Guest Drewz Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Just wondering if anyone has found another strut tube that is the same or close enough to the size of the Z's for coilovers. There are so many coilovers for sale for so many cars there has to be another vehicle with a similar tube O.D. I would love to go coilover before doing my rims. anyone got any info or ideas??? What about 240sx??200SX??300ZX?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denny411 Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 I`ve been looking for this info as well. I`m bringing my calipers to the JY to check and document as many as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Drewz Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 AWESOME!!! Another piece of info that could be very useful for parts avail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHO-Z Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 I went through some of this looking to find coilovers for a cheap price. I found out the BMWs have larger strut diameters, but after buying a set for a 325 found out that the struts are only on one end and are just enough smaller to not work. I ended up making a set of adjusters out of pipe nipples that worked for now using the springs in the kit. There is no reason why you cannot take the strut tubes from one of the new generation cars and slide them inside of the z strut cartridges and weld them in. The weigh characteristics of the car take them off of should be taken into consideration as well as the top mount on the struts. There are a lot of junkyards out there to check things out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToplessZ Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 ok Drew you help me out with the rim hookup ill help you out.... I gots the answer that everyone is waiting to hear. Ok I bought a set of coilovers for a nissan altima and guess what. They fit a 240 strut tube with a couple of mm to spare. There may be other similar cars that work though as alot of these coil over kits all look the same to me. The altima coilovers are designed to work with only the front hats and dont need hats for the rears. I happened to have an extra set. Also know that the springs that come on these will have to be swapped but any 2.5 coilover spring will work. I bought the dropzone coilovers for the nissan altima and can get some halfway decent springs for about 160 in any rate I need. Total cost for me was about 225. Probably could be done cheaper if you wanted to deal with 8 inch springs with some really stiff rates. They have 4 inches of adjustability. A budget alternative for sure but for any extra 150 you could get the modern-motorsport setup. NOTE THESE WILL NOT WORK ON 280 STRUTS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Drewz Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 What was the diff for the 280 you found??? I gots a 260 so they are the same tubes and such??? Don't tease me now!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToplessZ Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Well some good and bad news. 280 and 260 strut tubes definatly wont work there is probably a 1.5-2mm difference I dont think it would be safe if even possible to bore out the coil over sleeve to work on those. Good news is you can usually get a set of the 240 tubes pretty cheap at the jy. I also found that the 260 and 280 tubes while bigger around seem to have a thinner wall than the 240 strut tube. I think you will be hard pressed to find anything that will work on the 280 size tube except for the custom ordered sleeves and kits as they are bigger than most cars I have seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Drewz Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 DOH!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are off my Xmas list mow!!! hehehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToplessZ Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 well In 2 or 3 months Ill have some 240 tubes you could have for shipping and a very small pull fee. I should have any extra set available then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Drewz Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 I want to avoid doing that since all my stuff is new, sandblasted, and on the car........darnitt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve-Z Posted March 24, 2004 Share Posted March 24, 2004 Here's what I know about 240/260 and 260 Z struts: 1) 240z and early 260z struts are interchangable and have an outer diameter of 2.000 or slightly less inches. 2) Later 260z and 280z struts are interchangable, but they are larger in diameter by approx. 0.080 inches (2mm). These struts are desirable if you are trying to use the Ground Control Z-Car inserts, as they won't fit in the smaller struts. Using the above information, coilover adjustable threaded aluminum tubes, for 2.5 in ID springs,are available from many sources: Ground Control, Howe, Arizona Zcar ... The aluminum threaded tube is easy and cheap to buy, but the upper spring seat and the upper swivel mount/camber plate needs to be made special for the vehicle. Another point I want to make is that enough suspension travel needs to be provided, or the bump stop will be hit and the spring rate will instantly increase and the car will step out - not desired. This can happen if you only lower your car and do not shorten the strut and use a shortr strut insert. Shortening struts is a very standard procedure. Enough pontificating. I also know that the front wheel bearing are the same for 240/260 and 280z's. but although the front hubs are interchangeable, the brake hat mount surface is different between the early 240z's and later 240z's and 260z's. This change is made along with a change in the brake hat offset. I hope this info helps. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Drewz Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 Everything helps. I appreciate the time you guys have put in thus far. Didn't realize that the upper mounts were different. Gonna have to do some more checking..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Drewz Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 Oh ya btw. Tube size is 56mm for 280z and 51mm for 240z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.