, 2004 Thanks Tim. I'll do the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 If they're only 1.5" lowering springs, run a zip tie or two over the top coil. Figure it this way. In order for the spring to come out you would not only have to extend all of the sag in the springs, but probably an inch more pretty much full suspension droop in order to get the spring to a point where it would fall out of the upper perch. You planning on catching some air with your Z??? If the springs are zip tied to the uppper mounts, that's all you need. If you aren't comfortable with the zip ties, use safety wire. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Best I could find: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jersey Posted March 9, 2004 Author Share Posted March 9, 2004 Thanks Jon but...I may catch a little air and i'd like to come down in semi-control They only drop the Z about 1.5" but, they are short becuase they are stiff. Not sure if that made sense? lol. I have a pic of them in comparison to the Eichachs... i'll try and post here in a little bit. The reason i'm noticing this is because when i jack the front off the ground with the front suspension at full droop, the springs are flapping in the breeze and fall off their perches, wether it be the bottoms or tops, or both. Now i figure if this just happens to re-create itself while actually moving at a good clip, i may have a little bit of a problem. Just trying to play it safe. If i zip tie or saftey wire the tops, the bottoms are going to come off their perches or the bearing on top of the top plate may shift and not line back up when it all gets compressed again which would destroy the bearing instantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jersey Posted March 9, 2004 Author Share Posted March 9, 2004 Here's a pic comparing the Eibachs (on left) and two different length custom springs with the same spring rate. The black ones on the right are the ones that i'm installing which give me the correct ride height (they level out the Z with leaving the Eibachs in the rear) Thanks Tim for the search. Now i see what you mean but i think i'd need to cut the springs if i used something like that to get me back to the level stance i'm looking for. Appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted March 10, 2004 Share Posted March 10, 2004 I was making reference to the (short) length of time the damper would take to expand fully until the full droop point (or loss of spring compression) of the suspension was reached. The stiffer the damper, the longer this length of time. Yes, I'm talking about a short length of time, but I don't think you're expecting a lot of "air" time on the front end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jersey Posted March 10, 2004 Author Share Posted March 10, 2004 ahhh... understand now Terry. Appreciate the explaination. Italian head is thick sometimes I pretty much solved it last night. I put my front swaybar in and cranked it down which doesn't allow the front suspension to drop as far and it keeps the springs in their perches snug when at full droop, so i think i'm good. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone that made suggestions and took the time to help. Appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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