Need a 280ZX Rear Camber kit

[zcarnut]

I'm in need of a rear camber kit for a 280ZX. The kit the Motorsport Auto used to sell is NLA. Any leads would be appreciated!

 

I looked at the K-MAC kit but they want $340 for it. I'm hoping to do better than that price.

 

Thanks in advance!

[JMortensen]

Not familiar with the "K-MAC" kit, but have you asked around with any 510 groups?

 

IIRC the MSA kit was basically just a couple of washers that helped adjust a slotted crossmember. I did an alignment on my friend's slotted 510 with no washers and we just adjusted it with a prybar. Wasn't too bad at all.

 

I wonder if Design Products makes a penultimate ZX crossmember (he makes them for 510's, right?). Probably doesn't matter anyway, even if he did it would be $$$...

[zcarnut]

I found this 510 rear camber article at:

 

http://www.dimequarterly.tierranet.com/articles/tech_crossmember_slotting.html

 

Would you expect to slot a ZX in the same locations using similar slot lengths?

 

Another question: How do you guarantee that the lower control arm will not move around in the slot? I'm surprised that just tightening the bushing bolts will prevent movement.

[Cody 82 ZXT]

Heres the link to the K-Mac stuff. I didn't find any pictures of the products.

 

http://www.k-mac.com.au/

 

And the Penultimate crossmember looks nice. It's 450 + core + shipping. Looks like it would really be the way to go if the money was there for that part of a project.

 

http://www.bendareadatsuns.com/Shoppagefiles/Penutimatepage/Penultimatepage.htm

 

More stuff

 

http://www.dimequarterly.tierranet.com/articles/tech_crossmember_slotting.html

[JMortensen]

Would you expect to slot a ZX in the same locations using similar slot lengths?

 

I would think you'd just slot them as much as you can...

 

Another question: How do you guarantee that the lower control arm will not move around in the slot? I'm surprised that just tightening the bushing bolts will prevent movement.

 

Keep the bolts tight and it should be fine. I've had my front crossmember slotted for ~6 years to adjust bump steer and my front control arms haven't moved at all. I just check the torque on the bolts every once in a while.

[zcarnut]

Another site:

 

http://www.datsport.com/Adjustable_rear_cross_member.html

 

http://www.datsport.com/Datsun_510_1600_rear_suspension.html

 

But he's also very expensive and they are located in Australia.

[Afshin]

I used the kit from motorsports. it allows for movement of only one of the control arm mounts (per side), so you can't adjust camber and toe independently. So, I intalled two kits, allowing adjustemnt on all four control arm mounting points and hence seperate camber and toe adjustment (however, it is a pain to install on the inner control arm mounting point, I had taken the whole crossmember out which made it easy thereafter).

Here are the links to the company and instalation guide. You can check and see if they still make it or if MSA is no longer getting them;

 

http://www.specprod.com/PROD_DIR/PROD_PASSCAR.HTML

 

http://www.specprod.com/PROD_DIR/C_PROD_passcar_INSTALL_DYN.cfm?cmd=85720ins.txt&cmd2=85720

 

If they don't have them I would just slot the crossmembers as already suggested and then after having it alligned use some paint to mark where the bolt is relative to the slot so you can periodically check and make sure it has not slipped (one of mine had moved a little and I just matched up the paint and retorqued it)

[Cody 82 ZXT]

I just got this kit and would like to see if anyone had any ideas of what setting to give the alignment guy.

 

Thanks

[JMortensen]

1/8" to 3/16" total toe in, camber anywhere from -1 to -1.5 degrees, depending on what you're doing. If you just drag race you could cut back the camber some, but you really ought to have some toe in in the back due to the semi-trailing arm setup.

[Afshin]

For my rear I have them set at -1 rear camber and 1/8 toe in as Jon had also suggested to me before. I have run numerous open track events since and have been tuning the suspension (I use a tire pyrometer on the track, which is of tremendous help). At least on my ZX, this works absolutely great for the rear. The car is amazingly stable and off throttle oversteer is mostly a memory (which I never imagined possible). I believe you will be most pleasantly surprised with the results.

Of note, I used two kits, so all four control arm point are adjustable. Otherwise you may not get the exact camber and toe combination you want. If you have only one kit, you may want to slot the other mount (I would).

Also, I should let you know that when I first used the kits, the bushings where occasionally binding, which resolved as they "settled in". ALso, they to tend to move out of alignment once in a while, so make sure the alignment shop marks the bushing alignment in reference to the mounting points with some paint, so every few months you can quickly check and make sure nothing has moved (I retorque them after getting it from the alignement shop). It's extremely easy to check and takes no more than 5-10 minutes (real time) to look at all four and re-align any that may have moved (I do this every few months and before track days). This has not been a serious problem at all, but you need to know this, and the gain, as I eluded to earlier the results are phenomenal.

For the front, I have -1.2 camber, which works great on the twisties, street..., however, it is not enough for the track (rear has more traction than front with understeer hindering lap times...), so I increase the negative front camber on track days (slotted strut tower mount). BTW, when I had the front set at -1.7 at all times, I had excessive wear on the inner side of the tires. I hope this helps.

(FYI, my set up consists of eibach/tokicos and suspension techniques sway bars with rod end links, all poly bushings, LSD..)

[Cody 82 ZXT]

Thanks for the info guys.

 

I've got all of the rear suspension out now replacing the bushings and making a slightly upgraded rear brake kit.

 

Also still waiting on the rear diff. cover from Nismo.

 

After what Afshin had to say about how the car handles now I'm excited to get it finished and on the road again.

 

Afshin, I have a very similar setup without the upgraded sway bars. I do run the upgraded bushings so it's a little better than stock. Did the sway bars make a big difference?

[Afshin]

Hi Cody,

The sway bar where the last addition to my suspension (I had poly bushings with rod ends prior to that). What prompted me to get them was the new found tendency for understeer after I got the back stabilized with the new bushings and alignment....

The gain was very noticeable. The car immediately felt better planted on the road, most notably in the twisties where the decrease lean was marked. It also made transitions from turn to turn a lot faster and stable. Benefits where even more pronounced on the track. It made it easier to modulate the car.

In terms of deteriorating the ride quality, it only had a marginal effect. Of course with all the other mods and R compound tires, the ride is overly stiff in the pothole laden city, but more than fine everywhere else.

My personal recommendation, is a strong YES in favor of the sway bars. You will feel the car being better planted on the road for everyday driving (even in relatively slow turns), the marked decrease in lean will keep the suspension geometry (which varies so much in our cars with compression/extension...) in line during hard driving (you will easily feel the difference) and again the was minimal change in ride quality (the R compound on the other hand had quite an effect on ride, but grip as well

I can tell you with no exaggeration that the current set up handles amazingly well on the track and has shocked more people than you can imagine (myself included). It is light years ahead of where it was 2 years ago when I just had the eibach/tokico and 17" wheel combo. In short the adjustable and stiff bushings stabilized and planted the rear of the car and the sway bars balanced the handling to fairly neutral.

BTW what is the rear brake modification you are working on? feel free to PM me

[80LS1T]

So Cody, which kit are you going with for the rear? I didnt quite understand which kit you were refering to when you said "I just got this kit and would like to see if anyone had any ideas of what setting to give the alignment guy."

 

Guy

[Cody 82 ZXT]

So Cody' date=' which kit are you going with for the rear? I didnt quite understand which kit you were refering to when you said "I just got this kit and would like to see if anyone had any ideas of what setting to give the alignment guy."

 

Guy[/quote']

 

 

The kit I'm refeing to is the camber ajustment kit of the rear of the 280ZX's.

 

http://www.specprod.com/PROD_DIR/PROD_PASSCAR.HTML

 

Heres the link that Afshin posted erlier in the thread for the site. I bought mine on Ebay for 30 bucks. A little cheaper but, hey every bit helps. I've now been thinking about buying a secondkit as suggested by Afshin for more adjustablilty.

 

 

Afshin, I was going to wait to post info about what I'm working on for the brake stuff but, since I've already spilled the beans I might as well let out some info.

 

Stock 280ZX caliper

'84 300ZX non turbo rear rotor

Adapter made by myself.

 

The 300ZX rotor is 11" in diameter vs the 10" of the 280ZX so the caliper should have better leverage on the rotor plus it will look better when I get the JSK stuff mounted on the front. I have everything for it I just need to get the rear end back together and tested before I do the front.

 

The adapter I have almost finished pushes the caliper out by 1/2" and outward by .03". I have one finished but, I need to get some socket head bolts in M10x1.25x40. I'm having a very hard time in finding the correct bolt that is needed. The adapter is simple but, has turned out to be very time consuming to make with the tools I have. I really need a plasma cutter or water jet cutter at my beckoning call.

 

Anyway I'll get a couple of pics up tommarow if you guys care to see them.

[Afshin]

That's great about the brakes Cody. I have been toying with the same idea. I have also considered getting the 11.4" 300zx rotors and then redrill them for a four bolt pattern and use a bracket along with the original 280zx caliper. The 84 rotor you got are then 10.4 or 11" (I thought they where 10.4). I'm, also considering a few other options, but need to get to a junkyard and check out some of the other car set ups first....

Can't wait to hear how your project turns out.

[Cody 82 ZXT]

Hey these kits are mounted on the out board side right? Just want to make sure before I start cutting.

 

http://www.specprod.com/PROD_DIR/PROD_PASSCAR.HTML

[Afshin]

Yes, I believe that if you use one kit that they go on the outboard side.

http://www.specprod.com/PROD_DIR/C_PROD_passcar_INSTALL_DYN.cfm?cmd=85720ins.txt&cmd2=85720

lLook at this picture and they brake cable line and confirm it's the same on your car. Also don't forget to consider sloting the other mounting points to give you better adjustability (you don't need to slot it that much).

[Guest 280kraZ]

sorry to bring back this old post, but I'd like to see if I have any options here. Anyways Ive got a 280zx with tokico springs, tokico blues, and poly bushings all around. I just got it back from my alignment guy and he says the camber is off three degrees on both sides in the rear. I dont think the msa part is still available. Is the K-mac kit my only hope? And do you think it will allow them to be adjusted enough? Or is slotting the crossmember a good alternative? Does anyone have a little more info on slotting the crossmember on a zx?

[JMortensen]

Looks like the Specialty Products company still has these available. I'd do like Afshin says and put them on both pivot points.

 

http://www.specprod.com/MAIN_DIR/HOME_CONTACT.HTML

[zcarnut]

Good luck getting any of the 280ZX rear camber kits from Specialty Products. After this thread ended last year I telephoned them and they informed me that they just had one kit left in stock with no plans of making any more.

 

So I ordered it along with the installation tool and installed it on the inner rear pivots on a 280ZX I had lowered. However there is interaction between the camber and toe of the wheel during the alignment process. I was able to set the correct toe in but I had to accept one degree of negative camber.

 

Afshin is correct. You really need two kits so you can compensate the adjustment of the inner pivots with some adjustment of the outer pivot points. Moving the inner pivot has more effect on the camber alignment whereas the outer pivot adjustment has more effect on toe.

 

One problem with the kit is since you are replacing your pivot bushing with an offset bushing (and adjustment is accomplished by rotating the offset bushing) you cannot go back to the original starting point!

 

If I ever do this again I plan on slotting the bushing holes on both inner and outer pivots and using the adjustable Z31 rear bushing bolts.