Strut Question

[tonycharger72]

Was wondering if anyone could give me some info,

 

I have a set of 1977 260z 2 seater struts,

&

A set of 1974 260z 2 seater struts,

 

Im planning on converting to 5-stud rear and what i'd planned to do was use the struts & hubs from the 1977 zed and install them into my 1974 zed (one is a daily driver that i dont wanna take of the road, the other is pretty much a parts car),

Is this ok, ive heard there are differences between the struts, like difference in inner and outter diameter's, but this wouldnt affect anything other than not being able to use the same springs & shocks right?

 

I wont put the 1977 struts in the 1974 zed and find they dont fit or change the ride height of the car???

 

Or,

 

Would it be possible to just use the rear hubs from the 1977 and install them into the 1974 rear struts - or will they not fit,

 

 

ALSO............another question,

 

Just say you put 250lbs springs in the front and used 150-175lbs springs in the rear, would this mean that you have a good street racing type setup,

because the front springs are very stiff so very little body roll around corners and the rears are quite soft so when you lay the power down they squat, which means you dont lose the back-end as easily???

[johnc]

AFAIK all the 260 struts are the same, but that's only a for sure thing here in the US.

 

Just say you put 250lbs springs in the front and used 150-175lbs springs in the rear, would this mean that you have a good street racing type setup,

because the front springs are very stiff so very little body roll around corners and the rears are quite soft so when you lay the power down they squat, which means you dont lose the back-end as easily???

 

No. You'll most likely end up with a car the understeers on corner entry, understeers mid corner, really starts understeering when you get on the gas, and then snap oversteers when the rear tires break traction.

[JMortensen]

AFAIK all the 260 struts are the same, but that's only a for sure thing here in the US.

Early 260 uses 240 struts, late 260 uses 280 struts.

[blueovalz]

And to add a little more to what Johnc said (with what little drag racing I've done); I would suggest lighter matched springs in front with what's in back. This will return the neutral nature of the chassis as will as let the front come up (obviously the dampeners will also influence this) in conjunction with the rear squat. In theory, sway-bars of appropriate size could compensate (for the most part) for the weaker springs in regards to your street driving needs, and still not affect the straight-line needs of the chassis being both arms will move in unison when the launch is made. But in the real world, configuration of bar mounting, bushing design, etc, all change this up a little bit.

[johnc]

I overlooked the years of the 260Zs. The 1977 "probably" has the larger strut tubes.

[DaleMX]

I belive that the 280 was in production from mid 75 to 78. The 260 was like 74 to mid 75 only.

[preith]

I belive that the 280 was in production from mid 75 to 78. The 260 was like 74 to mid 75 only.

 

Outside of the US, the 260 was produced until '79.

[DaleMX]

I learn something new everytime I visit this site! I guess the newer 260's must have shared some of the 280's suspension.

[260DET]

You may find that some shock inserts are too big in diameter to fit in to the early strut tubes. Have you decided on what inserts you are going to use?

 

Also, what anti sway bars are you proposing to use? Shocks, springs, bars are all interdependant. Shocks are particularly important, minimum for your use would be revalved Koni Yellow.

 

There is a shop in Brisbane that knows all about Z suspension, he can revalve Konis correctly for your use.

[rb26zed]

 

There is a shop in Brisbane that knows all about Z suspension, he can revalve Konis correctly for your use.

 

Do you know the name of that shop. I've been told Accurate Suspension at Underwood are good with zeds.

[260DET]

Yeh, Ken at Accurate is the man

[Here comes trouble]

you may find the front strut cartridges may interchange with the difference in diameter but of the same length over the years and the rear strut cartridges may not interchange due to length difference if not diameter....and you are in austrailia.. I do know a 2 inch sectioned 240-280 strut will take a 1985 to early 1991 Jetta/Golf strut cartridge.here is some recent reseach I did http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=103372

[tonycharger72]

Thanks for the replies guys,

 

"Early 260 uses 240 struts, late 260 uses 280 struts."

 

jmortensen,

Its apprears your right champ if we go on the spline counts,

Ive counted the splines in the 1977 hubs and its 27 - so i guess this means that it is more than likely exactly the same as the 280z hubs, therefore the struts would pretty much have to be the same as the 280z's aswell right???

 

JohnC - thanks for explanation mate,

 

260DET,

"Also, what anti sway bars are you proposing to use? Shocks, springs, bars are all interdependant. Shocks are particularly important, minimum for your use would be revalved Koni Yellow."

 

Not really sure mate,

 

Ive only got a vague idea of what i should do at the moment, in regards to spring rates and suitable shocks or suitably thick sway-bars,

I was planning on running Adjustable Radius Rods and Lower control arms though,

 

I was thinking something along the lines of 175lbs springs front and back, shocks that suit this spring rate and about a 1" thick front sway-bar and keep the rear sway-bar at stock size, then get my hands on some front and rear strut braces,

 

Im not 100% certain if im going to go to an adjustable spring perch and whether or not im going to lower the car, so i dont wanna go out and buy springs and shocks and then just end up not using them, or use them for a couple of months and then take another route,

 

Another consideration is that it looks like the front of the car sits a bit higher with the 2jz in it than it should, so i kinda figure i got two options,

1 - go to an adjustable spring perch

2 - get lowering springs and lump any loss in suspension travel (which looks like it wont be much)

[260DET]

Yeh TC, you are going about it the right way. I'd stick, and have stuck, with a stock 22mmm front sway bar and a custom 18mm rear. A lot of people go too heavy on their bars IMHO.

 

Shocks particulary affect transitional handling, which coincidentially is when you are likely to lose the arse end when pushing a powerful Z

[johnc]

Remember, we're mixing and matching how Nissan did things in the US and Oz. I think it would be better to focus on model years instead of the model car. A good assumption would be that cars built in late 1974 and later had the bigger strut housings.

[JMortensen]

You could measure the OD of the strut tubes and compare. The 280 stuff had a larger OD. If they're the same they're probably both the larger 280 struts. That test should work front and back.

[tonycharger72]

I measured the rear strut tubes, just below the spring perch weld,

 

the 1974 260z rear struts = 106.10mm (4.17") diameter

the 1977 260z rear struts = 109.91mm (4.32") diameter,

 

These may not be exact, i measured them each three times with my calipers and each time the reading was slightly different, like a few 100's of a mm out, i took the average and got the above,

 

But the 1977 rear struts were bigger for sure, but only very slightly,

 

Im curious about the hubs from the 1977 zed though,

 

Would it be possible to just use the rear hubs from the 1977 and install them into the 1974 rear struts - or will they not fit???

[JMortensen]

Something's not right there. They should be 2.x inches, not 4.x. Regardless, if they're different then you know that the earlier one has the 240 struts. I think the strut housing is 3" shorter and the spring perch is in a different place relative to the later struts. Also the rubber isolator at the top of the spring is taller on the later struts and shorter on the 240 struts.

 

The Konis are a tight fit in the 240 struts and sometimes require removing the paint to get them to fit. They'll slide right into the 280 struts. The 280 struts are stronger since they have thicker tubes, and they have 27 spline stub axles. The 280 front hubs have a 10mm different offset, they're a wider offset which seems to be an issue since all the aftermarket brake kits require them. I think they allow more room between the rotor and the control arm. I think threaded coilovers are more common in the 280 size as well. Downside to the 280 struts (and hubs) is more weight. That's about all I got for you.

 

Yes, the 280 stubs will fit in the 240 struts. They take the same bearings and everything, just have a bigger splined end.

[tonycharger72]

jmortensen,

 

Thanks heaps for the info mate,

[JMortensen]

No problem. Just realized I was thinking of the lengths if you sectioned them. So you can section a 280 strut 3" where you only section a 240 strut 2". So really the 280 strut is only 1" taller than the 240 strut. Oops. Also the fronts are the same length IIRC.